Universities Get an F for Failing Undergrads

Here is yet another article from the Globe and Mail that gives a failing grade to Canada’s universities.

It’s interesting to read and sadly leaves me, as a parent of a university student, ready to investigate university homeschooling. But I do want to point out that this report is principally referring to large, research focused universities. And if you agree with this assessment you do have options since there are Canadian universities that are primarily focused on undergraduate education.

These include the following (listed as per Maclean’s ranking):

1. Mount Allison University
2. Acadia University
3. University of Northern British Columbia
4. University of Lethbridge
5. Wilfrid Laurier University
6. Trent University
7. St. Francis Xavier University
8. Bishop’s University
8. University of Prince Edward Island
10. University of Winnipeg
11. Saint Mary’s University
12. Lakehead University
13. University of Ontario Institute of Technology
14. Brock University
14. Laurentian University
16. St. Thomas University
17. Brandon University
17. Ryerson University
19. Mount Saint Vincent University
20. Universite de Moncton
21. Cape Breton University
22. Nipissing University

As you can imagine, there are thousands who have received undergraduate degrees from large, research focused institutions who are happy and satisfied with their degrees. And that’s because ‘fit’ is so important. Some like big, while others like small universities.  Also, unless you have attended two or more universities to receive your undergraduate degree it’s impossible to compare university experiences.

The article stated that, “students who arrive at university are powerless. They’re not organized. They’re busy with studies and extracurricular activities. They take what they’re given, and try to work within it. Challenging, let alone changing, the teaching status quo seems impossible.”

However, I argue that students can vote with their feet. If the quality of the education is as poor as the experts say, students can easily transfer to another institution that they feel is better. And now they are in an even better position, than when they were in high school, to judge what is best for them. I guarantee you that universities will pay attention to their retention rates and those marching feet will be heard loud and clear.

Students can also express their opinions in rankings like Maclean’s. If a university has dropped in the ranking and/or is performing lower than their expectations or when compared to their peer institutions; there will be changes.

In both scenarios, change will not be immediate but will eventually occur. Therefore, I believe that it’s not as grim as the headlines would make you feel.

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A Grade of D for Canadian Universities

As reported in the Globe and Mail:

The ratio of full-time students to full-time faculty in Ontario increased to 25 from 17 in the years between 1988 and 2008. More collective agreements establish a standard teaching load of two courses per semester, down from three a generation ago. Despite this, faculty incomes have outpaced both inflation and government grants per student.

We are getting less for more. Teaching is getting short shrift; more students are graduating, but not enough are leaving school with the skills they need for success in the real world.

Classes of 500 students or more taught by an emerging cohort of indentured PhDs who carry a growing share of the teaching “burden” but have little hope of long-term employment. Professors who get “relief” from teaching obligations to pursue research. Classes and courses of study that prize particular academic disciplines rather than make the connections among disciplines that are so crucial to learning.

For students, it's unacceptable; for taxpayers and families who spend tens of billions of dollars each year, it's unsustainable.

The reformist wave that is transforming health-care delivery in Canada must now reach undergraduate education at our publicly funded universities.

Read the full article here

Should you Pick a Small University?

Here’s another report of how students are suffering from poor undergraduate education. Again, we read that the quality of undergraduate education is suffering because of a focus on research. Vice-president Academic of the University of Prince Edward Island, Jim Randall said that doesn't mean undergraduate education is deteriorating. He believes the report is mainly concerned with larger universities.

So is a smaller university a better option? Or more specifically one that is less research oriented and more focused on undergraduate education. One of the advantages of Maclean’s ranking is that there is a separate category for primarily undergraduate universities so you can easily narrow your choices down given this study.

Maybe good things really do come in small packages!

Read the CBC article here.

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Undergraduate Programs the New High Schools?

In Canada, as in the U.S., undergraduate programs have become the new high schools. Elementary and high schools simply have to do more to lay essential educational groundwork.

Once respected classical disciplines such as English, philosophy and history have become so specialized, they often serve no other purpose than to perpetuate the niche specializations of individual professors.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Lament+demise+humanities/5433691/story.html#ixzz1Ycyo48wQ

Unfortunately, I don't see any solution to this issue. As stated more and more faculty members are getting their PhDs in very narrow subject areas and will never be in a position to teach a broad undergraduate course.

Furthermore, will these poorly uneducated students ever learn the basics and thus be able to teach it if they continue in academia? Probably not, unless there is truly a committment to change undergraduate education.

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