Proposal to increase the differentiation of Ontario's universities met by
cautious optimism from students

TORONTO, Oct. 26 /CNW/ - Undergraduate students are generally supportive of the government taking a more active role in transforming Ontario's universities to better balance the system-wide demands for a high-quality and accessible learning environment with the capacity to undertake research. This reaction comes upon review of the report released today by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) calling for greater differentiation in the university sector. This transformation will have a significant impact on students, and great care must be taken to ensure that the impact is positive.

While students do not believe that government should unilaterally determine the mandates of Ontario's universities, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) supports the use of multi-year accountability agreements to naturally differentiate universities through robust planning for future enrolment growth and institutional priorities, while tying performance to a portion of incremental funding.

"Students are hopeful that the process proposed by HEQCO will ensure a renewed emphasis on teaching and the student experience at our universities, while increasing sustainability, accountability and transparency," said Meaghan Coker, OUSA President. "We anticipate that the government will follow HEQCO's example and continue to undertake extensive consultations with students to ensure that these priorities are reflected in any future direction-setting."

Students have also highlighted several concerns that they have with the process moving forward:

• Past negotiations of multi-year accountability agreements have excluded student input, and OUSA remains adamant that future agreements must include students and the broader campus community.
• In the absence of annual increases to base funding, universities often rely on growth to cover inflationary costs. A proposal in which all growth funding is tied to differentiation would not acknowledge the realities of increasing university costs.
• Increasing differentiation and diversity amongst institutions should not disrupt current progress toward fixing the broken credit transfer system.
• Metrics for university performance have been poorly designed in the past, and the importance of developing effective measurements that focus on student outcomes should not be overlooked.
• While students believe that these new incentives could allow some institutions to place their focus back on the undergraduate teaching mission, students insist that those universities that choose to focus on graduate expansion and research must not be absolved from the responsibility to provide a high-quality undergraduate experience.

Finally, students are concerned that many within the higher education sector view increased differentiation as the silver bullet that will solve the system's challenges, ignoring concerns about cost inflation and alternative solutions such as transformation of the professoriate and adequate public investment in the valuable research and education missions of Ontario's universities. Students applaud the government for its continued dedication to building an accessible, affordable, accountable and high-quality post-secondary education system, but stress that realizing this vision will require more leadership and resources than merely encouraging differentiation.

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance represents the interests of over 140,000 professional and undergraduate, full- and part-time university students at seven Ontario institutions.

For further information:

or to arrange an interview, please contact Alvin Tedjo, OUSA Director of Communications & Public Relations, work: [phone], cell: [phone], email: [email protected]