News Archives: GPRC Board Approves Balanced Budget 2012/2013
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
The Board of Governors at GPRC has unanimously approved the balanced budget as presented at its meeting of April 26 by Don Gnatiuk, GPRC President and CEO. The new operating budget represents a strategic change in planning and budgeting, and includes some very difficult decisions. The College is prohibited from presenting a deficit budget. "This is a very tight budget year for GPRC," says Gnatiuk. "The bottom line is that base funding increases over the past years have not kept pace with increasing costs of doing business." Those costs include salaries and benefits, supplies and services. "For the past several months we have been tightening up, and improving processes. Our decisions now have to be based on our mandate, and our core business." The College has endured two years during which time base funding was not increased, despite costs which, including supplies, services and negotiated settlements, increased annually by nearly 4%. The Alberta Advanced Education and Technology commitment of a 2% annual increase in base funding for the next three years is a welcome opportunity for long-term planning; however, the achievement of a balanced budget will require a change to current operations. "It is clear to GPRC and other post-secondary institutions that we need to change the way we do business. This includes looking at everything we do," says Gnatiuk. "This is the most difficult budget year my team has had to face in my five years at the College. Unfortunately, keeping this College on a solid and secure foundation for the future has impacts on our people and their families." The budget includes significant reinvestment in the College to streamline processes and implement efficiencies that will increase GPRC's fiscal effectiveness over the long-term. The budget also includes over $2 million in capital expenditures needed to improve and maintain facilities. "Economic fluctuations are a reality of our sector; this does not deter us from our goals," Gnatiuk says. "We have made hard decisions, and now we are moving forward. We will still pursue our dreams." The Chair of the GPRC Board of Governors, Vincent Vavrek, says "As stewards of this institution on behalf of our region and our Province, we are confident that this budget and business plan is building for our future. The realignment of resources inherent in this budget, positions GPRC as a strong, responsive College ready to continue to meet the needs of our region and its learners now and into the future."