SAMRU advocates for change
Student executives determined to protect students from financial failures
Jonathan Lazo
Contributor
Former Federal cabinet minister, Jim Prentice, made a statement during his campaign in August.
He promised a portion of the $82.5 million dollar post-secondary deficit of 2013 to be returned with the newly elected Premier of Alberta announcing Don Scott as his Innovation and Advanced Education leader and with a full cabinet list.
In recent years, the Innovation and Advanced Education has suffered from constant minister switches, causing discrepancies in regards to granting Mount Royal status as a fully-funded university, which has been in limbo since the 2010/2011 school year.
Executive Committee President, Erik Queenan, is pleased that the university status of MRU has managed to function with the fiscal shortcomings. “It’s amazing that we’re still able to turn out such quality students and run high quality programs as well,” says Queenan.
He emphasizes that if the financial woes continue, a further reduction of seats might be necessary.
This has prompted staff at MRU to begin preparation for talks with newly announced Innovation and Advanced Education leader, Don Scott. in an attempt to level out the financial situation from last years budget cuts.
The SAMRU Executive Committee would like to present signed letters and emails as a way to draw attention to MRU’s financial future. Zoe Slusar, VP of Student Life, believes that this issue can be positively addressed and rectified.
“Meeting equitable funding on a per student basis is a completely reasonable ask, were not asking for anything out of the ordinary,” Said Slusar.
The 2013-2014, 7.3 per cent cut has left a bigger-than-expected gap, prompting the possible addition of market modifiers for certain courses or programs in hopes of alleviating operational costs that aren’t being funded.