Technical University of British Columbia - Closure

Closure

Upon taking office in 2001, the BC Liberal government initiated a "Core Services Review" designed to identify savings in support of a 10% cut in government expenditures. Almost immediately, incoming Advanced Education Minister Shirley Bond initiated a review of TechBC's future. While TechBC prepared a series of business plans, each more aggressive than the last, deputy minister Gerry Armstrong solicited proposals from other BC post-secondary institutions. Simon Fraser University was the first to express its interest, and ultimately was best able to provide the province with a political "win" in the otherwise politically disastrous closure of the only university in the vote-rich Fraser Valley region.

As ultimately developed, SFU agreed to accept all existing TechBC students, and to operate a Surrey campus on a permanent basis. It continued the Interactive Arts and Information Technology programs on the Surrey site, while the Management and Technology students were streamed into its Faculty of Business at its main campus on the Burnaby Mountain. Although the government later funded expansion plans, the initial agreement involved expansion to only 860 FTEs, a fraction of the 2353 proposed by TechBC in its final business plan.

Despite last-minute rumours that TechBC would merge with Kwantlen University College, the final announcement was made at a televised "Open Cabinet" press conference on 7 February 2002. The government announcement compared TechBC's situation with its 1998 academic plan, ignoring the burden placed on the university with the building project and its delay in providing permanent teaching and research space.

Transition arrangements proceeded quickly, and TechBC officially closed at the end of July 2002, after three waves of layoffs. SFU ultimately hired most of the teaching staff, and some middle-level administrators and support people. SFU Surrey opened in September 2002, initially with essentially the same campus and programs as its predecessor.