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Communiqué |
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October 6, 1998 Université de Montréal looks to the future |
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The Rector of the Université de Montréal, Mr. Robert Lacroix intends to orient his institution firmly toward the future and restore the institution's finances at the start of the 21st century. These were the highlights of the complete restructuring plan presented by Mr. Lacroix at a press meeting held at the university just three months after his appointment as Rector of the largest university in Quebec. The Rector is essentially relying on the quality of the University's activities, a response to the needs of the community and a window on the outside world to restore the Université de Montréal leadership role in the development of Quebec society. After a long consultation process, the new administration team realized that, in spite of their predecessors' efforts, and even though the repeated budget cuts of recent years have had tended to discourage members of the academic community, there is a profound desire for change and action among all the groups that make up the big family at the Université de Montréal. " By relying on our outstanding resources and our potential for innovation and change, we will be able to embark upon the third millennium with pride, " noted the rector, who expects the restructuring plan to create an operating surplus by 2001-2002, in spite of an accumulated deficit of some 84 million dollars at the end of the current budget year. The restructuring plan, which was presented to the academic community earlier, will be tabled in the University Assembly in a few days. At the present time, four priority measures have already been introduced. First, the Université de Montréal has begun a thorough reform of programs at all levels to improve quality and make content more relevant. Second, Mr. Lacroix has announced the creation of a science and technology centre in conjunction with the École Polytechnique that will become a veritable national and international focal point for research, development and technology transfer activities, making it a vital ingredient in the rising new economy of Greater Montreal. Third, by establishing Université de Montréal as an international French language university, the rector wants to fully exploit and develop the potential for international involvement of the arts, humanities and social sciences sectors. Lastly, the administration will make every effort to eliminate
the administrative and bureaucratic redundancies that pose an
obstacle to a flexible administration, oriented toward achieving
new objectives. The latitude the institution needs to finance
this ambitious effort is provided by a special development fund
resulting from a three year moratorium on contributions to the
retirement fund by all Université de Montréal employees.
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Questions, commentaires, critiques? Écrivez à la Direction des communications Dernière modification : 5 octobre 1998 |