The decision puts a formal stamp of approval on recommendations made earlier this month as the institution faces a major funding shortfall.
Algonquin College’s board of governors has approved a plan to suspend 41 programs as the college grapples with a budget deficit of at least $60 million next year, rising to $93 million by the following year.
The decision puts a formal stamp of approval on recommendations made earlier this month by Algonquin’s president, Claude Brulé. It means that no new students will be admitted to the programs starting next fall, although current students and those admitted this spring will be able to finish their course of study.
The plan also includes a “targeted retirement departure initiative” that will offer a one-time lump-sum financial incentives to eligible employees who meet specific criteria, including that they are at least 50, as well as a “voluntary exit registry” where employees can self-identify as willing to depart the college.
“We can move forward with the decisions now, because it certainly makes people antsy when they understand there’s a recommendation, but they’re waiting to see which way it will go,” said Brulé in an interview on Feb. 25.
“So now that we have that clarity from the board, we can now move forward with making plans for the next steps.”
The targeted retirement initiative is now over and the college is at the stage of preparing a schedule to ensure that there are enough staff to ensure that students in the suspended programs can finish them, said Brulé.
Algonquin is not at the stage where it can say how many people will leave the organization, he said.
“We have collective agreements that delineate very clearly how we deal with people who are displaced because of the change in the organization functions, and we’re going to adhere to that. We’re going to work with our union colleagues to make sure that we go through that process.”
Evening Update
Martin Lee, second vice-president of OPSEU Local 415, which represents more than 950 full- and partial-load teaching faculty, counsellors and librarians at Algonquin, said he’s disappointed by not surprised by the board’s decision.
According to Local 415’s conservative estimate, 30 full-time faculty members and at least 70 partial-load faculty will be departing the college, said Lee. That number does not include non-unionized faculty such as sessional lecturers.
Meanwhile, the union has grieved Algonquin’s handling of Article 28 in its collective agreement, which outlines the role of a group called the College Employee Stability Committee, composed of two members appointed by the college and two members appointed by the union.
One of the committee’s purposes is to recommend long-term and short-term strategies to enhance employment stability. While the committee was called early in February, the union has not had the opportunity to recommend any strategies, said Lee.
The cuts have been the result of a number of factors, including an ongoing provincial tuition freeze, chronic underfunding, and federal government immigration policy changes that have resulted in a steep drop in the number of international students, said Brulé. As voters head to the polls to elect a new provincial government on Thursday, the reasons behind cuts at colleges across the province have not been a top campaign priority.
“We’ll see in the next few days how that transpires for the voters. It is clear that there are issues that dominate the minds of voters right now, and our situation may not be top of mind,” said Brulé.
“I think it’s a longer-term effect when you don’t have the right talent pipeline to feed the prosperity of your economy,” he said. “I think that’s a long game, and people don’t often realize this until, you know, the situation is well underway, unfortunately. So I think we’re going to see the impact of past and current decisions down the road if nothing is done.”
Earlier this month, Brulé’s recommendations named 37 programs on the list to suspend. The final number is 41 programs. This includes four programs that are dormant and have no students, he said. These four programs include the anesthesia assistant program, spa and wellness operations management and legal office administration at the Ottawa campus and the action sports parks development program at the Pembroke campus.
