UoGuelph program prioritization report informs budget planning

The University of Guelph last week announced the results of a Program Prioritization Process that ranked programs and services to help determine the ones to which limited financial resources should be allotted. Programs that ranked in the bottom fifth of the analysis included 7 school of language and literature programs, and 6 programs each in mathematics and statistics, sociology and anthropology, and English and theatre. Meanwhile, intercollegiate athletic teams, the food services division, undergraduate residences, and the annual giving and alumni relations unit all scored in the top fifth of the analysis. The report also singled out UoGuelph’s International Development unit, reporting that “the program has little curricular control, lacks resources, and, in short - needs attention before it flounders.” UoGuelph AVP Communications and Public Affairs Chuck Cunningham said of the report’s impact: "Instinctively, there might be some who look at the report and assume automatically that anything in a lower ranking will be cut, but that's simply not the case." Cunningham adds that the report is one of the tools the university will use to make decisions about how to reduce a $32.4-million budget shortfall over 3 years starting in 2014. Guelph Mercury | Full Report