As promised towards the end of fall term, Provost Matthew Evans settled in for a relatively calm town hall meeting with Arts and Science students.
Provost Matthew Evans and Donna Janiec, vice-principal (finance and istration), answered questions about the University’s budget deficit and the future of the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) in front of Arts & Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) executives and 13 students on Jan. 15. Evans and Janiec spoke to students for half an hour in Mitchell Hall before attending another meeting.
Barbara Crow, dean of FAS, wasn’t on stage to answer questions from students as Evans directed some specific inquiries towards her.
When asked if the University reached out to ArtSci alumni for donations to help alleviate budgetary strain, Evans directed the question to Crow. Students questioned what cuts high-revenue FAS departments—like physics and computing—should make as they’re trapped in a faculty with a deficit, with no prospects of significant increases to their respective department budgets. Evans directed the question to Crow, who maintained silence during the Assembly.
“All decisions are being made at faculty level, so mandate to cut courses came from below,” Evans said.
In previous years, other faculties have had a rule of limiting minimum course enrolment to 10 students. Starting Fall 2024, FAS will be required to follow this standard.
“Last July, my predecessor sent a message to all deans that they should be restricting enrolment. All faculties have already done that, but [FAS] has made the decision to continue to enrol [more than] 10 students,” Evans said.
Questions about the closure of issions to Arts and Science Online (ASO) degrees and the hiring freeze were deferred to Crow.
READ MORE: Queen’s shutters issions to online ArtSci degree and certificates
Evans said he hasn’t received any exemption requests for the faculty hiring freeze.
“It is up to the Faculty if they want to engage in widening exemption for a particular position. Then they need to come forward and make that case,” Evans said.
Given Evans reliance on Crow to answer questions regarding the future of FAS, students questioned what solutions are being pursued by Evans to remedy the deficit.
Evans shared with students that all faculties are making cuts, but every student at the University will be able to complete their degree in full. International enrolment is a significant project Evans said his office is undertaking. His hope is to inject the University with more revenue after a drop in international enrolment.
READ MORE: Senate debates slashing budgets and recruiting international students
One strategy for international student recruitment might be decreasing tuition to help attract more students, according to Evans.
Out-of-province student enrolment is another top priority for the University, with Student Affairs hosting outreach sessions across Canada. While out-of-province enrolment has increased this year, it’s at the expense of Ontario students, Evans cautioned.
“Student Affairs has regular outreach sessions to different parts of Canada to attract out of province students,” Evans said. “This would mean taking slightly less students from Ontario as total capacity of the University is limited.”
When questioned by students about transparency of senior s, Evans cited multiple sources of information and meetings students have access to, including the Board of Trustees, Senate, and The Gazette.
Evans said he doesn’t believe in recording meetings but would prefer to have frank conversations with student representatives and trust them to reiterate information to the student body.
AMS executives weren’t in attendance.
“I have been completely only person to talk to student representatives. I have been trying to talk to the AMS leadership since I’ve started. The only student group who did come see me when invited, is this one [ASUS],” Evans said.
Global News reached out to ASUS to attend the meeting but was denied access. According to ASUS Assembly Policy, Assembly meetings are open to the public.
“This is being talked about [on social media], but no solutions are being talked about [but] they’re quoting newspapers and Global News, who we made a point of not having here tonight,” said ASUS General Manager Sean Thompson during the Assembly meeting.
According to students, Evans has been portrayed as the “villain” in articles about the University budget deficit in the Globe and Mail and Global News. When asked if he wants to change his image in the media, Evans said he doesn’t care to rebrand.
“Do I need to [rebrand], I don’t know,” Evans said. “The University has survived two world wars. We will survive this.”
Donna Janiec echoed similar sentiments.
“ArtSci is not going to be left by itself. These are tough times, but we will see it through,” Janiec said.
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