Ontario college students support announcement of $42M towards creation of Ontario Online

TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2014 /CNW/ - This afternoon the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Brad Duguid, announced $42M of new funding over three years towards the formation of Ontario Online, an initiative aimed at expanding online learning in Ontario. The College Student Alliance (CSA) is pleased that Ontario Online will be offering participating students and instructors academic and technical supports, as well as best-practices and research in a central, online location.

"We're happy to see the expansion of online learning in Ontario and that systems will be in place to accommodate those students who choose this means of post-secondary education ," said Curtis Bell, President of the College Student Alliance and President of the Student's Administrative Council (SAC) at Cambrian College. "This announcement will offer more flexible credit transfer opportunities making post-secondary education further accessible to students."

This afternoon's announcement comes after years of recommendations coming from stakeholders like the College Student Alliance. In the summer of 2012, the CSA put forward a submission to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities titled "Innovative Change in Ontario's College System." This submission outlined several recommendations which have been realized in today's announcement.

"Today's announcement recognizes many of the online learning recommendations that the College Student Alliance has put forward to the ministry over the past several years," said Tyler Epp, Director of Advocacy at the College Student Alliance. "A focus on support services, both technical and academic, are a key requirement for the successful completion of online studies. We are pleased that the ministry has incorporated these supports into the structure of Ontario Online."

The College Student Alliance (CSA) is an advocacy organization, which has been proudly serving Ontario's college students since 1975. The CSA currently represents 15 colleges and 21 student associations with over 135,000 full-time student members throughout the province.

SOURCE: College Student Alliance

Tyler Epp
Director of Advocacy
College Student Alliance
416.340.1212
[email protected]

Curtis Bell
President
College Student Alliance
519.748.5131 ext 16
[email protected]