The costs of sponsorships
29 March 2008
Every year to date the University has grown, defying the trends elsewhere, where some universities are shedding hundreds of positions because of their declining student enrolments.
Our numbers continue to increase, the building program becomes more demanding, Commonwealth support for teaching and learning escalates, and our fundraising program soars. Success breeds success.
But it is also a problem to be viewed as one of the most successful institutions in the region, especially as our mission reflects our commitment to regional advancement. It is a problem in the sense that we are funded principally for teaching and research, and to a partial extent for our building program. We are not funded for our community support role, unlike UK universities which receive so-called, ‘third-stream’ funding, as do regional European universities from E.U. funding programs.
Through the provision of an Art Gallery, the Olympic Athletics Track, the Innovation Centre and a huge variety of sponsorships we outlay around $1 million per annum to support the regional community, thus diverting funds from what is generally regarded as the core business of teaching and research in other universities. Such is our unswerving commitment to regional advancement, albeit expensive.
Sponsorship requests, however, are becoming more numerous and some groups mistakenly believe the University can provide total or substantial support. The request for ‘free’ or subsidised provision of space now amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Of course, there is no such thing as ‘free’ space. All our spaces are heavily utilised, and when evening or weekend spaces are available, there are cleaning, set-up, lighting and security costs that the University has to bear.
Thus, we are currently reviewing the levels of sponsorship that we can provide without there being a detrimental impact on academic life at the University.
We are going to have to strike a balance, and that balance will almost certainly mean that basic costs will have to be covered by the hiring organisation.
I am sure every reasonable person would understand that the University’s academic advancement must not be compromised, and that we have to strike an appropriate financial level for community support. Our funds are finite.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.