Situation:
Under the current Vancouver Tuition Allocation Model (TAM), which uses a “fixed base” approach, the proportion of undergraduate international tuition revenue flowing to the Academic Excellence Fund (AEF) continues to grow year over year at a disproportionate percentage than the allocation to Faculties and Central. This is compounding the significant financial challenges faced by Faculties and Central resulting from self-funded cost pressures due to salary and goods & services inflation.
The approach of having a fixed base rate was considered initially as a “short-term” solution and worked well within the initial years, helping advance many academic priorities. However, it has extended beyond the initial model that assessed the implications of such an approach and Vancouver leadership is seeking modifications to the current TAM as a temporary remedy to bridge to a new model in the near term.
Our Actions:
- Developed guiding principles to achieve alignment of interests and objectives and to support decision-making throughout the process
- Conducted a number of engagement sessions with senior leadership, key service units, and Faculty Finance Officers to understand the current challenges, key drivers and potential options
- Worked with the VPAO Finance Team to evaluate the AEF commitments and identify minimum funding requirements
- Modelled a number of options using a scenario-based financial model to assess the impact to overall Faculty, Central, AEF and individual faculties
- Evaluated each viable option against a framework aligned with the guiding principles
- Consulted with Faculty Finance Officers to narrow down the options and decide on a final recommendation to bring to senior leadership
- Validated the final recommendation with Deans, Executive and the Board of Governors
- Worked with Enrolment Services and the Budget Office to develop an implementation and communication plan
Results:
- A revised, simplified, and equitable approach to allocating undergraduate international student tuition revenue that can serve as a temporary remedy and a potential prototype for the new budget model
- A rebalancing of revenue in a way that covers the known AEF commitments, provides a consistent annual allocation of revenue to faculties and Central that is in excess of the status quo, and a strategic pot that can provide support for revenue-challenged faculties and cross-campus initiatives
- The revised approach was approved by the Executive and endorsed by the Board of Governors. It will be implemented for FY24