Memorial University has been on the receiving end of $30.4 million in cuts since 2012-2013, while the deferred maintenance fund has been cut from $10 million to $0. Much of the infrastructure at our provincial university is in need of repairs or upgrades.
Tuition fees have been frozen since 1999 — and this raises serious questions about how the university can make up the lost revenue. It also raises concerns about access to education and how our province is supposed to thrive in the modern knowledge-based world.
There has also been a defunding of tenured research positions, moving instead to per-course instructors.
Undergraduate students are increasingly treated like cash cows, not worthy of tenured and tenure track instruction. Much of a university’s revenue comes from undergraduate tuition.