By Melissa Roach
Scholarships, Awards, and Bursaries
At the last meeting of the SFU Senate on Feb. 2, senators reviewed the annual report from Senate’s Policy Committee on Scholarships, Awards, and Bursaries.
One senator, Paul Percival, raised concerns over a difference in how funding is being allocated. In particular, he questioned a decrease in entrance scholarships in favour of a move towards other application-based awards.
President Andrew Petter explained that this signifies a shift from an automatic system to a discretionary one, putting the university “more in line with the targets, instead of exceeding [them].”
Another issue taken up at the meeting related to the yearly amount of bursary funding provided to undergraduate international students versus domestic students.
Senator Daniel Leznoff pointed out that 25 per cent of international students are receiving financial awards, while less 10 per cent of domestic students are. “This is despite the fact that undergraduate international students are meant to be financially self-sufficient upon arrival,” he stated.
Petter responded by noting the added burden on international students as their tuition fees are incrementally being raised. A quarter of the annual 10 per cent increase is to be put back into financial awards for international students.
“It’s refreshing to hear the criticism from this side, because there’s been a lot of concern raised this year about the fact that we are increasing international tuition,” he added.
Student senator Chardaye Bueckert spoke in defense of scholarships for international students, saying that the money allocated to international student awards and services is small in comparison to the income the university receives from their tuition.
