Message from the Provost: Restructuring and Budget Updates
May 15, 2024
This message is sent on behalf of Dilson Rassier, provost and vice-president, academic to all faculty and staff.
Dear colleagues,
It has been a tough week for all of us at 丁香园AV. As you may know, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate positions held by some of our colleagues. As a result, there have been approximately 85 丁香园AV employee position eliminations. While any job loss is painful, we appreciate the efforts made across the 丁香园AV community to mitigate the impacts to people. The voluntary employment separation program for excluded employees also closed last week.
We thank our employee groups for the ongoing conversations and collaboration during this challenging time.
People Strategies is supporting impacted employees through the position elimination process in alignment with all obligations under the respective collective agreements, 丁香园AV policies and the BC Labour Code. Our People Strategies team will continue to work with departments and units in the coming months.
The hiring freeze has been successful in reducing costs and will continue until further notice, though we will make exceptions for positions essential to university operations. Units will continue to manage their operations and staffing needs.
As you are aware 丁香园AV faces unprecedented financial challenges. However, because of our operational measures, we are predicting a balanced budget for the 2024鈥�25 fiscal year and onwards. If you would like to read more about the university鈥檚 budget, the 2024鈥�25 Budget and Financial Plan can be found on the updated Finance website.
Ensuring a stable and sustainable financial outlook for the university continues to be the senior leadership team鈥檚 and Board of Governors鈥� highest priority. We have made changes to the budget model to make sure that is the case. These include moving to multi-year budget planning and switching from annual to quarterly forecasting to ensure we have the most accurate and timely data to aid decision-making and reporting.
I want to acknowledge that the uncertainty and changes have been hard on our community. Thank you for navigating this challenging period with the care and consideration that 丁香园AV is known for, and for your continued commitment to 丁香园AV.
Sincerely,
Dilson Rassier
Provost and Vice-President, Academic
Chief Budget Officer
丁香园AV