The University of the West Indies, Mona will have to be bold in the actions which it takes to deal with the recent budgetary cuts in order to ensure that it emerges a stronger and more competitive institution, capable of existing in a global environment with “unassailable areas of excellence and competence.” This was the view expressed by Mona Principal, Professor Gordon Shirley, as he addressed members of staff on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at the third in a series of town hall meetings aimed at briefing them on the financial state of the Campus and to provide an update on the progress being made to cope with the difficult economic environment. 

He informed staff that the Jamaican Government’s subvention to Mona had been further cut by 20 per cent relative to the subvention last year. As a result, Mona would have to further restructure its operations and make changes which would allow the Campus to survive and compete into the future.

Principal Shirley said that the Campus would proceed collaboratively as far as possible with the involvement of Campus Management, faculty, administrative staff, union representatives and students. He said that a guiding principle would be transparency in the processes as this was important for trust and support. He added that the Campus would focus on sustainable cost reductions and income generation rather than on short term quick fixes but maintained that there were no sacred cows and allocation of resources would have to be in line with the Campus’ strategic goals and priorities.

Professor Shirley reminded members of staff that after the budgetary cuts in the last financial year, the Campus had adopted a number of cost reduction strategies. These included placing a freeze on vacancies, elimination of overtime, elimination of Sale of Leave, a reduction in security and utility costs and the reduction in employment of part time and temporary staff. He said that the Campus had also sought to enhance revenue by expanding its fee paying programmes, for example in Law, Nursing and Basic Medical Sciences and also by introducing new programmes such as Digital Media, Electronics Engineering, Tropical Horticulture and Agricultural Entrepreneurship to enhance its competitiveness. In addition, he pointed out that the Campus had stepped up its marketing initiatives, had made determined efforts to connect with alumni and had begun a range of capital projects aimed at income generation opportunities.

In the current scenario, Professor Shirley said that the key areas of focus would be:

• Cost/Expenditure Reduction
• Increase in tuition fees on UGC Programmes and increase in the net revenue from non-UGC sources,  and
• Careful liquidity management

Among the new initiatives to be implemented are:

1. Reorganizing academic and administrative processes, which would involve a thorough review of electives currently being offered at the undergraduate level, class sizes and contact hours for academic staff. There would also have to be the Elimination of administrative duplication. The Principal noted that currently the ratio of academic to administrative and professional staff was 1:2.2 while international benchmarks were at 1:1 or 1:1.3. He argued that the Campus would have to  improve efficiencies through full exploitation of technology
2. Review of Employee benefits
3. Review of Post Retirement Contracts
4. Freeze Vacancies
5. Review of non-staff operating expenses
6. Sharing of costs across campuses
7. Review of Pricing of all programmes
8. Employment Opportunities for Students on and Off campus
9. Work with Ministry on the reform of the Student Loan System
10. Continued focus on international students
11. Commercial Operations

Professor Shirley told the staff that  there would be number of smaller meetings in the upcoming months to discuss the way forward and invited them to submit suggestions regarding ways in which the Campus could reduce expenditure and make itself more competitive.