Press Release

Saturday, December 08, 2018

Highlights of the December 8 Meeting of the Board of Governors

Adoption of the 2019-2020 Budget Guiding Principles
The 2019-2020 budget guiding principles adopted by the Board of Governors emphasize the need to invest in strategic areas and in the quality of the student experience, in particular by improving student support services. These principles will guide the establishment of the next budget, scheduled to be presented to the Board of Governors in April 2019.

“We want to secure the financial means to continue to provide a high-quality education and a unique experience that fosters success, student retention and a rich student life at the Université de Moncton,” said Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Jacques Paul Couturier.

Tuition fees are lower at the Université de Moncton than at New Brunswick’s three Anglophone public universities. The Université also offers an extremely competitive financial aid program. “Our challenge is to find a fair balance between our priority of making university studies more accessible and the desire expressed in our guiding principles to secure the financial means to provide an education that is competitive in quality,” Mr. Couturier explained.

Despite a slight increase in enrolment expected in 2019-2020, the challenge of finding a fair balance is a significant one, considering financial constraints in recent years and strategic decisions by the provincial government and New Brunswick’s three Anglophone public universities.

For more information on these guiding principles or other data on changes in enrolment over the last four years, predicted enrolment for next year and last four budgets of the Université de Moncton, please visit the section Tendances on the Vers l’U de M 2020 microsite.

Creation of the Cannabis Innovation and Research Centre
The Board of Governors accepted the creation of the Cannabis Innovation and Research Centre (CIRC) in the Faculty of Sciences.
The mission of the CIRC will be to support and coordinate scientific research into the cultivation of cannabis (hemp and marijuana) and its therapeutic potential, to disseminate the information gained and to promote the application of research results to industry and government bodies.
“Initially the CIRC will be made up of three faculty members in the Department of Biology in our Faculty of Sciences: Martin Filion, Étienne Hébert Chatelain and David Joly. All three are experts in the fields of plant-microbe interaction genomics, phytopathologies and proteomics,” noted André Samson, Vice-President, Academic and Research.
Other faculty members on the three campuses may join the team as soon as the management structure is in place.

Report of the Interim President and Vice-Chancellor
The report presented by the Interim President and Vice-Chancellor to the Board of Governors at this meeting informed the public about the main dossiers, new developments and main achievements at the Université de Moncton between September 18, 2018, and November 30, 2018.



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