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"From the editor's desktop" by William Watson Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. "Learning is a contact sport" Interview with Robert Prichard Robert Prichard has just completed ten years as President of the University of Toronto. Like Herbert Hoover, he had the misfortune to take office at the onset of a serious economic downturn, one that led eventually to substantial budget cuts at both the federal and provincial levels. In the second half of his term, however, the economic and budgetary situations improved markedly. How does he see the university sector developing over the next ten years? What will happen to the public/private financing mix? What were his own biggest problems and achievements? And can Canadian universities compete with the top universities in the world? Policy Options’ editor William Watson sought Robert Prichard’s answers to these and other questions in a conversation in early June. Here is an edited transcript of their discussion. "The freedom to innovate" Interview with William Leggett Queen’s University has made a name for itself in recent years by moving its professional schools more toward a private-finance model, with tuition fees that come closer to covering the full costs of education than has been the tradition in Canada in the last few decades. What problems has the university encountered in making these innovations, and what problems remain? What policy changes are needed if Canada’s universities are to compete effectively with their US counterparts in coming years? Policy Options’ editor William Watson talked with Queen’s Principal William Leggett in mid-June. Here is an edited transcript of their conversation. "Research comes in all sizes" Interview with Janyne Hodder As a one-time assistant deputy minister in Quebec’s ministry of education, Janyne Hodder has a unique perspective on how universities can improve their relationships with governments. Unique is also the best description of Bishop’s University, the institution she heads. It’s an 1800-student, English-language, largely residential university tucked away in the Eastern Townships, two hours east of Montreal. How does Principal Hodder see the role of the smaller, undergraduate university in an age increasingly dominated by research? Policy Options’ editor William Watson talked with her in Montreal in mid-July. Here is an edited transcript of their conversation. "Portal to the global buffet" Interview with Sean Riley You might think that Internet access to the world’s best teachers, which surely is coming, would be a threat to universities, and especially to small universities like St. Francis Xavier, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, which boasts a full-time student body of 3500. In fact, Sean Riley, president of “St.FX,” believes that universities like his complement Internet learning: Once isolated, they can use the Internet to become, in effect, portals to the world. And residential living near a small-town offers experiences that are simply unavailable in large cities. Policy Options’ editor William Watson talked to Sean Riley in mid-July. Here is an edited transcript of their conversation. "Musical (Canada Research) chairs" by Frederick Lowy Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. "Online universities aren't the answer to Canada's higher education woes" by Michael Taube High hopes are held out for Internet education. Some info-preneurs argue that e-universities will eventually rival traditional brick, mortar, and ivy universities, mainly because they will cost a fraction of current real-university tuitions. But it will be a long time before new entrants to the university market can overcome the reputations of established “brands” like Harvard and MIT. And they will never be able to offer the same sort of interactions with professors and fellow students. A better spur to improve the performance of Canada’s publicly-funded universities would be genuinely private universities using traditional in-person methods. "20 years of education policy in Policy Options" This year marks Policy Options’ 20th anniversary. To celebrate we are running excerpts from the archives. In this issue, to accompany our cover story, we see how different Policy Options’ writers have looked at Canada’s education policies over the years. With contributions from Rosalie Silberman Abella, David Husband, Hughes Boisvert, Jeff Greenberg, Philip Resnick, James Cutt and Christopher Hodgkinson, Joel Novek, Roy J. Romanow, John Graham, Rodney Clifton and Hymie Rubenstein, Edward B. Harvey and John W.P. Veugelers, Edwin G. West, David Milne, Don Tapscott. "The CBC's choice: Constellations or core competencies" by Matthew Fraser Former CBC President Perrin Beatty proposed that Canada’s public broadcaster imitate the BBC and offer a grand “constellation” of broadcasting services. The CBC’s new President, Robert Rabinovitch, rejects that strategy in favour of one that, with some exceptions, focuses the Corporation on a more traditional “public-service” role. Since the CBC’s per viewer budget is much smaller than the BBC’s, and it faces much more vigorous competition from other Canadian and American broadcasters, the more modest strategy makes sense. It suffered a setback when plans to cut back on local news broadcasts were rejected, but it is early days yet for Mr. Rabinovitch. "Canadian business and Canadian trade policy" by Michael Hart In this adaptation of his lecture inaugurating the Simon Reisman Chair in Trade Policy at Carleton University, the Chair’s first occupant, Michael Hart, argues that Canadian business needs to be more involved in and supportive of the current round of WTO negotiations. This is not because trade policy reflects the “corporate agenda” but rather because Canadians’ interest in open trade coincides with Canadian business’ interest in acquiring markets and exploiting economies of scale. After the debacle in Seattle, business may well be tempted to sit out the current WTO round, for fear it will take on regulatory matters best left to nation-states. But simple oppositionism likely would be worse than unproductive. And there may even be common ground between business and the protestors. "Does North America need an amero?" by George von Furstenberg, John McCallum and Herbert Grubel In late May, Queen’s University’s John Deutsch Institute held a one-day conference in honour of Robert Mundell, the winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in economics, who was born in Kingston, Ontario. Professor Mundell is sometimes referred to as the “father of the Euro,” and the conference organizers therefore thought it appropriate to include a session on whether North America should also introduce a single currency—an “Amero,” as it is often called. To discuss this question, they invited three distinguished economists, George von Furstenberg, of Fordham University, John McCallum, formerly of McGill University, now chief economist at the Royal Bank, and Herbert Grubel, Senior Fellow, the Fraser Institute, and emeritus professor of economics at Simon Fraser University. Here is an edited transcript of their remarks. "We 'the public': At sea with the anchors" by Richard Nielsen Television news, which is actually a form of entertainment, has only one agenda: retaining the viewer’s interest. This oppressive neutrality trivializes its perception of what public affairs are actually about, focusing its attention on process and personality instead. Substance no longer matters. The only outcome that is of interest is whatever outcome makes the best story, and will therefore appeal most to the “the public,” the Kierkegaardian phantom that the media itself has created. Book review: Edward W. Barrett reviews The Sound of One Voice: Eugene Forsey and his Letters to the Press by J. A. Hodgetts Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. |
