Board of Governors passes Tuition Reset
This afternoon, the University of New Brunswick Board of Governors voted on the Tuition Review Task Force’s recommendation to approve the tuition reset for UNB students starting in the Fall of 2019. At this meeting, despite serious concerns from UNB faculty, staff, and students, as well as Senate’s recommendation to delay the vote until October, the Board of Governors decided to approve the tuition framework and proceed with the reset. This reset will drastically increase tuition for new UNB students across all faculties.
It is profoundly disappointing that the Board of Governors did not accept the Senate’s recommendation to delay the vote until October. The timing of the vote is particularly disconcerting as many students are away for the summer term.
Led by the incredible passion of students for affordable education, the UNB Student Union has worked diligently to reflect students’ unified disapproval of the proposed tuition increase to the UNB Administration. Our official memo to the members of the Board of Governors outlined several reasons for our opposition, including lack of student consultation, an inappropriate timeline, and the consequences for students having to bear the burden of balancing a deficit we did not create. Furthermore, the Student Union Town Hall enabled students to have their concerns and questions regarding the reset addressed directly by Vice-President (Academic) George MacLean.
On March 27th, with over 100 students present, student senators successfully passed a motion for Senate to officially oppose the tuition hike and strongly urge the Board of Governors to delay the vote on this proposal to October at the earliest, in order to continue student and faculty consultations. UNBSU councilors also shared powerful testimonies expressing the personal implications of increased costs.
Earlier today, an email released by Dr. MacLean stated, “while the framework for the tuition reset has been approved, specific rates will not be ratified until next year’s budget is presented in the spring of 2019. The consultation process around rates will continue.” Over the next year, we will ensure that student voices are heard in these further consultations.
Over the past few months, UNB students from all faculties united on this important issue. We are empowered and encouraged by the unified efforts demonstrated by UNB students in opposition to the tuition hike. Our student voices resonated across our campus loud and clear, and we should be incredibly proud of this. Over the next months and years, we will continue to come together with the same resilient spirit on issues affecting our lives here at UNB.
- Your UNB Student Union