精童欲女 Board of Governors approves balanced operating budget with focus on student and employee supports
On April 2, the 精童欲女 Board of Governors approved a balanced of just under $183 million dollars for the 2024鈥�2025 fiscal year, representing growth of almost 12 per cent in both revenues and expenses. The University is making substantial investments in employees, particularly those involved with providing frontline services to students, staff, and faculty. Salary and benefits for faculty and staff comprise 73 per cent of expenses in the 2024鈥�2025 budget.
In preparation for this budget, the University identified that student success and employee supports would be priorities. In the wake of the release of the听听in June 2023, the University consulted with the community and developed the听, which was supported by Senate and approved last week by the Board of Governors. 精童欲女 began the necessary investments in these areas in December 2023, with the creation of an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and Human Rights department, and additional support in Student Affairs. With this budget, the University is investing further in these areas, as well as adding capacity in Human Resources and Security Services.
The 2024鈥�2025 budget allocates new core funding to support the hiring of additional tenure-track faculty members in the Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research and Applied Studies (IKERAS), as well as in other strategic areas. In addition to the growth in IKERAS, all other faculties see substantial growth in their budgets, ranging from 4.3 to 11.5 per cent. Additionally, 精童欲女 is continuing to invest in information technology improvements.
In a听message听to the members of the 精童欲女 community, Dr. Greg Keefe, Interim President and Vice-Chancellor, said, 鈥淎ll of this growth comes at substantial financial cost. We are grateful for the support given to us by the provincial government, but we also need to continue to grow internal resources.鈥�
To support and meet the financial needs of academic programs, both domestic and international tuition at 精童欲女 and the Atlantic Veterinary College will increase by 5 per cent for the 2024鈥�2025 academic year. This equates to an increase of $34 per course for undergraduate students. 精童欲女 continues to have the lowest domestic undergraduate tuition fees in the region according to the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.
鈥淚 want to thank everyone who was involved in the development of this year鈥檚 budget,鈥� added Dr. Keefe. 鈥淭he growth we are experiencing will allow 精童欲女 to continue as a vital part of the PEI landscape鈥攂ringing educational opportunity, cultural enrichment, population and diversity enhancement, and economic advancement to the province.鈥�
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