Research body to evaluate quality of Ontario education

Council will evaluate post-secondary Council will evaluate post-secondary initiatives from funding contracts

A think tank established two years ago to improve the quality of post-secondary education in Ontario is beginning its research.

Called the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), the independent agency plans to investigate questions of accountability and inter-institutional collaboration, said director of executive services Elka Walsh.

Walsh said the council will produce major research papers to inform policy debates from long term viewpoints.

“We are a research body. What we will do is focus our efforts on very open dialogue [for] students, parents, colleges and universities, the associations that represent them, as well as the government. At the end of the day, the government makes the final decision.”

The council’s chairman, former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, was hired in February 2007. Its five to seven members serve terms of up to three years and must hold an executive position in an Ontario post-secondary institution or at an association intended to promote the interests of post-secondary institutions, such as the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Walsh told the Journal one of the council’s key objectives is to provide unbiased evidence.

“Not everybody is going to be happy with us,” she said. “Our research is going to be evidence-based research. It may show things that some people may not like, whether students or the government or institutions.”

The council’s annual report says its focuses will include learning quality practices, participation rates in higher education and accountability.

The government created the council in 2005 as part of its “Reaching Higher” plan announced as the province unfroze tuition fees. The plan called for a $6.2-billion investment into the post-secondary education sector over the next several years, under the condition that institutions must sign accountability agreements in order to receive any funding.

These agreements are multi-year contracts outlining the results the schools are getting, said Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Chris Bentley.

“We want to make sure the extra money from the people of Ontario is actually achieving what they’re being told it’s going to achieve,” he said.

Bentley said the contracts assure taxpayers that the funding the government gives post-secondary institutions is going towards improving access. They also assure institutions they’ll be getting the money every year.

The government monitors these institutions on a regular basis. Bentley said no funding is given unless the contracts are signed by both the institution and the government.

“We make sure the commitments are being kept. A lot more information is necessary [to be eligible] for supply by the government now. We need to be assured that the money being invested is actually being invested for this purpose.”

According to the ministry’s website, the quality councils will evaluate these initiatives as part of its research.

Bentley said he expects to get arms-length advice from the council.

Bentley told the Journal funding for Queen’s has increased by 33 per cent in four years.

Bentley said comments made by Progressive Conservative critic for training, colleges and universities Jim Wilson in the Sept. 28 issue of the Journal, in which Wilson called the provincial Liberals “liars” for not following through on their funding promises, aren’t true.

Bentley said the $6.2 billion investment by the Liberals is going to universities and colleges exactly as outlined in the Reaching Higher budget of 2005.

Vice-Principal (Operations and Finance) Andrew Simpson told the Journal Queen’s received $5 million in 2006-07 and $4.5 million in 2005-06 from the Quality Improvement Fund—part of the Ontario government’s “Reaching Higher” plan.

Simpson said the accountability agreements made between institutions and the provincial government operate on “fairly specific” guidelines.

“It asks universities to report at a fairly high level of detail on the particular … initiatives in several areas: teaching, learning, infrastructure and services.”

Rick Harari, the council’s senior communications advisor, said it’s too early for the council to provide answers to current funding and access questions.

“We’re at the point of designing research projects and consulting the sector to discover the questions that need to be answered.”

The council will be collecting information from students, parents, colleges and universities, the associations that represent them and the government.

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