uToronto ArtSci faculty releases academic plan to address deficit

Faced with a deficit poised to reach $60 million by the end of the coming academic year, the University of Toronto's arts and science faculty cannot afford any "sacred cows" in its efforts to find savings and preserve the quality of education, says the faculty's dean. A new 5-year academic plan released Wednesday recommends shutting down or consolidating high-profile units, including the Centre for Comparative Literature. The plan states the faculty, which is the largest in Canada, "is now engaged in more activities than it can properly sustain." The dean says the faculty must erase the shortfall between its revenue and expenses, which totalled $22 million in the most recent school year. In addition to savings and revenues expected from the plan, the dean estimates over half of that amount will come from increased revenue from a flat fee structure, and from increasing the number of international undergraduate students and cutting domestic students. With the plan now public, there will be a chance for debate at town hall meetings and when it goes before uToronto's governing bodies for approval. uToronto News | Globe and Mail | Read the academic plan