Adventures in Canadian Post-Secondary Education: January 2010

Sunday, 31 January, 2010

Key Canadian research bodies axed

University World News has picked up on the issue of the Canadian government's cuts to funding for organizations doing educational research:

Canada has put itself in a vulnerable position for making informed decisions about its university sector, say key higher education critics after three organisations dedicated to disseminating education analyses were axed.

The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), an independent think-tank that has tried to present a pan-Canadian picture in the traditionally fractious provincially-run education systems, was the most recent victim. The council was told by the federal government it would not have its five-year C$85 million (US$80.4 million) grant renewed this spring.

The government department that made the cut said it did not think the CCL could provide a comprehensive enough learning information system and would like to see instead an organisation more responsive to Canadian needs.

The second victim was the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF), brought in by the previous Liberal government in the late 1990s. The foundation handed out grants to low-income Canadians and ran a robust research wing that delved into student finance issues. The Conservatives recently replaced it with their own programme for low-income Canadians, minus the research arm.

The third body, the Canadian Policy Research Networks, among other things looked at the university sector through the job market by analysing supply-demand issues. It closed just last month after its funding had been cut.

Friday, 29 January, 2010

UCalgary students shocked by tuition hike proposal

As reported by CTV News:

Students were taken aback at the University of Calgary’s proposal to hike some tuition fees by as much as 47 percent.

“I think it’s probably fair to say all of our students are shocked by this. To talk about escalations in excess of 40 percent, that they are expected to bear in under four months, is not only unreasonable it’s totally impossible,” says Charlotte Kingston the president of the students’ union.

The university is targeting professional programs for the dramatic increase, in part, because those students stand to make more money in the first few years of their careers.

Under the proposal, engineering students would face an extra $208 per course; business students would face an extra $248 per course; law students would pay an extra $2,000 annually; students in the faculty of medicine would be asked to pay an extra $4,616 per year.

The financial impact of student loans

A new study from Statistics Canada examines the financial situation of post-secondary graduates who borrowed to finance their education compared with their counterparts who did not borrow:

As tuition fees have risen, more students have relied on student loans to help finance their post-secondary education and debt loads have gone up. This situation in turn has had an impact on individual students' financial positions after graduation.

This study, based on data from three different surveys, found that well over one-half (57%) of the graduating class of 2005 had student loans, up from 49% 10 years earlier. Average student debt on graduation rose from $15,200 to $18,800 during the same decade. Also, the proportion of borrowers who graduated with debt loads of at least $25,000 increased to 27% in 2005 from 17% in 1995.

Among post-secondary graduates, borrowers did not differ significantly from non-borrowers in terms of employment rates, total personal income and the likelihood of having a registered pension plan.

However, borrowers had a significantly lower probability of having savings and investments than non-borrowers. Analysis showed that among post-secondary graduates aged 20 to 45 in 2007, 42% of those who had borrowed money to finance their schooling had savings and investments, compared with 52% of other post-secondary graduates, all other factors being equal.

Borrowers with post-secondary education were less likely to own their homes, and when they did, they were slightly more likely to have a mortgage than non-borrowers with post-secondary education.

Debt forcing students to leave PSE?

From from The Chronicle Herald:

Massive debt loads are preventing many students from completing their college or university programs.

As a Canadian student’s debt rises from less than $1,000 to $10,000 per year of study, only eight per cent of those who rely just on loans and did not receive any grants completed their diploma or degree, stated a study on the Canadian Federation of Students’ website.

Students studying in the Maritime provinces are worst off, having the largest average debt loads in Canada. They increased by 33 per cent between 1999 and 2004, according to the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.

Thursday, 28 January, 2010

Busting the myths about training apprentices

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum has released a great new video about the reasons why employers train apprentices as told by employers who train apprentices themselves. I've split the video into two segments in order to upload it to YouTube:

YouTube Video 1

YouTube Video 2

Abstracted: Rural students’ PSE decisions

An article I wrote with my long-time collaborator Dr. Dennis Sharpe, titled An Examination of Rural Secondary Students’ Post-Secondary Education Decisions, has been published in the Winter 2010 issue of the Canadian Journal of Career Development. The abstract:

Canadian post-secondary education policies are increasingly oriented toward increasing the educational participation and attainment levels of under-represented groups such as rural populations. To better understand how rural students’ post-secondary education decisions are influenced, this study utilized logistic regression analyses in an examination of survey data from 1,169 graduating rural students at 72 rural schools across the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We observed that rural students’ decisions to continue education at the post-secondary level are strongly influenced by academic factors, and that first-generation students and students who do not consider student loans to be a funding option for them are at a particular disadvantage. The results also suggested that the choice between university and non-university studies is significantly impacted by academic factors, gender, and after school activities, but less dependent on rural students’ sources of financial support.

The full article can be accessed here in .pdf format.

Wednesday, 27 January, 2010

The education community's stand on the GATS

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a trade agreement signed in the 1990's which committed the member countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to progressively liberalizing trade in services, including health care and education. It's the sort of thing that keeps folks in the global justice movement awake at night.

Robert Clift of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia once wrote that "If GATS were applied to the Canadian education sector, the effects would be profound. Education would no longer be considered a public service; instead it would be categorized as merely another commercial enterprise . . . public funds currently provided to public institutions would also have to be provided to private institutions or potentially be subject to action as an unfair subsidy"

In a piece posted on the website of the Global University Network for Innovation Antoni Verger of the University of Amsterdam generalizes the global education community's position on the GATS as follows:

The international education community does not have common interests or a shared stance regarding the costs and benefits of the GATS. When the GATS question was first raised, education stakeholders in both the North and South were primarily critical. However, with time, education ministries and universities in developed countries came to relent somewhat, with the main reason for this change in tack being the perception that trade in educational services could well represent an important source of revenue that would offset cutbacks (or containment) in the public funding of many higher education systems. Furthermore, in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, education and trade ministers are working closely to define a trade strategy that would promote educational liberalisation at the international level, in both WTO and regional contexts. Note that, for Australia, education is third only to coal and silver in terms of export revenue.

Many universities and education ministries in countries of the South, however, have maintained their initial stand against education liberalisation in the framework of trade agreements, given legal uncertainties in the education field and possible trade-related interferences in the construction of national higher education systems. Furthermore, there is a strong conviction, in regions such as Latin America, that higher education is a public good and that, as such, its distribution should be guaranteed by the state and regulated independently of free trade agreements. From this perspective, a free trade agreement would limit the capacity of governments to place education at the service of economic development and social cohesion. Consequently, many education agents consider that the transnationalisation of higher education should be discussed in an international education forum rather than in a trade forum like the WTO.

Tuesday, 26 January, 2010

U of Windsor to outsource professorial work

If it walks like a duck:

Some University of Windsor professors worry the school may soon become one of the first in Canada to outsource professorial work.

The Australian-based Study Group International would recruit international students and provide them first-year instruction — with academic, English and cultural courses. If the students pass, the University of Windsor would automatically accept them into second year.

If approved at a senate meeting Feb. 10, the International Study Centre, University of Windsor, would open in September. The recruits would be Study Group students, not University of Windsor students, even though they would share the campus.

Monday, 25 January, 2010

1,663% fee hike sparks McGill Univ-Quebec row

As reported by The McGill Daily:

The McGill administration and the Quebec Ministry of Education, Leisure, and Sport (MELS) are feuding again over the drastic tuition hike announced this past fall for the university’s MBA program.

Tuition for MBA students is set to increase by 1,663 per cent to $29,500 in September. In a letter obtained by Le Devoir and reported on January 21, Minister of Education Michelle Courchesne chastised McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum, writing that the University’s planned tuition increase “contravenes the very principle of accessibility.”

Since the letter was made public this past Thursday, McGill administrators have been coordinating a media blitz to counter the minister’s now-public remarks.

Sunday, 24 January, 2010

Tuition free university gains a following

From Business Week:

One of the higher education world's boldest experiments began in September when 180 students from nearly 50 countries around the world logged on to their computers for their first day of school at the University of the People.

At first glance, the school has many of the trappings of a modern university: a provost, department heads, even an admissions committee. Yet there are glaring differences—namely, a the lack of a campus or physical classroom and just a handful of paid staff—that set it apart from its bricks-and-mortar counterparts.

Those are shortcomings the students, most of them from developing countries and without the means to pay for college, are willing to overlook, says Shai Reshef, an Israeli entrepreneur and founder of the school, the world's first global tuition-free online university.

Tuition fees, private universities loom in Denmark

From University World News:

Students and a united political opposition are baffled by new proposals from Science Minister Helge Sander to depart from the Danish tradition of free higher education for all. Both groups seemed taken by surprise at parliamentary debates following publication last week of a discussion paper setting out the options for a partial privatisation of higher education.

The discussion paper opens the door for the privatisation of one or more of the current universities, with the IT university in Copenhagen named as an example. The paper also paves the way for new actors in the field, such as big companies.

Quite co-incidentally - or was it? - Danish corporation Lego announced it had advanced plans to establish a private university. Lego admitted to having discussed the idea with the minister on several occasions.

The prospect of user-paid education is not shocking to anyone outside the Nordic countries but a bomb in a turban in Denmark, whose public funding policy is markedly different from that in the US or even the UK.

According to the OECD, the Danish tax burden is now the highest among its member states. In return, a number of key services are free and education, including higher education, has traditionally been one of these.

Saturday, 23 January, 2010

Foreign students fuel UK postgraduate boom

As reported by the Telegraph:

Institutions are increasingly turning to students from overseas because they can be charged more than twice as much as homegrown candidates, it was disclosed.

Foreign students now make up half of all postgraduate masters degree places and 44 per cent of doctoral students after being identified as a “significant source of income” for universities.

The study – by the British Library and the Higher Education Policy Institute – said that foreign students had become the “big driver of growth in the postgraduate sector” over the last eight years.

Friday, 22 January, 2010

Nova Scotia's university system to be reviewed

Nova Scotia Premier's Office release:

Economist and former Bank of Montreal executive vice-president Tim O'Neill will provide advice and recommendations to government on how to further strengthen Nova Scotia's world-class university system.
. . .

Mr. O'Neill will examine the demographic trends and financial situation facing post-secondary education and assess the impact on the long-term viability of the university system. He will develop policy options for the province to ensure Nova Scotians have a sustainable and responsive education system.
. . .

Mr. O'Neill's findings and advice will help develop arrangements between the province and universities, including financial support. Mr. O'Neill will also examine links between universities and economic and social development activities, including research and development, labour force and community economic development.

He will consult with university and college leaders, students and other people with expertise in the university sector.

National University of Ireland to be dissolved

From The Irish Times:

The National University of Ireland, which awards qualifications in some of the State’s major third-level institutions, is to be dissolved after more than a century in existence.

The decision, based on a recommendation in the McCarthy report on the public service, will yield cost savings of more than €3 million a year, according to the Government. But the NUI itself says the savings will be just over €1 million as many of its functions – such as the payment of external examiners – will have to be paid by any new qualifications body.

The 15 staff members of the NUI were told of the imminent demise of the organisation yesterday morning. They are likely to be redeployed to a planned new agency which will amalgamate the various quality assurance and award agencies in higher and further education.

The National University of Ireland has published this response to the proposed dissolution.

Friday funny: Ninjas vs professors

I found this at The Times Higher Education:

Thursday, 21 January, 2010

Half-price tuition yields disappointing result for branch campus in Dubai

From The National (Abu Dhabi):

The Dubai branch of a US university that hoped to lure 100 students from other institutions by offering half-price tuition fees found only 20 people who met its entry standards.

Michigan State University admitted it had hoped to be able to take more students for the programme after receiving 200 applications.

It is the latest of a series of cases where western universities have said finding well-qualified students in the UAE has proved difficult.

PEI program encourages women to enter trades

From Prince Edward Island's Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning:

A new program funded by the Province will help Prince Edward Island women receive training and employment in trades and technology, says Hon. Allan Campbell, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning.
. . .

Trade HERizons is a pilot project being administered by Women’s Network PEI that will provide training for 36 women over three years. The project’s goals are to provide women with the opportunity to upgrade their skills through trades training and find employment in their area of study.

Participants will complete a 14-week college-readiness program from February to May, and then will enter a trades-training program of their choice in the fall. The program will also help the women find work after their training is complete.

Wednesday, 20 January, 2010

India strips 44 universities of their status

From the BBC News:

Students in India are protesting against the government's decision to strip 44 places of learning of their official university status.

The move follows a review which found the institutions were unable to provide proper educational facilities.

Nearly 200,000 students are enrolled in such establishments across India.

The government has said it will take steps to ensure the decision does not jeopardise the future of students currently studying at the universities.

Tuesday, 19 January, 2010

Tuesday mixed thread

A new research study suggests that most professors are liberal-minded because conservatives do not choose careers in academe.

Writing in The Guardian, higher education policy professor Roger Brown notes three risks associated with raising tuition fees in the UK:
First, increasing the fee (if it continues to be variable) will lead to wasteful positional competition as institutions that can afford to, charge "what the market will bear" without regard to the best overall use of resources. This will certainly occur if the fee is raised above £5,000. Second, the richer and more selective institutions will gain at the expense of the poorer and less selective ones. Third, if the proportion of teaching funded through government grant is reduced, it weakens the government's ability to "steer" the system to correct market failures.

While politically popular tuition freezes can provide relief for students and families they can also have pitfalls:
But even supporters of tuition freezes within higher education concede they are unsustainable. Indeed, historic trends suggest a few years of stable tuition can lead to dramatic single-year increases, which startle continuing students and punish an incoming cohort charged with making up for the lost revenues of prior years.

A senior government minister in Italy, which has one of the highest home-leaving ages in Europe, is calling for a new law to force grown-up children to leave their parents' home by age 18.

Monday, 18 January, 2010

Province expands graduate employment program

As released by the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment:

As part of the province’s Youth Retention and Attraction Strategy, funding for the [Graduate Employment Program] GEP will be increased by over $2 million during the next three years, including $200,000 that has been approved to expand the program for the fiscal year 2009-10. This will help create approximately 110 more job placements annually and expand professional development opportunities for program participants.
. . .

The GEP is a program designed to help recent post-secondary graduates secure valuable work experience as they enter the workforce to begin their careers. The program also benefits employers by providing a wage subsidy towards salary costs as an incentive to hire young, skilled workers that will help their businesses grow and compete. The GEP gives employers 60 per cent of the starting salary for an approved position up to a maximum program contribution of $10,000 over a period of 52 weeks. While the GEP is not restricted to the creation of new positions, it is not intended to be used to displace current employees.

Jump in demand for Ontario university spaces

From the Council of Ontario Universities:

The number of high school applicants rose 2.7% to 86,542 from 84,300 last year and the number of university choices grew 2.1% to 375,278 from 367,739 last year. Since 2000, there has been a 46.2% increase in applicants. These statistics include all applications received by the January 13 deadline for secondary students, although the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre will continue to process applications received after the deadline and forward them to the universities.

The total number of university applicants will get another boost later this year when mature, returning, transfer and international students apply. This group, which is called non-secondary school applicants, is also tracking 2.7% higher and could represent more than 45,000 applicants by the end of the application cycle in September.

33 more autonomous universities in France

University World News story:

A second group of French universities became autonomous this month, bringing to 51 the number of institutions acquiring more freedom to manage their own affairs. The government's determination to encourage a 'results-based culture' in the sector is reflected in new funding criteria that take graduate employment rates and research assessments into account.

The first 18 universities achieved autonomy a year ago under the 2007 Universities Freedom and Responsibilities law, the LRU. Now a further 33, accounting for 900,000 students and 65,400 employees, have taken up their new powers. The remaining 32 are scheduled to follow suit by 1 January 2012.

Under the law, university presidents assume a greater role as the institutions take on new responsibilities such as managing global budgets, recruiting academic and research staff and fixing their pay and awarding bonuses, deciding research strategies, owning university buildings. They may create foundations in partnership with businesses to generate extra funding, and are encouraged to form clusters with other higher education institutions and research organisations.

Saturday, 16 January, 2010

NEADS 2010 Conference - Call for Speakers

From the National Educational Association of Disabled Students:

NEADS' 2010 National Conference “Learning Today – Leading Tomorrow” invites expressions of interest to speak at this conference to be held November 12-14, 2010 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This conference provides the only Canadian opportunity of its kind to share and exchange best practices and expertise on education, accessibility, and employment for post-secondary students and graduates with disabilities.

A wide variety of submissions are encouraged in the topic areas outlined below. The list is suggestive of the types of submissions for consideration, but by no means restrictive to these specific areas. Reviewers will be looking for proposals in the general domains of education, employment, accessibility, and disability issues.

Session presentations are 15 to 20 minutes in length and are scheduled as part of workshops on Saturday, November 13 and Sunday, November 14. By submitting, speakers agree that their presentation may be scheduled at any time, on any of these days, at the discretion of the conference planning committee.

Submissions are due by Friday, April 30, 2010

Friday, 15 January, 2010

Premier displeased with "snotty" Grenfell letter

From The Western Star:

Premier Danny Williams tore a strip off the senior administration at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Thursday, one day after he received what he called a “snotty” letter from the college officials, expressing their concerns about not receiving full autonomy over the school’s operations.

A month ago, Education Minister Darin King unveiled the provincial government’s plan for Grenfell College, including a 38 per cent increase in its operational budget and nearly 40 new jobs amidst several major infrastructure projects. The institution’s principal was also elevated to become a member of Memorial University’s senior executive.

The announcements amounted to less than the complete administrative autonomy the Grenfell College community had been promised by government in previous debates in the House of Assembly, budget and throne speeches and in election campaigns.

Williams, who was in Corner Brook to deliver his first address of the new year Thursday afternoon, took the opportunity of having the ears of nearly 400 people to vent his frustrations over the lingering sentiment that government has somehow failed Grenfell College.

Abstracted: Non-formal adult learning programs at Canadian post-secondary institutions

An article I prepared with my colleagues Dr. Vernon Curran and Ann Hollett, titled Non-Formal Adult Learning Programs at Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions: Trends, Issues, and Practices, appears in the Fall 2009 issue of the Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education. The abstract:

A number of recent policy reports have suggested that Canadian universities and community colleges should play a more significant role in response to the adult education and training needs of Canada’s workforce. This article discusses the results of a study that examined investment trends and the characteristics of non-formal adult learner programming at Canadian post-secondary institutions. Public universities and community colleges were surveyed, and a purposive sample of key informants, representing the broad spectrum of post-secondary education in Canada, was interviewed. The results indicated that institutional investments in non-formal programs for adult learners have trended upward over the past decade. Colleges reported larger average annual institutional expenditures on and larger enrollments in non-formal adult learner programs. However, adult learners comprise only a small minority of the overall student population at post-secondary institutions. Financial barriers at both the institutional and individual levels were identified as key barriers to increasing access and participation. Limited operational funding at the institutional level has influenced the nature and scope of offerings and, for many institutions, has resulted in program offerings that do not necessarily target the needs of non-traditional and disadvantaged adult learner groups. The study findings have important public-policy implications for improving access and participation in non-formal adult learning, including the need for greater incentives for individuals and increased support for disadvantaged learners to enhance basic-skills training.

Friday funny

Freezing tuition

It's an international phenomenon:

Seoul National University agreed to freeze its tuition for a second consecutive year in a bid to ease the financial burden on students and their families.

SNU officials say this decision will not affect scholarships being offered to students.

The state-run university is the most prestigious in Korea and its tuitions are relatively lower than private universities.

Currently some 12 other universities, both public and private, are freezing tuition as well.

Thursday, 14 January, 2010

Sweden to abolish gender-based affirmative action

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Swedish universities will end affirmative-action preferences in admissions for men designed to maintain gender balances in programs dominated by women, Agence France-Presse reported. Women represent about 60 percent of university students in Sweden, and a group of women recently won a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Wednesday, 13 January, 2010

MemorialU faculty tentative agreement

The Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association (MUNFA) reached a tentative collective agreement with the university administration just prior to the holidays. At a time when faculty at many universities across North America are facing salary cuts and unpaid furlough days, here's how MUN faculty will make out (assuming the agreement passes a vote, which is far more likely than not):

During the term of the new Collective Agreement, [Academic Staff Members] will receive salary increases consistent with the current “provincial template”, i.e., 8% across-the-board, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2009, followed by 4 % across-the-board increases each Sept. 1st of 2010, 2011, and 2012. This represents an approximate 22% increase in average salary over the course of the contract, and is exclusive of April 1 step increments which remain as in past Collective Agreements.

U of A planning to outsource e-mail to Google

From the Edmonton Journal:

The University of Alberta plans to outsource e-mail to google, setting a precedent other major Canadian universities are expected to watch closely.

The move would upgrade service and save $2 million a year, but privacy is a key concern, says Jonathan Schaeffer, the man behind the project.

Tuesday, 12 January, 2010

Manitoba tuition fee rebate falling short

From Winnipeg Free Press:

A freedom of information request revealed that, since 2007, only 13,000 grads have applied for the rebate designed to reward them for staying and working in the province.

The records do not reveal how many grads applied more than once.

Still, the figure falls significantly short of the 21,000 students who have graduated from Manitoba's top five post-secondary institutions - University of Manitoba, Red River College, University of Winnipeg, Brandon University and the University College of the North - since the rebate was implemented.

The province has paid out nearly $8 million, well short of the $26 million the NDP government budgeted.

Students and government critics suggest the government is off the mark.

Hat tip to Academica's Top Ten

A First Nations first for UNB?

Canadian University Press story:

Students at the University of New Brunswick are the first in the country to have an opportunity to study for a degree in First Nations governance and management.

The bachelor’s degree was announced on January 6 as part of a series of Aboriginal postsecondary initiatives for the province of New Brunswick for which the government is allotting $1 million.

The standalone degree, the first of its kind in Canada, is being implemented at the request of First Nations communities.

UPDATE:This program is, in fact, not the first degree program of its kind in Canada. The University of Lethbridge has a Bachelor of Management in First Nations Governance. There may be other examples as well.

Monday, 11 January, 2010

Canada's University Capital

From The Halifax Chronicle Herald:

[Nova Scotia] is hoping to lure more students to attend its universities and stick around after graduating with the promise of thousands of new jobs in Nova Scotia.

Bill Estabrooks, the cabinet minister representing Premier Darrell Dexter at a campaign's launch in Halifax, told a crowd of students, alumni and instructors on Monday that the province needs educated workers to attract businesses.

. . .

The province's campaign — which involves all its universities and its community college — is attempting to promote Nova Scotia to students and their parents across the country as Canada's university capital.

Mr. Estabrooks said there's stiff competition between universities across the country so people need to know why it's advantageous to study on the east coast, where they can choose between rural and urban settings.“Small class sizes, approachable faculty, established co-op programs and world-class research — these all combine to give Nova Scotia a competitive edge,” he said.

The website for the campaign is online here.

Saturday, 9 January, 2010

Visit to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

This afternoon I took a break from the sessions of the Hawaii International Conference on Education to visit the campus of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. It is a spectacularly beautiful campus.

Architecturally, two of the most impressive structures on the campus are the buildings of the Center for Korean Studies and the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies.

As with many universities, the economic downturn has hit the University of Hawaii system hard. If an effort to deal with a budget shortfall, the university's administration cut faculty salaries by 6.7% last month.

Professors take issue with Parliament prorogue

From The Vancouver Sun:

Dozens of university professors from across Canada have put their names to a public letter that will condemn Prime Minister Stephen Harper for proroguing Parliament.

The letter, being sent next week to major eastern Canadian newspapers, was penned by University of Montreal philosophy professor Daniel Weinstock and, as of Friday, signed by 75 philosophy, law and political science professors. It accuses Harper of having "violated the trust of the Canadian people [and] thus acting anti-democratically."

"As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about the nature, value and different institutional forms of democratic governance," the letter begins, "we are deeply concerned by [Harper's] decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row.

Decision to axe the CCL was purely political

The Globe and Mail's Gary Mason on why the Harper Conservatives eliminated funding for the Canadian Council on Learning:

This decision was purely political. Despite what you may hear from Ottawa, it has nothing to do with the federal government having a desire to "provide a comprehensive learning information system" it says the CCL can't provide. Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Here's the truth: Ottawa didn't like the CCL leading the call for national standards for our postsecondary system. Didn't appreciate, either, hearing the council plead for more accountability around how billions of dollars being poured into our universities are being spent. For more information about our universities in general.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development had noted in various reports on postsecondary education that when it came to Canada it was unable to report figures for two-thirds of the information gathered by the other 39 countries covered in the survey. That would include basic information such as participation, enrolment and graduation numbers in our colleges. We don't even have complete information on dropout rates. "We are the laughingstock of the OECD," Paul Cappon, president of the CCL, said a year ago.

A quote that no doubt delighted the Conservatives.

But mostly, Dr. Cappon and the CCL burrowed their way under the skin of the Tories by suggesting the country was in jeopardy of falling behind our global competitors unless we developed a pan-national strategy on postsecondary education. One that included a set of standards, goals and objectives that was defined and measurable.

Friday, 8 January, 2010

Increased funding for apprenticeship training in NL

Newfoundland and Labrador government release:

With an additional $1.25 million being provided over a two-year period for the Provincial Government Hiring Apprenticeship Program, more apprentices will find employment, allowing them to proceed to advanced-level training. The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Education, made the announcement today at College of the North Atlantic. Minister King was joined by Bob Ridgley, chair of the Industry Co-ordinating Committee and MHA for St. John’s North.

"Over the past three years, this program has allowed approximately 110 individuals to advance through the apprenticeship program," said Minister King. "However, some are finding it difficult to access the hours they need to proceed. Our government is pleased to step up to the plate with this funding to increase the available number of work hours. Given the demand for skilled workers associated with large-scale projects on the horizon, we need to ensure these students have the opportunity to complete their apprenticeship and obtain Red Seal journeyperson certification."

The additional funding will be provided to the Department of Transportation and Works, schools boards, health authorities, and Newfoundland Labrador Housing to support an increase in the hiring of apprentices within government departments and agencies. This brings the total amount for the Provincial Government Hiring Apprenticeship Program to $2 million for 2009-10 and $2.25 million for 2010-11 to provide valued work experience for many Newfoundland and Labrador apprentices.

Conservatives axe Canadian Council on Learning

A message from the Canadian Council on Learning:

We would like to make you aware of a major development affecting the future of the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL). The Government of Canada has decided to end its funding of CCL when the current agreement expires on March 31, 2010.

This is very disappointing news. It will severely limit our ability to continue the work we all believe is so important. We do not know exactly what our future looks like, except that our activities will be curtailed. We will spend the next few weeks exploring the possibilities. We are committed to completing all the projects now in progress, and we are determined to continue to pursue our vision.

CCL appreciates the support you have always shown us. We will keep you informed as we consider how best to continue. For now, there is more information on our present circumstances at our website, www.ccl-cca.ca/CEOMessage.

See my earlier post: Conservatives cut funding for educational research.

Additional details from The Globe and Mail and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

China jumps ahead in stem cell research

Canwest News story:

Scientists in China, many of them trained at North American and European universities, published 1,116 articles on stem cells in international peer-reviewed journals in 2008, up from just 37 papers in 2000, says a team at the University of Toronto documenting China's aggressive bid to become a major player in regenerative medicine.

China has now surpassed Canada and Australia to become the world's fifth most prolific contributor to the exploding field that promises repair for ailing organs and tissues.

Thursday, 7 January, 2010

More funding for aboriginal PSE in New Brunswick

From The Canadian Press:

The New Brunswick government is spending more than $1 million to encourage more aboriginals to pursue post-secondary education.

The money will be used to hire recruiters and aboriginal co-ordinators at the province's universities and community colleges.

The University of New Brunswick will offer a bachelor's degree in First Nations governance and management - the first undergraduate degree of its kind in Canada.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2010

Hawaii International Conference on Education

I am at the Vancouver International Airport waiting to depart for Honolulu. This weekend a number of colleagues and me are attending the 8th annual Hawaii International Conference on Education. On Saturday, I will be presenting a paper titled Graduates of the New Learning Environment: A Follow-Up Study of High School Distance e-Learners which I recently authored with Dr. Dennis Sharpe and our graduate research assistants Monique Bourgeois and Melanie Greene.

Abstracted: Determinants of university participation in Canada

An article in the current edition of the Canadian Journal of Higher Education reports on a study which found that tuition fees, family income, parental educational attainment, and the university earnings premium all significantly influence university attendance in Canada. Here’s the abstract of the article titled The Determinants of University Participation in Canada (1977-2003):

The decision to attend university is influenced by a large set of factors, ranging from economic considerations that affect affordability to family characteristics such as parental education levels. We examine the relationship between university participation and various economic and non-economic variables over the past twenty-five years in Canada. We quantify the importance of the various factors in the data sets available to us in order to understand trends in university participation and, in particular, to take account of the increasingly greater propensity of young women than men to attend university.

For readers who are interested in relationships between public subsidies, affordability, and student access, I draw your attention the following passage on page 18 of the article:

From a policy perspective, [the observed relationship between family income and university participation] raises a counterpoint to the argument that higher tuition levels may deter growth in university enrolments. Shifting the burden of financing from tuition to taxation implies a greater gain for higher- rather than lower-income families, at least from the benefit perspective. Although the impact of this differential benefit is decreasing . . . there is still a substantial difference based on family income. Government grants to children of low-income families to offset concern about high tuition may be a more equitable approach to funding university education than increasing taxation to provide across-the-board cuts in tuition.

Reference: Christofides, L. N., Hoy, M., & Yang, L. (2009). The Determinants of university participation in Canada (1977-2003). Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 38(2), 1-24.

Report awards Canada a ‘D' for PhD production

From The Globe and Mail:

For the 10th year running, the Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a D grade for educating and graduating PhD students: Canada ranked last of 17 “peer countries” reviewed in the board's annual report card.

Canada was one of several countries to get a D, but it ranked the lowest out of all of them: It saw 209 people complete PhDs out of every 100,000 between the ages of 25 and 29 – below the United States, at 289 people, France at 259 and Japan at 210.

“Canada's graduation rate of doctoral students is strikingly low compared with its performance on other measures of education completion (high school, college, and university) and compared with its peers,” the report states.

Tuesday, 5 January, 2010

Blended online learning: Shaken not stirred

The Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER) at Athabasca University periodically presents free and open CIDER sessions hosted on Elluminate Live.

The next CIDER session will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, January 6, 11am-12pm Mountain Daylight Time. It will feature a presentation from Dr. Michael Power, Laval University and Dr. Norm Vaughan, Mount Royal University. Other details:

Title: Blended Online Learning Design: Shaken Not Stirred.

Given the crucial role played by universities in a knowledge-based society, understanding how and under what conditions online learning (OL) can improve access to graduate studies is of the highest importance to today's growing global economy. Over the past decade, phenomenal advances have been made in the application of communication and information technologies to support student learning in higher education. Yet, in proportion to overall provision of higher education, the use of technology by faculty for graduate-level, online learning (OL) has been minimal, especially among regular faculty.

In this session, Michael Power and Norm Vaughan present an adapted form of OL, especially designed for traditional universities, with initial data from studies underway in two Canadian universities. Finally, an emerging network of researchers interested in the role of online learning within mainstream higher education is presented.

Where: Online via Elluminate at:
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.8B71B60F2931D029AC3837DC06B70D

Pre-Configuration:
Please make sure your Mac or PC is equipped with a microphone and speakers, so that we can use the Voice over IP functionality built into the web conferencing software. Please note that it is extremely important that you get your system set up prior to the start of the event. Information on installing the necessary software and configuring your PC is available at http://www.elluminate.com/support in the "First Time Users" section.

Risks and dangers of branch campuses

I posted an earlier note about offshore university branch campuses struggling to attract enough students in the United Arab Emirates. The Winter 2010 issue of International Higher Education quarterly, published by the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, includes several articles on branch campuses and transnational higher education. One piece by center director Philip Altbach summarizes the risks and dangers for branch campuses as follows:

Much is unclear about branch campuses. Universities establishing them have in general not considered the long-term implications. Establishing a real branch campus that provides an education the same as at the home institution is not an initially easy task, and it is much more difficult as time goes on. Sustainability should be a central concern when establishing a branch campus, but there is little evidence of such a concept. And the longer-term prospects in the countries where branches are being set up remain unclear. Branch campuses may be the “flavor of the month,” but the pitfalls, with resulting damage to academic reputations, financial losses, and of course poor service to students, loom as significant prospects.

Monday, 4 January, 2010

Three PSE system models in Canada?

While there are 13 provincial and territorial post-secondary education "systems" in Canada, we generally speak of and write about the systems as if there were two: the system in Quebec and the collection of systems outside of Quebec.

In a new publication from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, a group of Quebec researchers resurrect and slightly modify a post-secondary system typology for Canada that was first proposed by John Dennison and Paul Gallagher in their 1986 book Canada’s Community Colleges: A Critical Analysis and later refined in a 1995 article by the same authors. The revised typology used by the Quebec researchers divides the provinces into 3 system models as follows:

Progressive-Choice Education System Model (Quebec) - high school graduates enter the CEGEP system and choose between a technical or pre-university program. Once they have completed a Diploma of College Studies (DEC), students may enter the labour force or a university program.

Exclusive-Choice Education System Model (Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador) - system includes two mutually exclusive PSE options for high school graduates: university or non-university institutions (i.e., community colleges, institutes of technology).

Multiple-Choice Education System Model (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia) - system includes a broad variety of PSE institutions (university colleges, community colleges, institutions, universities) and programs (technical/vocational programs, pre-university and university programs, continuing education, adult education).

While this characterization of PSE in the provinces may have been appropriate in 1986 it is not as accurate today. The typology does not take into account a number of important changes including:

The introduction of a comprehensive college-university transfer program in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the amalgamation of the 5 former regional colleges to form the College of the North Atlantic.

The introduction of community college-degree granting in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island, and the growth of college-university collaborative degree programs.

In both in Alberta and British Columbia, the relatively recent designation of former community colleges and university colleges as full-fledged universities.

Abstracted: Profiling high school distance learners

An article by my colleague Dr. Dennis Sharpe and me, titled High School Students in the New Learning Environment: A Profile of Distance e-Learners, appears in the recent issue of the Turkish On-line Journal of Educational Technology. The abstract:

The relative ubiquity of computer access and the rapid development of information and communication technology have profoundly impacted teaching and learning at a distance. Relatively little is currently known about the characteristics of those students who participate in distance e-learning courses at the secondary school level. In an effort to provide a better understanding of who secondary school distance e-learners are, this study utilized a logistic regression analysis to examine data from a survey of students at 35 public schools in the Eastern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The survey sample included students who did and did not participate in distance e-learning courses. The results of the analysis suggest that secondary school distance e-learners are more likely to be females who are a) completing a demanding academic program, b) positively disposed toward school, c) not employed in a part-time job, and d) confident of their computer and reading abilities.

Wandering education journalism

Back in November, delegates to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) national council meeting voted in favour of a motion to call for a public inquiry into the treatment of Afghan detainees. Writing in the Winnipeg Free Press, former student journalist Carson Jerema appears to have lost out on some holiday sleep worrying about how the CAUT is spending its time:

The trouble with a group like CAUT passing resolutions on questions such as the Afghan prisoner case is not so much that it violates some intrinsic notion of academic purity. Rather, the problem lies in a misallocation of resources. Time, and money, spent debating and lobbying on issues like the detainee case is time not spent debating and lobbying directly for the interests of academic staff. It also has the potential to be profoundly divisive. Even people who agree with most of the positions taken by the CAUT with respect to educational questions might otherwise be turned off at the fact that their union dues are going towards what are often partisan issues.

Notwithstanding that Mr. Jerema has no affiliation with the CAUT and pays no dues to the organization, this strikes me as an odd issue for him to take up considering the financial squeeze many universities are facing.

Saturday, 2 January, 2010

New Year, mixed thread

The Canada Learning Bond, the key plank in Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's 2004 federal budget, provided RESP grants to only 140,185 of 867,613 eligible children (just over 16%) by the end of 2008.

Knowledge-sharing initiatives of Canadian universities, including Memorial University's Yaffle search engine and on-line resource, have been noted in The Globe and Mail.

A list of 2009-10 policy positions has recently been added to the website of the Canadian Association of Financial Aid Administrators (CASFAA). CASFAA's 15 recommendations are intended to improve the Canada Student Loans Program.

We've got to lose the drink!: Students at Stockport College's professional Darts Academy are seeking to improve the reputation of the traditional art of throwing darts.