BURNABY – In an unprecedented community-wide rally today, students, staff, professors, teaching assistants and other community members at Simon Fraser University called on the BC government to restore last year’s cuts to promised operating funds for universities and colleges in its upcoming budget.
Sponsored by seven associations and unions representing all students and almost all staff and employee groups of SFU, the rally featured 80 people holding numbered signs, representing the 30 faculty and 50 other staff positions being terminated as a result of the cuts. The University Senate had recommended academic amnesty to allow students to attend the rally.
“If the funding formula for universities is not adjusted to allow for a significant increase in funding to all post-secondary institutions, within three years there will be no true, public universities left in B.C.,” said Joann Field, president of CUPE 3338.
“I have been a professor here since 1984,” said Dr. Robert Hackett, president of the SFU Faculty Association, “and I cannot recall a coalition of this breadth united around a single policy goal – adequate funding for post-secondary education in BC. We expect enrolment to increase during the economic downturn, and we should be planning for growth, not retrenchment.”
“The Campbell government’s last minutes’ axing of the university’s funding has created a crisis at SFU where administration is cutting positions, increasing workloads and students are hit by a collapse in the quality of their education,” said TSSU coordinator and PhD student, Scott Drake.
Following meetings in December with Advanced Education and Labour Market Development Minister Murray Coell, the SFU Community Coalition is looking for restored funding in the BC provincial budget being tabled February 17.
“The BC Government really needs to step up to the plate,” said Natalie Bocking, External Relations Officer of the Simon Fraser Student Society. “The upcoming budget needs to address this crisis. Nothing less than a full restoration of the cuts will be satisfactory to the thousands of students, staff and faculty at SFU.”
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For media inquiries please contact:
Joann Field, President
CUPE 3338 – Support Staff at SFU
778.782.3887 field@sfu.ca
Dr. Bob Hackett, President
Simon Fraser University Faculty Association (SFUFA)
778.782.3863 sfufapre@sfu.ca
Natalie Bocking, External Relations Officer
Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS)
778.782.6561 / 778.991.4463 ero@sfss.ca
Scott Drake, Coordinator
Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU)
778.782.4735/604.760.201 coordinator@tssu.ca
Graham Lyons, Secretary
Graduate Student Society at SFU (GSS)
778.782.3899 secretary@sfugradsociety.ca
PRESS RELEASE: Students, Staff, Professors & SFU Community rally against provincial funding cuts
BURNABY – In an unprecedented community-wide rally today, students, staff, professors, teaching assistants and other community members at Simon Fraser University called on the BC government to restore last year’s cuts to promised operating funds for universities and colleges in its upcoming budget.
Sponsored by seven associations and unions representing all students and almost all staff and employee groups of SFU, the rally featured 80 people holding numbered signs, representing the 30 faculty and 50 other staff positions being terminated as a result of the cuts. The University Senate had recommended academic amnesty to allow students to attend the rally.
“If the funding formula for universities is not adjusted to allow for a significant increase in funding to all post-secondary institutions, within three years there will be no true, public universities left in B.C.,” said Joann Field, president of CUPE 3338.
“I have been a professor here since 1984,” said Dr. Robert Hackett, president of the SFU Faculty Association, “and I cannot recall a coalition of this breadth united around a single policy goal – adequate funding for post-secondary education in BC. We expect enrolment to increase during the economic downturn, and we should be planning for growth, not retrenchment.”
“The Campbell government’s last minutes’ axing of the university’s funding has created a crisis at SFU where administration is cutting positions, increasing workloads and students are hit by a collapse in the quality of their education,” said TSSU coordinator and PhD student, Scott Drake.
Following meetings in December with Advanced Education and Labour Market Development Minister Murray Coell, the SFU Community Coalition is looking for restored funding in the BC provincial budget being tabled February 17.
“The BC Government really needs to step up to the plate,” said Natalie Bocking, External Relations Officer of the Simon Fraser Student Society. “The upcoming budget needs to address this crisis. Nothing less than a full restoration of the cuts will be satisfactory to the thousands of students, staff and faculty at SFU.”
- 30 –
For media inquiries please contact:
Joann Field, President
CUPE 3338 – Support Staff at SFU
778.782.3887 field@sfu.ca
Dr. Bob Hackett, President
Simon Fraser University Faculty Association (SFUFA)
778.782.3863 sfufapre@sfu.ca
Natalie Bocking, External Relations Officer
Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS)
778.782.6561 / 778.991.4463 ero@sfss.ca
Scott Drake, Coordinator
Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU)
778.782.4735/604.760.201 coordinator@tssu.ca
Graham Lyons, Secretary
Graduate Student Society at SFU (GSS)
778.782.3899 secretary@sfugradsociety.ca