Halfway through this fiscal year, Trent faces a three-per-cent overrun of its $35-million annual operating budget, says John Earnshaw, acting vice-president administration. He blames unforeseen expenses and miscalculations for the problem and says it will not be possible to recover from this deficit this year.

        "Preliminary investigations suggest we're about three per cent over budget," he told the Fortnightly. Part-time enrolment shortfalls, academic staffing underestimates, lower-than- expected savings and underbudgeting of searches for senior administrators have contributed to the budget overrun, he says.

        "I don't personally predict we're going to solve this in the current fiscal year," he said. The overrun has not resulted from unnecessary spending, he said. "In my opinion, Trent has a structural budget problem stemming from the 1992 social contract. Grants were 35 per cent higher five years ago than they are now," he said. "And the consequence of this grant cut on Trent hasn't yet settled . . . . We're spending beyond our means.

        "Still, the issue has become one we're not alone on in the university community and must be addressed," said Earnshaw.

        "We stumbled through using one-time solutions all of which were temporary," he said listing early retirement, pension holidays, voluntary severance. "A multi-year solution is needed." He said he is working with the Board of Governors finance committee, Senate budget committee and groups of senior administrators to gather information and work on solutions that may be introduced in next year's budget.

        Earnshaw pinpointed three major areas each resulting in one-per-cent overruns:

• in the revenue area: an enrolment shortfall of 70 students (most of whom are part-time, reflecting a national trend of declining part-time enrolment) for a $250,000 shortfall, he told the Board of Governors Oct. 31; overcalculation of the government grant by $45,000 (Reimbursements for tuition were not as high because of the drop in enrolment), less projected income from Treasury-bill investments and a drop in interest rates, to make $385,000 in total revenue drop

• in academic staffing: incorrect estimates of sick and maternity leaves; a 19-per-cent increase in drug and dental benefits ("Expenses are triple what we estimated. Some years you lose, some years you win," said Earnshaw.); and higher-than-expected faculty replacement costs (Negotiated starting salaries were higher than planned, he said.)

• in non-academic staffing: "disappointing savings" from voluntary early retirement and severance packages offered last fall (The university thought it would save $300,000 but the amount was less. Some staff who left had to be replaced, said Earnshaw.); higher-than-expected transition costs to replace senior administrators who stepped down last year ("Because so many left, we were caught short," said Earnshaw.); cost of searches for senior administrators ("Searches are not cheap," he said. "The estimated sum in the budget [$100,000] for that was not enough."); set-up costs of $157,000 for lab equipment and the "market pressure" associated with hiring new tenured science faculty drove up the dean's budget, Earnshaw said.