Two top University of Guelph officials will answer questions Monday about a budget plan that’s being described as a radical rethinking of how the university operates.
The open meeting at noon Sept. 17 in Room 103 of the University Centre involves U of G president Alastair Summerlee and Maureen Mancuso, the university’s provost and vice-president (academic).
The U of G is creating a task force on program prioritization, which is to include representatives of staff and students, said a news release Wednesday.
Senior university management will use the task force’s assessments to make decisions on allocation of resources at the U of G, which is facing a widening gap between revenues and expenses, the release said.
The program prioritization process is intended to help the university make sure its limited resources are directed toward services and programs that are “mission-critical,” Mancuso said in the release.
“We are living and working in an era of scarce resources and significant financial difficulties,” said Mancuso, who will lead the prioritization effort and serve as its spokesperson.
“We face the challenge of continuing to maintain and enhance quality with limited revenues, so we must make decisions that are evidence-based,” she said.
Although the U of G reallocated $46 million within its operating budget over the past four years to balance the budget, planning assumptions for the next four years show a continuing, widening gap between revenues and expenses, Mancuso said.
The program prioritization process is meant to help the university address a projected funding gap of $34 million over the next four years. The process will involve all academic and non-academic programs and services, and ultimately result in enrichment, reduction, reorganization or elimination of services and programs, the release said.
“We need to ask ourselves, ‘What are we doing well, what can we stop doing, and where can we take on more?’ ” Mancuso said.
“At times, it will demand a radical rethinking of entrenched assumptions about how the university operates,” she said. “But we must identify our leadership strengths in education and innovation so that we can face future challenges and ensure our continued success.”