McGill grapples with financial fallout of global crisis

Montreal's McGill University has to cut costs to cope with the current recession, principal Heather Munroe-Blum says.

The university has already decided to reduce executive salaries and will reviewits spending to identify areas where more cutscould be made, she said.

McGill has been struggling to deal with a $10-million deficit in the face of rising expenditures, due in parttosalary demands from its teaching and support staff, she said.

The school'sendowment fund, which provides about 10 per cent of its revenue, has lost about 20 per cent of its value in the last year, said Munroe-Blum. In mid-2008 it was worth $920 million but now sits at $740 million.

Donations are also down, she said,while existing donors are asking for more time to pay the money they promised.

The administration plans discussions withmembers of the university community to in hopes of findingcosts that could be cut and to new ways to bring in revenue, she said.

Tuition fees for the university's 33,000 students are also an ongoing issue for the administration, who say the fees are low when compared to the cost of running the institution.