We’re gonna quote right out of the newspaper. That way, you won’t have to worry that we’re making it all up. These are verbatim quotes about the Ontario university funding model review. The headline reads: “Sustaining Quality in Changing Times” “Persistent deficits and a growing debt burden limit the ability of governments at every level to […]
Category: Martin Hicks
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Martin Hicks – Stop (en)Rolling Over
In Ontario, higher education enrolment forecasting is important business. This is not surprising. Enrolment growth drives money to institutions, generates investment by government and delivers ever higher participation and attainment rates for Ontarians. What will postsecondary enrolment in Ontario be in 10 years and how should we plan for it? To find out, we look […]
Reflections on the ‘Rae Report’ 10 years and a few billion dollars later It’s Feb. 7, 2005. Bob Rae faces the Queen’s Park media and releases his report and recommendations for Ontario’s postsecondary education system: popularly dubbed the Rae Report but officially titled Ontario – A Leader in Learning. It’s a pivotal moment. Mr. Rae, […]
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Martin Hicks – Wrenches and scalpels
I was thinking about this fall’s HEQCO conference “Hands on: Exploring apprenticeship and the skilled trades.” We are broadening our focus to embrace pieces of the postsecondary mosaic beyond public colleges and universities, and the conference is but one manifestation. And yet, even as we do so we are aware of a trade off (pun […]
In a recent blog we wrote that Ontario undergraduate tuition was around $4,000. At about the same time, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said Ontario undergraduate tuition is $8,474. It’s a Star Trek episode with parallel universes. How does that happen? The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives didn’t make its numbers up. Statistics Canada […]
Last week, the Globe and Mail dissected Ontario’s latest annual university graduate survey results. Lead conclusion: “recent graduates of Ontario universities are doing worse on almost all measures of employment compared to those who graduated before the recession.” And more pointedly: “humanities graduates have been particularly affected, with their real earnings dropping steeply from what […]
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Martin Hicks – Data in Quarantine
Higher education is often pitched as an investment — by individuals in their future, and by the public in a strong economy and an engaged citizenry. Good investors do their homework and base their decisions on facts and data. Does Canada have sufficient data to make healthy investment decisions in higher education? As was underscored […]
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Martin Hicks – The alchemist’s dream
Just tell me, please, where the jobs of the future will be. Then those working in higher education can plan accordingly, adjust the credential and programming mix, and drive students into the right programs. Actually students won’t need driving, because they will surely make superior choices and not continue to stumble into the humanities or […]
Recently, at the annual conference of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, Gwyn Morgan, retired CEO of energy giant EnCana, gave the opening keynote address, where he extolled the contributions colleges make to the economy and to the career success of many Canadians. He was right to do so. Canada has a strong and successful […]