UW Gazette, November 12, 1997
     
     UW spent $270 million last year. That's the bottom
line, or one of the bottom lines, in the 1996-97 financial
statements for the university, approved at the board of
governors meeting October 28.
     It was a year of shrinkage at UW, with the retirement
of more than 300 staff and faculty last summer and a drop in
research grants. Total spending had been $292.7 million in
the previous year.
     Total expenditures of $269,750,000 included $112.7
million for academic departments, $45.7 million for
research, $23.2 million on the physical plant, and so on -
the financial statement is 34 pages of fine print. Copies
can be seen in the UW library.
     Other "bottom lines" might include the $171,150,000
spent from the  "operating fund", which pays for teaching
and UW's general operations, and the $490,634,000 that's the
total of UW's assets, from cash to library books.
     Operating fund spending, usually seen as reflecting the
university's core activities, was $171.2 million last year,
including $140.1 million for the salaries and benefits of
faculty, staff and teaching assistants.
     The general fund would have shown a small deficit,
except that UW was able to lay its hands on a $4.5 million
life insurance reserve that had previously been on deposit
elsewhere, and use it to balance the 1996-97 budget and help
pay off the debts of previous years, caused mostly by early
retirement allowances in 1995-96. As of April 30, the re
maining debts were down to $4.4 million, the financial
statement shows.
     Besides the operating fund, UW's total spending
included some $46.3 million on research projects; $39.4
million in business done by the ancillary enterprises (food,
bookstore, residences); $6.8 million from trust and
endowment funds; and $6.2 million from capital funds.
     At the end of the fiscal year, on April 30, UW had
$22.8 million in the bank. The total value of the
university's funds (assets minus liabilities) was $66.5
million.
     The book value of UW's physical assets is shown as $395
million, including $188 million in buildings, $113 million
in equipment and furnishings, $75 million in library books
and $20 million in land.
     The year's spending in the computer science department
was $5,388,000, making it the largest academic department by
that measure; electrical and computer engineering was a
close second, with biology third.
     A few other expense items plucked from here and there
in the financial statement include $7.9 million for library
operations; $627,000 for fire and liability insurance; $4.8
million for the co-op department. Total spending on library
materials was $4.7 million; on utilities, $5.7 million.
     The financial statement doesn't include the federated
and affiliated colleges. It also doesn't include the staff

and faculty pension plan, although there's a note in an

appendix to indicate that the pension fund had a surplus of

      $95.8 million as of April 30 this year.

                         

          Sources of UW's 1996-97 income

 Ontario operating grants $105,314,000
 Tuition fees $48,884,000
 Other fees $9,797,000 (student services, co-op fee, etc.)
 Sales and services (mostly through ancillary enterprises)
     $50,338,000
 Grants and contracts (other than Ontario operating grant;
     mostly research) $47,184,000
 Donations $9,104,000 (including in-kind donations of $1.3
     million
 Investment income $6,633,000
 Life insurance reserve $4,452,000 (a one-time transfer)