MONTREAL/November 4, 1999—
More than 2,000 Concordia University students participated in a referendum last week and gave the CSU a mandate to stage a two-day strike to protest cutbacks to government funding for universities and to protest growing student debt.
Theses are issues that the university administration supports. The cutbacks in the university sector have hurt all Quebec universities and their capacity to prepare their students for the future. Likewise, the University recognizes the need for better financial support for students in need and to help students with an increasing debt load as they complete their studies.
The CSU leadership has also taken a position against the university's administrative fee. The administrative fee is a measure that the administration has taken to protect the quality of education at Concordia in the face of unprecedented cutbacks. All other Quebec universities have instituted similar administrative fees. The University understands that this fee adds to the financial burden of many hard-pressed students, but these funds are essential to maintaining the quality of the programs that are offered and the functioning of the university. If the provincial government revises the funding formula for universities, the administrative fee will be re-evaluated.
The student leadership has also questioned their pledge to the University's Capital Campaign. The student leadership legally and voluntarily voted the student contribution to the Campaign. This commitment to building the future of the institution sent a clear message to potential donors that students believed in Concordia and were willing to make a concrete commitment on behalf of future students. The money was clearly allocated for recreation and athletic facilities (40%), student financial support (30%), library improvement (20%) and student projects (10%). The university will adhere strictly to these commitments, but it also counts on the students to honour their pledge. Not doing so would not only affect future students and the projects to be funded by their pledge, but could potentially damage the credibility and commitment of other donors, past, present and future and compromise future fundraising efforts.
Concordia University shares the concerns of its students regarding the current underfunding of the Quebec university system. We join with them in urging the government to restore funding to the university sector and to help students who face an increasing debt load. The university will continue to engage in a productive dialogue with the student leadership concerning the more controversial issues raised in the recent referendum.
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