Decline and crisis in Ontario’s Northern universities and Arts education by David Leadbeater and Caitlin K. Kiernan (original) (raw)

Modest modifications and structural stability: higher education in Ontario

Higher Education, 1991

Policy change in Ontario higher education in the 1960s resulted in a series of structures designed to co-ordinate each of the two sectors in this binary system. Recent government initiatives may be characterized as attempts to initiate or stimulate change within the boundaries and constraints associated with a structure which has been relatively stable for twenty years. There has been some increase in regulation in the university sector through the establishment of targeted funding mechanisms, programme appraisal and approval mechanisms, and the government's legislated monopoly over degree-granting, but these changes have had little impact on the basic operations of the universities. Government initiatives in the community college sector have had some impact in terms of greater institutional differentiation, but little impact on institution stratification. The stability of the Ontario system can be attributed to the relative homogeneity of each of two clearly differentiated sectors, the limited role of the federal government in the policy arena, a structure which has deflected or rejected calls for structural change, and the failure of those who seek change to stimulate a public or political debate on higher education policy.

A decade of doing things differently: Universities and public-sector reform in Manitoba

Canadian Public Administration/Administration publique du Canada, 2004

In Manitoba, reform of the public sector under the rubric of new public management went into full swing during the 1990s. This article analyses this reform movement as it touched on universities and seeks to understand how successful government was in implementing its reform initiatives to internal management structures at universities. At issue is the ability of governments to promote reform initiatives in institutions that are self-governed, autonomous and that deliver important services to the public. The article seeks to measure the scope, pace and nature of change in Manitoba's universities throughout the 1990s to assess whether or not the government's reform agenda was realized. Autonomy and the influence that government has over self-governed agencies is a significant factor in the success of a particular reform agenda. A decade of doing things Sommaire: Au Manitoba, la reforme d u secteur public d'apres les principes d e la Nouvelle gestion publique a pris toute son ampleur au cours des annees 1990. Cet article prbente une analyse d e ce mouvement de reforme et son impact sur les universitb, et cherche comprendre le succes d u gouvernement a integrer ses initiatives de rCforme aux structures de gestion interne des universites. Ce qui est en jeu c'est I'aptitude des gouvernements a promouvoir des initiatives de reforme dans des institutions qui sont autogerkes, autonomes et qui fournissent d'importants services au public. L'article cherche a mesurer I'ktendue, le rythme et la nature des changements survenus dans les universites d u Manitoba au cours des annees 1990 pour evaluer si oui ou non le programme de reforme du gouvernement a 6t6 realise. L'autonomie que possede le gouvemement et I'influence qu'il exerce sur les organismes auto-r6glementCs semblent 6tre un facteur important pour determiner le SUCCPS d'un programme de reforme particulier. The author is senior policy analyst at Manitoba's Council on Post-Secondary Education and is a doctoral student at the University of Manitoba. An earlier version of this article won IPAC's Willard J. Condo Student Paper Contest for the best graduate paper in 2003. The author is grateful for the comments of the Journal's independent reviewers. All remaining errors are the author's.

Higher education in Ontario: The need for research universities

Canadian Public Administration, 2011

This article addresses policy issues outlined in Academic Transformation, a new study of Ontario universities. The theme of this book is the need to develop teaching universities to cope with the steadily rising number of undergraduate students, the need for more full-time teachers and the financial burdens of university funding. This prescription is seen as a flawed model for the needs of Ontario and for the students who attend teaching universities. What Ontario requires is a bold plan to remove the barriers to incremental funding that is based on body counts and a proactive research strategy that serves the knowledge needs of the future. The article lays out a strategy and offers prescriptions that differ substantially from those found in the book Academic Transformation.

UNIVERSITY FINANCING POLICY IN QUÉBEC: THE TEST OF THE "PRINTEMPS ÉRABLE" 1 and Mamouna Kabore

2014

Our chapter focuses on the recent "postsecondary" education policy in Québec, which includes the Collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel 2 (CEGEPs), and universities. For several years, the Liberal government tried to increase the income of universities through a substantial tuition increase of 75% over five years. Students rallied against this decision in the spring of 2012. A strike movement developed and grew into a major conflict, known as the "printemps érable." 3 This became a significant political and social event as the strike lasted six months. It mobilized up to 400,000 individuals (students and beyond, citizens of all generations) and led to new elections and a change of government.

Ontario Higher Education Reform, 1995-2003: From Modest Modifications to Policy Reform

Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 2004

Ontario higher education system has moved far and fast in the past decade. The early 1990s saw "modest modifications and structural stability." Since 1995, under a neo-liberal government in Ontario, major policy initiatives, with objectives not unlike those already at large in western Europe and most of the United States, have quickly followed one another. The author proposes an explanation of the timing and dynamics of the Ontario reforms, describing the driving forces behind reform.