Dr. Robert Murray officially took the role of President and CEO at GPRC on December 2, 2019 (Photo: Liam Verster)

By Shaun Penner

Clarity in Budgetting

GPRC’s President and CEO responds to province’s funding changes

Jan 20, 2020 | 4:24 PM

Grande Prairie Regional College’s new President and CEO says Monday’s announcement from the Government of Alberta of its new performance-based funding model helps bring clarity to its budgeting process.

In a emailed statement, Dr. Robert Murray says there is finally some increased certainty as the college plans its budget for next fiscal year.

“Today’s announcement provides GPRC’s leadership, faculty and students with the clarity needed to help meet the needs of both current and future students and local industry for years to come with increased certainty.”

Beginning April 1, Alberta’s post-secondary institutions will have a portion of their government-provided funding affected through performance-based metrics. This year, up to 15 per cent of funding will be linked to performance metrics, with that total increasing to 40 per cent by 2022.

GPRC will set out its own goals for the year, and will receive the percentage they score on their goal. For example, if they hit 95 per cent of their target, they would receive 95 per cent of the funding at stake.

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“GPRC welcomes the opportunity to work with the government to develop key performance indicators for the College that will reflect the needs of our region and students that build on our strengths as we pursue our goal of being a northern centre of post-secondary excellence,” said Murray.

In his statement, Dr. Murray did not detail what GPRC’s metrics might look like, as he will meet with Minister of Advanced Education Demetrios Nicolaides before the April 1 rollout to discuss possible goals.

One example that Nicolaides brought forward during Monday’s announcement was for institutions to possibly focus on graduate employment rates, which Dr. Murray claims is a strong point for the school as it is.

“GPRC students are in high demand in the local and provincial labour markets, and GPRC will focus on ensuring its programming and teaching continues to be tightly aligned to labour markets and their needs.”

In his introductory press conference back on December 10, Dr. Murray said some of his biggest priorities were to continue to strive toward degree-granting status, and to modernize and streamline some college processes.