So I’ve been asked to act as a member of the “reference group” (that is, a group of individuals from whom advice may be sought, but which is not technically an advisory group – yeah, I know, it’s a bit odd) for the government of Ontario’s funding formula review. Since everyone’s about open government these days, I thought I’d make public some of my views on the subject of funding formulae so you can get a sense of what I’m
Be forewarned: I am going to be very mean about universities today. One thing the labour disputes in Ontario highlight is the amount of undergraduate teaching done by non-tenure track professors. Numbers on this are hard to come by, and poorly defined when they are. York sessionals claim to be teaching 42% of all undergraduate classes – but how do you define a class? But from what I’ve gathered from talking to people across the province who are in a
The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) released an amusingly defensive press release last month, just after the high school applications deadline. After a glancing acknowledgment that applications to university are down in the province for the second year in a row, we are earnestly told: DEMOGRAPHICS! APPLICATIONS WAY UP IF YOU USE 2000 AS A BASE YEAR! JOBS! DEMOGRAPHICS! MORE JOBS! DID WE MENTION DEMOGRAPHICS? I guess COU views itself as a prophylactic against negative press coverage that secondary school applicants
I don’t pay as much attention as I should on this blog to matters British Columbian, mostly because I don’t get out there often enough. But the province’s “Skills for Jobs Blueprint” cries out for some critical treatment, because frankly it’s not all that smart. Turn back the clock a bit: in April 2014, the BC government rolled-out a series of policies that were collectively branded as the “Skills for Jobs Blueprint”. Much of it consisted of relatively sensible changes
So I see that the Government of Ontario has announced what is possibly the most boutique student aid program of all time. If students volunteer at the 2014-15 PanAm Games, they will be exempted from the pre-study period contribution (a contribution from the money you earn up to 16 weeks prior to the start of your studies) for 2015-16, and will be get a 12-month grace period on their loans (instead of 6-month) before needing to start repayment. <puts computer
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.
