New study confirms what Ontario faculty already know about teaching quality,
say professors

TORONTO, Nov. 12 /CNW/ - A new study by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) confirms what Ontario's professors and academic librarians have known for years: Ontario's academic staff are committed to high quality teaching, but face serious barriers in achieving this important goal. The report, titled University Faculty Engagement in Teaching Development Activities finds that 96 per cent of faculty believe that teaching is a key part of their professional practice.

"Ontario's faculty are passionate about delivering a high quality experience to students, and they have been doing it for decades," said Henry Mandelbaum, Executive Director of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). "This report reminds us that continuing teaching excellence will require significant support from our institutions and the provincial government."

The HEQCO study finds that while almost all faculty are committed to teaching, only 61 per cent of those surveyed believe their institution shares this commitment. Among the reasons cited for this is an overemphasis on research and attracting research funding.

"Our universities are chronically underfunded, and that means administrators must chase any additional money they can find," Said Mandelbaum. "As a result of federal and provincial government policy, much of this new money is for research. It's therefore not surprising that teaching has taken a backseat at many of our institutions. Funding universities adequately would eliminate this imbalance."

The report also advocates providing more formal teaching support to university faculty. While this is a good idea, it is also important to make sure Ontario has enough professors to provide quality teaching to an ever-growing student body, and that these professors are given the resources to be successful. A shortage of faculty leads to larger class sizes, fewer course offerings and less student access to their instructors.

"Ontario has the worst student-to-faculty ratio in Canada," said Mandelbaum. "Any serious discussion about improving teaching quality must involve increasing the number of full-time professors available to our students. Right now, our underfunded system is relying on too many contract faculty, and saddling our full-time academic staff with unmanageable workloads."

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 16,000 faculty and academic librarians in 26 faculty associations across Ontario.  For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at http://www.ocufa.on.ca.

For further information:

Contact: Graeme Stewart - 416 979 2117 x232 (office) or 647 280 3175 [email protected]