Budget updates

Additional Detail

Postings and Temporary Hires

Requests for all hiring pre-approvals, other than noted in the Appendix A list of exemptions, are to be submitted via the Hiring Pre-Approval (HPA) Request created in HRIS. Detailed instructions on how to use the form and the workflow of these requests are attached as an appendix. The form may be completed by appointment creators, managers, or other employees involved in the hiring of employees. Confirmation that the request has been approved by the Budget Holder is one of the required fields for submission. Submitted requests for hiring pre-approvals will be reviewed as a batch by the Budget Committee subgroup once per week.

For positions that require postings, once the Budget Committee subgroup approves the request submitted via the HPA form, the following steps will occur:

• The requestor will be notified of the granting of the hiring pre-approval request
• The requestor will submit the requisite information for the Job Posting system
• HR Recruitment will review and approve the posting.

All other approvals and review steps currently in place in the Job Posting system will be removed to ensure there is no duplication of review.

Conclusion

We understand that any reductions in staffing levels may result in non-critical work having to be either paused or delayed. Any positions left unfilled or temporarily left vacant should not culminate in that role’s assignments being added to another employee(s)’ responsibilities unless an equivalent level of non-critical duties is subsequently paused. During this time, services to students and employees are expected to continue at a reasonable level.

Thank you for your leadership and diligence during this challenging time.

Yours truly,

Dan VanderSluis

AVP, Human Resources Vancouver Island University

View January 2025 budget update

We are pleased to share Vancouver Island University’s inaugural Budget Advisory Council (BAC) report.  

The BAC has been working diligently to align their recommendations on the draft 2025-26 operating budget plan with VIU’s core values of understanding, commitment, and connection. This work draws on insights from recent budget surveys, budget consultation sessions, the Deficit Mitigation Plan (DMP), and our current financial and enrolment realities. 

As we are all aware, in October 2023, VIU committed to the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills to reduce expenditures by 10% ($18 million) over three years with the goal to achieve a balanced budget by April 2026. This aligns with our DMP, Strategic Plan (People, Place, and Potential), and our commitment to building a sustainable institution that serves students, employees, and our broader community. 

One significant and unexpected challenge we face is the recent regulatory changes to international student study and work permits, which have led to a sharp decline in new enrolments. This has greatly impacted tuition and fees revenue and will continue to influence our long-term financial planning. 

As we navigate these complexities, we remain committed to achieving our deficit mitigation plan and reducing expenditures by $18 million by the end of fiscal year 2025–26. However, given these evolving circumstances, achieving a balanced budget will take longer than initially anticipated. 

While we had hoped to release this report earlier, it was important that the Finance, Audit, and Facilities (FAF) Committee of the Board reviewed it first to provide essential feedback. 

Despite the challenges ahead, we are confident that by making thoughtful, strategic decisions today, we can position VIU for a stronger, more sustainable tomorrow. 

Thank you for your engagement and support. 

Sincerely,  

Emily Huner, CPA, CMA, MBA (she/her)  
Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President Administration 

I am pleased to share that Vancouver Island University’s Board of Governors has approved the 2024-2025 Budget. The 2024-25 Budget documents are now available online.

Since the January 29, 2024 employee townhall, VIU’s forecast deficit budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year has decreased to $8.9 million from $12.6 million. Additionally, the projected budget deficit for 2023-24 is currently tracking to meet the Board approved budget. While this is positive news, VIU must still meet all the targets set out in the Deficit Mitigation Plan in order to be financially sustainable.

VIU’s 2024-25 Budget includes a 2.5% percent reduction for non-academic areas which were required to reduce their budgets by 5% in the 2023-24 Budget and a 5% percent reduction to academic areas in order to meet the targets set out in VIU’s Deficit Mitigation Plan.

It is necessary for VIU to meet the targets set out in the Deficit Mitigation Plan and our annual Budget Letter from the Ministry to be a sustainable and fiscally responsible university. As a public institution, VIU is required to balance its budget each year and must also demonstrate responsible use of our public funding from taxpayers and our tuition revenue from students.

As we have shared, VIU currently has the highest number of employees and lowest number of students since the 2013-14 fiscal year. High expenses and low revenues have resulted in annual deficits since 2019-20, and VIU must address this imbalance. We continue to work with the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills and have their support as we focus on fully implementing VIU’s Deficit Mitigation Plan and work to return to balanced budgets in the 2026-27 fiscal year.

This spring, a Budget Advisory Council will debut. This is a new addition to our annual budget cycle, and the Council will be made up of employees and students who will provide input on VIU’s spending priorities. More information will be provided in the coming weeks for those who wish to participate. As well, thank you to all who provided feedback through VIU’s Budget Survey in January. A summary of the feedback can be found on the Budget webpage.

Thank you to everyone involved in the budget this year for your hard work and diligence and thank you to all employees for your continued commitment to our learners.

Sincerely, 

Emily Huner

CFO and Vice-President, Administration

VIU’s Deficit Mitigation Plan charts a path for the university to return to balanced annual budgets by 2025-26. Importantly, this plan prioritizes our continued commitment to student learning, experiences, and services that match our student population.

The

outlines the expected revenues and expenditures and recommended operating budget for the 2024-2025 academic year and key components of our new budget operating model which aims to build a stronger, more resilient institution and incorporates a new revenue sharing model, alterations and renovation program and a strategic initiative funding program.

I want to highlight that our budget deficit for the current academic year (2023-24) is now $20.2 million. This is due to the following factors that have changed since July 2023.

Revenues

• Tuition and Student Fees: We are currently forecasting a reduction of $3.1 million dollars in tuition compared to a $1.5 million loss in our original budget approved in April based on enrolment reporting at the time.
• Ancillary Operations: With fewer students on campus, VIU is seeing a reduction of approximately $1 million in sales as of August 31 in all units, including Student Housing, Food Services, Starbucks, the Print Shop, and the Campus Store. 

Expenditures

• Salaries and Benefits: Although VIU received Shared Recovery Mandate (SRM) funding from the province to cover salary and benefits increases for the ratified CUPE collective agreement and equivalent increases for management and excluded positions, the province will not cover the approximately $500,000 to CUPE workers due to changes in their job evaluation (JJEs), nor their well-deserved retro pay. Compensation funding has also been set aside for staff and faculty that may be impacted by individual units’ deficit mitigation plans. 
• Unit 4 Student Module: In 2020, the decision was made to halt the development of the Unit 4 Student Module because the module did not fulfill the functionality that was promised by the vendor and, therefore, could not adequately meet the needs of our students. However, despite this decision occurring in 2020, VIU carried a $3.3 million liability associated with the development of this unit until August 31, 2023, when the full amount was written off.   

For the new budget model, VIU’s tuition revenues for 2024-25 will be based on actual 2022-23 enrolments, rather than enrolment forecasts, to be as conservative as possible. In 2023-24, we have seen a six per cent decrease in domestic student registrations and a 14 per cent decrease in international student registrations from 2021-22, which is below what we budgeted, according to data from the Office of University Planning and analytics (OUPA). 

Combined with previous years’ deficits, VIU’s accumulated deficit is now $46.9M (combined fiscal years 2019-20 to 2023-24.)

As I shared in July, to address our ongoing deficits since 2020, we have set a 10 per cent budget reduction target for academic and non-academic units to be reached by the 2025-2026 academic year. Academic units are not required to make any reductions in the current fiscal year; whereas non-academic units must meet half of this target in the current fiscal year and the remaining five per cent by 2025-2026. Academic units will be required to meet the 10 per cent target by 2025-26. This allows for the necessary time to make strategic changes to our program mix. 

We believe the three-year window provides sufficient time to examine current business practices and examine ways to become more efficient while remaining committed to its learners. The university will also explore measures to increase revenues. 

I want to acknowledge that in 2022, to address the university’s deficit position, a Financial Recovery Task Force was created to assist in mitigating VIU’s deficit and financial recovery. The Task Force solicited and investigated ideas and solutions for enhancing the university’s financial position; including proposals for increased course offerings during the summer session; enhancing student recruitment and retention initiatives; adding cohorts for programs with high interest/need and, targeted enrolment growth for specific programs. These efforts have not yet produced the desired enrolments, which is why we must move forward with more significant changes that are outlined in the

. 

The Deficit Mitigation Plan outlines the following measures are currently underway and/or being considered:

Academic

• Program mix and course offerings review.
  • Using a new tool to enable Deans to facilitate decision-making regarding program mix and class offerings. 
  • Identify market opportunities to use existing course offerings to better meet student interests. 
  • Optimize course offerings in spring and summer.
  • Grow and create programs with revenue generating and enrolment potential.
  • Increase and optimize PD&T offerings (continuing education).
• Setting a minimum class size of 15 (first- and second-year courses).
  • Collapsing number of sections for courses where minimum enrollment is not met.
  • Ensuring all reserves are removed as soon as possible.
  • Removing international student caps where there are empty seats and students on waitlists.
  • Reviewing class/course international caps to ensure that they are current and reasonable.
• Reviewing and adjusting offerings of all senior-level low enrolment classes. 
• Review of current course releases.
• Review of current overload practices. 
• Sustaining the rigorous review process for all temporary and regular hiring. 
• Staffing reductions through mechanisms such as release of vacant positions, retirement, or layoffs.

Administration

• Freezing of overtime without senior budget holder pre-approval.
• Sustaining the current rigorous review process for all temporary and regular hiring.
• All new contracts >$10K or greater will require President, Provost, or CFO sign-off. 
• Staffing reductions through mechanisms such as release of vacant positions, retirement, or layoffs.
• IT to enact a software / app audit:
  • Based on usage by staff and students and looking at the costs within each unit / faculty.
• Review of Ancillary operations (including satellite campuses).
  • Potential seasonal closures.
  • Reduced operating hours.
  • Increased revenues in residence fees and food services.
• Review of Facilities’ seasonal shuttering of buildings.
  • Schedule and monitoring.
  • Analyzing savings of shuttering vs. costs of unshuttering.

I want to clarify that staffing reductions as part of the Deficit Mitigation Plan will continue to be at the discretion of each unit as they determine how they will meet the 10 per cent budget reduction by 2025-26. 

Over the next two budget periods, it's crucial that we prioritize financial prudence and responsibility while safeguarding our core academic mission. The steps we are taking to return to a balanced budget are underscored by our commitment to building on our strengths and advancing our culture. In all our financial decisions, we remain committed to our learners and to our employees, who are the foundation of VIU’s future.

Sincerely, 

Emily Huner

CFO and Vice-President, Administration