By Jasmine Makar

The Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM) Dean’s Office is no longer offering an additional $76,000 in funding for student groups within the faculty for the 2025-2026 school year, with this source of funding previously being consistent.

Since the internal announcement and confirmation of this budget shift, the Ted Rogers Students’ Society (TRSS) has allocated additional funding for students to fill the gap created by the TRSM Dean’s Office, according to their Board of Directors’ meeting minute #5.

TRSS is also a source of funding for all 31 interest groups and course unions in TRSM.

Advocating for students and acting as the liaison between the faculty and students is a core part of their mission, as mentioned on their website.

“The Dean’s Office has confirmed that, due to university-wide budget reductions, base operating budgets will no longer be used to sponsor student groups,” the meeting minutes read. “This amounted to ~$76,000 in support.”

The announcement was made to student groups through an email on July 25, addressed to presidents and vice presidents of finance of TRSM student groups. This email has been obtained and verified by The Eyeopener.

“I regret to inform you that for the 2025-2026 academic year, we will not be using the base operating budget to sponsor any student groups,” the email from TRSM reads.

“When we got that email, it couldn’t have come at a worse time…”

The email written by Krista Vogt, executive director of TRSM Student Services and forwarded to student groups by TRSS, also includes reassurance from Ayden Santiago, a final-year law and business student and the president of TRSS.

“We understand this news maybe disappointing…we want to reinforce that TRSS is currently planning how we can best support our student groups through this shift,” Santiago wrote at the end of the email.

Fourth-year business technology student, Luis Alitagtag, spoke about his frustration as the co-president of the Toronto Metropolitan Con-
sulting Association (TMCA).

Previously, TMCA heavily relied on funding from the Dean’s Office for its initiatives, according to Alitagtag.

“I think it’s a slap in the face, given that we work closely with students, and we only want the best for them, but it seems like that isn’t being reciprocated through the school,” said Alitagtag.

TMCA, along with other groups, typically plan their funding and budgets in the summer, so the email was unexpected, considering they had consistently pulled from that source of funding before.

“When we got that email, it couldn’t have come at a worse time, because keep in mind, we were well into planning for the year…so to get that email mid-July just really caught us off guard, and we didn’t necessarily know how to rebound from that,” said Alitagtag.

When asked why these cuts were made, the TRSM Dean’s Office denied any budget cuts being made directly, instead stating that other funding avenues have not changed and are still available for students.

“To clarify, there is no cut; rather, the Dean’s Office at the Ted Rogers School will not be facilitating additional funding requests for student groups this coming academic year,” Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) said in an email statement to The Eye.

In contrast, Santiago confirmed this budget shortfall and has expressed her frustration with the university’s decision.

“TRSS has taken steps to engage with the Dean’s Office following the announcement of the cut.

We issued a formal email expressing our concerns and the need for transparency. We have requested a meeting with Krista Vogt, Executive Director of Student Services, to discuss the impact and rationale behind the funding cuts,” she said
in an email statement to The Eye.

“The onus should have fallen on the Dean’s Office,the people in charge, rather than a subsection of them”

When Alitagtag further enquired about the funding cut after the email announcement, he claimed they struggled to give him a clear response and “sounds like they’re just trying to add so much fluff to the situation when really, the bottom line is they’re not sponsoring us,” he said.

While waiting for this meeting to take place, TRSS confirmed in an email statement to The Eye that “in response to the removal of Dean’s Office sponsorship for student groups [TRSS] has increased funding to student groups by over $100,000 for the 2025–2026 academic year.”

Alitagtag acknowledged the support being given by TRSS to fill the funding gap but explained that the responsibility shouldn’t fall on them.

“The onus should have fallen on the Dean’s Office, the people in charge, rather than a subsection of them,” he said.

Alitagtag further explained one of many suggestions from the Dean’s Office to bridge the funding gap is to rely more on corporate sponsors and external donors.

But in a time when there’s a “looming recession” and having to compete with 31 other student groups within TRSM, corporate sponsors are more difficult to acquire, he said.

The Dean’s Office has attributed this funding shortfall to university-wide budget cuts that require them to make difficult decisions, as stated in their email to student groups.

In their statement to The Eye, the university mentions the larger budget situation in more detail.

“TMU…is facing a very tough budget situation, stemming from declining government grants that have not kept pace with inflation or enrolment growth, a 10 per cent tuition cut along with tuition being frozen since 2020-21, combined with the federal cap on international student visas, which has constrained revenue for the university.”