UNews - Sam Smith

Update from President Mahon on the Budget Adjustment Process

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:26:27 +0000

April 11, 2013

At the Community Update held on March 27, 2013, I committed to developing a values-based process to guide the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ through the operating budget adjustments that we as a community must participate in. In his presentation, our Provost, Dr. Andrew Hakin, outlined the process through which those values will be determined and endorsed, and the timeline under which we would conduct this process.

The values that will guide us are those that we, as a community, have collectively developed over multiple years, through many inclusive, collegial processes. They are a distillation of the values that are the foundation of our Strategic Plan, our Academic Plan and our Research Plan. Most importantly, the values are reflective of our community, and have been endorsed by both governance bodies of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the General Faculties Council and the Board of Governors.

While much work has been done to develop the 2013/14 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ budget, there is much yet to do. Using these values as a compass we will over the course of the next month develop and debate options and ultimately bring forward the 2013/14 consolidated budget for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Using the pre-existing budget development entities and processes I expect to make a recommendation to the Board of Governors to approve the 2013/14 consolidated budget in mid-May to allow the Comprehensive Institutional Plan (CIP) to be submitted to Enterprise and Advanced Education for the May 31 deadline. The budget is a key component of the CIP.

At the end of this message I have included the values statement that has been presented, vigorously debated and refined by Deans' Council, Executive Directors' Council, President's Executive, the Budget Advisory Committee, the Budget Priorities Advisory Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, General Faculties Council, and the Board of Governors. I encourage you to read the document.

The Budget Advisory Committee will begin its deliberations on the budget adjustments, which include reductions as well as revenue opportunities, on Saturday morning. Their recommendations will be reviewed and refined by the Budget Priorities Advisory Committee. The Strategic Planning Committee will review the proposed adjustments and provide guidance on whether the proposed adjustments are respective of our values and to help the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ ensure that the adjustments being proposed are not being made solely for expediency and do not compromise the long term development of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ as it relates to our priorities and aspirations as an academic community. President's Executive will be fundamental through this process and will review all of the proposed adjustments before the budget is presented to GFC and to the Board of Governors.

While this process will be challenging and must be conducted in a very compressed time period, I do encourage you to continue to provide your feedback and ideas via this website.

To date, I have received over 50 submissions from U of L community members on the Letter of Expectation as well as suggested budget adjustments. A fair summary of those ideas has been posted to this web page

for your review. I am grateful for the thoughtful and considered ideas that have come forward to date. All ideas that are proposed will be provided to the Budget Advisory Committee.

On April 23 from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Students' Union Ballroom Level 3, we will host another Community Update to discuss the budget progress made to date. I am hopeful that there will be additional clarity with regard to the Letter of Expectation by that time. As well, I hope to be able to share with you the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's response to the Letter to Enterprise and Advanced Education.

This continues to be a stressful and challenging time for our sector and our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. I am buoyed however by the positive support and collective will of our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community to work together to address our current challenges. Our Board of Governors, our General Faculties Council, the Senate, the alumni of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and our community have been rallying in their advocacy and support of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. I am proud of and grateful to members of our academic community who have engaged in public debate and civil dialogue on these issues. I am proud of our students who have actively engaged with government in a positive way and have regularly exercised their rights to express themselves and their opinions. I am assured through this very tangible support that our future remains ours to determine and is bright.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mike Mahon
President and Vice-Chancellor

Reaffirming our Values:
A ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Response to the 2013-14 Provincial Budget

We commit to maintaining the forward vision of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Our Strategic priorities remain priorities independently of the financial challenges our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ encounters. To take us to our desired future the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will pursue its established strategic directions and identified priorities.

The Alberta Provincial Budget 2013-14 has imposed severe reductions and thus introduced significant financial challenges for the post-secondary sector in our province and for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. A reduction to our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Campus Alberta Grant of 7.3% will require the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to eliminate $11.9 million from its continuing operating budget.

An increase of 2% to the Campus Alberta Grant for 2013-14 had previously been communicated by the Government of Alberta to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, as part of a three year funding commitment. This was presented with the intention of enhancing future financial planning and sustainability. Although it became increasingly clear during the 2012-13 fiscal year that the 2% increase was becoming less likely, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and others in the post-secondary sector, were not informed or warned by the Ministry of the deep financial reduction that has been applied to our continuing operating funds.

In managing the impact of this severe funding reduction, members of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ senior administration have committed to clear, timely, and transparent communication to all members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Our first order of business is to enter into a process that will address our required reductions. To do this our institutional values will be reaffirmed and will be used to guide and influence all budget related decisions and processes that lie ahead. The processes by which these values will be endorsed and reaffirmed by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and by which the 2013-14 budget will be established are provided within Appendix 1 of this document. They follow closely the paths already utilized for budget approval within our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Fortunately, in the last few years much work has been completed with respect to the values of our institution. They are contained within the documents that provide the framework for the operation and the establishment of priorities for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. These documents include our current Strategic Plan, Academic and Research Plans, and our Comprehensive Institutional Plan. All of these documents were approved utilizing the full scope of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ bicameral governance framework. Although they were created and approved at times in which significantly different financial conditions were anticipated, these documents enshrine both our values and our priorities as an institution. These values and priorities are independent of our immediate financial future as the long-term future of our three-campus ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ extends well beyond immediate budgetary issues.

To intentionally follow our priorities will require all constituents of our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to work together. Working together provides strength. As we address our financial challenges we will strive to ensure that all groups within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ are engaged in the protection of the academic integrity and the future of our institution. There are no aspects of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's operation that will be excluded from consideration in constructing the path by which we will best ensure the continuing financial sustainability of our institution. Indeed, in moving towards this desired outcome it will be necessary to explore all possible operational collaborations to achieve efficiencies. New forms of revenue generation will be considered an important component of any plan to mitigate our financial challenges.

The values presented below are purposely non-prioritized as they provide a holistic framework to guide and influence the budget processes and decisions that lie ahead. Underlying these values is a commitment to open, transparent and timely communication to our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community. And fundamentally, as president Sam Smith asserted in his August 1, 1967 address to the students of summer session, our core commitment is still "to the individual student as a person and as of ultimate worth.

Our people define our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and are our greatest strength

People are the essential resource of our institution and as such the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will strive to preserve employment. All ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ employee groups will be treated with fairness and with respect in all that lies ahead in our work to maintain our student centred focus and to ensure the continuing financial sustainability of our institution.

High quality is central to all that we do

Our commitment to maintaining high quality undergraduate and graduate academic programmes is key to our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ mission to build a better society. High quality instruction and teaching are essential to this commitment. Research and creative activity are also key to our mission and their vitality and vibrancy serve as a differentiating feature of our institution and a central part of our culture as a comprehensive academic and research institution. High quality facilities and services support our mission and best serve our students, staff, and academic staff.

Access to our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is a foundational value

As a Comprehensive Academic and Research ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, dedicated to liberal education, that was born out of the needs and aspirations of our local communities we are committed to providing student access to our high quality academic programs throughout the province without creating unnecessary financial barriers. Community engagement with our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and community use of our facilities play a role in defining us as a public institution.

The proud history of Moses

trevor.kenney — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:05:03 +0000

Sometimes, it's just a matter of asking the question.

When Dr. Van E. Christou (LLD '84) and his family attended Expo '67 in Montreal, they had no idea they'd be coming home with a 17-foot tall, 1,800 kilogram (4,000 pounds) souvenir for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Then again, the fledgling U of L was not your typical university and as an original board member, Christou had the kind of maverick spirit that opened doors and got things done.

"When we were walking around Expo I was really struck by the art throughout the site, and I noticed that each sculpture was owned by the House of Seagrams," says Christou. "I called up our president, Sam Smith, and asked if he could get me a meeting with one of their representatives. I spent the next afternoon with Charles Bronfman, the CEO. At the end of our talk, I asked him what they were doing with all the sculptures when Expo was finished and he said they had no plans."

So Christou made his pitch, telling the story of this new centennial university and how a significant art piece would make a wonderful gift to celebrate its opening.

"He said go ahead, choose whatever one you want," says Christou.

Sorel Etrog's Moses as it appeared outside the American pavilion at Montreal's Expo '67.

With family in tow, Christou and his wife Helen went shopping.

"We had four children ranging from eight years down, and they all came with me, and we went back and forth across the entire Expo site," recounts Christou. "I eventually narrowed it down to two pieces, one from Sorel Etrog and another from Louis Archambault, a French Canadian artist. I chose Moses because I thought it would fit better with Erickson's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall."

Created by Romanian-born, Canadian sculptor Etrog, it was commissioned by the corporation that operated Expo '67. Etrog actually created three such sculptures, cast in bronze and hollow, with the others currently situated in Los Angeles, Cal. and Tel Aviv, Israel.

It originally resided near the American pavilion on the Expo '67 site.

"People used to gather around it and meet around it when it was out in the open, it has that kind of presence," says Christou. "It is a very powerful piece. If you walk around it, it really does something to you, it's very strong. I just thought it was outstanding and that's why I picked it."

Moses was originally installed at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Lethbridge Junior College campus before being moved to the west side in 1972 and mounted outside the entrance to ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall. For more than four years Moses braved the weather as best he could, but even 4,000 pounds of bronze can buckle when confronted with southern Alberta Chinook winds that vibrated it so consistently, it developed a series of cracks in its base. In the fall of 1977, Moses was taken down and shipped off to Dressor Clark Industries for substantial repairs. A heavier base was constructed, cracks in its exterior were sealed and Moses was ready for his next, and final, journey. In 1981, as the Centre for the Arts was nearing completion, he was lowered through an unfinished roof to his current resting place.

"It's interesting that it's the first piece that we got for the art collection," says Christou of an internationally renowned collection that now has greater than 13,000 pieces. "It allowed me to talk the other members of the board into spending money to start the art collection. It was a tough time and money was scarce but I managed to wine and dine them long enough to get it passed and that's how we got the collection started."

GET THE FACTS

· Moses was originally cast in Florence, Italy before being transported to Montreal

· Seagrams paid for the entire cost of shipping Moses to Lethbridge and for engineers to erect the sculpture on its original site

· Etrog, who was born in Romania in 1933 but left to study at the Tel Aviv Art Institute in 1950, later moved to New York City then Toronto. He gained Canadian citizenship in 1966 and passed away on Feb. 26, 2014

· Etrog also designed the Canadian film award now known as the 'Genie'. It was originally called the 'Etrog'

· The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has a total of five Etrog pieces in the Art Collection

· Moses underwent further repairs in 2005, when additional supports were installed near the top of the sculpture after it was found to have moved during regular cleaning

· Dr. Van E. Christou was recently named the 2014 Lethbridge Citizen of the Year

This story first appeared in the March 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Protest puts SU president Wutzke into custody

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:14:31 +0000

A combination of youthful enthusiasm, righteous indignation and an activist student culture led to one of the most significant nights in the early history of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the young life of Richard Wutzke (BASc '72).

It was May 1968 and determining the future site of the fledgling university was the topic of the day. While ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ administration, faculty, students and the City of Lethbridge all agreed that a westside location matched the vision of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's founders, the provincial government did not originally accept this recommendation, and instead proposed a local referendum to determine the site.

Days after SU President Richard Wutzke spent an evening in a Lethbridge jail, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's first graduation class, along with faculty, marched in city streets to protest the proposed referendum that would decide the future site of the U of L campus.

With philosophical lines drawn, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ students took to the streets, and on one fateful night, to the avenue in front of Lethbridge MLA John Landeryou's house. It wasn't long before Wutzke, the Students' Union president, was being hauled away by police, to be joined later by his right-hand man, Arthur Joevenazzo.

"Looking at it from the age of 63 and looking at it from the age of 18 are two different perspectives entirely," says Wutzke, now an artist living in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal.

"Now when you look at it and you see a campus with 8,500 students and a third of the city's population is on the westside, it all seems so obvious that this was the right direction to go. But if you were picking up the tab for some kind of a pipe dream like this, I think you might say, "Wait a minute now"."

Student politics of the day had grown more and more confrontational and Wutzke admits he was elected SU president as an activist candidate. He says that as the debate ramped up, a culmination of factors led students out into the streets that evening.

"We were really keen on this type of activity," he says, noting that he and Joevenazzo were the debate champions of Alberta at the time. "There's a lot of testosterone pumping away in your veins and you're just looking for a scrap somewhere."

Fueled by what he calls "hearsay" and inspired by "the struggles of Mahatma Ghandi and the readings of Henry David Thoreau", an evening meeting with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ faculty was the impetus for a placard-waving group to descend upon Landeryou's home.

"Today I'd be embarrassed to go forging out on an expedition like this with the kind of information we had," chuckles Wutzke. "We felt that somehow Mr. Landeryou was in cahoots with landowners surrounding the junior college who all stood to make very handsome profits by the expropriation of their property. Now, like I say, that is what we believed at the time and that's the information we acted on and we did so with righteous indignation."

When police arrived, they quickly identified Wutzke as a ringleader and put him in a police cruiser.

"I was taken into the police car and then the car was surrounded by students," says Wutzke. "Everybody sat down on the asphalt to prevent the police car from moving. Finally they basically threatened to run people over and they left with me. As soon as I was taken off the scene, my most able henchman, Arthur Joevenazzo, took up the charge and started the chanting again. They came back and picked him up too."

Wutzke and Joevenazzo were actually never arrested, as lore would have it. They were never charged, fingerprinted or put into a cell. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ President Sam Smith got out of bed, drove down to the police station and vouched for the duo's character and Wutzke's father eventually came to drive him home.

Two days later, following the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's first convocation, a street march was held, culminating with a rally at Galt Gardens. Days later, with provincial eyes now on Lethbridge and its rebellious students, the government backed off and the westside plan was ratified.

"If I hadn't been there, somebody else would have been there," says Wutzke modestly. "What's important is that in that time in history, the students, even though they would not be the recipients of this glorious new campus, acted and didn't sit on their hands and change occurred. When I look back at that, there is a sense of pride. Not only that I had some personal role in it but that I was part of a student body that really had the guts to get up and be heard."

It's a spirit he continues to see today, and one he applauds.

"Sometimes students really get on your nerves because they are always agitating about something, but it shows you it's a very essential part of the democratic process."

This story first appeared in the February 2012 edition of The Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

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Update from President Mahon on the Budget Adjustment Process

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