Principal Patrick Deane began the last Board of Trustees meeting of the year by acknowledging Queen’s is at a crossroads.
Trustees spoke to the campus impacts of the bombardment of Gaza and ratified revisions to the sexual violence policy in Richardson Hall on Dec. 8. All motions ed, including appointing auditors for the new fiscal year and the establishment of a new Research Chair in nuclear materials in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Though several topics were discussed, the University’s financial crisis loomed throughout the meeting as trustees analyzed investments and discussed the impact of tightening purse strings.
In his opening address, Principal Deane touched on events around campus related to the current war in Gaza.
“Universities have been places defined by contradiction, by the speaking from one point of view against another. They’re places of dialogue and that’s one of the hardest positions to maintain in an organization,” Deane said.
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Deane reminded trustees that the University community must be a ive environment for all students, and remarked on the impacts the war is having on Queen’s campus.
At the end of the meeting, changes to the Policy on Sexual Violence Involving Queen’s University Students was ratified and will come into effect January 2, 2024. The amended policy involves students making complaints acting as a party in the process, providing them with a right to appeal. The update provides respondents through the Ombuds Office to ensure academic, wellbeing, and process s are in place.
The budget crisis
In his opening address, Deane blamed the ongoing budget crisis on chronic underfunding from the provincial government, reminding trustees other Ontario universities are experiencing similar difficulties.
According to Provost Matthew Evans’ report, the budget crisis remains his top priority, but specific decisions lie in the hands of individual faculties.
“The immediate cost saving that’s needed to come into operational balance by the end of next academic year is largely in the hands of Deans and Vice-Principals and others who head spending units,” Evans said in his written report.
Trustees expressed concern for how the cuts would impact diversity at Queen’s. Faculty Trustee Victoria Remenda raised the concern that budget cuts and the ongoing hiring freeze will harm faculty and staff retention amongst equity-deserving groups. She believes Queen’s has come a long way in creating an inclusive environment, and the budget crisis could hinder further success.
“We’ll have people who will leave because they’re an island, and they need more colleagues who they recognize as being part of their community,” Remenda said at Board.
Stephanie Simpson, vice-principal (culture, equity, and inclusion), agreed with this sentiment and reported in the Indigenization-Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism annual report that Queen’s hires equity-deserving faculty at rates above workforce capacity. With the hiring freeze she said it’s unlikely this can continue.
Deane recognized the tough budgetary position the University is in and reminded trustees of achievements such as Stephen Smith’s $100 million-dollar gift to the faculty of engineering.
Students speak up
For Rector Owen Crawford-Lem, the low vacancy rate in Kingston and food insecurity can make or break a student’s Queen’s experience. Crawford-Lem and SGPS President Devin Fowlie said students are finding it difficult to obtain housing, while graduate student funding packages have remained stagnant, placing them in a difficult position in of rising food and rent costs.
“It’s hard to continue to produce high quality research in this [stagnant wages and high cost] context,” Fowlie said in his address at the Board of Trustees.
Fowlie acknowledged the difficult financial decisions facing the Board but urged trustees to think about how the impacts on graduate students will influence retention and recruitment of researchers at Queen’s. In Fowlie’s opinion, Queen’s derives prestige from the research conducted by graduate students and needs to stop taking their work for granted.
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Students, staff, and faculty are angry about looming budget cuts, according to Fowlie. He said graduate students have been left wondering if they’ll have enough funding to complete their degrees and research, while staff are unsure if their jobs are safe.
“I’m going to ask that you consider communicating and start speaking to those people you need to retain, and you need to recruit,” Fowlie said.
Building on Crawford-Lem’s earlier analysis on the rising cost of living, AMS President Kate McCuaig called on trustees to donate to the AMS Food Bank in the spirit of the holidays. McCuaig explained to trustees the AMS Food Bank has seen as many as 50 patrons per shift, a marked increase from before when an average of 15 patrons accessed the service.
Trustee Doug Bruce asked McCuaig if the AMS had thought of long-term solutions to food insecurity on campus, while other trustees chimed in with ideas to increase donations, such as connecting with Queen’s alumni who might be in positions where they are quipped to donate large sums.
For now, McCuaig and the AMS are focusing on improving the services already available to students.
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