MUNFA Executive are taking the time to fully review both the Post-Secondary Education Review Report, “All Hands on Deck”, and the Premier’s Economic Recovery Taskforce Report (PERT), “The Big Reset” before offering a more detailed response.
Upon first glance, “All Hands on Deck” offers a strong endorsement of post-secondary education for the future of our province, and recommends a number of changes to increase autonomy and improve transparency at Memorial University. Most importantly, the report offers a critical message to the provincial government that they should maintain “at least the current level of support for the operating grant for Memorial University, with no further reductions.” For more details on our initial take on “All Hands on Deck” see our recent media release.
While “All Hands on Deck” offers some positive changes for post-secondary education in the province, “The Big Reset” recommends further cutting Memorial’s budget by 30% over the next 6 years. As we continue to grapple with the global pandemic and move forward as a province, we need a strong post-secondary sector more than ever. Our only public university is essential infrastructure for our province’s recovery from COVID-19.
In response to “The Big Reset” MUNFA is calling on Memorial University’s President, Dr. Vianne Timmons, and Chair of the Board of Regents, Iris Petten, who was a member of the PERT, to denounce such a dramatic cut to our post-secondary institutions. For further information see our second media release.
We encourage all MUNFA members to review both reports and send your thoughts to membership.munfa@mun.ca.
