Pension Information Available Online
December 10, 2010 - Campus Bulletin
The pension presentation that was the focus of a special town hall meeting Dec. 2 is now available online. President Alastair Summerlee and Alan Shapira, an external pension expert, explained the challenges of U of G’s pension liability issues to the University community during the event.
Summerlee also discussed the pension challenge in a recent blog, and a podcast of the pension town hall meeting is posted on the U of G home page. Information is also available on the Human Resources web page and from U of G’s various employee groups.
All faculty and staff are being encouraged to educate themselves on this issue. The University has been reviewing options for restructuring its pension plans and meeting with employee groups to inform people about the situation.
The Ontario government is allowing universities to apply for temporary, conditional relief from having to make significant pension solvency payments. But in order to be considered for the relief, U of G must submit a plan for restructuring its pension plans at the beginning of 2011.
If the University does not get this relief, it will have to increase its current payment of $22 million a year into the pension fund to about $97 million every year for the next five years.
“This would seriously impair our ability to function as a university,” Summerlee says. “The reality is, we simply have no other option. We will have to make significant changes.”
