Advanced
education minister Thomas Lukaszuk has sent a heavy-handed,
non-negotiable edict to the province's 26 colleges and universities.
It came like a thunderbolt out of the Tory blue — and it will
precipitously change the way all of them operate.
It
will certainly change the way students make choices for
post-secondary education.
And
I find myself in agreement with a good part of what's being done. Or
at least, the stated intent.
As
university commentators on news reports and radio talk shows have
already said: the devil is in the details. Stating government
intentions in a five-page letter to all college and university boards
is one thing; the actual work is in the follow-up, which we have yet
to see.
But
if the Red Deer College board of governors can finesse its way
through what will be two weeks of chaotic discussion, and if the
blunt force of government handles this right, families in Central
Alberta can come out big winners in Lukaszuk's proposed revamp.
"It's
time we rethink how we deliver education. This will not be mandated
from my office. It will be collaborative," said the minister. Or
else.
"What
we arrive at is negotiable but the fact is there will be change and
change has to occur — and that is not negotiable."
The
boards of governors have until April 11 to draft a reply to
Lukaszuk's “letter of expectation.” For “expectation” insert
“the reason we give you all this money.”
Here's
one expectation. The province wants to establish a “Campus Alberta”
wherein students in any academic program anywhere in Alberta will
have full transferability to the same programs in other institutions.
That
could be a Godsend to Red Deer College — if things are handled
right.
Why
have we been fighting for years for Red Deer College to have full
university status? It's because not having one means that any student
in our area who wants a degree has to leave our region to get one.
The
college, as well as Red Deer taxpayers and business groups have been
complaining for years that once we send our students away for higher
education, they seldom come back. We've been paying for that “brain
drain” for decades.
If
students in Red Deer can get the first three years of an academic
program here, and finish their final year at a university which would
grant them their degree, they and their families would save tens of
thousands of dollars.
And
it becomes more likely the student would begin career planning here,
rather than in Edmonton or Calgary.
So
the universities must first review all their programs, to see if they
are really “in demand by employers and students." More,
Luaszuk's letter tells them to "enhance your work with business
and industry to maximize the responsiveness to community and regional
economic and social needs."
All
of this is right up RDC's alley. It's been the college's bread and
butter for a long time. What's missing is the completion of the
college's mission to offer a full menu of both academic and trade
options. RDC has transfer contracts for a limited number of programs
with universities, but Lukaszuk wants more.
So
do we. For instance, a student could begin a bachelor of science
program in Red Deer, and study here three years, living at home.
Upon completing the program's final year at the University of Alberta
with full transferability, that student would become
eligible to enter the U of A's masters-level program in occupational
therapy. Now there's a program with a future.
That's
just one example. There could be a dozen others.
The
U of A has responded, saying they don't want to be a cookie-cutter
institution. But they have been increasing their institutional
emphasis on post-graduate programs and research (at the cost of
excellence in undergrad instruction) for years.
Smaller
regional colleges like RDC can make better cookies, cheaper — and
in the places that employers and taxpayers want them.
Sit
down quickly with the devil, and work out the details. Or else.
Follow
Greg Neiman's blog at readersadvocate.blogspot.ca
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