Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 12, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Do Winnipeg free press january inside Story Nova Scotia lopping limbs9 Bald Santin education reporter Manitoba University Community can glance Over its shoulder to Nova As it scrambles to meet education minister Clayton manness Chal Lenges on How to rationalize the sys we Are lopping off Janet chairwoman of the Nova Scotia Council on higher said in a Telephone interview from her Halifax the successful University of tomorrow is one that knows what it is and does not try to be All things to All but what it smaller but better is aim of Atlantic provinces Reform it does extremely the Downside for students is you May find your choices More the upside what you when you get is very in a province with about the same number of residents As but with 13 Nova Scotia is in the process of the most Radical restructuring of pos secondary education to occur in one University will be closed and there Are proposals to merge or amalgamate several faculties Are closing or being scaled this was a process imposed on supposedly autonomous institutions when their presidents were unable or unwilling to meet a directive Simi Lar to that issued by manness last year in Manitoba rationalize or have it done for is anything autonomous if some body holds control through purse strings Halliwell this is an experimental we have tackled some things that have been held sacred and which we believe had been hidden without True and the students have been the the Council is Nova Scotia equiv Alent of Manitoba universities Grants commission a govern men appointed body responsible for allocating funds to now responsible for pushing its universities into the 21st Halliwell said Shes heard the re Frains from the University Community theres no fat they Are lean but that Doest alter the she that Nova Scotia universities will continue to receive less funding in the near Nova with its 13 universe is obviously different than Manitoba when it comes to but the Tenor of the debate Between academics and the Community is in the Council asked Nova Scotia 13 University presidents to rationalize their programs find ways to eliminate unnecessary duplication and improve the is change inevitable or is it unnecessary universities mull demand to rationalize Bald Santin education reporter As a storm howls outside most of Canadas Ivory Many of those inside continue to debate the weather we have to be really innovative in the Way we look at things because there int the or certainly there int the Public will to spend the Money on higher education that there was in the Janet chairwoman of the Nova Scotia Council on higher Nova Scotia is cutting Back its University funding another 10 per cent Over a fou year it has closed one of its 13 universities and expects to close several challenged but events in Nova Manitoba and elsewhere Are being challenged by the University Joyce president of the Canadian association of University said most of the government charges of waste and unnecessary duplication Are she said the Bottom line is that governments no longer believe it is important to support University these government orders to Reform come from this deficit Ottoline mentality that has really Little concern for what universities Are doing or actually but reflect the determination of the provincial government to Cut Back its expenditure on pos secondary said a professor at Waterloo University in but Halliwell said the changes Are the development of new technologies has brought the process of learning to Peoples technological breakthroughs that were once pioneered by universities Are now occurring in the business the Bottom line if universities want to retain their position at the top of this educational their role As a Central and a vital part of they Are going to have to society has she society has a lot More in the Way of expectations and those expectations can be filled Lorimer said its unfair for any province to make a comparison to what is going on in Nova a province with less than one million and that 13 universities is an appropriate target for but she said Clayton manness Challenge to Manitoba universities is not based on if there is a perceived need to alter the Structure of the it should be done by a proper process of investigation and Lorimer adding that Hast occurred in for the province to say you must i think the province must first have to prove there is waste and there is something to yet Claude president of the association of universities and colleges in said the University Community would be wrong to interpret manness challenges As a threat to its see a bit of a rational debate and an approach that May Lead to this being an Opportunity rather than a he Lajeunesse also believes its unfair to compare Manitoba to Nova adding that there already exists a great Deal of program rationalization universities should expect greater Public scrutiny As government spending is Ken Gigliotto Winnipeg free press a class at the University of Are government demands to restructure justified storming 10wers Manitoba universities Are under siege like never faced with dwindling dollars and accused of losing touch with the in this six part reporter Aldo Santin examines the mounting pressure for dramatic part 6 he but added that governments owe universities a Clear articulation of the role they want them to play in society and the resources to accomplish that being aware of whats around you is not a loss of Lajeunesse it May be the it May be the Only saturday the manness Challenge sunday students at risk monday plan 2000 at u of m tuesday Small schools defended yesterday business report card today Cros Canada View guarantee to retain your acting like a grownup sometimes is the Best Way to have others respect your Lorimer said the cos cutting mentality of provincial governments runs counter to the Public the various parties Are doing their polling and there finding that pos secondary education is highly Lorimer it was a Reform member who recently made the remark that pos secondary education is regarded As a sacred Trust by the sooner or they will have to Halliwell said provincial governments Are committed to taking their universities in a new direction and there is no going a system like where its got to the Point where it needs government intervention to make any significant is not a healthy Halliwell that system needs to have a Way of making decisions among the universities that does not involve the political level of whatever people say of i say it is an essential part of the transformation of the University for its next phase of schools across Canada Navel gazing Manitoba need three schools of a music three education faculties even three universities these Are just some of the questions Mem Bers of the University Community must answer As they Cope with a provincial government Challenge to redefine and Reeni Neer but the Challenge and the accompanying Public scrutiny is not a phenomenon restricted to universities across the country Are under the scrutiny of fiscal conscious provincial governments desperately trying to reallocate limited resources and refocus their pos secondary institutions for global education councils and University presidents Are demanding their institutions these Are some of the developments across the country Dalhousie Halifax october 1993 the citing financial recommends the elimination of several pro Grams and including Public and Library and information the cuts never took place because a grievance was filed by the faculty association through its collective University of Toronto Spring 1994 the University releases planning for a White paper on University objectives that recommends possible elimination of All three year elimination of All pro Grams not rated among the country top increased spending on electronic Library increased enrolment from students outside of Toronto and the use of electronic technology to allow for larger Nova Scotia Council on higher education March the Council unveils a comprehensive Reform package following a two year review of the provinces 13 universities and col its recommendations include closing the Nova Scotia teachers with drawing funding for teachers education at Dalhousie and Saint adding funds for teachers education at Acadia and mount and restructuring Engi Neering engineering students spend their first two years at one of eight universities and the last three years at the technical University of Nova the proposal would eliminate preliminary study at one institution Nova Scotia agricultural College and allow two others Acadia and University College of Cape Breton to offer the final three year pro the province also wants Francis Xavier to justify its education program by february Saskatchewan october 1992 launches a review of universities by the University program review terms of reference include the possibility of Consoli dating both the universities of Saskatchewan and Regina As a single inst As was the Case before on the panel releases recommendations rejecting the merger propos Al on the basis that the ensuing dislocation for students and faculty would be too the panel suggests universities specialize and drop Low enrolment and where Low enrolment justifies closing the panel says space should be purchased at neighbouring universities for Saskatchewan there is a recommendation to close the College of dentistry at University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and Purchase spaces at other with a Sugges Tion that other professional programs con Sider a similar it is suggested that doctoral programs be offered Only where there Are nationally recognized faculty and the appropriate critical mass of scholars and students is other recommendations include abolishing the Senate at both universities and Transfer ring noncredit certificate programs to Community University of Alberta Spring 1994 the University proposes major restructuring and including closing the school of dentistry by merging five science departments into a Large single biology department and merging several language departments into one modern languages University of British Columbia february 1994 ubic proposes raising additional revenues by admitting five times As Many foreign Stu dents to 15 per cent of total enrolment with two thirds of them to pay full Cost times regular the other Grad uate Are to get Brock March 1994 the University proposes raising additional revenues by guaranteeing admission spaces to students willing to pay tuition Normal tuition is after two the presidents re ported Back that they were unable to meet the councils the Council then appointed a re View committee that last Spring recommended Radical restructuring of teacher business and the teachers College will be education faculties at two universities will be closed and teaching of engineering has been re there is More to All univer sity faculties will be reviewed in a similar fashion and some of the remaining 12 institutions May disappear give More Cash poll Winni Eggers Back Academe Bald Santin education reporter Winni Eggers stand solidly behind the prov inces harried University a Survey has the conducted in 1991 by the Winnipeg area found that an overwhelming majority of respondents believe government should provide More funds to universities and 73 per cent would willingly pay More taxes to that end the taken of 553 Winnipeg also showed fifty eight per cent of respondents worry that without additional the Quality of University Edu cation will tuition fees should be kept at cur rent free to decide universities should be free to de cide on their own How to spend their Alexander a director of the 1991 said even though the Survey findings Are four years they Are consistent with More recent Public opinion surveys across the Winnipeg area study is an annual research project of the sociology department at the University of the Survey found support for universities tended to be stronger among younger people and those with higher Levels of seventy four per cent of respondents said government has no Busi Ness telling universities what pro Grams they should and 89 per cent said universities should be accessible to anyone who is academically sixty eight per cent said government should look where to make budget cuts rather than reduce support to the Survey also showed few respondents were aware of the Sites social and economic ties to the greater fort six per cent were either Neutral or said they did not know when asked their Opin Ion of the statement the universities Are not taking As Active a role in the social and economic develop ment of society As they should Only 27 per cent on the question of whether University research benefits 77 per cent but respondents were divided Over the role of uni Vert thirty seven per cent said if was to provide a Broad general Edu while 47 per cent said it was to train for specific when told that higher tuition fees could dissuade people from attend ing 69 per cent said they favored keeping tuition rates at cur rent As opposed to 12 per cent who favored higher and 20 per cent who wanted lower the series of University questions were part of a larger Survey that measure the attitudes of Winni Eggers to wards a wide Range of including Public Public a and health while they could give no margin of the researchers believe the study accurately reflected the Winnipeg population including variables of income and neighbourhood v ;