OCUFA

Data Check – Women make the biggest gains in university education

Graeme — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:00:25 +0000

A recent Statistics Canada look at women and education shows that postsecondary attainment amongst Canadian women and men has increased markedly since 1990. The increase in the proportion of people with a postsecondary diploma or certificate was roughly the same for women and men. When it comes to university degrees, however, women’s attainment rates grew much faster than for men.

In 1990, slightly fewer than 14 per cent of women aged 25-54 had university degree, compared to 17 per cent of men. By 2009, women’s attainment rate had doubled to 28 per cent. In contrast, men’s university attainment rose to 25 per cent.

It is no surprise then that 60 per cent of university graduates now are women. They tend to be concentrated in the humanities, social sciences and education. Men are disproportionately represented in fields like engineering, mathematics and computer sciences.

Percentage of Women among University Graduates	2008
Total – Instructional programs	60.0
Architecture, engineering & related services	22.2
Mathematics, computer & information sciences	30.4
Personal, protective & transportation services	44.9
Business, management & public administration	53.0
Agriculture, natural resources & conservation	55.9
Physical & life sciences, & technologies	57.3
Humanities	64.3
Visual & performing arts & communication technology	66.5
Social & behavioural sciences, law	67.0
Other instructional programs	69.4
Education	76.1
Health, parks, recreation & fitness	77.

Source: Statistics Canada, Women and Education

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

OCUFA Board of Directors meets with MTCU Minister Glen Murray

Graeme — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:00:02 +0000

At the February meeting of the OCUFA Board of Directors, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray spoke and took questions from faculty associations representatives from across Ontario. The Minister again outlined his interest in accelerated three-year undergraduate degrees, all-year instruction at universities, and increased reliance on online education.

As was made clear at the meeting, OCUFA has significant concerns with these proposals, as they may impose financial constraints on students, diminish the portability of Ontario credentials, and further erode the essential connection between scholars and learners in the classroom. We will continue to work with Minister Murray and the Government of Ontario to highlight these concerns and preserve the quality of university education in Ontario during this period of short-term fiscal restraint.

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

Faculty at Laurier ask for a no-Board; Settlement ratified at Huron

Graeme — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:41:48 +0000

After five unsuccessful conciliation sessions, the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association (WLUFA) requested a no-Board report on February 9, 2012. The parties remain apart on a number of key issues, including compensation and pensions, and continue to work on several key non-monetary issues such as professional teaching positions. The Executive of WLUFA has been authorized to call a strike if necessary, with 91% of members voting in favour of the motion. WLUFA will meet with conciliator Greg Long again on Thursday and Friday of next week.

Faculty at Huron University College ratified a new settlement on February 10, 2012. Details of the new agreement will be included in next week’s OCUFA Report.

Algoma has given notice to the employer that they wish to begin bargaining. Negotiations continue at the University of Ottawa, Brescia, and St. Paul.

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

OCUFA to Drummond: You can’t drive Ontario forward on a half-empty tank

Graeme — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:38:55 +0000

OCUFA is criticizing the report of the Drummond Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services for being long on cuts and short on insights. Taken together, Drummond’s recommendations would continue the erosion of educational quality at Ontario’s universities and colleges.

“Drummond recognizes that higher education is severely underfunded. He also recognizes that universities and colleges are the keys to social vitality and economic success,” said Constance Adamson, OCUFA President. “True ‘transformational change’ requires the courage to fund the sector at a level that allows it to succeed. By only fiddling around the margins, Drummond is proposing that higher education drive Ontario forward on a half-empty tank.”

Drummond’s chief recommendation is that government funding of universities and colleges be limited to 1.5 per cent per year. As the report itself points out, this is an effective cut to higher education funding that does not keep pace with enrolment or inflation. Ontario’s universities already receive 25 per cent less per-student funding than they did in 1990; Drummond’s recommendations will make this under-funding even worse.

Drummond’s recommendations also contain serious factual errors. He recommends that Ontario faculty contracts be brought in line with the broader public sector. In 2011, faculty compensation increases were below both the private sector and broader public sector, at 1.5 per cent. The report further recommends that faculty be given more flexibility to adjust how much teaching and research they do. Right now, almost all of Ontario faculty’s collective agreements allow them to do exactly that.

“If Drummond had bothered to ask Ontario faculty about their jobs, we could have given him a better idea of what was actually going on. As it is, his picture is incomplete,” said Adamson.

“Overall, Drummond is asking Ontario’s universities to do more with less. But in the face of steadily rising enrolment, this just means less for our students: less interaction with professors, fewer learning choices, and more barriers to young people seeking an exceptional experience.”

Former OCUFA President Mark Langer debates teaching-only univerisities on Ottawa Morning

Graeme — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:59:19 +0000

Former OCUFA President Mark Langer debated former Carleton University President Richard Van Loon on the virtues of establishing new ‘teaching-only’ universities in Ontario. Van Loon, co-author of the book Academic Reform, is an advocate for these new institutions, suggesting that they are a way to accommodate growing university enrolment in Ontario at a lower per-student cost. Langer countered with OCUFA’s view that teaching-only institutions actually provide none of the benefits they are supposed to deliver: they are not cheaper (for students and government), and by removing research from the university, they do not provide the quality education that students expect.

The full radio segment can be heard here.

Reality Check: University grads give much more than they receive

Graeme — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:00:54 +0000

Recently, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report comparing what students pay for their degrees with the public cost of providing undergraduate education in British Columbia. It found that university graduates, as a group, pay out considerably more in fees and taxes than the total cost of their education.

A four-year undergraduate degree costs the government and students a bit more than $50,000 in BC. Women with an undergraduate degree put $106,000 more back into the public purse over the course of their working life than those with only a high school diploma through taxes paid on higher earnings. Men contribute $156,000 more than peers for whom high school is their highest educational attainment.

The report notes that some university graduates earn less than the average high school graduate. It argues that progressive taxation is sensitive to individual differences in career path and income, and spreads the costs and contributions across all graduates.

Ontario students pay more and the Ontario government contributes less towards their education than students in other provinces. It is therefore likely that they, too, more than make up for the cost of their degrees through increased contributions to public finances. This calls into question policies that seek to shift the cost of education onto students through higher tuition fees.

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

OCUFA Supports Canadian Federation of Students’ Day of Action

Graeme — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:17:45 +0000

On February 1, 2012, the Canadian Federation of Students held a nation-wide protest against the high cost of higher education in Canada. OCUFA President Constance Adamson wrote a letter of support to Ontario Chairperson Sandy Hudson, and OCUFA was a featured speaker at the press conference launching the Ontario event.

In her letter, Adamson highlighted the negative consequences of high tuition fees, and the urgent need for investment in Ontario’s universities. In her words:

We know that the high cost of tuition fees in Ontario – currently the highest in Canada – place a serious burden on students and their families. It is also unacceptable that many students graduate with punitive levels of debt, making it difficult to pursue their chosen careers, purchase a home, or start a family. With the province struggling to reinvigorate its economy, we literally cannot afford to saddle young Ontarians with such a large financial liability. While some promising steps have been taken, there is still much to be done to ensure our universities are accessible to every qualified student.

We also share [the CFS’] concerns with the quality of higher education in Ontario. Rising enrolment and stagnant government funding have left our institutions struggling to provide a high quality experience for every student. Ontario currently has the worst student-to-faculty ratio in Canada, meaning less interaction between professors and students, large class sizes, and reduced course choices. We need to invest in our universities to ensure we have the resources to create the best possible results for our students.

While the Government of Ontario has recognized the high cost of higher education, and taken important first steps to correct the problem, we agree with our student allies that much more is needed.

For more information on the Day of Action, please visit the CFS website.

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

Nominations are now open for the 2011-2012 OCUFA Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards

Karat Tenbrinke — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:05:36 +0000

Since 1973, the Teaching & Academic Librarianship Awards have recognized professors and librarians who have made an outstanding contribution to the quality of university education in Ontario. Any member of an OCUFA member faculty association is eligible to be nominated, and nominations can be made by anyone. The deadline is May 21, 2012, and the awards will be presented at the October 2012 OCUFA Board Meeting Approximately seven awards are given each year

Spread the word!

For more information, please visit http://ocufa.on.ca/ocufa-awards/teaching-and-academic-librarianship-awards/

Data Check: Enrolment shows no sign of slowing

Graeme — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:45 +0000

University enrolments continue to increase in Canada. If community colleges that recently were given university status and denominational institutions are included, the total number of students attending universities outside Ontario went up by five per cent between 2010 and 2011 reports the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The number of students at older publicly funded universities rose by almost three per cent.

In Ontario, the enrolment increase was comparable but marginally higher. Full-time students accounted for the largest share of the larger student population, as the proportion of students registered on a part-time basis fell. For the coming fall, preliminary data on the number of secondary school students applying for full-time attendance at Ontario universities shows a two per cent increase over the previous year.

Source: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
Ontario Universities’ Application Centre

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.

OCUFA meets with Minister Glen Murray, PC Critic Rob Leone

Graeme — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:09:17 +0000

On January 23, 2012, OCUFA President Constance Adamson met with the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray. Among other issues, Adamson spoke of the urgent need for faculty hiring and quality investments in the university sector.

For his part, the Minister highlighted the province’s fiscal challenges, as well as his early plans for higher education in Ontario. Minister Murray will release several white papers in the coming months on proposed new policy directions, and will use these as the basis for stakeholder consultation. The Minister also reiterated his support maintaining the link between teaching and research at Ontario’s universities.

On January 25, 2012, OCUFA met with the Progressive Conservative Critic for Training, Colleges and Universities, MPP Rob Leone. Mr. Leone indicated that he shared OCUFA’s concerns with quality in the university sector, particularly in the face of rising enrolment.

OCUFA will continue to work with all political parties over the coming months to ensure that the quality of higher education is preserved.

This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.