Daily Bulletin

Quality improvement . . . sort of

Provost Jim Kalbfleisch, who wrote it, clearly found it a tough job. "These reporting requirements presuppose that Ontario universities are well funded," he says in a covering memo to the board, "so that any increased tuition revenue can be directed incrementally to program quality improvement. In fact . . ."

Well, in fact, here's some of his draft Quality Improvement Report:

"The result of provincial grant reductions is that Ontario universities have much less operating revenue per student than in other Canadian and American jurisdictions where we compete for faculty and students. Tuition is the only significant source of income available to meet unavoidable cost increases and preserve quality. Without the tuition increase and a temporary 75% reduction in pension contributions, there would have been large budget cuts in 1998-99. There would have been further reductions in the number of faculty and staff, fewer courses, larger section sizes, reduced services, and less money for equipment and library acquisitions.

"The tuition increase has enabled UW to continue investing in high-quality programs and services by hiring replacement professors and support staff, refurbishing laboratories and classrooms, installing new computer systems to enhance services, and increasing bursary and scholarship support. Without the tuition increase, there would have been very serious reductions in the quality of our programs and services."

Still, some good things have happened: 49 new regular faculty members since September 1997 (plus some in the church colleges); start-up funding for their laboratories; "many changes" in staff positions, including "some new hires"; salary increases after several years in which there were almost none; improvements including "three new PC labs and a computer graphics lab in Mathematics, a refurbished graphics lab in Engineering, a new graduate computer lab in Environmental Studies, environmental laboratories in Engineering, and so on. Especially noteworthy is renovation and equipment renewal in the School of Optometry at a cost of nearly $1 million."

And more: an extra $300,000 for the hard-pressed library budget; new major computer systems including the co-op records system, to come on line next year. "All across the UW campus," the provost writes, "there are many smaller but nonetheless important initiatives being taken to improve quality. They include better support through TRACE for the use of technology in teaching; a new Certificate in Teaching for graduate students; conversion of Computer Science 130 from Pascal to Java, with related web-based lab sessions; additional sessional appointments and teaching assistants to increase course selection; funding for new faculty to employ graduate research assistants; a new communications course for Mathematics and Computer Science students; and so on. These initiatives depend on operating budget support, and many could not have proceeded without the tuition increase."

And a whole book on quality

The book was published last year by Allyn & Bacon. A web page has this summary of it, written by Tom Carey of TRACE:

How do you measure quality in higher education programs? Do you look at inputs such as the academic credentials of students applying for the program, at resources such as the faculty strength or library holdings, at outputs such as student success on completion?

The authors of this book asked the question somewhat differently: what program attributes contribute to enriching learning experiences that positively affect student growth and development? They posed this question to several hundred people involved with Master's level graduate programs in the U.S. -- administrators, faculty, students, and employers. The 47 programs included both high quality and lower quality programs from 11 disciplines. The interviewees were asked to identify features of their programs that contributed to quality as well as elements that they were missing.

I'm not doing justice to the methodology here -- a "positioned subject, multicase design with a constant comparative method." It's the conclusions that I found interesting: 17 attributes of high quality programs, presented as actions taken by faculty, students and administrators to engage in mutually supporting teaching and learning. These produced diverse and engaged participants, interactive teaching and learning, connected program activities, participatory cultures and [inevitably] appropriate resource support.

There is a handy summary of the quality attributed on pages 31-39, which would make a good checklist to use in evaluating our programs internally. However, you will want to read some of the comments from the interviews which explain how to put the pieces together to engage everyone in the learning process.

Employee Assistance events are set

• "Problem Gambling" on October 21, presented by Darryl Upfold of St. Mary's counselling. "Could you be susceptible?" he asks. "Studies show that those who develop problem gambling behaviour have a certain way of thinking. This talk will help you identify your susceptibility."
• "Stress Management Made Simple" on November 18, presented by Elizabeth Miller of Work Place Resolutions. "This presentation," she says, "will teach you a technique to reduce stress by choosing to focus your efforts where it really counts. As a result you will take pride in what you are able to accomplish, stop needless worrying, feel more in control of your life."
• "The Holidays and Family Dynamics" on December 16, presented by John Theis of Beechwood Place Counselling Service. "As the holidays quickly approach," he says, "family dynamics take on greater significance. This presentation will consider family dynamics, family stress, the process of personal individuation and the holidays."

Renovations to chemistry building

A mechanical room is being built on the site to house a new ventilation system. Most of the work will take place underground, says university architect Dan Parent, and should be completed by the end of December.

The new unified ventilation system will conduct exhaust from both the hazardous materials facility and the chemical storage and dispensing facility out through the roof of ESC. Until now, exhaust was released at ground level, explains Chem Stores supervisor Scott Nicoll.

Incoming chemicals will be moved to a storage area adjacent to Chem Stores during the renovations. Waste chemicals will be stored in Chemistry II room 384, although storage will be kept to a minimum. Nicoll anticipates no disruption in service during construction.

CAR

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