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OCUFA launches “We Teach Ontario” Campaign

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Teaching and research are at the heart of Ontario’s universities and together produce extraordinary results for students and their communities. We Teach Ontario, a new OCUFA initiative, celebrates how professors use research to enrich their students’ learning and strengthen the province.

“Ontario professors and academic librarians know how powerful the connection between teaching and research can be for students; they live it every day,” said Constance Adamson, President of OCUFA. “We Teach Ontario tells this important story to the people of our province.”

We Teach Ontario features videos of professors who connect research and teaching to educate a new generation of thinkers, scientists, leaders, and communicators. Visitors to the campaign website – www.weteachontario.ca – can share the videos, learn more about the important work done by Ontario’s professors, and leave their own stories and reflections for others to read.

“While truly impressive, our featured professors are not unique. They exemplify the commitment to knowledge and student success shared by faculty across Ontario,” said Adamson.

Featured professors include Lisa Philipps, Professor of Law, York University; Barry Smit, Professor of Geography, University of Guelph; Vinita Srivastava, Associate Professor of Journalism, Ryerson University; Ross Upshur, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; and Mary Wells, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo.

A recent OCUFA study found that 68 per cent of Ontarians believe research should be connected at the province’s universities. We Teach Ontario demonstrates that this belief is more than justified.

“Universities are essential to our economy, to the health of our society, and to the success of our young people,” said Adamson. “By linking research and teaching, professors provide the education our students need and Ontario expects.”  

New issue of Academic Matters is now live!

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OCUFA is pleased to announce that the latest issue of Academic Matters, OCUFA’s flagship journal of higher education, is now available online. Titled “The War on Knowledge,” the magazine examines attempts to muzzle scientists and academic librarians in Ontario, cuts to important data sources, and how over-exuberance for certain technological tools threatens the public university.
 
Featured articles include:
 

 
Please share these articles with your colleagues, and be sure to visit Academic Matters to share your thoughts and comments.

OCUFA expresses deep concern over cuts to teacher education in Ontario

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As we reported in last week’s OCUFA Report, Ontario has announced plans to cut the amount of per-student funding provided to the province’s teacher education programs. This week, OCUFA wrote a letter to Minister Liz Sandals (Education) and Brad Duguid (Training, Colleges, and Universities) expressing our concerns. The full text of the letter follows:
 
Dear Ministers Duguid and Sandals,

On behalf of the 17,000 faculty and academic librarians that the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) represents, I am writing to express concern about the recent changes to teacher education in Ontario. OCUFA understands that there are currently more students graduating from teaching training programs at Ontario universities than are being employed by Boards of Education in the province. However, the steps taken by the province to reduce the number of students entering and graduating from teaching training programs in Ontario are highly problematic for the continued quality and sustainability of teacher education in the province. 

Changes to teacher training programs were made without meaningful consultation with the post-secondary education sector. As the government moves forward with the implementation of these changes, greater care must be taken to engage with the sector.

The expansion of the length of teacher training programs and the reduction in the number of available spaces by 50 per cent is also accompanied by significant cuts to per-student funding for teacher education. Taken together with the overall decline in per-student funding and the reduction to operating grants through so-called “policy levers” introduced in the 2012 Budget, these continued cuts erode the quality of post-secondary education in this province.  No matter the length of the program or the number of entrants, if per-student funding for teacher training programs is cut, the quality of teacher education will inevitably suffer.

In addition, if the province wanted to address the “oversupply” of teacher training graduates in Ontario, steps must be taken to address programs offered by institutions not funded by the Ontario government which allow students to complete their practical training in Ontario. Even if the province reduces teacher training spaces at Ontario institutions, students will continue to pursue teacher education out of province and at a significantly higher cost.  

Finally, the government’s changes to teacher training echo cuts to medical education programs in the early 1990s, which left Ontario chronically short of qualified family doctors. Governments have a poor record of predicting labour market needs, and changes to teacher education may have significant, and unforeseen, negative effects in the future.  

I sincerely hope that the Ministries of Training, Colleges and Universities and of Education will re-think some aspects of their changes, particularly those that reduce the amount of public funding available to our institutions. I also hope that your ministries will commit to strengthening your collaboration and consultation with the higher education sector to ensure future reforms are in the best interests of students of all ages in our province.

Sincerely,
Constance Adamson, President, OCUFA

Data Check: Ontario universities perform well in terms of graduation rates

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Critics of the productivity of Ontario’s universities need to check their facts.
 
Ontario universities are doing much better than their American peers when it comes to graduation rates. Over the last decade, the overall graduation rate amongst undergraduates in Ontario has been steadily improving. The latest data show it at 81 per cent. Once first professional subjects such as law and medicine are taken out of the mix to ensure comparability with US data, the province-wide graduation rate for 2010 is 80 per cent.
 
The US National Center for Education Statistics recently released data on 2011 retention and graduation rates. The national average amongst students seeking a bachelor’s degree was 59 per cent. Private, non-profit institutions rate of 65 per cent was the best US average by institution type. The average graduation rate across public institutions was 57 per cent. Private, for-profit universities fared even worse, graduating just 42 per cent of its first-time undergraduates within the same time frame.
 
More to the point, Ontario is doing this with considerably less per-student funding than their American peers. In 2011, average per-student public funding at US public four-year institutions was $9,416 and only $8,372 in Ontario. How’s that for productivity?
 
Sources:
National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Graduation, Job And OSAP Default Rates

OCUFA announces winner of Mandelbaum Fellowship

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OCUFA is pleased to announce this year’s winner of the Mandelabum Fellowship: Sara Pavan, a doctoral candidate in political studies at Queen’s University.
 
Sara is an outstanding student, receiving high marks throughout her coursework and a “Distinction” for her comprehensive exams, a rare honour. In addition to her first-class academics, the fellowship jury was particularly struck by Sara’s strong community and volunteer service. While studying in Rome for her bachelor’s degree, Sara additionally received training and spent two years working as a social worker and counselor in women’s shelters. She also spent eight-months in San Salvador as a volunteer promoting sustainable development and community building in the aftermath of the civil war. She is also active in supporting international students at Queen’s in both formal and informal roles.

One professor described Sara as, “one of the best two PhD students I have worked with in my career, which now spans three decades.” Another remarked that, “I have great confidence that her dissertation will be an important contribution to the field of comparative politics, as well as work on ethnicity, diversity, representation, and political behaviour.”

The Mandelbaum Fellowship was establish to honor Henry Mandelbaum, Executive Director of OCUFA from 1995-2011.  The fellowship is awarded to a graduate student “who has demonstrated academic excellence, shows exceptional academic promise, and has provided significant community service in his/her university career.” For more information, please visit http://ocufa.on.ca/ocufa-awards/

Government of Ontario cuts funding to teacher education programs

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On Wednesday, June 5, 2013, the Government of Ontario announced significant changes to teacher education in Ontario. Unfortunately, they chose to accompany their curriculum changes with a 33 per cent cut to per-student funding for teacher colleges.
 
Some of the structural changes – doubling the length of teacher education from one year to two years – were expected, and will help bring Ontario in line with programs elsewhere in Canada. Other changes –such as halving enrolment from 9,000 to 4,500 places – were a surprise. Most troubling was the decision to cut per-student funding by 33 per cent, a change made without any consultation with the sector, according to university sources. As Bonnie Patterson, President of COU notes, “reducing government funding for teacher education when Ontario universities are providing top-notch education, despite the country’s lowest rate of per student funding, disadvantages students, and threatens quality.”
 
The government’s changes echo cuts to medical education programs in the early 1990s, which left Ontario chronically short of qualified family doctors. The government has a poor record of predicting labour market needs, and their changes to teacher education may have significant, and unforeseen, negative downstream effects.
 
It is important for the Government of Ontario to recognize that its primary role in the university sector is the provision of public funding that allows for high quality and affordable education. Wednesday’s announcement is the latest example of the government’s slow retreat from adequate funding and increased willingness to interfere in academic planning.
 

OCUFA writes letter regarding troubling labour developments at Saint Paul University

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On May 27, 2013, OCUFA President Constance Adamson wrote a letter to Rector Chantal Beauvais of Saint Paul University, regarding troubling labour developments at the university. Here is the full text of the letter.

Dear Rector Beauvais;

I am writing this letter to urge the administration of Saint Paul University to reverse its threat to terminate faculty members within the Faculty of Theology. These actions are extreme, and will result in serious harm to the Faculty, those who work within it, and its students.

On behalf of OCUFA and the 17,000 professors and academic librarians it represents, I would request that the following measures be taken to correct this situation:

  • Honour the collective agreement with the Professors’ Association of Saint Paul University (PASPU), which does not include an article that defines the procedures under which faculty members may be terminated in a case of financial exigency.

  • Cease plans to fire tenured professors in the Faculty of Theology (or any other faculty), in an attempt to decrease the deficit. During the consultation and round-tables held this Spring at Saint Paul, the university community expressed strong support for the continuation of the institution’s Catholic mission and identity.

  • Reinstate Alice Constantinou, the professional librarian who was fired on May 15th. Saint Paul’s current lack of even one professional librarian leaves a significant hole in its reputation as a well-functioning academic institution.

  • Provide full transparency of the University’s finances, debts, and resources to PASPU and the university community. This will help the broader Saint Paul community determine to what extent the actions that are planned, and have taken place, are justifiable.

    OCUFA is aware that, in addition to the termination of Alice Constantinou, three staff members in Theology have been terminated. OCUFA is also aware that other faculty members have been transferred to different Faculties and early retirements have occurred. And yet, your administration believes that the actions taken thus far have not significantly affected the deficit.

Will further terminations and related actions similarly be insignificant with respect to the budget while imposing a heavy cost on those who face losing their current appointments? This is a critical question I urge you to consider.

I welcome any opportunity to discuss these matters with you further. I believe we share the goal of preserving the future of Saint Paul University as a viable academic institution. In the interest of achieving this goal while protecting Saint Paul’s professors and librarians, I again urge you to take the actions I have outlined in this letter.

Sincerely,

Constance Adamson, President, OCUFA

Data Check: Ontario tuition fee increases outstrip the United States

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It’s often assumed that Ontario’s tuition fees are a bargain compared to those in the United States. But tuition fees are rising faster in Ontario, and the percentage of university revenue made up of student fees is higher in the province than in American public institutions.
 
Data from the United States indicate that inflation-adjusted tuition and required fees for “in-state” undergraduate students at public four-year universities rose by almost seven per cent between 2010 and 2012. In Ontario, the comparable increase was nine per cent. Since 2005, when Ontario tuition was last frozen, tuition for full-time domestic students in Ontario rose by 29 per cent – five percentage points more than in the US.
 
During that time, of course, US states reduced the amount of support they provided to postsecondary institutions not just on a relative per-student basis, but in absolute terms as well. It is therefore no surprise that the latest Condition of Education publication from the US National Center for Education Statistics should report that student tuition and fees represent a larger share of universities’ income than previously.
 
No reduction in total provincial support for universities has occurred in Ontario. But if we compare the relative share of public universities’ total revenue (including research funding, and excluding additions to endowments and income from ancillary enterprises) coming from students (net of scholarships), we find that the student share in the US rose from 18 to 22 per cent between 2005-06 and 2008-09. It has since fallen to 19 per cent for 2010-11. In Ontario, it continues steadily upward, from 25 per cent in 2005-06 to 28 per cent in 2010-11 to 29 per cent in 2011-12.
 
Sources:
Council of Finance Officers, Universities of Ontario, Financial Report of Ontario Universities
National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education; Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: Fall 2005 and Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2004-05; Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in 2012-13; Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2011-12; and 12-Month Enrollment: 2011-12: First Look (Preliminary Data)
Statistics Canada, University tuition fees, 2012/2013

Examining the “New Austerity” in Ontario higher education

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On May 23, 2013, the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU) hosted a symposium on education in Ontario featuring several Ontario Research Chairs. Glen Jones, a professor at the University of Toronto and Ontario Research Chair in Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement, presented his thoughts on “the new austerity” in Ontario’s higher education system.
 
Unlike during the mid-1990s – that last major period of restraint in higher education – the new austerity does not feature substantial cuts to public funding and financial aid. It also does not include significant tuition increases.  Rather, the new austerity is characterized by small, gradual cuts to public university funding, increased investment in student financial aid, and an effort to control tuition fees. While appearing less drastic and more student friendly than the major cuts of the 1990s, these policies still reduce the resources available to universities. As enrolments rise, declining funding causes per-student revenue to drop. Capping tuition fee increases, without providing compensatory funding to universities, further reduces financial resources.
 
As Jones and his York University colleague, Theresa Shanahan, observe, this slow decline in per-student funding will inevitably harm the quality of education provided by Ontario’s universities. This echoes a point repeatedly made by OCUFA: our institutions are already the most efficient and productive in Canada, so the government’s plan to offset cuts with “efficiencies” will not succeed.
 
While less dramatic than previous periods of cutbacks, the new austerity will have a similarly negative effect on our universities. They will struggle to do more with less. As we know, at some point this equation invariably becomes “less with less.”

Reality Check: Unions build equality for everyone

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When a pundit or politician attacks unions, they’re really attacking equality for everyone, and for women in particular.
 
Unions and the public sector – and public sector unions especially – are no strangers to criticism. In the wake of the Great Recession, perhaps it should be no surprise that attacks are more vociferous than when times are better for everyone. It is important not to lose sight of the contributions unions and the public sector have made to progress, not least for women.
 
Two recent publications point to the good that unions do. In its report, the Broadbent Institute includes a Canadian version of a chart showing that higher rates of unionization are accompanied by a decline in income inequality. The Canadian Foundation for Labour Rights illustrates the same fact using the Gini coefficient as a measure of inequality. Both studies point to the positive influence unions have beyond the workplace in ensuring fairer wages, social programs, and public services that benefit everyone.
 
A Statistics Canada examination of wage trends attributed some of the progress in closing the gender pay gap to the relative importance of unionization for women’s wages. Closing the gap may also be due to the role of the public sector as the foremost employer of women. About 70 per cent of employees in the public sector (utilities, education, health and social services, and public administration) are women, compared to 40 per cent across other industries. And about three-quarters of public employees are unionized, compared to less than 20 per cent in the private sector.
 
It’s not surprising that the Canadian Union of Public Employees found that the marginal, half per cent “premium” in earnings received by public employees is entirely due to more equitable pay for female public servants.

Bargaining Wire: Seven associations in bargaining, two more preparing for negotiations

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Collective bargaining continues at Ontario’s universities, with seven faculty associations currently at the table. Two of these associations (Brescia and UOIT Teaching Stream faculty) are negotiating their first contract. Two more associations are preparing to begin bargaining soon.
 
At UOIT, appropriate permanency/continuing employment provisions for teaching stream faculty remains an issue. At Ottawa, the faculty association was disappointed when the employer introduced unilateral pension reforms and suspended the multi-union/employer working group that had been discussing these issues. 

Reality Check: Not enough being done to bridge the gender pay gap

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Two recent reports form the Centre for Policy Alternatives address the gender gap in Canada and Ontario. Both find that not enough is being done to close the distance between men and women in the workplace.
 
Closing the Gender Gap takes a look at a variety of indicators used by the World Economic Forum to assess the gender gap in education, health, the economy, and politics. Author Kate McInturff found it would take more than 200 years to close the overall gap in Canada If progress were to continue at the current pace.
 
Some of that score is a result of abysmal scores in the political empowerment of women. Even so, Canada does not perform well on the economic participation and opportunity sub-index, despite having excellent scores in educational attainment for women.
 
Another study, 10 Ways To Close Ontario’s Gender Pay Gap,  points to a 28 per cent gender pay gap in Ontario, taking into account the dependence of so many women on part-time work. Mary Cornish complements McInturff’s recommendations by identifying concrete steps to ensure that real progress is made and maintained. In addition to measures to increase awareness and making pay equity a mainstream concern, she discusses practical matters like affordable and accessible child care, implementing and ensuring compliance with pay equity policies, employment and pay equity laws, and, not least, access to collective bargaining.

Public investment in Ontario universities continues to decline

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At first glance, the 2013 Ontario Budget doesn’t say much at all about higher education. This silence obscures the austerity logic still working against the province’s universities.
 
 The 2013 Budget continues the slow cuts announced in 2012. Through so-called “policy levers”, some $121 million is being cut from university budgets in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The government will also begin clawing back operating funds according to international enrolment, essentially imposing a “head tax” on all new international students. Taken together, these measures will continue the ongoing decline in per-student funding.
 
Overall funding for universities, correcting for inflation, is set to decline by 2.5 per cent over the next four years. If current enrolment trends continue, per-student funding from the government will actually decline by seven per cent over the same period.
 
The new tuition framework – where average increases cannot exceed 3 per cent – will also harm university revenue. OCUFA believes strongly that Ontario students pay too much in tuition fees, and that the cost of higher education must be controlled. However, we have long argued that any freeze or reduced fee cap should be accompanied by compensatory government investment to replace lost tuition revenue. No such funding has been made available.
 
Overall, this means that universities in Ontario will be forced to grapple with steadily declining resources, and corresponding threats to educational quality and affordability. With all the social and economic benefits generated by our institutions, the government’s current course is harmful to students, to families, and the province.
 

Data Check: Ontario’s funding for universities continues to slide

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If a government’s commitment to “innovation” can be measured by its support to the institutions that carry out innovative research and educate the people who put their own ingenuity to work, Ontario’s government support is on a downward slide. University funding as a percentage of GDP still lags well behind the rest of Canada, despite the government’s supposed interest in innovation.
 
2010-11 is the latest period in which we can compare Ontario with other provinces. That year Ontario government operating support to universities –as a proportion of provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – was about 15 per cent below the average in the rest of Canada.
 
Surprisingly, 2010-11 was still nearly a peak year for Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities operating allocations to universities as a percentage of provincial GDP. The percentage was magnified in part because the economy had shrunk during the course of the Great Recession.
 
By 2015-16, if current funding plans for universities are not changed and Ontario Budget 2013 forecasts for economic growth are borne out, the level of MTCU operating support to universities will have dropped to what it was in 2005-06 when Reaching Higher was first launched. In ten years, the government will have erased the positive effects of Reaching Higher.
 
Canadian Association of University Business Officers, Financial Information of Universities and Colleges
Ontario, 2013 Ontario Budget
Statistics Canada, Provincial and territorial economic accounts

Professors and academic librarians to Premier: It’s time to invest in universities

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Read OCUFA’s full budget analysis.

Ontario’s 17,000 professors and academic librarians are calling on Premier Wynne to invest in the province’s universities after today’s budget missed an opportunity to introduce new funding for higher education institutions. The 2013 Budget continues to impose small cuts on the university sector, leading to an overall decline in per-student funding.

“Ontario already has the worst level of per-student funding in Canada, and this budget continues this trend,” says Constance Adamson, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). “We’re pleased to see that youth and youth employment are priorities for Premier Wynne. Investing in universities is a natural way to ensure that young Ontarians will find success in the job market and in their communities.”

Increasing the level of per-student funding in Ontario would bring many benefits to young people in the province. There would be more professors, improving student engagement and mentorship. Aging labs, libraries, and classrooms would be upgraded, contributing to an enhanced learning environment. Students would have greater access to the latest technology.  Increased per-student funding would also help control rising tuition fees, keeping university affordable for Ontario families.

“We’re worried that the narrow focus on reducing the provincial deficit is crowding out other priorities equally important to Ontarians. Investment in universities helps reduce the deficit by stimulating economic growth and building a strong society,” said Adamson.

Austerity policies that seek to reduce the deficit through cuts to valuable public services like education are now widely seen as harmful to economic growth. The International Monetary Fund is now cautioning governments against aggressive deficit reduction.

“Austerity is based on sketchy research, and has failed to generate economic growth around the world,” said Adamson. “We should be investing in the things that we know lead to economic growth and social vitality, like our universities.”

Data Check: University degrees continue to be in demand

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It is now well know that 70 per cent of new jobs would require some form of post-secondary education. But the origin of this figure is not so clear, and despite its prevalence, no one is ever quite sure where it came from. However, the of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s (HRSDC) occupational projections finally confirms that estimate.
 
According to HRSDC, 70 per cent of Canadian new job openings between 2011 and 2020 will be for those with post-secondary education or in management. If replacement demand – or the number of existing jobs that become vacant – is included, two-thirds of job openings will require higher education, compared with 62 per cent in 2010. Clearly, a university degree, college diploma, or apprenticeship will be increasingly necessary for success in the labour market.
 
If replacement demand is a benchmark of educational requirements for jobs that currently exist, the percentage of positions requiring a university education will rise from 19 to 26 per cent. If management positions are added, the demand will rise from 31 to 35 per cent. Compare that with Ontario’s university participation rate: 32 per cent for full-time university students (as a proportion of 18-24 year-olds), or 28 per cent if only full-time undergraduates are counted.
 
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Imbalances Between Labour Demand and Supply – 2011-2020, Canadian Occupational Projection System 2011 Projections
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, USER Enrolment Report
Statistics Canada, Canada’s population estimates: Age and sex, July 1, 2012