York admin says university finances are recovering from CUPE strike

Flynn Daunt
Science and Technology Editor
According to the York administration’s annual report that highlights the university’s budget and overall financial situation, York has begun to financially recover from 2008-2009 teaching assistants and contract faculty three-month strike.
“In strict financial terms […] we’ve begun to deal with it and recover from it, but obvi- ously the strike’s impact on the university is much, much more than the financial,” said Gary Brewer, vice-president of finance and administration at York.
Conversely, Brewer noted that although York’s finances are normalizing, York has a long way to go before fully recovering.
“There’s an awful lot of reputation concerns still out there about York” he said.
The report, titled Planning, Budget and Accountability and released December 2010, showed that York’s deficit-in-assets went from $120 million to $68 million since last year’s report.
Brewer said York has been able to pull through the economic downturn.
He added that the decrease in deficit can be explained with a return to a normal economic climate, along with budget cuts and increased revenue from student fees.
“We actually didn’t even see the weakness in enrolment that was expected,” Brewer said.
He noted tuition fees increased about five percent compared to last year, while increased enrolment helped generate approximately $6 million.
The economic downturn affected primarily endowments, which concern things like grants, student loans, chairmanships and professorships.
“Some folks would argue that in times of an economic downturn people actually turn to the post-secondary education as a means to upgrade their skills or get new skills,” explained Brewer.
York’s Budget by Numbers
$59 million Amount spent on scholarships and bursaries
$152 million Amount left to pay on building projects
$68 million York’s net assets deficit for 2009-2010
$890 million York’s revenue deficit for 2009-2010
$895 million York’s expenses for 2009-2010