Another post-secondary item that is worth taking a look at… Note the last couple of news items…
OCUFA Faculty Survey: Professors and academic librarians warn against rash reforms of Ontario’s universities
Professors and academic librarians are warning the Government of Ontario against putting limits on the educational options available to students, based on the results of OCUFA’s 2012 Faculty Survey.Thank you for participating in the OCUFA Faculty Survey
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out our 2012 Faculty Survey.
Reality Check: Online education is expensive when you do it right
It is not cheap to provide a high quality university education online.OCUFA Faculty Survey: Professors and academic librarians warn against rash reforms of Ontario’s universities
Professors and academic librarians are warning the Government of Ontario against putting limits on the educational options available to students, based on the results of OCUFA’s 2012 Faculty Survey. In a leaked discussion paper and several speeches, the Government of Ontario has floated moving to a three-year degree structure, delivering 60 per cent of a degree online, and introducing year-round university programming.“In a competitive and knowledge-based economy, our students don’t need less education,” said Constance Adamson, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). “Any policy that potentially reduces the quantity and quality of curriculum taught in universities has to be met with extreme caution and concern.”
Survey highlights:
- 87 per cent of faculty agreed that moving to a three-year degree will limit the ability of students to pursue graduate or professional education in the rest of Canada and the United States.
- 86 per cent of faculty surveyed agreed that moving to a three-year degree will harm the quality of university education in Ontario
- 82 per cent agreed that delivering 60 per cent of undergraduate courses online will harm the quality of university education
- Only 24 percent of faculty surveyed strongly agreed that there is sufficient student demand for year-round university
“Online education has an important place in today’s universities, but moving the majority of undergraduate education online will undermine the learning experience our students expect. We shortchange students if we ignore the educational importance of face-to-face student interaction with their peers and faculty inside the classroom and laboratory,” said Adamson
“Faculty members are united in their concern over the online learning and three-year degree proposals. These ideas need to be carefully scrutinized and reviewed to ensure that they support the best possible student experience while meeting Ontario’s educational needs.”The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) survey was commissioned to assess Ontario university professors’ and academic librarians’ opinions on a variety of issues affecting university education. The online survey received over 2,300 responses between March 21 and April 16, 2012.
Thank you for participating in the OCUFA Faculty Survey
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out our 2012 Faculty Survey. We received over 2,300 responses from across Ontario, from all disciplines.The Faculty Survey helps OCUFA understand the opinions and concerns of our members, and allows us to be a more effective advocacy voice in Ontario. By participating in the survey, you helped us communicate the faculty perspective to administrators, government, and the people of Ontario. Media coverage of the survey included the Canadian Press, the Toronto Star, and Newstalk 1010.
OCUFA also held a draw for a new Apple iPad for those who participated in the survey. A faculty member from Western University (formerly the University of Western Ontario) won the prize.
Reality Check: Online education is expensive when you do it right
It is not cheap to provide a high quality university education online. At first glance, the operating expense per student appears lower at the Télé-Université du Québec (TÉLUQ) and Athabasca University than at traditional universities. Accounting for enrolment profile, the same is true for Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in BC, which has a physical campus and hosts BC’s Online Learning Agency.Drilling deeper, online education is less of a bargain. The weighted average cost per student at TÉLUQ and Athabasca is 11 per cent higher than the on-campus per-student cost in Ontario. It is only by adding TRU without adjusting for enrolment mix that the weighted average falls to 10 per cent lower than Ontario.*
The cost savings are achieved partly by savings on full-time faculty salaries. The combined student-faculty ratio for the three online institutions is 34, well above the combined average of 21 for their counterparts in BC, Quebec, and Alberta. Take faculty salaries and student scholarships out of the mix and the combined operating costs at TÉLUQ and Athabasca are 30 per cent higher than in Ontario. Even with TRU included, Ontario institutions still spend less.
Ontario already has the lowest operating cost per student and the worst student-faculty ratio, which rose to 28 in 2010. If online learning in Ontario is meant to achieve cost savings parallel to those in other provinces, it looks like the only savings will come at the expense of the student-faculty ratio. Whatever its pedagogical merits, it is hard to imagine online education can make up for fewer professors, especially when the vast majority of students do their learning on campus.
*Note:Approximately one-third of Thompson Rivers University full-time equivalent enrolment is in college and other courses which are not university credit courses. The BC comparator group is composed of the University of Victoria and four institutions recently designated universities.
Sources: Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO), Financial Information of Universities and Colleges; Québec university financial statements
Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS); University and College Academic Staff System (UCASS)
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This is a long-time private K-12 online learning program here in Ontario. I’ve known about them for a long time now, but only today discovered their social media presence. Specifically, I discovered them on:
