OUSA

The Steering Committee of OUSA just completed its August meeting and is prepared to fly headlong into the school year next month. Many important issues were discussed as the committee finalized the organizations plans and priorities for 2010-2011.

Approved at the meeting was the OUSA Action Plan, first drafted at the Policy and Strategy Conference during the summer, it is the basic roadmap for what we want to accomplish this year. Some of these goals include: influencing political party election platforms, establishing stronger partnerships and becoming recognized widely as thought-leader and the preeminent student voice in Ontario. The Steering Committee will be working extremely hard throughout the year to complete these goals, along with and many others.

The committee approved two government submissions that will be sent to the Government of Ontario within the next week. They are the OUSA recommendations for the proposed new Ontario Online Institute and a paper on institutional differentiation.  Also occurring next week is the ‘Partners Conference’ were OUSA will be meeting with its federal and provincial partner organizations to discuss a wide range of issues.

For next month, the dates of the OUSA Campus Visits have been finalized. Home Office and the President will be traveling around to the different member schools to visit with the student assemblies, meeting with university administration and attend various events on campus relating to post-secondary education. It will be a long week, but one that has proven very useful in informing students about important issues that affect their education.

Finally, the dates for the OUSA Fall General Assembly have been set. It will take place at Brock University on November 5th-7th. During which time new policy papers will be presented and voted on.
Needless to say, it has been a busy month, and it will only get busier as school returns and students are exposed to the issues that impact their education. OUSA has had a very productive summer and the school year will not be any different.

Joe Finkle
MSU VP Education
OUSA VP Administration

The state of our post-secondary system in Ontario is at a crossroads. Institutions around the province are facing significant operating budget deficits, increasing enrollment pressures, increasing class sizes, potential faculty cuts and hiring freezes, fear of program closures, and widespread opposition to academic planning processes. The result is a growing concern among students, faculty, and the public that we are failing to preserve the quality of education for our undergraduates.

The root cause of our quality concerns is finite resources. With enough funding, universities could offer the intimacy of a graduate experience to every undergrad, and every institution would be equipped with state of the art facilities. But funding is limited, and the key is figuring out how we preserve quality independent of our fluctuating economic environment.

The government has initiated this process through the introduction of multi-year accountability agreements (MYAA’s), the collection of Key Performance Indicators at every institution, and universities have reviewed their own internal course and program auditing procedures. However, there is concern that many of the indicators that are collected don’t give us a clear picture of what quality is, and these protocols have only led to increased reporting for university administrators and few quality improvements.

There are several reasons academics and government alike have made so few inroads in this task. The first is that it is difficult to agree on a conception of what a quality education is. Should our universities be preparing youth for the workplace, advancing the knowledge economy through research and innovation, or, as Professor Martha Nussbaum advocates in the Globe and Mail, does a university education have intrinsic value in and of itself, investing our society with critical thinking skills and a civic consciousness.

Measuring quality once we have a definition is even more challenging. Is it enough to measure student retention, employment rates following graduation, and student-faculty ratios? While there is substantial common university data on input and output resources, there are surprisingly few performance indicators that report how effectively we are teaching and learning.  It is interesting that in a sector that emphasizes research so heavily, there is so little engagement in the questioning and developing processes for our own pedagogy.

While there are schools experimenting with undergraduate research opportunities and learning communities, there are other programs content to settle for traditional lecture-style teaching, ready to watch as lecture sizes grow and student engagement falls. This is not an inevitable outcome. However, in order to develop an effective set of quality indicators and a broader quality framework, there must be a recognition among students, faculty, university administrators and related stakeholders of the need for a campus culture committed to the exploration of teaching and learning strategies.

-Morgan Campbell
OUSA Research Intern

Thanks in large part to Elizabeth Church from the Globe and Mail, the issue of the province underfunding Ontario universities has grabbed considerable attention in the past couple of weeks.

In her July 30^th article “Tuition creeping beyond government funding”, Ms. Church offered the synopsis that the growth in funding from the Province is slower than the growth that the province allows in tuition fees. This is complemented by the alarming statistics indicating Ontario students fees cover the second highest percentage of university operating budgets in Canada, not failing to mention that Ontario students are charged the highest tuition fees in actual dollars in Canada.

Further analysis shows that revenue collected from students in tuition is crossing a dangerous threshold by surpassing the total revenue that universities collect from the government in operating grants. In fact, the University of Waterloo is projected to gain $220 million in tuition fees, while receiving $213 million from government grants, adding it among the universities in Ontario to reach this dysfunctional funding arrangement.

While the Province, through the Reaching Higher plan, provided considerable investment in the post-secondary education sector, due to increasing enrollment numbers, students have failed to see tangible improvements to the quality of their educational experience. With student-faculty ratios having increased significantly in the past decade, universities are also faced with inadequate funding for their student support services, and similar issues with investment in institution’s Centres for teaching and learning.

With all of this disappointing information and the ongoing deterioration of our publically funded model, students are left asking, ‘Where is our public good of university education going?’ This transition to a privately funded model is seemingly happening without any recognition or discussion.

Ms. Church’s article presented an accurate portrayal of the burdening situation that Ontario students are facing, confirmed by the generally positive reaction. The comments posted online by Globe and Mail readers demonstrates the fervent interest taken by citizens in this issue, with many appreciative of the importance of accessible and high-quality post-secondary education in today’s knowledge economy.

In addition to a general increase in government operating grants and a return to a fairer cost-sharing model between students and the government, students would like to see this issue given proper attention in the upcoming year and election.

Meaghan Coker
USC VP University Affairs
OUSA President

Somewhere between the federal and provincial components of OSAP loans, the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant, the Student Access Guarantee, Continuation of Interest Free Status, tax credits, Canada Student Grants, Ontario Access Grants, bursaries, distance grants, entrance scholarships, and work study, it might be understandable for the average Ontario student to get confused and frustrated by the web of student financial assistance in the province. Students can go months into the term without a definitive answer on how much money will be available to them, and funds often come from several sources in various forms with different application deadlines and repayment rules. Considering the ample research to suggest that perceived financial barriers to accessing post-secondary education can play just as large a role as actual barriers for students from low-income and first generation backgrounds, untangling this web has been a priority of OUSA’s for years.

This is why OUSA was pleased to hear that universities and the Ontario Student Assistance Program have been working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of administering the loan program. Students currently have several ‘contact points’ in which they must physically come to a financial aid office or kiosk to complete their loans: to pick up their loan documents; to complete many hand-written signatures; to drop-off their loan documents; and to pick up their cheques. This must be repeated each term and is a considerable drain on students’ time and on institutional resources.

There is work underway though to eliminate several of these contact points. Currently, cheques for grants are being phased out to automatic deposit in students’ bank accounts. A proposal is being developed to either have students complete a digital signature or to sign a master document in their first year on OSAP that will grant verification approval for the remaining years of the student’s borrowing. The funds associated with a student’s unmet need through the Student Access Guarantee currently require a separate application at most universities; this is also being phased out toward automatic disbursement.

We have also have had fruitful conversations with Ministry staff on two administrative concerns: how to more easily ‘un-default’ the many students who inadvertently collect interest on their loans by not submitting the Continuation of Interest Free status form; and on the idea of eliminating the student income verification process that currently slows the disbursement of government and institutional aid and instead setting a dollar figure that students must contribute each year (subject to the appeals process).

Students will continue to be engaged in this process to ensure that the billions of dollars that the federal and provincial government spend on student financial assistance is efficiently administered and well spent.

-Sam Andrey
Director of Research & Policy Analysis

“The market is never saturated with a good product, but it is quickly saturated with a bad one.”

Increasingly, the world is putting a greater priority on international education, which has resulted in increased competition for students. The emergence of the European Higher Education Area certainly proves this, with its stated goals of not only creating a system that is seamless to transition into and out of, but also promoting European education to the rest of the world. Additionally, countries like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Qatar have become increasingly popular destinations for international students. Finally, countries like China and India that have typically sent large numbers of students abroad have increased efforts to keep them.

In this environment, increasing international enrollment by 50%, as the Premier has targeted, will require more than simply advertising “come to Ontario.” It will require giving Ontario higher education something substantial to advertise. In a growing market, it is increasingly important that Ontario be putting out a high quality product.

When international students consider their study abroad options, a wide variety of factors weigh into the selection. One of these factors is undoubtedly the supportiveness of the learning environment. If Ontario could advertise itself as the most supportive, welcoming study environment in the world, guaranteeing personal and academic support, it would help establish Ontario as a leader in international education.

International student offices, present at every Ontario institution, should be able to provide students with in-person counseling on both personal and non-personal matters, conversational language training, opportunities to build a peer network, employment skills training, and emergency loans or bursaries for exceptional circumstances and situations. Currently, the landscape of international student service delivery across the province is varied and diverse, with some institutions lagging behind. If these were to be standardized, Ontario could boast that a supportive learning environment is characteristic of the whole province, not simply certain institutions.

Additionally, health care is an area where there exists the potential for Ontario to become a leader in international education. Of the top international student host countries, many offer students access to public health care. Were Ontario to offer visiting students access to public coverage, it would be a huge improvement over the expensive and non-comprehensive University Health Insurance Plan. Due to the private nature of the plan, it is not recognized at all Canadian hospitals and sometimes forces students to transfer hospitals or pay extra fees not applicable under a public plan.

Interestingly enough, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have all included international students in the public health care system, meaning Ontario lags behind nationally, let alone internationally.

Over the past several months, our research on internationalization has led us to believe that fostering Ontario’s image as a safe and supportive environment aligns well with the priorities of prospective students, will improve the system for students already in the system, and will ensure our province’s position as a leader in international education over the long term.

Chris Martin
Research Intern
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

Ontario students were pleased to see today’s announcement HERE that the provincial government will be introducing changes to the Pension Benefits Act to provide extended solvency relief for our universities. Due to the recent instability of the financial markets, the pension funds at universities across Ontario have been facing a funding crisis. Without solvency relief from the government, many institutions would have been forced to divert significant funds away from their academic pursuits, thus severely impacting the learning experience for Ontario’s students. This announcement demonstrates the government’s continued commitment to working with our universities and our students to ensure the sector remains on sound financial footing.

In exchange for solvency relief, the government expects universities to take steps to make their pension plans more financially sustainable. To be provided with the first three years of solvency relief, a university must submit a plan to ensure sustainability. If the university can demonstrate progress after three years, they would be allowed ten years to amortize their remaining solvency deficit.

In July, OUSA wrote to the Minister of Finance, urging him to provide this solvency relief as soon as possible to protect the quality of our students’ education. We reminded him that each of Ontario’s institutions is in possession of considerable capital assets that would easily cover their pension obligations in the unlikely event that one was forced to close, and that five other provinces – Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland – have already amended their pension legislation to exempt their universities from solvency funding requirements.

-Alexi White
Executive Director

The question of whether the new Ontario Online Institute should have an open access policy has come up frequently in my discussions with government, stakeholders and students. I’m going to take this opportunity to expand on what OUSA would like to see in an access model:

Unlike in peer jurisdictions where age is the only access requirement for online learning, Ontario students strongly believe that entrance standards should be employed at the Ontario Online Institute, at least for undergraduate degree programs. If a student is admitted without the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed, the student may find themselves frustrated and withdraw from the program, costing them financially and lowering the likelihood they will re-enrol at a post-secondary institution.

Furthermore, an open enrolment policy is likely to limit the value and prestige associated with a degree from the Institute. Students, parents and employers will already be sceptical of the quality of these degrees. It is only through maintaining consistent entrance standards that the Institute will be viewed as a legitimate, high-quality institution.

That said, life-long learning should be a priority of the Institute and open admissions should be available for students not enrolled in degree programs. Furthermore, under-qualified students must have the opportunity to prove themselves and to work toward a full degree from the Institute. First, equivalency tests and personalized skills assessments should be used to assess the students’ academic merits to determine if they have the ability to succeed in their program of study. To provide assistance to those not fully prepared for enrolment, a full range of bridging
programs and preparatory classes should be established. The provincial government should look to Athabasca University and Open Universities Australia where free online modules have been designed to assist students in assessing their learning before they enrol. Bridging programs are already in use on a small scale at institutions across Ontario. The University of Guelph, for example, offers University Preparation Programs that allow students open access to the university and guaranteed admission to degree programs once they have completed a number of prerequisites.

Flexibility in when students may begin a course is also necessary to promote access to the Institute. Online learning does not need to abide by the traditional semester model, and popular courses especially should begin on a frequent basis. According to Alan Brady, Executive Director of OntarioLearn, more and more students are unwilling to wait for a specific time of year to begin studying, especially when they have just lost their job.

More broadly, the government must increase efforts to assist traditionally underrepresented groups in accessing the Ontario Online Institute and other higher education pathways. Unfortunately, many qualified Ontarians are prevented from accessing a post-secondary education due to social, cultural, geographic, and informational barriers. To ensure these students have access to a higher education, the Ontario government must invest further in access and early outreach programs both in at-risk communities and in primary and secondary schools across the province.

Meaghan Coker
OUSA President

Post-secondary education (PSE) is primarily a provincial responsibility; however, the federal government has a considerable amount of direct and indirect influence on PSE in Ontario and across the country. This is why many student unions have opted to join the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). CASA is an alliance of student associations from across Canada which promotes the interests of post-secondary students to the federal government. Most of the student associations in Ontario that are a part of OUSA are also a part of CASA.

This year I was elected to represent Ontario on the regional board of CASA. I was further elected by the regional board as the secretary of CASA.  I will be acting as the voice of Ontario on this board and ensuring that OUSA and CASA continue to have a healthy relationship over the next year. The upcoming year will be a very important year for OUSA-CASA relations especially with the idea of a formal tie between the two organizations looming in the air.

OUSA and CASA have traditionally had a great relationship.  For many years CASA and OUSA have been part of a larger partnership of provincial student alliances from across Canada which come together once a year to share ideas and find synergies in promoting student interests to the federal or provincial governments. This has been a very fruitful relationship for all of the student alliances involved, especially when it comes to sharing best practices on how to improve our provincial student alliances to better promote the interests of students across the country.

Last year OUSA and CASA adopted the principles of an open letter that suggested the idea of making our loose partnership between provincial student alliances into a formal partnership that directly ties these provincial alliances with CASA. This would mean that CASA would no longer be driven by individual students’ unions from all over Canada but would instead be driven by provincial student alliances in a federated structure.

OUSA’s counterparts in other provinces have agreed to entertain the idea of a federated structure of CASA. The partnership will be coming together in Ottawa between August 16^th and 17^th in their first meeting on the topic to discuss the feasibility of this partnership idea.

Whatever comes out of this year’s partners conference, OUSA and CASA will continue to have strong ties and work together to promote the interests of students both at the federal and provincial levels of government.

Daud Grewal
VP University Affairs
Brock University Students’ Union

There are many questions that a student must ask themselves when deciding what to do after high school. There are the common questions like “Do I want to take a year off?” or “Do I want to go to college or university?”  A lot of students will ask themselves “How do I plan on paying for this?”  Others will stress more about living with a roommate.  While details are important when deciding on one’s post-secondary path, the idyllic question should be, “What do I want to be when I grow up?”

That’s what Early Outreach is about: engaging youth in informative dialogue about what they want to do in life and about which post secondary options will help them reach their goals.  To effectively have this dialogue, students need to be well informed about everything from entrance requirements, program options, financial aid, and academic expectations.  This process must start early – a Council of Ontario Universities study found that 73% of students make the decision to attend university before the age of 15 and 35% of students decide before the age of nine – and should involve high schools, parents, and the community.

One in three students has decided that they are going to university or an equivalent before they’ve finished Grade Six.  So what influences this early decision?  Most of these factors should not be a surprise – parental education, perceived value of education in the family, ethnicity, financial background, and even proximity are all reasons why a student may not pursue post-secondary education.

These influences, among others, are what Early Outreach programs attempt to address.  And current programs are showing signs of success.  Pathways to Education, a program that focuses on tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and financing has shown a 65% reduction in absenteeism and boasts an impressive 98% retention.  Success is also being noted with dual credit programs that give high school students a chance to earn both a high school credit and college credit. However, there are lacking areas, and it is those areas that OUSA’s upcoming Early Outreach Policy Paper will address.

The purpose of Early Outreach can be misconstrued as an attempt to increase enrollment and fill empty seats. It’s not; it’s about helping students reach their goals by making them aware of which pathways will get them there.  No student should be told that, because their parents didn’t go to university, they can’t be an astronaut.  Early Outreach is about getting students to where they want to be and removing barriers in their way.

Kieran Slobodin
Academic Affairs Commissioner
The Alma Mater Society, Queen’s University

In the fifteen months since I first became involved with OUSA, I have been given many valuable opportunities to lobby both local university administrators and provincial politicians, as well as bring our message to the attention of various
media outlets. As I will be graduating with a degree in Communication Studies, I have found both aspects of our political engagement to be fascinating and rewarding due to my being able to put to use skills only recently acquired.

While my personal experience with lobbying has been relatively limited – outside of OUSA’s own “LobbyCon”, my time has been spent mainly on campus – I find that I have been able to connect with media outlets on a regular basis. I suspect that this has happened for two broad reasons.

Firstly, I was lucky to have a chance to work with local media outlets before entering my two terms in university student politics. By having learned such basics as how to write an effective press release and what makes for an interesting news story (e.g. human interest stories and stories with a local angle), I put my skills to use when our campus community radio station (“CJAM-FM”) came under threat by an American private broadcaster. Happily, these skills have been equally useful when it comes to inviting outlets ranging from campus newspapers to the CBC to cover stories relating to OUSA. This leads me to my second reason.

Media outlets at all levels and across all mediums have been a pleasure to work with, and I suspect that our preparedness and professional conduct contribute to these positive working relationships. When I have submitted a press release to any outlet (this has been common to print, radio and television), I have always attempted to state clearly why an upcoming event matters, how it will affect the consumers of this particular medium and so forth. Of course, it is also wise to make as concise as possible any submission, as people operating under strict deadlines will not have the time to read anything longer than one page. Lastly, I have also found it helpful to avoid the use of all technical jargon.

For these reasons, I have been able to help communicate our various messages to tens of thousands of listeners, readers and viewers who in turn are now aware of OUSA’s educated solutions!

-Robert Woodrich
Vice President University Affairs
University of Windsor Students’ Alliance