TRU will see 30 per cent fewer international students on campus this fall (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

TRU FINANCIAL WOES

TRU says 30 per cent drop in international students leading to $9 million shortfall entering new school year

Sep 3, 2020 | 12:46 PM

KAMLOOPS — When students return to the TRU campus next week, it will be noticeably quieter. The university says enrolment is down nine per cent overall, both domestic and international students, resulting in more lost revenue and a $9-million deficit.

The drop in international students is the big blow, a 30 per cent decrease over last school year.

“It’s huge. From a financial impact, it’s about $20 million to the institution, so it’s significant,” he said. “Of course without a lot of first-year international students being able to get to campus, it certainly changes the dynamics of our student population.”

Milovick says the university also lost revenue from conferences this summer. It all contributed to the deficit, and to offset some of the losses TRU has gone ahead with 80 layoffs.

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“Some of those will start to take effect in October. There’s a lot of movement in those numbers. Some of the layoffs have been rescinded, some of them we’re looking at turning into temporary leaves instead of layoffs, but some of them will be permanent,” noted Milovick.

CUPE 4879, the union representing support staff at TRU, acknowledges the university is doing what it can during tough times, but says CUPE members are feeling most of the impact.

“We’re unclear about, besides the CUPE members that are affected, what else is the university doing?” noted CUPE 4879 President Lois Rugg. “It’s not just CUPE members being affected. We do know there’s other things like programs being cut, potentially some faculty not being hired back.”

Universities in B.C. usually cannot run a deficit, but the province is making an exception amid COVID-19. However, it is stopping short of saying it will help universities cover its financial shortfalls.

The Minister of Advanced Education Melanie Mark was not available for an interview with CFJC Today, but the ministry in a statement says “posting a deficit budget does not mean government automatically pays more money to the institution, nor does it mean that an institution is at risk of closing. Many institutions have an accumulated surplus from prior years that they may use to balance their current fiscal situation.”

The province says it will have a better sense of the financial situation across all B.C. universities by mid-October.

Meantime, TRU says it will use some of its surplus from previous years to balance the books for this school year.