Neither the participation of Queen’s students or Dean Barbara Crow was satisfactory at ASUS Assembly.
On Jan. 15, Provost Matthew Evans and Vice-Principal (Finance and istration) Donna Janiec appeared in a town hall meeting to address student concerns about the University’s budget deficit and the future of the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS). Despite hundreds of students expressing outrage about the proposed cuts online, only 13 bothered to attend the meeting. Although physically present, Dean of FAS Barbara Crow was similarly absent.
Crow wasn’t seated onstage and remained silent throughout the meeting, even in response to questions directed to her by Evans.
Students have previously noted the negative portrayal of Evans in The Globe and Mail and Global News articles about the University’s budget deficit. It’s worth noting, Evans only assumed the role of provost in August and inherited many of the financial issues the University is now facing.
The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for Barbara Crow.
Despite her previous successes as an academic and at York University, Crow’s performance as Dean of FAS at Queen’s appears to be lacking in many ways. Crow inherited FAS in a $9 million surplus. After just over six years of Crow in office, FAS is now facing a severe deficit.
Crow’s time in office has seen the suspension of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program. The Master of Public istration (MPA) program is now pending suspension.
Allowing Evans to field questions relating to her responsibilities hardly implies her involvement in or concern for the faculty.
Students are anxious to understand what the rest of their education at Queen’s will look like. Many fear the quality of their education suffering at the hands of budget cuts and limits on small class sizes.
The flurry of online activity, including one Instagram with over 1,500 followers, isn’t translating into in-person activism.
Crow owes FAS students transparency. Her unwillingness to answer students’ questions combined with the University’s non-specific answers about budget cuts are dismissive of and infantilizing towards students. In failing to attend relevant events like ASUS Assembly, Queen’s students are allowing this treatment to continue.
Grassroots organizing on social media can be valuable, but plaintive online presence is useless unless it crosses over from Instagram to the Assembly room floor. Given the University’s financial situation, budget cuts seem inevitable.
Queen’s must ask itself what kind of institution it wants to be emerging from this deficit. Though s may not yet have the answer to this question, it’s one they must pursue and make evident to students.
Cutting smaller class sizes could very well relieve some of the University’s financial pressures. It could also be damaging to the wellness—or survival—of smaller departments. As academics and as paying participants in an institution, students deserve to know what changes to expect to their education.
Both Barbara Crow and Queen’s students owe more of their attention and presence to the health of future education at the University.
—Journal Editorial Board
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Former Kington Resident
While it is true, the start of this is the cap on funding from the province, which was instituted 4 years ago but instead of adjusting the budget appropriately and responsibly at that time, Universities, like Queen’s continued expansion and excessive spending, likely believing they could pressure the government to remove the cap in short order.
Let’s that the Universities had large financial reserves in the form, ie: years of surplus revenue that they channelled in to building those reserve funds that they have been using since the freeze, instead of trimming their spending.
This proves that they are capable of managing operating costs at a balance level, except now they can’t seem to figure it out, why? Is the current management and board that incompetent or are they doing this in an attempt to force the government to cave and bail them out?
There are places where cuts could have been made that would NOT effect the student’s experience or quality of education. Example: Queen’s Kingston, Published Budget Report 2020-2021, page 9 – over $11.3 million for Travel?! Seriously? for who? to where?
In 2022-2023 the Travel expense was trimmed to $10.2 million but is up to $10.7 million in the 2023-2024 report.
Perhaps, there should be a stated requirement, by the province, for Colleges and Universities to prove balanced and responsible fiscal planning before the province starts increasing funding again. Universities are more than able to do it, they just don’t want to.
This situation presents a level of arrogance on the part of the University to the outside observer that is interpreted as the management/board thinking that “we are to prestigious to fail” or “we don’t need to change anything, they will bail us out” that is just staggering.
Let’s realize that this is a situation that is largely of the University’s own making and they need to acknowledge their irresponsibility.
Esther B
Silence can mean a lot of things. It’s short sighted to only associate silence with a lack of transparency. Amongst many things that silence could represent, silence could also mean you don’t agree with someone’s agenda but you’re not at liberty to discuss it. I expect better reporting from Queens Journal. This article reads like a propaganda piece off the provost’s desk.