Memorial University President Dr. Jennifer Lokash is pleased with what she calls the provincial government’s “substantial investment” in MUN, but the union representing faculty is slamming government spending that it says doesn’t go far enough.

The province has set aside $400 million dollars in total for Memorial, including $316 million for its core operating grant, a $7.87 million commitment for the Campus Renewal Fee, $78 million for the Faculty of Medicine, $7 million for more undergraduate seats, and $4.7 million for the Faculty of Nursing’s satellite sites originally announced last year, and $2 million for the Doctor of Psychology Program.

The budget also includes $70 million over the next eight years for deferred maintenance – a hot topic for both students and staff.

Past-President of the Memorial University Faculty Association, Josh Lepawsky, says the budget continues the trend of de-funding public post-secondary in the province.

He says the university’s base operating budget is at 50 per cent what it was 10 years ago. In terms of deferred maintenance, Lepawsky says the money provided barely scratches the surface of the more than $450 million needed to address the university’s “crumbling” infrastructure.

“That $70 million is promised over eight years, so it really is drops in a bucket in a bucket that is only getting deeper and deeper and deeper.”