Grande Prairie Regional College Board of Directors has cut $8 million and 85 jobs from the school’s 2020-2021 budget.
GPRC President and CEO Dr. Robert Murray says the cuts were due to, in large part, a 13 per cent reduction in its Campus Alberta Grant, as well as costs related to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“GPRC was challenged to look at all areas of its operations to find efficiencies and opportunities to modernize to meet the budget targets,” he says.
“We faced difficult decisions and our choices were guided by minimizing the impact on students while remaining focused on our goal of becoming the centre of excellence for post-secondary education in northern Alberta.”
Of the 85 lost positions, 39 came from retirements, voluntary severance, concluding contracts with term-certain employees, and eliminating vacant positions. The remaining reductions came from program and service adjustments and internal efficiencies.
“Each of the staff directly affected by these changes positively contributed to the success of our students and will always be part of our GPRC community. We thank them for their valuable contributions and know they will be missed,” Dr. Murray says.
Two low-enrolled programs were also suspended, the Perioperative Nursing program and the University Transfer Engineering program.
Dr. Murray says he is proud of the college’s response to the current fiscal reality while making the necessary changes to secure GPRC’s viability and important success for future generations of students.
