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Chapter 4: Comes the Deluge
- Wilfrid Laurier University Press
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The decade of the 1990s would be unlike any of the preceding ones for the voluntary association that represents Ontario universities. Described by cou Chair Ron Ianni, president of the University of Windsor, as “tumultuous,” it would see more changes to the provincial university system than had taken place over the whole of the preceding two decades. Most of these changes produced adverse—some would say perverse—effects on the quality of higher education , the institutions providing it, and the association dedicated to its service. The decade would see a continuation of the expansion in enrolment , though at a somewhat slower pace, that has given Ontario one of the highest university participation rates in the world. At the same time, it would see a massive contraction of public funding, which would change for the foreseeable future the way universities in Ontario are financed. In 1995, Ontario universities found themselves in a new environment with the advent of a new Conservative government elected on promises to reduce government spending and taxes, and to promote private enterprise and competition. No longer able to count on the public purse to provide subsidies in the amounts received over the preceding two decades, the universities would be driven to increase fees substantially and to seek major support from the private sector. In addition to being forced to learn to operate with sharply reduced government grants, the universities would also be forced to compete with one another both for funds and for students. After 1995, Ontario universities competed with one another for a share of “targeted” public funds, both capital and operating grants— grants now available only for academic and research programs identified by government as being of high priority in light of its economic objectives . They also competed with one another in raising the private funds now required to enable them to secure the “matching” government grants—grants available only to institutions able to raise the required matching amount. In addition, in the new, more competitive environComes the Deluge chapter 4 Notes to chapter 4 are on pp. 222–225 155 ment, universities competed with one another for “high-flyer” students, offering financial incentives such as scholarships and bursaries to entice them to enrol in their institution. Some universities, principally the older and larger ones, with their larger endowments, more influential alumni, and greater access to private funds, found themselves in a better position to compete than did others. The university playing field was no longer as level as it had been. Although all were equally universities, clearly some were now more equal than others. These changes affected both the individual institutions and the provincial university system. They also affected cou. The ’90s would see four presidents (as the chief executive officer was now called) of council. Edward Monahan retired in 1991 after almost fifteen years in office. Peter George, dean of Social Sciences at McMaster University, succeeded him. He served only three years before returning to that university to become president. In 1994, Bonnie Patterson, dean of Business at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (later becoming Ryerson Polytechnic University), was named president. She, too, served three years before accepting the presidency of Trent University. The incumbent at the time of writing, Ian Clark, with a distinguished career in both government and business, was named president in 1998. As the 1990s began, cou altered its priorities and expanded advocacy activities. Later, when forced by budgetary pressures to re-examine these priorities, a decision was taken to accord research a lower priority and to reduce this activity. The universities felt increasingly threatened when the new ndp government, elected in 1990, failed to respond to their urgent requests for more funding and for permission to increase tuition fees, and at the same time imposed new regulations on them. Relations between cou and the ministry, always delicate, became strained. So, too, did relations with ocua, now increasingly seen by the universities as an arm of government. The protection of university autonomy again became a major issue. Many of the new regulations imposed by the government on the universities were part of its general efforts to improve equity and fairness in the public sector. They were being applied broadly across the entire public sector. To cou and its member institutions, however, they were signs of overregulation that threatened university autonomy. cou rhetoric grew more strident; tempers sometimes flared; (arguably) council’s effectiveness diminished. No longer engaged in leading the development of a provincial university system, cou was now frequently engaged in...