President's Column

The wisdom of 35 years

By Bonnie Patterson

President Patterson was invited to address Peterborough City Council on October 12, 1999, just prior to Trent's 35th anniversary of official opening. The following is excerpted from her remarks.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before Council. It is particularly appropriate in that next weekend marks our 35th teaching year at Trent University, an institution that exists in the community because of the farsightedness of its citizens, leadership of local industrialists, civic leaders, local labour council and unions, and the governments of the day.

As was the case then, and is the case today, engagement with the communities we serve, public support and generosity, vision, leadership and quality are the cornerstones of our financial viability. We are proud to be publicly launching Trent's Beyond Our Walls campaign on October 18, a $17-million initiative that puts students and their learning environment first.

Trent has been in the local news over the last year due to our particular financial challenges, but also for other more positive achievements. I'd like to update you on where we are today.

I am very pleased that this fall we have experienced the largest growth of any university in the province in terms of new students. A 21-per cent-increase this year - approximately half of which was above that planned. This turns around the decline of the previous three years and brings a renewed sense of faith in us by students. This will indeed help us with our financial situation and leave us with a lower than planned deficit by year-end. Tuition now represents over 40 per cent of our operating revenue so it is critical that we secure a stable enrolment level.

In this knowledge-based economy where the majority of new jobs created demand higher education, it is critical that we provide access to our post secondary institutions. This community is very fortunate to have both a college and university. The opportunities for local participation are indeed rich.

You may have heard details about the expected 40-per-cent increase in demand for university education over the next decade, including the double cohort of graduates from a revised secondary school system in Ontario beginning in 2003. We expect to see an overall surge in enrolments of close to 90,000 qualified students in the province. In addition, over the decade, some 11,000 to 13,000 new professors will be needed to make up for retirements from the system and for the growth. As universities, we are seeking an explicit financial commitment by the Government of Ontario to deal with this enormous challenge and increased transfers from the Federal Government to manage the $1-billion-dollar-problem. This fall we will submit a building proposal that we hope will qualify us to participate in the new capital provincial program announced for colleges and universities called the SuperBuild Growth Fund.

It will be important that Trent position itself to be part of the solution to this demand, but also to be competitive in attracting and keeping qualified faculty in our community to deliver the educational programs required. In local numbers, this surge could mean an additional 1,400-2,000 students at Trent on top of our current 5,000; the need for 200-250 new faculty (including replacement of those retiring) and some $13-$15-million dollars in operating requirements to ensure not only adequate teaching capacity but library facilities, student services, staff support, and so on.

We have just updated the Trent University Local Economic Impact study. It indicates that the annual impact of Trent on this community was almost $120-million in 1998; that we are in the top five employers in the city; and that the translated economic contribution annually by each employee and student at Trent is just over $20,000. The mathematics of expected growth over the next decade is clearly positive for the city and for Trent.

On the research front, Trent's faculty has done very well over this last year, competing in national and international research competitions. We have increased our external research grant funding by more than 22 per cent. This amounts to over $4.26-million in active/ongoing funding and a record number of faculty holding research grants at Trent. On top of that, we have received a number of one-time, multiple-year awards which amounts to a total of over $5.6-million in research funding.

On a lighter and final note, we are always pleased to be involved in new and exciting projects in the area, and as an example, Trent will soon "go Hollywood." Over the next month, we will host the filming of Urban Legend 2 - Final Cut; a Phoenix Pictures presentation distributed by Columbia Pictures. This production will bring over $1.2-million in local spending through local purchases of goods and services and we hope give some visibility to our beautiful Symons Campus.