RE: [University Communicator] Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Context

Hello,

in this communication that could be objected to, but I will point specifically at this one:

And yet the overall ratios of regular administrators to staff to instructors has remained And yet the overall ratios of regular administrators to staff to instructors has remained the same throughout the years, and it is our plan to keep it that way.

This is untrue.

According to data drawn directly from the HRDB, a database which is maintained by the BC Post-Secondary Employers Association, the organization charged by the provincial government with oversight of our sector, and on student FTE data drawn directly from KPU’s own accountability plans and reports,  there has been a significant and disproportionate growth in administration FTE versus both student FTE and faculty FTE.

This is an undisputable fact. This is not conjecture. The exact figures were provided in the original article, and to repeat:  they were drawn directly from the data.

This is not as it is so disrespectfully framed, “idle rhetoric” but analysis based on facts.

I will take issue with one more statement, “the B.C. government requires the Board to approve a balanced budget each year.” Here is another fact: Two other institutions in our sector, so far, have been given permission to run a deficit.

Finally, I will point out that saying, “It is unfortunate and unseemly to see one group of employees pitted against their colleagues at these times,” ignores a fundamental truth: one of those groups of employees has power over the hiring, firing, and laying off of other employee groups.

This profound imbalance of power must be recognized. To suggest that all are equal is not only incorrect; it is a blatant disregard—one could suggest a disingenuous disregard—for a fundamental fact of our working lives.

Diane Walsh.