Assignment 2:1 Research Proposal for a Formal Report

To: Dr. Erika Paterson, Instructor ENGL 301 Technical Writing UBC

From: Danisa Rambing, ENGL 301 Technical Writing Student at the (UBC) University of British Columbia

Date: October 15, 2021

Subject: Proposal for the University of British Columbia’s VP Finance & Operations (VPFO) Portfolio to Expand Financial Aid resources towards UBC Arts Undergraduate students

Introduction

The Arts faculty of the University of British Columbia (UBC) is known to be a centre for research and teaching and consistently makes up the largest faculty of undergraduate each year–many of which rely on government financial aid to pay for their schooling. As one of the most biggest faculties at UBC, the tuition is consistently increasing each year for domestic Arts students while exponentially skyrocketing for international Arts students.

With the costs of living in Vancouver, students who come from middle-class households can be left out in many financially-dependent activities, such as going on club trips or study abroad programs. Likewise, most Arts students sacrifice the quality of their education by having to commute long hours to get to and from classes due to the high cost of living near the university’s campus. In addition to the university’s small amount of financial aid, government-based financial loans only cater to those who are 1) a permanent resident of the province or 2) Canadian citizens, two conditions which often eliminate international students requiring financial aid and/or Canadian immigrants without documentation. These factors work together to create socio-economic bias in the demographic of UBC Arts students who can achieve good quality education and university experience. In this sense, the purpose of this proposal intends to attract the attention of UBC VP Finance & Operations (VPFO) Portfolio to expand financial resources for UBC Arts undergraduate students. With a concise and efficient outline of UBC’s budget structure, and the current scholarships for UBC [solely] Arts students, the purpose of this proposal is to elaborate the benefits and urgency for more equitable scholarships and re-organizing the current scholarships to make them more equitable.

Statement of Problem

The lack of financial aid towards Arts undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia creates an economically biased and elitist environment for lower to middle class students to attend university as an Arts student. The major implications of this problem are two: first, in the face of exponentially increasing living costs in Vancouver, the lack of financial aid prevents many potentially successful students from achieving their highest potential; second the university’s reputation of high tuition costs and lower financial aid systematically deters lower to middle class applicants from applying to UBC.

Proposed Solution

One possible solution for the lack of financial aid at UBC is for the VP Finance & Operations (VPFO) Portfolio of UBC to provide more funding for students by redistributing the university’s current budgeting. For example, the university provides only a select few scholarships (less than 10) that are actually given with money from the University endowment, an operation that is worth over 2 billion CAD dollar as of March 2021 (UBC 13). While scholarships like the UBC Centennial scholarship can provide a single student with a full ride scholarship to attend university, many students who fall short of the highly restrictive requirements for big scholarships miss out on financial aid.

Likewise, with many of the university’s popular figures earning high salaries, such as the university’s president, Santa Ono, who makes a whopping 600K annually, a redistribution of university’s money towards increasing financial aid will quite possibility be an optimal solution to allowing more students to achieve success and in time will provide the university with a more inclusive reputation.

However, these solution does not come with unwarranted consequences. Due to the sheer size of UBC’s operations teams, re-orienting scholarships can take a large amount of paperwork and might not be implemented until years later. However, with the help of the VPFO portfolio, this report aims to demonstrate the urgency of this demand and expedite the processes necessary to provide more funding for Arts students.

Scope

To assess the possibility of increasing financial aid at the University of British Columbia, I plan to pursue research in the following areas of inquiry:

1. Which specific Arts majors should UBC’s increased financial aid target?
2. What is the optimal amount of financial aid the VPFO Portfolio could provide? (e.g. 10 $1000 scholarships or 1 $10,000 scholarship)
3. What are the logistical repercussions of the VPFO Portfolio increasing financial aid to Arts undergraduate students Arts?
4. How are other UBC faculties providing scholarships and bursaries for their students?
5. How large is the demand for increased financial aid?

Methods

My primary data sources will include surveying current Arts students at UBC, reviewing the VPFO Portfolio’s annual budget report, news reports regarding students’ responses to UBC’s financial assistance towards Arts students (via UBC’s student newspaper, The Ubyssey), and reviews of 2020-onward council minutes of the AMS student governing board, the University’s student government who voices the concerns of the student population.  I will round out my primary research by observing direct financial/budget reports of the VP Finance and Operations Portfolio (e.g. Consolidated Financial Statements) and the financial concerns raised in the AMS’ leadership’s platforms in regards to Arts undergraduate students.

Secondary sources will include scholarly publications of socio-economic and psychological role of financial aid in the school place, and a review of a study of Vancouver’s growing inflation rate (e.g. cost of living, food).

My Qualifications

I’m a current student on financial loans and I have been aware of the university’s lack of financial aid towards Arts undergraduate students since 2016. I’m a former Arts undergraduate student, with a degree in Political Science and in addition to that, I have created numerous academic and published news reports on Vancouver and UBC’s economic environments.

Conclusion

Action is needed to create a more inclusive and diverse environment in UBC Arts and increasing financial aid can help with that. By addressing the six areas of inquiry mentioned earlier, I can determine the success of implementing more financial aid at the university while also proving the feasibility of implementing this goal. With approval, I will begin research at once.

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