NSCAD to Cut $1.2 Million from Deficit

The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) approved budgetary measures on July 3, to cut $1.2M from the university’s deficit by introducing student fees, eliminating under-enrolled classes, and decreasing labour costs.

These spending reductions are part of a plan submitted by the troubled fine arts school on Mar 29 to get NSCAD on the path towards financial stability, NSCAD’s President David B. Smith said in a press release on Apr 5, 2012.

According to NSCAD’s “Framework for Sustainability,” the school intends on balancing the budget by cutting jobs, mostly part-time positions, through attrition. Attrition is the gradual reduction of employees through retirement

As for new student fees, NSCAD plans to increase tuition by 3% as well as add an adjustment fee of $82.50 a term for students taking five courses in the school year. Students who wish to take six courses will soon have to pay an Override Fee of $600 per term. The framework stated that a $45 facility fee and a $50 technology renewal fee will also be added to tuition for the upcoming school year.

Currently, NSCAD does not charge students for graduating. However, in order to generate revenue of approximately $11,600, students graduating from the 2012-2013 class and onwards will have to pay a $50 fee.

Despite the new fees, NSCAD’s tuition for the 2012-2013 school year is below the provincial average, resting at $6,000 per year.

Kevin Finch, Communications Advisor for the Department of Education and Labour in Nova Scotia, said NSCAD’s financial troubles started 5 years ago, “after the province agreed to invest $4.7 million to move the university from leased premises to a new port campuses” in order to handle enrollment growth.

One of these campuses is the Waterfront Campus which required $8.9 million from the government to house NSCAD’s sculpture, design, ceramics, and foundation programs, said a report issued by the Nova Scotia government in December 2011.

However, enrollment did not increase as expected and “anticipated federal funding did not arrive, leaving NSCAD in a financial crunch from which it has not recovered,” Finch said.

According to the 2011 report, NSCAD’s current debt is projected to be $19 million.

The 2011 report also stated that NSCAD relies on funding provided by the Nova Scotia government more than any other school in the province. “The total operating and facilities grants from the province were approximately $11 million or 60 per cent of NSCAD’s total revenue,” the report said. The average for universities in Nova Scotia is around 30 per cent.

Without the cost-saving measures introduced in NSCAD’s Framework for Sustainability, NSCAD’s deficit, which currently sits at $2.4 million, could balloon to $4 million by 2013.

Sarah Trower and Kelly Zwicker, President and VP Internal for the Student Union at NSCAD, said that the budget cuts are the result of a “serious lack of transparency in regards to the distribution of money.”

According to Trower and Zwicker, the Student Union of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (SUNSCAD), recently sent letters to the NSCAD Board of Governance and the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education as a response to the new fees.

Trower and Zwicker said the budget contravenes a Memorandum of Understanding which states that students must be informed of proposed ancillary fees 4 weeks in advance. “We were consulted only a week and a half before the fees were passed,” Trower and Zwicker said.

NSCAD’s financial woes cast a dark shroud on its 125^th anniversary. Nonetheless, the Nova Scotia government remains optimistic in securing NSCAD’s future.

“Nova Scotia has a rich cultural heritage and NSCAD’s roots go back 125 years,” Finch said.  “We are committed to having a fine arts education in this province.”

Below is the full interview transcript between myself and the executive members at SUNSCAD to further contextualize this issue.

1. How will the budget affect students?

The part of the budget that will have the largest effect on the students are the three new student fees that the Board of Governors recently passed.  These fees are the facility renewal fee ($45/semester),  technology renewal fee ($50/semester), and a graduation fee of $50.  This totals an extra $190 in fees for students, and $240 for graduating students.  On top of these fees is the 3% tuition increase, which is an average of $83 per semester. This means students are expected to pay approximately an extra $400 in fees this upcoming year.

2. How are students reacting to the budget?

Since these fees have just been implemented June 26th, most students are unaware of them as they are away working for the summer. We will soon be informing the students of the new fees and our efforts to fight against their implementation, and we expect that they will be as angered as we are about them.

3. How will the budget affect SUNSCAD?

Our budget here at SUNSCAD is separate from the NSCAD budget. The students pay a student union fee at the beginning of every term which goes towards our budget. This being said, were are a union made up of students, so as students we will be affected by these fees immensely.

4. What is SUNSCAD preparing to do to address the budget?

We have sent out a letter to the NSCAD University Board of Governors and the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education in response to the fees being passed, as well as outlining how they contravene the Memorandum of Understanding.  The MOU states: “In circumstances where students are to be faced with compulsory fee increases relating to ancillary operations, recognized student organizations on each campus will be consulted at least four weeks in advance of the approval by the university of the proposed increase.” We were consulted only a week and a half before the fees were passed. We have requested that the Department of Labour and Advanced Education conduct a formal review of the three fees, as they blatantly contravene the MOU.

5. How else can the school achieve financial sustainability?

There has been a serious lack of transparency in regards to the distribution of money here at NSCAD. Students are currently being asked to pay for the poor financial decisions Administration has made in the past.

We are currently demanding more transparency from the Administration, and are trying our hardest to make sure that students have a say in all important financial decision-making in the future. Furthermore, NSCAD receives less funding for its students than other universities do for journalism, theatre, and music students. As an arts institution, we require  a fair amount of studio space and up-to-date equipment to do our work. The government should be adequately funding NSCAD and should create a better funding formula for unique, smaller institutions like NSCAD.

Kelly Zwicker, VP External

Sarah Trower, President

SUNSCAD