Created 23 February 2011 11:02

Responses of BC NDP Leadership Candidates to Seven “Big Questions” in Post-Secondary Education

On January 17, 2011, the six candidates for the leadership of the BC New Democrats were sent a questionnaire asking their views on seven “big questions” in post-secondary education in British Columbia. As each candidate responds, their responses will be posted below in the order they were received.

1. In his 2007 report for the provincial government, Campus 2020 special adviser Geoff Plant identified three broad goals for BC’s post-secondary education system: nurturing active citizenship and community engagement; leadership in knowledge discovery, creation and innovation; and ensuring British Columbians are connected, live sustainably and understand their place in and responsibilities to the world. To achieve these goals, Mr. Plant proposed three ambitious targets: the highest level of participation in post-secondary education per capita in Canada; conferring more post-secondary credentials per capita than any other province; and equalizing post-secondary participation across the province’s regions and income quartiles. Do you agree with the goals and targets proposed by Mr. Plant? If not, what would you propose in the alternative? What steps would you take to ensure continued progress towards Mr. Plant’s or your alternative goals and targets?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – Campus 2020 made a number of good recommendations and set laudable general goals. However, it is my understanding that stakeholders involved in the process backed some of the recommendations and weren’t thrilled with others. More importantly, I understand that stakeholders are disappointed with the follow-up on the report from the BC Liberal government. Achieving substantial goals takes the commitment of government to fund post-secondary institutions and the programs necessary to achieve the objectives. Producing a report does not achieve goals on its own, especially if it is left to gather dust. We must review the recommendations and act on those recommendations that have general consensus.
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – I agree with the three broad goals but I do not agree with the targets. I don’t think we need to be in competition with other provinces, as I would hope that we would want the students in all the provinces to do well. Wouldn’t it be better to strive for a system that enables all students to access post-secondary education if they so choose? I see post-secondary education as a component of life-long learning, whether it be learning new practical skills or expanding knowledge and understanding.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th
2. At present, approximately 35% of the cost of a university education is paid for through student tuition fees, 55% through provincial government operating grants and 10% through other income. These proportions are not fixed and have changed over time as a result of stagnant or declining per student provincial government funding and increasing tuition fees. Do you believe these proportions ought to be determined by government policy? If so, what proportions would you assign to each of these funding sources? What steps would you take to ensure that per student funding is not eroded by the effects of inflation?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – Government has a role in ensuring that post-secondary education and training opportunities are equally available to all British Columbians, regardless of their economic background. Assigning percentage targets does not make education accessible and does not ensure that colleges and universities are funded well enough to deliver excellent education and training. When adjusted for inflation, tuition fees increased by more than 60% under this BC Liberal government, while government funding fell almost 10%.
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – I believe that government should determine the proportions for publicly funded post-secondary education. Private schools will of course set their own fees. I would also like to see the proportions changes where the province eventually provides 85-90 percent of the funding and students pay for student-related activities and books. Approximately 10 percent of funding would continue to come from other sources. I would recommend that the ratio of provincial funding to student tuition fees be changed by five percentage points each year so that the transition to no tuition fees would occur over seven years. Based on the recent budget, this would mean that the provincial government transfers to universities of approximately $1.346 billion in 2011 would increase to approximately $2.2 billion (in current 2011 dollars) in 2018 if my proposal were to be implemented. The Ministry of Regional Economic and Skills Development also transfers approximately $534 million to colleges. I do not know the ratio of provincial funding to student tuition fees for colleges, but the same principal would apply to all public post secondary education institutions. I also think it is important that there be a mixture of block and per pupil funding to post secondary institutions to recognize that there are fixed operating costs that have to be covered regardless of the number of students. For example, while the amount of toilet paper will vary based on the vagaries of the number of student enrolled at any one time, the fixed cost of regular maintenance for cleaning the washrooms does not change if enrolment varies by a percent or so.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th
3. British Columbia’s public universities conduct world-class research in all fields of human knowledge. Provincial government investment in university-based research has increased significantly over the past two decades, but in the past few years these investments have stalled. Stagnant and sometimes declining provincial government investments in university-based research have constrained our ability to take full advantage of the intellectual resources at our disposal. In some cases, this has resulted in professors and graduate students leaving British Columbia for better opportunities elsewhere in Canada and internationally. Do you believe that British Columbia’s public universities should conduct world-class research? If so, what steps would you take to increase the breadth and depth of high-quality research being conducted at our public universities?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – I am very pleased with the success of British Columbia’s public universities in conducting world class research and in leveraging the quality of that research to raise funds, whether through granting programs or through private donors. Historically, the primary responsibility for funding university research was with the federal government, however, successive Liberal and Tory governments have steadily eroded this funding over the past 20 years. It’s time for the federal government to step up again. That said, in the 1990s, the BC government introduced programs to make up for some of the loss of federal funds. I am committed to working with the federal government and our universities to ensure that B.C. has the reputation and funding to attract world class researchers. This work is also important in the contribution it makes to both our province’s economy and social fabric (e.g. pine beetle research in the north, sustainable fisheries and oceans research at UVic)
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – Both federal and provincial funding for research need to increase. Equally important is that a larger proportion of the funding needs to be sustained and long-term rather then project-specific research. The funding should be delivered through research councils and centres of excellence such as the Social Science and Humanities Research Council or the BC Medical Science Foundation. As a condition of increased funding, a significant portion of the financial benefits that emerge from such funded research should be reinvested in the research councils.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th
4. At present, there are no province-wide initiatives to support the improvement of teaching at our public universities, colleges and institutes. The Campus 2020 report recommended an annual investment equivalent to 1% of the total funding for public post-secondary education to support improvements in teaching. What province-wide measures would you implement to support teaching innovation and improvement at public post-secondary institutions?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – Teaching excellence should be a hallmark of our colleges and universities and institutes, and it has been; which is why BC’s post-secondary institutions are consistently considered among the best in the country. The Campus 2020 report recommended establishing a new centre for teaching with annual investment equivalent of 1% of the total funding for public post-secondary education. I’m not confident that diverting millions of dollars away from underfunded post-secondary institutions is a good way to improve the quality of teaching. There have been numerous large changes in institutional designations in the past few years. We must first evaluate the success of those and other changes, and listen to input from students, educators and education researchers at our public institutions before moving forward with establishing a new centralized bureaucracy.
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – I am not clear what you mean by support to improve teaching. Perhaps you could provide me with further details of what such a program of support to teaching would involve.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th
5. Education is the primary mechanism for increasing individual social and economic mobility. A greater proportion of young British Columbians make the transition to universities, colleges and institutes today than at anytime in our past. Despite this, there remain substantial barriers to young people finishing high school and making the transition to higher education. The financial barriers to accessing higher education can be substantial, but there are also significant social and cultural barriers, particularly for our Aboriginal citizens and for students who are the first in their families to seek higher education. What would you do to reduce the financial barriers to higher education? What steps would you take to identify and ameliorate other barriers to post-secondary participation?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – I was the first person in my family to benefit from a post-secondary education, so I know very well the importance of initiatives to reduce financial barriers. In the last 10 years, the BC Liberal government has done more to undermine access to higher education than almost any other government in Canada. Tuition fee increases, reduced financial aid and the elimination of grants, and a frozen minimum wage have combined to make getting an education much more difficult for far too many British Columbians. Government needs to take a thoughtful and system-wide approach to undoing the damage that the BC Liberals have done. Action on tuition fees, increasing student financial aid, and scholarship programs all need to be considered. I am committed to a province-wide dialogue with students, their families, and post-secondary institutions to ensure that whatever resources we can make available are used to maximum effect on improving access. Access for Aboriginal students requires even more thought and a broader approach that includes the government of Canada, which has primary responsibility for providing post-secondary education to First Nations people in Canada. Funding under federal programs has been frozen while tuition fees and the population of post-secondary-age Aboriginal youth continue to rise, and that’s a serious problem. We also need to ensure our K-12 system is serving First Nations people properly, providing appropriate encouragement and doing so in a culturally appropriate and relevant way.
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – My long-term proposal to eliminate tuition fees would significantly reduce the financial barriers to post-secondary education. I have also introduce a detailed poverty reduction plan that would see the minimum wage increase to $12/hour by 2012 and would see income assistance rates increase to the Market Basket Measure developed by the federal government. My plan also calls for the development of a comprehensive, universally accessible, quality system of early learning and child care for children 0-12 years of age within five years. Boards of Education also need longer-term stable funding to develop and maintain culturally appropriate services if we are to improve the educational outcomes for Aboriginal students. We need to ensure that the Boards of Education can attract Aboriginal teachers, administrators, and support staff to build and maintain Aboriginal programs. We must also work with Aboriginal stakeholders across the province to develop programs and approaches that respond to local needs. Details about the above are available on my web site.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th
6. British Columbia’s educational reputation, natural beauty and strategic location make the province a desirable destination for international students. Although the provincial government has been supportive of public-sector and private-sector efforts to attract more international students to the province, there is no guiding policy as to what the province hopes to achieve by attracting international students, nor is there a strategy to implement such a policy. What role do you believe international students ought to play in British Columbia? What measures would you take to work towards a provincial strategy consistent with this role?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – International students are contributing to the quality of education in our province in many ways. At university campuses, international students are contributing to research, to campus culture and to international understanding, something that is key for our export economy. At many interior and northern colleges, international students are contributing to supporting the general programs of those institutions, and bringing jobs and economic activity to the communities they study in. I believe that public post-secondary institutions are doing a very good job of developing locally relevant policies and practices with respect to attracting international students. If post-secondary stakeholders support a provincial policy framework with respect to international students, I would argue that it should be limited to guiding principles that respect local decision-making and regional needs.
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – I am a strong proponent of encouraging students from other provinces and countries to come to BC and of BC students having an opportunity to study in other provinces and countries. Such an exchange is one of the ways of meeting the broad goal of nurturing active citizenship and community engagement in our more globalized society. First, we need assurances that students from across Canada do not pay differential fees from what they pay in their home province/territory. Second, the fees for international students also need to be more affordable. I would suggest that rather then straight cost recovery, international students should pay 90% of the actual costs. The provincial goal, as I see it, is that we will only reach a level of understanding of a global world if citizens in all countries begin to interact with one another. Post secondary education offers a unique opportunity for such interaction. I would also propose that a special bursary and scholarship fund be developed to assist interested BC students in attending a year of their post secondary education in an institution outside of Canada.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th
7. British Columbia has a hard-earned reputation for high-quality post-secondary education. That reputation is under threat as a result of fiscal constraint at public post-secondary institutions and the expansion of middle-quality programs at private post-secondary institutions. Do you believe that British Columbia ought to strive to provide high-quality educational programs at all post-secondary institutions? If so, what steps would you take to ensure both public and private post-secondary institutions are providing high-quality educational programs?
   • John Horgan (February 15th) – Our public education system is one to be proud of. It contributes substantially to the economic, social and environmental health of every region of our province. Private post-secondary institutions that provide credentials with the authority of the province of British Columbia and that benefit from significant public subsidy in the form of student assistance, must be held to the same high standard we expect of our public universities. Failure to enforce this standard will undermine the value and reputation of the credentials issued by public institutions. To achieve this, we need to revisit the mandate and scope of the degree review process and of the private post-secondary education commission, and we must end the rubber stamp regulatory framework set up by the BC Liberals that allows private institutions to police themselves.
   • Nicholas Simons (February 22nd) – The complaints that have occurred with some of the private post secondary institution have harmed all of us. As I understand it, private institutions must be authorized to offer a degree program. Faculties in each of the private degree-granting institutions should be required to have their programs accredited to ensure that quality is maintained. It is also my sense that many of the problems that have emerged with international students have involved institutions that are self-regulated under the Private Career Training Institutions Agency. These private institutions should not be self-regulated in my opinion; rather, a provincial department or agency should monitor them. The programs they offered should meet defined standards and the institutions should be approved as a training institution before it can issue certificate or diplomas. The private institutions providing language training must clearly state what course of instructions students will receive for the fees paid and must be bonded to ensure that the fees that international students pay will lead to the course being offered. Institutions should be heavily fined for false or misleading advertising.
   • Adrian Dix – No response yet
   • Mike Farnworth – No response yet
   • Dana Larsen – No response yet
   • Harry Lali – Withdrew from leadership contest on February 17th