Trent University faces roughly a $2-million deficit in 1998-99 and it may take two years to recover, Gary Wolff told the Board of Governors last Friday.

        There is little Trent can do to correct the unexpected overrun in this fiscal year, said the chair of the board's audit and finance committee. Long-term planning, not slash-and-burn cutting, will be necessary to deal with this deficit next year and the year after, he said.

        Last October, acting vice-president administration John Earnshaw estimated Trent would have about a $1.1-million overrun of this year's budget. Wolff said the projected 1997-98 deficit is closer to $1.5 million. A drop in part-time student enrolment reduced revenues by about $350,000; salaries and benefits cost $650,000 more than expected; anticipated savings fell short by some $350,000; and searches were $150,000 more costly than budgeted. About $400,000 of the total accounted for one-time spending -- for searches and voluntary retirement packages -- but the rest would be carried over.

        Last year, about $400,000 was cut from the academic innovation fund and deferred maintenance budgets to save money. To restore that to the 1998-99 budget, Trent will have a "$2-million problem," said Wolff. "That's six per cent of the budget."

        He said the board has asked the administration to work with the Senate budget committee to address the deficit issue and come back with solutions.

        Earnshaw said "a group of us is working extremely hard now to put a plan in place for next year and the next couple of years." But one board member said balancing the budget is "a requirement."

        Prior to this year's problem, the board had a policy to eliminate Trent's deficit by 2002.

        Wolff attributed part of Trent's financial woes to structural problems like paying "system-average salaries" at a 95-cent-per-dollar funding level. (Trent and seven other Ontario universities receive less-than-average-per-student funding.)

        During a board discussion, another board member said structural change rather than a series of small cuts is the solution to balancing the budget. And, responding to a student visitor, Wolff said "tuition is one of the critical variables. There is no question it will be part of the debate."

        One board member blamed university system underfunding rather than Trent overspending for the deficit. But another resisted scapegoating the government and said a number of the deficit problems are internal.

        Interim president David Smith said he would work with incoming president Bonnie Patterson to begin planning this spring.