February 9, 2010 News

$1.7M surprise surplus

Economic downturn paid off for Concordia

by Terrine Friday

GRAPHIC VIVIEN LEUNG

Thanks to an increase in student enrollment in all faculties this year, Concordia University’s projected annual revenue has grown by over $5 million, erasing the expected deficit of $4.2 million and creating a $1.7 million surplus.

The figures were presented during the Feb. 3 Board of Governors meeting where members were given the university’s financial overview, which now includes a quarterly budget and projected revenues.

“We had budgeted for 500 weighted [full-time equivalents], but we’re going to generate 700 more than that,” said Nathalie Laporte, the university’s financial services controller. Each FTE, the metric unit used by the university and government to calculate the value of a student, is equivalent to one student enrolled in 30 credits per academic year.

Laporte explained that the total increase of 1,200 FTEs was primarily due to the economic downturn.

She went on to clarify that despite the projected surplus, the money brought in by the extra enrollments was already allotted.

“The surplus is [calculated without accounting for] the reserve fund for liabilities,” explained Laporte. “So, we’re actually generating an extra $1.7 million from operations which is [then] directly reserved to pay for the [university’s] financial liabilities.”

These financial liabilities include debt repayment and knocking down the accumulated deficit of $10 million. The most pressing liability is the outstanding pay equity settlement, which includes retroactive payments to female employees as far back as 2001. The balance that the university still has to disburse, yet to be confirmed, must be paid by December 2010.
The university, which recently moved to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in order to function in line with provincial regulations, is still waiting for the provincial government to approve its 2008-09 audited financial statements.

On a dimmer note, the university provost’s 2008-09 Academic Priorities Fund, which generated $1.2 million in graduate bursaries, was not renewed for the 2009-10 academic year due to “recurring faculty expenses.”

Apart from financial information, the February meeting included a 2010 Action Plan presentation by first-year dean of arts and science Brian Lewis. The plan included decreasing class sizes and enhancing the quality of the undergraduate-level student experience.