The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

Category: Canada

Improving the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP)

While out in Saskatchewan recently, I heard an interesting rumour to the effect that INAC was investigating the possibility that substantial sums of PSSSP money – that is, money paid to individual First Nations for use by their members for post-secondary education – was either going unused or being used for purposes other than post-secondary education. Assuming this is true, one shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that fraud is at work (though obviously that’s possible). It’s not unheard of for

Read More »
March 14, 2012 1 Comment

The “Standard Model” in Aboriginal Services

One of the things I’ve noticed about services provided to Aboriginal students in Canadian PSE is that somehow, Canadian institutions have all arrived at essentially the same model.  Here it is: The recruitment function: If you’re going to recruit on-reserve, you need someone to visit reserves.  Repeatedly. First Nations students aren’t going to make a multi-year commitment to you unless you visit them, look them in the eye and tell them “you can succeed with us and we’ll do what

Read More »
March 13, 2012 No Comments

The Tensions in First Nations PSE

One thing that rarely gets talked about in First Nations’ higher education is the question of who’s driving the agenda – chiefs, elders or students? As with any political agenda, there are a number of legitimate actors with different and valid interests. The first set of actors are the chiefs. They have a big say in Aboriginal PSE, not just in Saskatchewan where they actually own First Nations University of Canada, but anywhere that small Aboriginal institutes have sprung up

Read More »
March 12, 2012 1 Comment

Canada’s Universities of Applied Sciences

We tend to think of institutions as being either “universities” or “colleges.” The former are thought of as primarily granting four-year degrees that cover a breadth of traditional options (and in larger institutions graduate degrees as well), focussing on more theoretical programs and advanced research. The latter, by contrast, are institutions that specialize in shorter-length certificates and diplomas that have a much more applied focus, tied very closely to specific skills and careers. Increasingly, though, Canada is seeing the development

Read More »
March 8, 2012 2 Comments

Three Years? Four Years?

There’s likely to be a lot of noise about the relative value of three- and four-year Bachelor’s degree programs over the next few weeks, if this leaked government position paper and this Globe and Mail op-ed are anything to go by. Before everyone gets dug in, though, it would be useful to acknowledge a few basic points. If you’re awarding degrees based on time spent in class, then what makes one given length of time intrinsically “better” than another? Degree

Read More »
March 6, 2012 6 Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

Subscribe

Search Posts

Search Publications

Social Media

Linkedin Youtube Spotify

Recent Posts

More thoughts on...