KPU BOG discusses gaps in employee wages, receives letter about increases to KSA student fees
The board of governors held its first meeting of the year on Jan. 29

The next BOG meeting is scheduled for March 26 at 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams. (File photo)

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s board of governors (BOG) discussed disparities in gender pay among university employees during a meeting on Jan. 29.
The university’s 2024 Pay Transparency Report showed that KPU has a work force of more than 2,800 people, ranging from academic to service areas, with 61 per cent of employees identifying as women. The results show that women receive a lower average and median hourly wage than men.
“A lot of the lower level jobs and lower paid jobs tend to be occupied by women,” KPU President Alan Davis said. “If you look at the faculty salaries, we’re only one of three institutions in the country where female faculty earn more than male faculty on average.”
KPU’s Pay Transparency Report noted that the mean hourly pay gap is $1 for men, $0.86 for women, and $0.80 for non-binary people. The median hourly pay gap is also $1 for men, with $0.66 for women and $0.61 for non-binary people.
Asma Sayed, vice-president equity and inclusive communities, said that her and Laurie Clancy, vice-president human resources, are planning to analyze these numbers and come up with a long-term plan on how to mitigate the differences.
The BOG also received an information letter from the Kwantlen Student Association, informing the board about increases to student fees for the 2025-26 academic year. The letter reads that as per the November 2015 referendum, which approved to index KSA fees to the B.C. Consumer Price Index (CPI), the association will be increasing all student fees by 2.59 per cent.
Fees for the KSA’s operating, advocacy, service, bursary, clubs and events, intramural (Active KSA), and lobby funds will each see increases, as well as the association’s peer support program, REBOOT computer service, START volunteer program, and student union building (SUB) capital fee.
The bursary fund fee will jump from $1.29 per semester to $1.99 per credit, the clubs and events fund will increase from $0.81 per credit to $1.36 per credit, the SUB capital fee will increase from $3.74 per credit to $3.84 per credit, and the operating fund will increase from $3.89 per credit with a $11.60 flat fee to $3.99 per credit with a $11.90 flat fee. The other funds will see increases of one to two cents per credit.
The BOG also approved the draft Policy and Procedure ER2 Naming of University Assets, which guides the naming and renaming of academic units and KPU assets to reflect the university’s mission and values. The new policy and procedure was created after the AC12 Naming, Academic Unit and ER8 Asset Naming opportunities policies and procedures were revised and brought into alignment to fill any caps.
The board also voted to eliminate the policy and procedure for AD4 Continuing Education and Contract Services. The policy and procedure, which detail the day-to-day operations of continuing and professional studies, is over two-decades old, and other internal processes and policies have since been created that cover these grounds.
“[We’ve had] consultations with finance and human resources. They reviewed the sections and confirmed that the relevant sections are already covered by other documents,” said Nadine Siriban, the interim divisional business manager of continuing and professional studies, adding they also consulted privacy and legal counsel who didn’t raise any concerns.
In her report, Provost and Vice-President Academic Diane Purvey said there’s been lots of positive student activity happening across KPU’s campuses. She’s also been meeting with local post-secondaries to discuss potential partnership opportunities.
The next BOG meeting is scheduled for March 26 at 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams. For more information, visit www.kpu.ca/governors.