[B][SIZE="3"]Bleak bottom line[/SIZE][/B]

[SIZE="3"]The University of New Brunswick is staring down the barrel of a [B][COLOR="red"]$6-million [/COLOR][/B]deficit in the coming year, a shortfall the university warns could quickly grow to [B][COLOR="red"]$14 million[/COLOR][/B].

In all, the university reckons it will run up a three-year deficit of [B][COLOR="red"]$30 million [/COLOR][/B]between the upcoming fiscal year and 2011-12. That bleak prognosis was revealed Monday in a memo sent by university president John McLaughlin to UNB faculty and staff.
The memo shows that UNB has not been spared from the effects of the global economic meltdown.

For example, during 2008, the school's endowment and long-term trusts suffered a market loss of nearly 17 per cent, representing a plunge in value of about [B][COLOR="red"]$30 million[/COLOR][/B].

On Monday, McLaughlin stressed the university won't let those losses affect student scholarships and bursaries this year."This is, however, only a short-term solution as the markets have continued to decline and remain volatile," he warned.

The university's financial update comes as the school prepares for the 2009-10 budget year, which starts May 1.

According to McLaughlin, UNB has already trimmed [B][COLOR="red"]$3 million [/COLOR][/B]and deferred spending from its ledger. Yet the school, which has campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, is still predicting a 2009-10 deficit of at least [B][COLOR="red"]$6 million [/COLOR][/B]and a shortfall over the next three years of [B][COLOR="red"]$30 million[/COLOR][/B].

"This is a significant number that must be controlled to preserve the value and quality of what we do at UNB," McLaughlin stated in the memo."We have much more work to do on our plans and budgets and we will need to seriously examine further options to reduce expenses and increase revenues."

McLaughlin, in his final months as president, also warned that the school's financial troubles show no sign of disappearing.

"If there is not a recovery in the markets soon, longer-term challenges will continue within our trust and endowment accounts. These challenges are in addition to those we face within the operating budget," he said.

"Like all organizations faced by a recession, we have a difficult road ahead."

But McLaughlin stated UNB's bottom line is also being hit by the Liberal government's apparent decision to freeze university funding.

In the 2008-09 fiscal year, UNB received an operating grant of [B][COLOR="red"]$94.9 million [/COLOR][/B]from the province, which accounted for 60 per cent of the school's budget. Tuition revenues, meanwhile, brought in 34 per cent of the university's operating funds.

McLaughlin acknowledged the government's decision to freeze university funding reflects the new economic climate, but he noted the move means UNB is facing a[B][COLOR="red"] $4-million [/COLOR][/B]discrepancy between its budget estimates and its new reality.

"Like other universities, UNB will look at all reasonable options and opportunities to adjust to the current economic environment to protect the student experience and minimize impact to service areas as much as possible," he concluded.

Still, it appears the province's universities will be asked to cut further.

Last week, Finance Minister Victor Boudreau implied when he unveiled his 2009-10 budget that publicly-funded universities are expected to adopt the two-year wage freeze now being imposed on all public-sector employees.

"Universities receive significant financial support from New Brunswick taxpayers.

The government anticipates these entities will take the appropriate steps to manage their wage bills in a manner similar to the province," Boudreau said. "Grants to universities will be adjusted in future years to reflect this expectation."

Jeffrey Carleton, a spokesman for Fredericton's St. Thomas University, says Boudreau is "more than implying" that universities should implement a two-year wage freeze for faculty and staff.

Carleton said university and government officials must now meet so the institution understands exactly what the province expects of it, particularly as the liberal arts school crafts its 2009-10 budget.

"We're not concerned with the vagueness," Carleton said. "We just want to make sure we understand the expectations."[/SIZE]

痛苦的一年。