Sue Horton

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Challenges in Canadian Post-Secondary Education

• Sue Horton
• Professor of Economics
• VP Academic, Wilfrid Laurier U

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Outline of presentation

• The context facing universities
• University responses planning
• An example Lauriers Century Plan

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The Context facing Universities

• Increased participation rates and often declining
  per capita government funds
• Increased competition and differentiation of
  mission
• Internationalization
• Call for more accountability/results

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Postsecondary Participation Rates of 18- to
24-Year-Old High School Graduates,
19722001Source National Center
for Education Statistics. (2002). Digest of
Education Statistics. U.S. Department of
Education.
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• Research Assessment Exercise The AUT has
  reiterated its policy of opposition to the
  Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).   The RAE
  has had a disastrous impact on the UK higher
  education system, leading to the closure of
  departments with strong research profiles and
  healthy student recruitment. The RAE has been
  responsible for job losses, discriminatory
  practices, widespread demoralisation of staff,
  the narrowing of research opportunities through
  the over-concentration of funding and the
  undermining of the relationship between teaching
  and research, with a consequent reduction in the
  quality of higher education available to students.

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University Response planning

• When change is needed/resources are scarce,
  planning is needed
• Next 5 slides document results of an unsystematic
  web survey of 17 Canadian universities (about
  one-third of population)

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University Plans hypotheses

• Who plans? A quick unsystematic web survey
• Universities subject to more competition/greater
  resource scarcity
• Larger universities
• Universities with new Presidents (!)
• Universities facing institutional change
• In Canada Anglophone universities more than
  Francophone

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University Plans evidence
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University Plans evidence II
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Key University Goals I
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Key University Goals II

• U of Toronto Interdisciplinarity equity
• Trent Undergrad recruitment/retention
• U Ottawa Bilingual links francophone community
• U Alberta Northern/aboriginal/rural links
  interdisciplinarity
• U Laval balance the budget
• Laurier become more comprehensive

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Lauriers Century Plan

• The context Laurier in 2005
• Vision, Objectives
• 10 Big Steps to 2011
• Milestones

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Primarily Undergraduate Universities/Comprehensi
ve
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Primarily Undergraduate Universities/Comprehensi
ve
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Achievements 1998-2005 I

• Laurier in 2005, compared to 1998 has
• Twice as many students
• Younger faculty (52 hired since 2000)
• More women faculty (41 now, 30 then)
• More staff (222 more hired)
• More than 132m worth of new buildings/renovations
  
• 2 new campuses Brantford and Kitchener

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Achievements 1998-2005 II

• 8 doctoral programs now (3 then)
• 11 Masters programs now (8 then)
• Many new undergraduate programs
• 3 new Faculties (Arts, Science, Brantford)
• 15 research Chairs now (none then)
• Twice as much tricouncil research funding

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Laurier in 2011

• Laurier will be an innovative university known
  for strengths in selected areas
• Laurier will be large enough to offer a good
  variety of undergraduate, professional and
  graduate programs
• But at a human scale, offering an outstanding
  student experience both inside and outside the
  classroom

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Five Key Objectives

• Sustain the student focus in campus life and in
  the classroom
• Continue the transition towards being a
  comprehensive university
• Continue the transition towards more
  research-intensity
• Increase internationalization
• Focus on excellence in teaching and learning

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10 Big Steps before 2011 I

• Resources
• Renovate the Alvin Woods building
• Fund a new building on the St. Michaels site
• Comprehensive
• Implement a graduate funding guarantee
• Add 10 Masters and 2 PhD programs. Proposals
  include Biology, Chemistry, Communications
  Studies, Computational Science, Contemporary
  Music, Co-op MBA, Criminology, Global Studies,
  Philosophy and others (Masters) Music Therapy
  and others (PhD)

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10 Big Steps before 2011 II

• Research
• Establish at least one endowed chair
• Appoint Associate VP Research in 2007 to head
  Research Office
• Involve all Faculties in Research Centres
  increase number of such Centres

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10 Big Steps before 2011 III

• Internationalization
• Expand overseas courses/partnerships, especially
  outside Europe
• Student focus/ Teaching/Learning
• Handle online all registration (graduate and
  undergraduate), graduate applications, and have
  application status visible to applicants via
  LORIS
• Degree audit software

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Milestones I

• Student Focus
• Maintain excellence in national surveys of
  student life and student satisfaction
• Comprehensive
• Increase the number of students in professional
  programs by 50
• Double the number of graduate students by 2013
• Increase number of graduate programs to 30, PhD
  programs to 10

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Milestones II

• Research
• Increase research funding by 80
• All Faculties to be involved in one research
  centre number of centres to reach 15
• Internationalization
• Aim for 5 of students as visa students
• Aim for 10 of Laurier students to graduate with
  an international academic experience

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Milestones III

• Teaching/Learning
• Nominate one faculty member for 3-M and OCUFA
  awards annually, to highlight importance of
  excellent teaching
• Improve student satisfaction with academic
  advising and reduce run-around

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Conclusions

• University Plans are a response to a difficult
  context
• But planning takes energy and resources, and
  buy-in
• Requires an institutional champion, and
  institutional mechanisms to implement
• Http//www.wlu.ca/centuryplan