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OCUFA planning a town hall on higher education and austerity in Toronto

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On Wednesday March 27, 2013, OCUFA will be presenting a town hall discussion on austerity and higher education at the University of Toronto. We invite all Ryerson, York, U of T, and OCADU students, staff, and faculty to join us for an evening of discussion and analysis. As with previous OCUFA town halls, the emphasis will be on understanding the impact of austerity on Ontario’s universities and coordinating our responses to the government’s austerity agenda.
 

 

 

Speakers include:

  • JOHN SHIELDS – Professor, Department of Politics & Public Administration, Ryerson University
  • SARAH JAYNE KING – Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS)
  • FAIZ AHMED – Chair, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3903, York University
  • CAROLYN HIBBS – President, York University Graduate Students’ Association (YUGSA)
  • PAUL TSANG – President, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1998, University of Toronto
  • CHARLES REEVE – Associate Professor and President, Ontario College of Art and Design Faculty Association (OCADFA)
  • Moderator LUC TREMBLAY- Associate Professor and VP of University & External Affairs, University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA)

 
The event will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the OISE Auditorium (252 Bloor St. West). More information is also available on the event’s Facebook page.
 
We will also be webcasting the town hall. Click here for more details.

Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities hints at new tuition framework

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Last week, Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Brad Duguid gave an interview to the Toronto Star indicating the Government of Ontario was close to announcing a new tuition framework for Ontario. Emphasizing his desire to find an arrangement that works for both students and institutions, the Minister had this to say:
 
“I’m confident we’ll strike a balance that I hope will be supported by students and institutions, but I will be looking at this through the lens of parents and students first. My goal will be to reach a balance that is fair to students, acceptable to post-secondary institutions and that focuses on ensuring both quality and affordability.”
 
The Minister also indicated that he was not in favour of extending the current framework, which allows tuition fees to rise by an average of five per cent. There has been some suggestion that the new framework will still allow increases, but at a lower rate.
 
OCUFA believes strongly that students in Ontario pay too much in tuition fees. The gradual decline in per-student government funding for universities has forced institutions to shift the cost of delivering a high quality education onto students. Ontario now has the lowest per-student funding in Canada. Unsurprisingly, we also have the highest tuition fees in the country, and our students are paying for a historically high proportion of university operating budgets. Students are also graduating with unprecedented levels of debt. To ensure our institutions remain affordable and accessible, it is imperative that tuition fees be brought under control.
 
A new tuition framework with slower fee increases would be a welcome relief to students. However, in order to maintain educational quality, the government must simultaneously increase per-student funding to replace lost tuition fee revenue. Otherwise, quality – already under strain at Ontario’s universities – will suffer. The best way to ensure an accessible and high quality university sector is through robust public funding. That is why OCUFA recommends a full tuition freeze in Ontario, with a corresponding increase in public funding to replace lost tuition fees.
 
Unfortunately, the Government of Ontario only wants to talk about one half of the equation. While they might be planning to restrict tuition fee increases, they are actually cutting university funding. About $40 million was taken from university budgets this year, with an additional $80 million in cuts planned for next year. In an environment of increasing enrolment demand, these cuts will invariably hurt students. If we’re serious about access, we need to freeze fees and boost public investment in out universities.
 
OCUFA President Constance Adamson will be meeting with Minister Duguid on March 18, 2013 to discuss our views on tuition fees, university funding, and the need to protect the collective bargaining rights of local faculty associations. We also hope to clarify the government’s plans for the coming months. As soon as new information becomes available, we will report it in OCUFA Report and on the OCUFA website.

Data Check: Ontario’s student-to-faculty ratio now worse than it was during the Double Cohort

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On the one hand, the latest data from the Common University Data Ontario (CUDO) indicate the deterioration of student-faculty ratios and class sizes seem to be slowing. On the other, the slope is still downwards and indicators suggest things are worse than during the final year of the “Double Cohort.”
 
The Double Cohort was the bubble in enrolment created by the elimination of the Grade 13 year in Ontario. In 2011, the last year of available data, there were two more students for each full-time instructional faculty than there were in 2006, when the Double Cohort ended. With the available data, it is difficult to be as precise about class sizes, but it appears that these too are now larger than they were in 2006. CUDO discloses the number of courses within specified enrolment ranges, but not the average class size, so trends must be derived by assuming a fixed average size for each range (see below).
 
In 2011, first and second year courses remained virtually the same size as the year before, which is encouraging. Nevertheless, they are still eight to nine per cent higher than they were in the final year of the double cohort five years before.
 
At first glance, it might be good news that classes for fourth year students look to be smaller (two per cent) than they were in 2006. However, they are two per cent larger than just one year before. As the data for third year courses indicates, the increase in class sizes for entering students continues to ripple through upper years as well.
 
The message here is clear: Ontario needs more full-time faculty, and it needs them now. New faculty hiring will help to reduce the student-to-faculty ratio and ensure that every student is able to connect with their professors.
 
Source: Council of Ontario Universities and individual institutions, Common University Data Ontario
 
Class size assumptions
 

Enrolment rangeAverage
< 30 students29
30-60 students45
61-100 students80
101-250 students150
251+ students251

 
The average is multiplied by the reported number of course sections in the corresponding range (excluding counts that include sub-sections like tutorials); the sum of the number of ostensible students is divided by the number of reported course sections.

Less austerity, more higher education investment, says Northern Ontario

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Today, OCUFA released new poll findings on public attitudes towards higher education and austerity in Northern Ontario. Presented at a news conference at Laurentian University, the results indicate that residents of the region do not want the government’s deficit-cutting agenda to compromise the quality of university education in the province.

Key findings include:

  • 74 per cent oppose any deficit-cutting policy that damages the quality of university education in Ontario.
  • 78 per cent of Northern Ontario residents oppose cuts to university funding
  • 82 per cent oppose shifting the cost of higher education onto students and their families through higher tuition fees
  • 60 per cent believe that a university funding freeze by government would harm the quality of higher education in the province, compared to 5 per cent who think it would have a positive effect.

Northern Ontario residents also support the rights of professors and academic librarians to bargain their contracts free from government interference, with 66 per cent in favour of unfettered local negotiations.

The OCUFA study was conducted December 10th and 14th, 2012 and received 1,518 responses, with 301 in Northern Ontario. The margin of error is +/- 4.9 per cent at the 95 per cent confidence interval for the Northern Ontario sample. Read the full results.

Tonight (Feb. 28th), OCUFA will also be co-presenting a town hall discussion on austerity and higher education in Sudbury. We invite all students, staff, and faculty to join us for an evening of discussion and analysis. The event will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University, in the Brenda Wallace Room . More information is also available on the event’s Facebook page.

Data check: Ontario’s university funding gap continues to widen

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The gap in government funding between Ontario universities and American public universities has narrowed, albeit simply by default. But the gap in provincial funding between Ontario and the rest of Canada is headed in the other direction.
 
At its best in 2006-07, the rate of Ontario government operating, trust and research funding for teaching, research and service lagged the rest of Canada by 21 per cent. By 2010-11* the difference had stretched to 37 per cent. This gap has remained static for two years, if enrolment data from university associations and provincial government sources and expenditure estimates from provincial ministries of finance are an accurate indication.
 
Some of the difference is made up by Ontario universities from another revenue source subject to government policy – tuition. Once net student fees (tuition and other fees, minus scholarships paid from operating funds) are taken into account, the difference in provincially regulated income to universities gets smaller. But given the important social and economic mobility functions of universities, it is unacceptable to close the funding gap on the backs of students and their families.
 
For Ontario universities to attain a level of support comparable to the average in the rest of Canada would require between $1.4 and $1.6 billion more from the provincial government.
 
* Quebec universities changed their fiscal year end for 2010-11; excluding student enrolment, fees and scholarships, annual data for Quebec institutions are pro-rated according to the number of months reported for 2010-11.
 
Sources: Canadian Association of University Business Officers, Financial Information of Universities and Colleges
Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System

Data check: State funding for US universities stabilizes

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The free-fall in US state government support for universities is over. According to data collected by the Grapevine project at the Illinois State University Center of Education Policy, total state support in 2012-13 remains virtually the same as the previous year. That said, it is still 11 per cent lower than it was five years before.

It is largely the decline in state support that has helped reduce the gap in funding between US public four-year universities and Ontario universities, where per-student funding has always lagged behind their American peers. Between 2006-07 and 2010-11, Ontario provincial funding per student fell by 2 per cent, before inflation. State funding levels dropped by 14 per cent.

Nevertheless, the gap persists. Public support for teaching, research and public service undertaken by universities is structured differently in the US, but the evidence from Canada indicates that the gap is largely due to low per-student government funding in Ontario. Funding from the Canadian federal government helps, but the overall funding gap is still between $1.2 and $1.5 billion per year.

Grapevine, Annual Compilation of Data on State Fiscal Support for Higher Education
US National Center for Education Statistics
Council of Finance Officers – Universities of Ontario, Financial Report of Ontario Universities
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, USER enrolment data

Premier Wynne signals interest in higher education, public sector labour relations in Throne Speech.

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On February 19, 2013, new Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne presented her first Speech from the Throne, outlining the priorities of her government. As expected, the speech contained a heavy focus on deficit reduction, economic growth, and employment.

The speech signaled that the government will continue to pursue austerity policies, but reflected a softer approach to controlling the deficit. In particular, it emphasized the need to work respectfully with the public sector to achieve the government’s spending goals. Nevertheless, it is clear that the government still expects compensation restraint. From the speech:

Your government will create a better process to ensure that all its partners, including those within the public sector, are treated with respect.

But it will call upon these same partners to work with this new government so we can journey forward, boldly, as one…

…It will also introduce a balanced approach to balancing the budget so that all parties can work together to find savings without impacting the services on which people rely.

However, your new government understands that Ontario’s true potential cannot be reached through austerity alone.

And so it will continue to implement recommendations found in the Drummond Report, including work to evaluate corporate tax compliance.

The speech continues the government’s commitment to reducing the deficit, conforming broadly to the goals outlined in the Drummond Report:

Your new government will restrain program spending to reduce Ontario’s debt-to-GDP ratio, while recommitting itself to eliminating the deficit by 2017-2018.

And after that, it will restrict overall spending increases to one per cent below GDP growth until the province’s debt-to-GDP ratio returns to the pre-recession level of 27 per cent.

It will also introduce a balanced approach to balancing the budget so that all parties can work together to find savings without impacting the services on which people rely.

 The speech also signaled a desire to influence labour relations in Ontario, and perhaps introduce reforms to the current arbitration system:

As your government moves forward, Ontario’s labour force will be treated fairly and with respect.

It will sit down with its partners across all sectors to build a sustainable model for wage negotiation, respectful of both collective bargaining and a fair and transparent interest arbitration process, so that the brightness of our shared future is not clouded by the indisputable economic realities of our time.

It also appears that universities are envisioned as part of Ontario’s employment strategy:

To address the serious issue of youth unemployment, your government will join forces with high school educators, colleges, universities, training partners and employers to establish opportunities for young people to enhance their skills; find placements, internships and co-op programs; and gain valuable, real world experience.

A renewed partnership with business, educational institutions, not-for-profits and labour will be at the heart of your government’s plans to build a modern, competitive and dynamic economy.

In addition, the speech announced the continuation of the 30 Per Cent Off Ontario Tuition Grant and the desire to expand the availability of French postsecondary programs in central and southwestern Ontario.

It should be noted that the throne speech does not contain specific policies, but is rather a general statement of the government’s directions. Actual policies should become more clear in the upcoming budget. OCUFA will be tracking the government’s policy initiatives closely, and intervening to ensure that collective bargaining is protected and that all activities of the university – inquiry and critical thought, not just job training – are funded for success.

New Premier and Cabinet sworn in, Brad Duguid appointed Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities

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Kathleen Wynne was sworn in as Premier of Ontario this afternoon. In addition to a new Premier, the province of Ontario also has a new Cabinet. Brad Duguid has been appointed Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.

OCUFA will meet with Minister Duguid in the coming weeks to discuss his vision for the future of higher education in Ontario, including the need for government re-investment in universities. It remains unclear if Minister Duguid will continue former Minister Glen Murray’s plans for reforming Ontario’s universities, but OCUFA plans to caution against these rash reforms and suggest a more measured, consultative model.

 OCUFA looks forward to working with Minister Duguid to build on the strengths of Ontario’s universities to ensure a high quality, accessible and affordable higher education sector.

 

Data check: Government funding for Ontario universities continues to stagnate

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Just about everyone agrees that Ontario needs strong universities to drive student success, economic growth, and social vitality. Too bad the Government of Ontario still hasn’t gotten the message.

The Council of Finance Officers – Universities of Ontario (COFO) report for 2011-12 indicates that provincial operating funding to Ontario universities increased by two per cent from the previous year. Once inflation is taken into account, provincial funding actually remained flat from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012.

The picture is marginally better if provincial funding for non-credit, trust-supported and research activities is taken into account. With these figure included, overall real and inflation-adjusted funding rose by half a per cent. In per-student terms, however, provincial funding decreased.

 

Investment in higher education is an excellent way to increase employment, promote innovation and drive economic success. It is also a way to strengthen our democracy and develop our society. So why does the Government of Ontario refuse to make the investment our universities need? Some claim that investment isn’t possible while Ontario fights to reduce its deficit. But students and professors know that the only thing we really can’t afford is under-funded universities.

Council of Finance Officers – Universities of Ontario, Financial Report of Ontario Universities

Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, USER enrolment data

Ontario Ministry of Finance, Quarterly Economic Accounts, GDP Implicit Price Index

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

Less austerity, more investment in higher education, says Southwestern Ontario

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Today, OCUFA released new poll findings on public attitudes towards higher education and austerity in Southwestern Ontario. Presented at a news conference at the University of Western Ontario, the results indicate that residents of the region do not want the government’s deficit-cutting agenda to compromise the quality of university education in the province.

Key findings include:

  • 69 per cent oppose any deficit-cutting policy that damages the quality of university education in Ontario.
  • 71 per cent of Southwestern Ontario residents oppose cuts to university funding
  •  79 per cent oppose shifting the cost of higher education onto students and their families through higher tuition fees
  •  44 per cent believe that a university funding freeze by government would harm the quality of higher education in the province, compared to 11 per cent who think it would have a positive effect.

Southwestern Ontario residents also support the rights of professors and academic librarians to bargain their contracts free from government interference, with 55 per cent in favour of unfettered local negotiations.

The OCUFA study was conducted December 10th and 14th, 2012 and received 1,518 responses, with 376 in Southwestern Ontario. The margin of error is +/- 4.9 per cent at the 95 per cent confidence interval for the Southwestern Ontario sample. Read the full results.

Tonight (Feb. 6th), OCUFA will also be co-presenting a town hall discussion on austerity and higher education in London, Ontario. We invite all students, staff, and faculty to join us for an evening of discussion and analysis. The event will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in room 2316, Somerville House, University of Western Ontario. More information is also available on the event’s Facebook page.

Data Check: Student debt rises as government funding falls

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It is not hard to imagine what will happen to student debt as governments scale back their funding for postsecondary education, causing institutions to increase tuition to cover the shortfall. The latest report on student debt in the United States shows that the average inflation-adjusted debt for first time bachelor’s degree graduates rose from $14,700 in 1994 to $24,700 fifteen years later.
 
The amount of student debt incurred by those attending public four-year institutions was lower than private universities, but the relative increase was much the same – 68 per cent. There are other expenses of course, but the greater proportion of increasing indebtedness for public graduates is attributable to more rapidly rising tuition costs at public universities. Tuition increased by almost 80 per cent over the same period at these institutions, compared to a forty per cent increase at private schools.
 
While Ontario is still behind it’s American peers in terms of tuition fees, the slow decline of per-student funding in the province (now the lowest in Canada) will certainly lead to higher student debt down the line.  
 
National Center for Education Statistics, Trends in Debt for Bachelor’s Degree Recipients a Year After Graduation: 1994, 2001 and 2009; Digest of Education Statistics 2011: Table 349. Average undergraduate tuition and fees and room and board rates charged for full-time students in degree-granting institutions, by level and control of institution: 1964-65 through 2010-11

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

OCUFA poll finds Ottawa region wants less austerity, more investment in higher education

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Today, OCUFA released new poll findings on public attitudes towards higher education and austerity in Ontario’s Ottawa region. Presented at a news conference at the University of Ottawa, the results indicate that Eastern Ontarians do not want the government’s deficit-cutting agenda to compromise the quality of university education in Ontario.

Other key findings include:

  • 72 per cent of Ottawa region residents oppose cuts to university funding
  •  74 per cent oppose shifting the cost of higher education onto students and their families through higher tuition fees
  •  57 per cent believe that a university funding freeze by government would harm the quality of higher education in the province.

Ottawa region residents also support the rights of professors and academic librarians to bargain their contracts free from government interference, with 62 per cent in favour of free negotiations. Ontarians also reject taking away collective bargaining rights of public sector workers to meet deficit-reduction goals, with 48 per cent opposed and only 33 per cent in favour. 

The OCUFA study was conducted December 10th and 14th, 2012 and received 1,518 responses, with 301 in the Ottawa region. The margin of error is +/- 4.9 per cent at the 95 per cent confidence interval for the Ottawa region sample. Read the full results.

OCUFA releases new research on public attitudes towards austerity and higher education in the 905 region

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Today, OCUFA released new poll findings on public attitudes towards higher education and austerity in Ontario’s 905 region. Presented at a news conference at McMaster University in Hamilton, the results indicate that residents of the 905 region do not want the government’s deficit-cutting agenda to compromise the quality of university education in Ontario.

Other key findings include:

  • 86 per cent of 905 residents oppose cuts to university funding
  •  75 per cent oppose shifting the cost of higher education onto students and their families through higher tuition fees
  •  53 per cent believe that a university funding freeze by government would harm the quality of higher education in the province.

905 residents also support the rights of professors and academic librarians to bargain their contracts free from government interference, with 63 per cent in favour of free negotiations. Ontarians also reject taking away collective bargaining rights of public sector workers to meet deficit-reduction goals, with 50 per cent opposed and only 30 per cent in favour. 

The OCUFA study was conducted December 10th and 14th, 2012 and received 1,518 responses, with 338 in the 905 region. The margin of error is +/- 4.9 per cent at the 95 per cent confidence interval for the 905 sample. Read the full results.

OCUFA holds “Academia in Age of Austerity” conference

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From Jan. 10-11, 2013, OCUFA held its annual conference in Toronto. This year’s theme was “Academia in the Age of Austerity”, and the program was designed to explore the impacts the “austerity agenda” has had – and will continue to have – on higher education.

The speakers included faculty members, higher education researchers, students, members of the media, and activists from Ontario, Canada, and around the world. Through a series of panel sessions and keynote addresses, participants sought to answer several key questions: Is austerity inevitable, or are there alternatives? How has this “austerity agenda” actually affected faculty, students, and institutions in Ontario, in Canada, and globally?  And, what might universities do now, and in the future, in response to austerity? 

To start the conference, OCUFA presented new polling data on public attitudes towards higher education and austerity.

Over 120 faculty members, administrators, students, and policymakers attended the conference. Over the next few weeks, we will be making audio from each session available on our website. In the meantime, here is the complete recording of the panel “Debating Austerity: Is Public Constraint the Only Way Forward?” featuring Jim Stanford, Alex Himmelfarb, and Derek DeCloet, in three parts:

Debating Austerity – Part 1

Debating Austerity – Part 2

Debating Austerity – Part 3

Ontario wants less austerity, more investment in higher education: new study

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Ontarians do not want the government’s austerity agenda to compromise the quality of university education in the province,according to a new study released today by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). While most Ontarians think it is important to reduce the provincial deficit, over two-thirds oppose any cost-cutting measure that reduces the quality of education received by students.

“The OCUFA poll clearly shows that Ontarians are worried about the deficit and the economy,” said researcher André Turcotte, Associate Professor at Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication. “But they also recognize that investing in education is an excellent way to grow our economy and ensure the success of our young people.”

Released at OCUFA’s “Academia in the Age of Austerity” conference, the study indicates that 72 per cent of Ontarians oppose cuts to university funding, and 79 per cent oppose shifting the cost of higher education onto students and their families through higher tuition fees. In addition, 52 per cent believe that a university funding freeze by government would harm the quality of higher education in the province.

“The message is clear: Ontarians know higher education is too important to be subjected to funding freezes, cuts, or other austerity measures,” said Constance Adamson, President of OCUFA.

While higher education is still important to Ontarians, the study suggests that concerns about the provincial deficit, job creation, and the economy are now top of mind for most people in the province.

The study also shows that Ontarians support the rights of professors and academic librarians to bargain their contracts free from government interference, with 63 per cent in favour of free negotiations. Ontarians also reject taking away collective bargaining rights to meet deficit-reduction goals, with 43 per cent opposed and only 34 per cent in favour.  

“Ontario’s professors and academic librarians have a long tradition of free local bargaining responsive to the needs of students, communities, and the province,” said Adamson. “These results show that Ontarians reject the government’s heavy-handed attempts to take away the rights of hard working citizens.”

The OCUFA study was conducted December 10th and 14th, 2012 and received 1,518 responses. The margin of error is +/- 2.5 per cent at the 95 per cent confidence interval. Full results can be found here.