Lethbridge Polytechnic President and CEO Brad Donaldson reviews institutional planning documents as part of ongoing efforts to balance the budget. Photo by Kerr Abueva.

The budgeting system is part of a strong growth plan and individuals should not be worried says the president of Lethbridge Polytechnic.

Brad Donaldson, president and CEO of the post secondary institution, explains the current budget situation by helping people understand where the revenue comes from as that has been the biggest impact to overall revenue. Base funding comes from the Government of Alberta, which is a grant representing about 40 per cent of the polytechnic’s total operating revenue. The other two parts of the polytechnic’s revenue relies on domestic tuition for Canadian citizens plus international tuition from students who come from outside the country.

“We have a good sense of what our income or our revenue will be,” said Donaldson. “We are not allowed to spend more than we receive in a year, so we have to balance our budget.”

He further explains the shift over the last two years has been the Government of Canada’s restriction on the number of international students that can study in the country. Most of those same students that come to post secondaries like Lethbridge Polytechnic intend to stay and work. The government has also restricted the number of programs that will allow those students into the country.

“The big change over last year and the year we’re going into is that international student numbers are down significantly, almost 80 per cent,” Donaldson said.

That has led to significant reductions on one of those areas of revenue says James Reimer, the chair of the School of Business. His unique perspective of the situation helps as he has been an instructor for 25 years and he was an accountant for the polytechnic for 14 years before that time. He has seen how these budgetary decisions have been made through both roles.

“We always kind of hope, as faculty members that if there’s significant changes that are going to happen or there’s significant budget impacts, they do communicate and ideally would seek input,” said Reimer.

This year, Reimer says another significant budget shortfall is being addressed. He recognized the way the school navigated the situation and was happy about it.

“The communication has been really good and I think most of us accept that,” Reimer added.

As the traditional revenue sources decline, Donaldson says they have to reduce operating expenses as well. They’ve taken a look at a number of different areas.

Last year, they reduced some programs where there wasn’t high student demand, so they eliminated some programs.

They also looked at reduced numbers of students which meant a reduced number of supports required for students. So, they reduced some of those service areas to match the numbers of students they’re seeing enrolled in all programs. In addition to this, Donaldson said they’ve also looked at the structure of the polytechnic to consider the most important services and programs to offer to continue those.

“We’ve also had a look at our management structure,” said Donalson. “We asked whether we could become more lean and have fewer positions, so we reduced the number of management roles.”

Looking at the operating structure to be more efficient across the administrative component, Donaldson explained part of the strategy includes reducing programs that do not have strong student demand. He then discusses what impact these budgets changes might have on students. He emphasizes that the ideal intention is to make the plan so students do not notice.

Any student who is in a program that is being reduced will still be provided with the classes and teaching needed to finish their diploma or certificate. Donaldson promised no student will be unable to complete their program because of any changes.

Programs that are not having high fill rates will not accept any more students, but, as he said, the ones who are already enrolled will still complete their programs.

With fewer students, there will be less demand for counseling, testing and other services, but those services will still be provided for the number of students who are here. Students should not see any significant impact.

“The overriding consideration is that the changes we make will not be felt by the students because we’re reducing based on the number of students that have been reduced as well,” Donaldson said.

For Reimer, his expectation is the executive leadership team, in making these budgetary decisions, will communicate with everyone and be fair. Reimer commends how over all of the years, the executive and the deans have been very good in this way. They have made it clear.

“Communication is number one,” said Reimer. “I think that if you asked, you surveyed all the faculty and all the staff and said what would be the number one and It would be communication for sure.”

As chair, Reimer wants and strives for all programs in the polytechnic to provide quality education. In his program, the focus is on putting theory into practice. Reimer explains the goal is not to get to the point where only the theory is presented and there are no time or resources to provide practice anymore.

“It’s the practice, which is what’s going to benefit students when they leave here,” Reimer added. “You’ve had to do this kind of thing and all we want is you to get that practical side too.”

Leadership makes sure decisions are fair to employees and supportive of students. Donaldson takes a very careful approach and says they take their time. They are able to take a good amount of time to look at it and think through what the consequences are, because it is easy to say they are going to stop doing something, but there is always someone affected.

He says they want to make sure the reductions are in alignment with the number of students they anticipate seeing so that, as he mentioned, if it is done well, the reduction will not be noticeable. He adds that there is also a chance to reorganize how activities are done internally.

“We’re also seeing higher levels of cooperation and collaboration across the organization, which is making us more efficient,” said Donaldson. “This allows us to reduce costs without reducing services to students or employees.”

To students who are uncertain about their future, Donaldson provides a couple of scenarios to consider. One is that if students are here, the institution will make sure students are looked after, supported and able to complete their program. Existing students do not have to worry they will not be able to complete their program. The other aspect is that the institution lives by its values of being caring, dedicated and responsive. Staff are also supported in this process to ensure they can continue to provide quality guidance and services to students.

“The decisions we make consider how to maintain our reputation as a caring institution,” Donaldson added. “We also ensure students do not see any negative effects from the changes we have to make.”

Reimer supports the above statement and says students should never be stressed out. The polytechnic has great wellness services. At the other end of it, he explains that the institution needs to continue doing what it does, to do it well and not let external factors outside the classrooms affect the work.

When Reimer goes into his classroom, he is still going to teach the way he knows and loves. He will still try to do his very best for the students. Even if certain budget cuts reduce resources, he will still try to do his very best with what is available. He adds this is the encouragement for everyone at the end of the day.

“Lethbridge Polytechnic is still about teaching,” Reimer added. “Our connection with our students and hopefully the budget would never directly impact or take that away.”

Looking ahead, the polytechnic has a very strong growth plan. Donaldson says growth is primarily around introducing new programs not currently offered. The institution has a number of other programs planned for subsequent years, including dental assistants, dental hygiene and advanced care paramedics. There are also new trades programs being introduced such as industrial mechanic (formerly called millwright), heating, ventilation, cooling (HVAC) and a sheet metal program. There are also a number of other programs planned to be introduced over the next few years.

He explains how this approach will maintain the programs that exist today as long as they are viable. Bringing in new programs provides an opportunity to grow the institution by offering programs that students in the Lethbridge area or international students who want to come here would otherwise have to go somewhere else to access.

“We will be starting a pre-veterinary program this fall, so students can enroll in it,” said Donaldson. “One of the pathways after that is for students to transfer to the University of Calgary to complete their veterinary degree.”