Representatives of the Saskatchewan Association of University Teachers will be in attendance at the Legislature today to hear firsthand how much financial support from the Provincial Government will be provided to Saskatchewan Universities for 2017-18.

Saskatchewan is home to world renowned scholars and high quality degree programs because our universities are more than simply institutions of higher learning. They serve the public good, add to the economy and are cherished by the people of the province. Our Universities must be appropriately funded to maintain and grow what we have.

Public post-secondary institutions thrive only as a result of stable, adequate public funding. Any departure from this model harms the universities and harms us all. “We have now had multiple years of the provincial government cutting back and clawing back the operating funds of Saskatchewan’s universities and post-secondary institutions,” says Dennis Fitzpatrick, President of SAUT. “Ongoing underfunding is jeopardizing the quality, affordability and accessibility of advanced education in Saskatchewan. What our institutions look like in the future depends on base operating funds from the provincial government.”

From the beginning, the people of Saskatchewan recognized the value of education and the return that is realized on investment in autonomous institutions of post-secondary education. “The Saskatchewan Government should be increasing base operating funds to our universities and to post-secondary institutions in our province not just maintaining it and certainly not cutting it,” says Fitzpatrick.

SAUT is the voice for more than 2,500 academic and general staff at Saskatchewan Universities.