Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Alberta’s March 7 provincial budget featured a seven percent cut to basic operational grants for post-secondary institutions, compounded by revocation of an earlier promise of a 2% increase. The Ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education has also sent “letters of expectation” to each of the 26 post-secondary institutions in the province, requiring universities and colleges to work more closely with each other. The University of Lethbridge faced an almost $12 million operating grant cut and combined with heavy cuts at Lethbridge College also, they have had wide-ranging effects on students, faculty, support staff and the Lethbridge economy. What are the bigger questions raised by this “revolution from above”? Our speaker will discuss these questions in relation to what role post-secondary education and scientific research should have generally and at universities in particular. Should applied commercial research be prioritized over basic scientific research? Are they mutually exclusive and what happens i