Listening to the pundits, you’d think there is an employment crisis for university graduates in Ontario. In fact, our grads are doing just fine despite the negative effects of the financial crisis. The Council of Ontario Universities recently released the results of the 2012 Graduate Survey . According to the report, 92 per cent of those graduating in […]
universities
On October 23rd, the Government of Ontario announced that it was giving universities and other broader public sector pensions plans an additional three years of help to put their pension plans on a sustainable track. Without this regulatory measure, a number of universities would have been required to put large amounts of additional money into their […]
For a long time, OCUFA has been critical of Canadian business’ sluggish performance in R&D funding. New data reveals that their poor performance is only getting worse. Business expenditures on research and development (R&D) in Canada have been decreasing for a few years, but the decline appears to be picking up steam. Statistics Canada estimates for 2013 show a […]
On Sept. 18, 2013, a “confidential” proposed policy framework for the differentiation of Ontario’s universities was leaked to stakeholder groups and the media . OCUFA is concerned that the policy framework may lead to government intrusion into academic decision making, and could have damaging funding consequences for Ontario’s higher education institutions. The proposed framework suggests that Ontario’s universities should differentiate according to eight “components”: […]
OCUFA, as a member of the Ontario University and College Coalition, a coalition of student, staff and faculty organizations, is deeply concerned about the findings of a new report, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which projects that the average cost of university tuition and other compulsory fees in Ontario will reach […]
This article, by OCUFA President Kate Lawson, originally appeared on The Huffington Post . The idea that universities are somehow not doing what we want them to do has become a popular trope in the editorial pages. To hear some columnists tell it, Canada’s universities are stuck in the past and not up to the labour market challenges […]
The latest release of Financial Information of Universities and Colleges offers little reason for optimism that the Ontario’s university funding gap will be closed any time soon. A brief respite courtesy of the Ontario government’s Reaching Higher plan notwithstanding, per-student provincial operating funding for Ontario’s universities has lagged the average in the rest of Canada […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Last week, we reported that the Council of Ontario Universities was developing a new consortium to develop online learning in Ontario . On April 18th, the COU made additional details available on the online learning initiative. Ontario Universities Online (OUO) will seek to “expand online learning for students in the province and beyond” and “meet the growing demand for courses and programs delivered outside the […]
Over on the Inside Agenda Blog , there is an excellent piece by Emmett Macfarlane, a professor at the University of Waterloo. In it, he explains that there is a need for universities to be innovative, but that the current proposals for change (such as MOOCs or teaching-only institutions) are not the panaceas they are made out to […]
In a paper released today , the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) reviews the performance of Ontario’s postsecondary education system in terms of access, quality, productivity, and social impact. It confirms what Ontario’s professors and academic librarians have known for years – our universities are efficient, productive, and accessible (though more work is needed to […]
This week, OCUFA released a research paper examining recent proposals around increasing university productivity as part of its Trends in Higher Education series. The paper finds that the current discussion in Ontario is plagued by unclear definitions, problematic assumptions, and troubling policy ideas.Reviewing the available evidence, the paper argues that: The discussion in Ontario has no clear definition of […]