August 8, 2002

Thursday, August 8, 2002

Magazine sums up double cohort plans
Plans to expand the math centre
Neighbours more likely to attend university

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Today's the day to be secretly happy

[Cover shows Point Pelee boardwalk]

Magazine sums up double cohort plans

The summer issue of the UW Magazine, sent to some 92,000 alumni and friends of the university, includes a report on how Waterloo is "bracing" for the double cohort of students that's already starting to hit Ontario campuses.

"Waterloo has been preparing for the arrival of the double cohort since 1998," writes freelancer Gary Nyp, "when the provincial government announced its intention to eliminate the five-year OAC program. Since then, first-year admissions have climbed, incrementally, about 35 per cent.

"Peter Burroughs, director of admissions, says Waterloo's first-year student enrolment stood at about 3,750 in 1998. That number will have climbed to a projected 5,100 students in the double cohort year [2003]. Applications, however, are expected to jump by 50 to 70 percent, from about 27,000 annually to more than 43,000."

The article notes that students, parents and teachers are anxious about what kind of welcome young people will find at UW and on other campuses. "University officials sympathize," Nyp writes, "but they too confront a number of issues and uncertainties.

"Much of that uncertainty, Waterloo president David Johnston says, is heightened by what he deems the number-one issue in the double cohort scenario -- the decided lack of provincial support for such a monumental initiative. It's not good enough, Johnston points out, to merely create classroom spaces. The key challenge is to ensure that those spaces help provide a quality educational experience."

The article touches on such issues as class size, residence space, new construction, admission requirements, and preparations for looking after first-year students who are typically 18 rather than the traditional 19.

"All in all," Nyp writes, "how well prepared is Waterloo for the double cohort onslaught? Johnston says it is as prepared as any Ontario university can be in the face of such a dramatic development."

The summer issue of the UW Magazine also has feature articles about UW's new graduate program in tourism policy and planning, and about some of the projects to be supported by the planned Campaign Waterloo. Here's an excerpt from the Campaign article.

Plans to expand the math centre --from an article by Avvey Peters in the UW Magazine

Ruth Malinowski teaches introductory calculus to first-year engineering students, hoping to ease their transition to university-level mathematics. She also works in the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing. The CEMC doesn't wait for first-year students to arrive on campus before easing the transition -- instead visiting high schools and bringing teachers and students to the Waterloo campus throughout the year. Malinowski explains that from the Faculty of Mathematics' perspective, "Our best way to stay on the cutting edge with the best students and programs is to connect with students in high schools."

Members of the CEMC have written textbooks to meet the criteria of Ontario's new high school curriculum, and are working at getting solid math teaching materials into elementary classrooms as well. Often, Malinowski explains, elementary school teachers are thrust into the position of having to teach math, even though they may not have the necessary background in or comfort level with the material. Their discomfort is sometimes mirrored by the students, who then struggle with math throughout high school and university.

One of the best-known CEMC activities is the operation of Waterloo's mathematics competitions. First offered in 1962, and written by 350 students, the Canadian Mathematics Competition is now written by upwards of 200,000 students annually from 3,500 Canadian high schools. Malinowski says while the competitions benefit students, they also make a professional development opportunity available to their teachers: "We bring teachers to campus a lot. They help us mark the contests, and set some questions. It's amazing to see the same teachers come back year after year."

Malinowski says the teachers she works with appreciate the extra effort and attention paid by Waterloo. To her way of thinking, that's part of the job of the CEMC: "Anything we can do to help support teachers in the classroom, we figure that's part of our mandate."

Expanding the efforts of the CEMC is one of close to 100 projects for which Waterloo's faculties and university colleges are raising funds. Each project is geared toward the prospect of building a talent trust -- the idea that Canada needs talented people to find innovative solutions to complex problems, and to make advances in teaching, research, and technology.

Neighbours more likely to attend university -- from Statistics Canada

High school students who lived beyond commuting distance of a university were far less likely to attend university than those living within commuting distance, according to a new study. Commuting distance had a much greater negative impact on university access for students from families with lower income.

This study uses data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, obtained during the mid-1990s, to examine distance to school as a factor in university access. Students are classified as living within commuting distance if there is a university less than 40 kilometres away, and beyond commuting distance if the nearest university is more than 80 kilometres away.

Students raised in a family living near a university have the obvious cost-saving alternative of staying at home while attending classes locally. This avoids the costs of moving and living out of town. However, students who live beyond commuting distance do not have this option. Consequently, they may be less likely to attend university, especially if they are from a family with lower income.

According to the study, high school students living within commuting distance were almost twice as likely to pursue a university education as those living beyond commuting distance. This was the case, even after differences in family income, parental education, gender and province were taken into account.

The study showed that the impact of distance on university participation hits students from families with lower income the hardest. Commuting distance had a large negative impact on the likelihood that a student from a family in the lower income tier (the bottom one-third of the income distribution) would pursue a university education. However, it only had a small negative effect on students from families in the upper income tier, after accounting for differences in parental education, gender and province.

Among students living beyond commuting distance, those from families in the upper income tier were almost six times as likely to pursue a university education as students from families in the lower income tier, after accounting for differences in parental education, gender and province.

When living within commuting distance, students from families in the upper income tier were only about twice as likely to pursue university as those from families in the lower income tier.

Only 3% of students from families in the lower income tier and living beyond commuting distance pursued a university education, but 27% of students from families in the upper income tier and living within commuting distance went to university. This was the case even after accounting for differences in parental education, gender and province.

Of all Canadians, one in five lived beyond commuting distance of a university in 1996. This proportion varied substantially from one province to another. About 52% of Saskatchewan residents and 42% of Newfoundland and Labrador residents lived beyond commuting distance. Conversely, only 9% of Ontario residents, 13% of Nova Scotia residents and 14% of Prince Edward Island residents lived beyond commuting distance.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
August 8, 1994: The bookstore closes for two weeks to allow major renovations, part of the conversion of the South Campus Hall concourse to a mini-mall.