'This is going sideways fast': How Dalhousie scrapped a program's 63% tuition hike
CBC
In May, master of architecture students at Dalhousie University were set to discuss what to do about a 63 per cent tuition increase they didn't see coming.
At the same time, university officials scrambled to contain the impending fallout.
Under provincial rules, tuition for a Nova Scotia undergraduate student is capped at a two per cent increase. But the rule does not apply to tuition for graduate students.
While the planned increase for the master of architecture program was approved internally on March 26 — and would have increased tuition by about $10,000 per year on average — students did not learn about the hike until they received their student statements in late April.
The planned increase even surprised faculty. "Unfortunately, this is as much news to us as it is to you," wrote James Forren, the director of the school of architecture, in a May 2 email to students.
While the Halifax university backtracked on the increase, documents obtained by CBC News through an access-to-information request reveal Dalhousie was worried about potential negative media coverage and the possibility of losing students.
The records also show the university is eyeing a "significant" future tuition hike for international students enrolled in the master of architecture and master of planning programs.
On Thursday, May 2, Bobbi Bowering, the director of finance and administration for the faculty of architecture and planning, wrote in an email to other officials that they wanted "to avoid a public relations nightmare."
"This is going sideways fast with some inappropriate and inaccurate information being broadly circulated to the students," she said.
Later that night, Jennifer Murray, the university's chief of staff and executive director of the provost office, looped in a university public relations officer about the "fluid situation."
The planned tuition increase "is receiving negative attention from a few faculty members and now students," she wrote. "There is a possibility they would push this to the media."
She noted the program was set to start in four days and that the university was considering rolling back the increase.
That same day, Graham Gagnon, the dean of the faculty of architecture and planning, notified the university's president and another official about the situation. He said they were aiming to resolve the situation by midday Friday.
That target date also corresponded with the planned student meeting, which was to take place at noon Friday.
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