Members of the university community are speaking up about continued cost-cutting efforts at the University of Saskatchewan.
The group has delivered an open letter to university president Ilene Busch-Vishniac outlining a list of concerns and suggesting a growing feeling that attempts to save money are impacting morale.
"What we want to see happen . . . is the higher administration to acknowledge that this process was flawed,” said Franz-Viktor Kuhlmann, a mathematics professor.
Since it was posted online, the letter has garnered more than 100 signatures, most of those from faculty members.
Busch-Vishniac says she has received numerous letters of both support and frustration throughout the TransformUS process which is aimed at preventing a shortfall of $40 million in the coming years. She's concerned about some of the facts some people are presenting.
"Simply having more signatures does not mean you are better or worse than any other letter,” she said. “I would say that particular letter and several others had some great comments but they also had some misinformation."
Busch-Vishniac said that many people have mistakenly questioned whether the university has a structural deficit problem. She says cuts had to be made as costs outweigh government funding.
The letter lists several disagreements with the process so far, stresses the importance of the small programs at the university and calls for some form of a peer review done.
The one thing everyone agrees on is the negative impact the process has had on morale within the university community.
"I would say people are anxious and the morale is not what I'd like it to be,” Busch-Vishniac said. “That is one of the reasons why we chose an approach that engages the community and gets their opinions."
The letter outlining the concerns can be viewed online.
