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University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Tuesday, December 17, 1996

The province's magi deliver

Yesterday's report from the Advisory Panel on Future Directions for Postsecondary Education is "a marvellous holiday gift" for Ontario, says James Downey, president of UW and chair of the Council of Ontario Universities.

The report from David Smith and his four colleagues is some 90 pages long and has 18 major recommendations, including a call for more, not less, government funding:

We recommend that provincial government support of universities and colleges in Ontario be comparable to the average for other Canadian provinces and be reasonably in line with government support of major public university and college systems in the United States. This goal should be achieved by arresting reductions in government grants now and by building towards this goal over several years in ways that strengthen excellence and accessibility.

The report says Ontario is currently spending $5,511 per student on university education, which is just 75 per cent of what's being spent by governments in the other nine Canadian provinces. Another comparison shows Ontario universities getting 73 to 75 per cent of the money that's available to universities in American states.

The Smith report notes that support for universities is "a shared responsibility that includes government, postsecondary institutions, students and their families, and the private sector".

It calls for deregulation of tuition fees: "an institution should be free to set tuition fees at whatever level it regards as appropriate, program by program, on condition that if an institution chooses to set fees above the government-specified upper limit . . . it must distribute 30% of the incremental revenue as financial assistance to its students, based on need."

More from Smith, and from Downey

Among the advisory panel's other recommendations in the report, which is currently available on the Web only in Adobe Acrobat format:

We recommend that Ontario develop a research policy.
Institutions are encouraged to set tuition fees on the basis of programs of study -- rather than on the basis of courses or terms -- wherever this can reasonably be done.
We recommend that the government introduce an income-contingent loan repayment plan.
In order for colleges and universities to meet expected enrolment increases, the government should encourage institutional initiatives and arrangements for expanding the geographic reach of programs and for using existing physical facilities more intensively, and should not plan at this time the construction of a new college or university.
We recommend that governing boards of colleges and universities ensure that a high proportion of compensation increases is awarded in recognition of excellence in teaching and, in the case of universities, of research performance.
We recommend that Ontario's policy precluding the establishment of new, privately-financed universities be amended to permit, under strict conditions, the establishment of privately-financed, not-for-profit universities. . . . Strict conditions and standards must apply.

Downey's statement greeting the report was issued by COU yesterday afternoon. He said, "Through an exhaustive series of processes, Smith and his colleagues have gained invaluable insight into the number of critical issues facing Ontario's postsecondary education system and have developed a coherent policy platform. Our major challenge now is action.

"We know that change is demanded on an urgent basis and we look forward to working with the Minister and his designates to bring the Report's recommendations to life."

Said the education minister, John Snobelen: "The report makes serious recommendations for change, which we will examine very carefully." He told reporters the government would respond "very shortly". In fact, scuttlebutt from the education ministry is that the 1997-98 levels of university grants -- but not tuition fees -- may be announced tomorrow.

The talk of the campus

The health behaviour research group, formerly known as Waterloo Smoking Projects, will hold an open house tomorrow from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at its sixth-floor aerie (Math and Computer building room 6081).

Faculty members won't see tangible evidence of their salary increases until February. The recent 1996 salary agreement came just before the December payday, which comes just before Christmas (Thursday, to be precise), and then there's a holiday, and January payday also comes early . . . look for retroactive pay and a salary boost in February paycheques, is the bottom line.

The research office has circulated a list of "research funding opportunities" with deadlines during the winter term. It includes programs of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Medical Research Council, as well as everything from the Canadian Police Research Centre to the International Cystic Fibrosis Association.

Graphics Express has announced "drop-off service to faculty and staff for course note packages that need printing for winter '97 during times that we will be closed for business," specifically evenings this week, plus daytime on Monday, December 23. More information: ext. 5905.

And . . . one of my colleagues arrived for work today sporting an umbrella that's inscribed "Merde! Il pleut." C'est vrai. And Christmas Eve is a week away.

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca -- (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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