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7/31/2019 New Brunswick - Commission on Post-Secondary Education in New Brunswick - Advantage New Brunswick: A Province Reaches to Fulfill Its Destiny - Septemb

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ISBN 978-1-55396-871-9

IN MEMORIAM

Jenni er Kathleen MacKenzie 1974-2007

Daughter o Commissioner Miner


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September 2007

Dear Premier Graham and Minister Doherty,

On the 19th o January 2007, when you appointedus as commissioners and asked us to review theNew Brunswick post-secondary system, we had no

idea o the magnitude o the task and the extent towhich New Brunswickers wanted and were willing toembrace change. Over the last eight months, wehave been consistently impressed with the quality andquantity o the individual and institution submissions wehave received. Over 100 ormal brie s were submittedand we heard rom hundreds and hundreds o peopleduring the 12 public sessions we conducted aroundthe province. In addition, we met with scores o otherswho had particular interests in New Brunswicks post-secondary system. We certainly had a wealth o ideasto draw upon, and clearly your decision to review yourpost-secondary system was a decision supportedby many.

Re orming any post-secondary system is not a taskthat meets with instant approval. This is an extremelycomplex problem that becomes even more complexwhen the system is de ned as broadly (public, private,university, college, apprenticeship) as you did in yourterms o re erence. So one should be prepared or avariety o reactions to what we have proposed. Ourrecommendations are not provided lightly. We haveproposed a student- ocused system that we rmlybelieve is in the short and long term best interest o theprovince. It is highly integrated, as one would expect,and we have spent a lot o time and thought in tryingto get the various aspects aligned in such a way as toprovide New Brunswick with a strategic advantage inthe area o post-secondary education.

Due to the complexities and interrelationshipsinvolved, this is a document that cannot beeasily scanned. Readers will need to spend timeunderstanding the dynamics and relevance o theissues raised. At the risk o stating the obvious, the

recommendations are also highly interrelated andshould not be considered discrete advice. Such anapproach could result in the essence o the reportbeing misinterpreted.

While we accept ull responsibility or what we havedone, we need to publicly acknowledge that wehave received a great deal o support rom a varietyo people as part o this process. In particular, wewould like to thank our advisors, our secretariat andthe students o New Brunswick.

Our advisors were invaluable. We met with themo ten and they routinely challenged us, enteredinto robust discussions and demanded an evidencebased approach. They made our report better andwe are indebted to their commitment and would liketo publicly recognize them: Isabelle LeBlanc, AnneMarie Levi, Denis Losier, Jean-Yves Ouellette, Lo-PaulPinet, Gerry Pond, Andrew Steeves, andElizabeth Weir.

As or our secretariat, there is not enough praise to goaround. We were an extremely lean organization thatrequired everyone to pitch in when help was needed.Our executive director, Landre Desjardins, did amaster ul job o organizing the resources and ndingthe people we needed to complete our work on timeand under budget. A special recognition or DavidCameron is needed. He worked with us throughout thisprocess to turn our ideas into text that was accurateand easily understandable. On the communications


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side, Diane Gauthier was e cient, competent and asupportive colleague. Tim Andrew helped us with ourresearch needs, Pascal Robichaud supported us in

a variety o administrative ways,and Joanne Neilsonprovided a great deal o administrative supportor everyone in the o ce. Finally we had someoccasional support that was also extremely valuable.Suzanne Cyr helped us with our public hearings byrecording the in ormation presented. Louise Chenand Lucie Roy ull lled the important role o reviewingand summarizing submissions to ensure that key ideaswere not inadvertently missed.

Finally, there needs to be some recognition othe student contributions and these come in two

orms. First, over the summer we had a number ostudents working with us providing valuable insightand research. Some o their contributions can beseen in the report in the orm o vignettes. Thanks toXavier Briault, Andr Caissie, Brendan Glauser, KevinGodbout, Jenni er Pitre, Lyne Robichaud and SophiaRodriguez Gallagher. Second, special recognitionmust be given to all the student leaders in theprovince. We were impressed with their insight ulness,thought ulness, and their willingness to look at issuesrom the basis o a problem rather than startingrom a deeply entrenched position. Clearly, theNew Brunswick institutions are doing a good job atconveying appropriate critical thinking skills. We takegreat pride in having been able to work with such adedicated group o advisors, sta and students.

Now the hard work begins. You and your governmentwill be tested. The recommendations are not easyones to implement, but you asked us to be bold,

as did many o the individuals we met. There willbe controversy and resistance. Yet, we do think thedirection provided is the one that New Brunswickshould ollow, and we are convinced it will providethe province with the educational advantage youdirected us to achieve.

Sincerely,

Rick Miner

Jacques Lcuyer


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Content

Seizing the Opportunity: An Action Plan to Create New Brunswicks Strategic Advantage 1

Introduction 1

Our Vision 2

What Type of Post-Secondary System Would be Best for New Brunswick? 3

Accessible 3Relevant and Responsive 3Comprehensive 4 Efficient 4Of High Quality 4Accountable 4

A Brief Description of the System 5

Setting the Context for Action: The Necessary First Steps 8

The Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour 8

The New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education Commission 9

Quality Control/Assessment/Assurance 9An Application/Information Portal 11Data Collection and Analysis 11Policy Advice to the Department 12Review of Institutional Strategic Plans 12Credit Transfer 12System-Wide Support and Initiatives 13Regional and National Co-ordination 13Duality and Linguistic Obligations 14

The Presidents Council 14

Organizing the System 16

A New Kind of Institution for New Brunswick 16

The Saint John Polytechnic 19The Northeastern New Brunswick Polytechnic 20The Northwestern New Brunswick Polytechnic 21

The New Brunswick Community College/Le Collge communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick 22

Content


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New Brunswicks Four Public Universities 24

The University of New Brunswick 24

Universit de Moncton 24St. Thomas University 25Mount Allison University 26

An Emphasis on Graduate Studies and Research 27

Apprenticeship 29

Distance Education 31

Private Universities and Colleges 31

Reaching Out 33

International Students 33

First Nations and Post-Secondary Education 34

New Brunwick High Schools 35

Paying for Post-Secondary Education 36

Tuition Fees, Debt and Student Aid 36

Government Funding 40

The Current MPHEC Funding Formula 41

A New Approach to Funding 42

The Challenge of Change 45

Summary of Recommendations 47

Appendices 50

Appendix A: Proposed Membership of the New BrunswickPost-Secondary Education Commission 50

Appendix B: Proposed Board Membership of the Presidents Council 51

Appendix C: Proposed Board Membership of Polytechnics 52

Appendix D: Those who made presentations to the Commissionon Post-Secondary Education in New Brunswick 53


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Seizing the Opportunity: An Action Plan to Create New Brunswicks Strategic Advantage

IntroductionNew Brunswick has the opportunity to take on aleadership role amongst Canadian provinces inthe quality and e ectiveness o its post-secondaryeducation. By investing in its uture it can o er studentsa ully integrated, seamless system that is accessible,

a ordable, and o high quality. The social, culturaland economic bene ts to the province and itscommunities would be substantial. This would giveNew Brunswick an enormous social and economicadvantage. We now live in a knowledge-basedsociety in which a post-secondary education hasbecome essential or the vast majority o individualsand should be the birthright o every New Brunswicker.This is an opportunity we cannot a ord to miss. Thealternative is neither acceptable nor prudent.

To seize this opportunity will require change; indeed,some signi cant changes. Yet, New Brunswickhas never shied away rom such trans ormationalchanges be ore. The improvements in the post-secondary system resulting rom the DeutschCommissions in 1962 recommendations were notmade without inconvenience or cost. But what adi erence they made! A rationalization o institutionsand a commitment to equal opportunity or bothrancophone and anglophone New Brunswickersushered in a period o growth and expansion thatsecured the oundations o a vibrant post-secondarysystem attuned to the needs o the times. Those times,o course, were characterized by an unprecedenteddemand or admission to universities resulting romthe impending arrival o the baby boom generation,combined with the growing realization that a post-secondary education gave both the individual andsociety considerable advantages. Those times havechanged. We are now aced with the reality odeclining enrolments and, unless something is done,the prospect o even urther declines resulting rom

lower birth rates. At the same time, we know that theneed or post-secondary education and training isreaching urther and urther into the workplace.

The new reality is that more and more o what we

do, in work and in li e, requires a level o knowledgeand skill associated with a post-secondary education.We are told that within this generation, 75 to 80per cent o those employed will need some ormo post-secondary education (the current rate isaround 55 per cent) while in the United States it isestimated that 90 per cent o the new economy jobs created will require a post-secondary degree,diploma or certi cate. Combine these two actors adeclining population in the traditional post-secondaryage group (18 to 24) and the increasing need oradvanced education and training and you havethe outlines o the crisis we will ace i we do not actappropriately and quickly. In short, we can celebratethe past, but we must build on it to secure our uture.

In meeting this challenge, we believe New Brunswickspost-secondary system must pursue two overridingpriorities. The rst priority is to ensure that the systemserves the needs o New Brunswicks students. Thesecond priority, closely related to the rst, is to makesure that the system is responsive to the needs o theprovince and its distinctive communities. These mustbe our major priorities. At the same time, we must bemind ul o other considerations. New Brunswick is nota wealthy province, by Canadian standards, andour recommendations must be easible within theresources available, even i we seek to stretch what iscurrently available. We must also appreciate the limitsto change that human institutions can sustain. In short,we have to be practical while recognizing that peoplecan be amazingly fexible when convinced thatchange is necessary and in their long term interest.

Seizing the Opportunity: An Action Plan to CreateNew Brunswicks Strategic Advantage


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VisionNew Brunswick post-secondary institutions are all part o a high quality integrated system that ocuses onstudent needs. This system is tailored to the provinces distinctive linguistic, demographic and geographicrealities. It builds on existing assets and cultural identities and strives to support the socio-economic goals oeach community and the province as a whole.

Specifc Features

A system capable o becoming a model or regions that share New Brunswicks characteristics:

Access or all students in all regions

Existing institutions will continue to contribute

No single urban development pole

No desire to jeopardize rural and demographically challenged regions

Best practices o regions with one major urban development centre not trans erable to New Brunswick

Our research, refection, and the advice andsuggestions o the literally hundreds o individuals andgroups who shared their thoughts and dreams with us

led us to a better understanding o the speci c needsand opportunities o New Brunswick. One thing thatsets New Brunswicks demography and geographyapart rom the rest o the country is the act that itdoes not have one major urban centre serving as theprimary development pole. Actually, the province hasthree principal urban centres o comparable infuencewhile a signi cant proportion o its population livesin rural areas. There are two geographically large,but relatively sparsely populated, regions in thenortheast and northwest o the province. Because oits distinctive geographic and demographic pattern,

New Brunswick has to create its own model o post-secondary education. It cannot take its inspirationrom other provinces, all o which have one or avery ew large urban centres which dominate theeconomic and cultural li e o the province andserve as development poles. Many o the bestpractices in structuring post-secondary educationare based in large urban centres in other provincesand are not easily trans erable here. Concentratingpost-secondary education in a ew relatively largeinstitutions in the larger urban centres, at the expenseo the more rural regions, would jeopardize bothaccess and participation, and would simply not meetthe needs o this province.

Our VisionWith this context in mind, our vision o post-secondaryeducation or New Brunswick is o one system with theollowing characteristics:

The post-secondary system will be bilingual andpermit the equal development o both cultures;

The post-secondary system will have accesspoints in all regions o the province to give theirpopulations the cultural, economic and socialinstruments they need to develop themselvesand acilitate the access to post-secondaryeducation o their youth;

The post-secondary system will be a truly

integrated system, with strong co-ordinationmechanisms to avoid unnecessary duplicationand to ensure resources are used e ciently;

The system will be student-oriented and will havemechanisms to provide students with in ormation,help them nd their way and acilitate theirprogress in their post-secondary studies;

The system will pay attention to the needso students as well as to the needs o thecommunities; it will provide programs su ciently

varied to cater to the diversity o these needs;


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The system will be o high quality; this will beassured by robust quality assurance mechanisms;

Special measures will be in place to avour thedevelopment o an intense high quality researchactivity; this activity will contribute to the socio-economic and cultural development o NewBrunswick.

The system we propose will uniquely serve the needsand circumstances o New Brunswick. It may alsoserve as a model or other countries and regions thatshare New Brunswicks characteristics. New Brunswickwill be proud to have such a system.

What kinds o changes are necessary to bringsuch a system about, to better serve the needso New Brunswick students and society? We willprovide greater detail later, but we sketch theserecommendations here in order to provide anoverview o the kind o system we are proposing.

What Type o Post-SecondarySystem Would be Best or NewBrunswick?We think the post-secondary system that will meetthe needs o New Brunswick and New Brunswickersis one that embodies and promotes the ollowing sixprinciples or characteristics. It is a system that is:

AccessibleThis means that the system gives every New Brunswick-er the opportunity to pursue learning in the eld o hisor her choice, consistent with the needs and opportu-nities available within the province and elsewhere, ata cost that is air and a ordable.

Achieving this objective involves large commitmentsthat a ect the institutions in the province, theprograms o ered in those institutions, the relationsamong them, and how the system is nanced,including tuition and student aid.

We put this principle rst, because it lies at the heart oour commitment to serving the needs o current and

uture students and o the province. New Brunswickneeds to expand its post-secondary enrolment, topersuade a larger percentage o the population

to pursue post-secondary education or training.This means encouraging those who are not nowparticipating that there is a place or program orthem, and encouraging others rom away to enrol inprovincial institutions.

Relevant and ResponsiveNext to accessibility, this has to be the key to NewBrunswicks uture success as a province. It is onething to o er students a place to learn it is at least asimportant that the place they are o ered meets theirneeds, and the needs o the province, so that theplace they are o ered leads to success, in li eand in employment.

We believe there need to be more opportunities orpost-secondary educational experiences that crossdisciplines, pedagogy and orientation. This should bea system o strength not a hierarchy o di erences. Toachieve this end we need a better balance betweentheoretical and applied learning, whether thedi erence exists in a degree, diploma orcerti cate program.

Relevancy takes many orms and there is not auniversally accepted view o what is and whatis not relevant. As we met with people duringour consultations, many passionately supportedthe critical thinking skills that emerge rom a wellconstructed and well presented arts curriculum. Tous such learning is very relevant, but so is the learningthat leads to success as an engineer, a journey person,a mechanic, a technologist or a nurse. The point is,there is not a hierarchy o relevance.

New Brunswick needs institutions that are capableo responding quickly and e ectively to the needso students and employers. This means governancestructures must be capable o making decisions in atimely manner. It means they must have access toin ormation about the needs o business and industry,as well as other sectors o the community, and theymust be able to act appropriately on that in ormation.



ComprehensiveWhile ully respecting the oundation embodied in theliberal arts and sciences, the system must provide arange o undergraduate, pro essional, post-graduate,applied and occupational programs attuned to theneeds o the province and its linguistic communities,while recognizing the need to conserve resources andco-operate with other provinces and institutions asmuch as possible.

It must also ensure New Brunswick students havethe opportunity to pursue post-graduate study inappropriately selected areas. In the case o research,institutions with recognized strengths in areasimportant to the province must be supported in amanner conducive to the achievement o excellence.

The system acknowledges and celebrates thecontributions o both practical and theoreticalknowledge and there ore recognizes as ull andequal partners institutions with varying missions andorientations. It also acknowledges the legitimateplace occupied by private post-secondary institutions.

New Brunswick needs a variety o graduates rom awealth o programs that provide the province with the

knowledge and skills needed to succeed. When welook at the balance o program enrolments comparedto other jurisdictions, it is clear that New Brunswickhas ewer individuals in the sciences, technology andtrades. It should take steps to increase enrolment inthese areas. With a little creativity there could be wayso providing worthwhile and bene cial experiencesthat include both exceptional theory andexceptional practice.

E fcientSince New Brunswick does not have the population orresources o some other provinces and jurisdictions, itcannot a ord to be all things to all people. Trying todo so is a sure road to mediocrity. New Brunswick mustnot only be selective in what it does, but must also ndways to do what it chooses as e ciently as possible.It must be willing to do things di erently, to do thingssmarter. I it only decides to ollow others, it will alwaysbe out-resourced and out-manoeuvred. Looking or

e ciencies through new and innovative approacheswill be a key advantage or New Brunswick in thecompetitive world o post-secondary education

and research.

E ciency extends to the governance andadministrative structures and processes adoptedwithin the post-secondary institutions, which mustacilitate timely and e ective decision-making. Theremust be a high degree o co-operation and co-ordination among the provinces post-secondaryinstitutions, so that students do not con ront dead-end choices and are able to carry learning rom onesituation into relevant paths o ered in others. Theremust be a premium placed on accurate and timelyin ormation, so that students know what opportunitiesawait them and what the consequences are in termso cost and uture choices.

O High QualityIt is no good i all o the other objectives are met butwe only provide a mediocre product. New Brunswickneeds a post-secondary system o the highest quality,as good as any in the country i not the world. Therewill always be debates about what quality actuallymeans and how we know when it is present, but

we have enough experience with a variety oapproaches to know that some do work, and that itis possible to improve the quality o post-secondaryinstitutions and programs through systematic andrigorous evaluation and corrective action. At presentthere is a quality assurance regime administeredthrough the Maritime Provinces Higher EducationCommission (MPHEC). It needs to have more teethand it needs to encompass the colleges as wellas the universities.

AccountableFinally, the post-secondary system must be held toaccount. Given the increasingly important role thatpost-secondary education will have or the uture othe province, New Brunswickers must have access totimely and meaning ul in ormation that allows them to judge how e ectively the resources they have placedat the disposal o their post-secondary institutionshave been deployed. The li eblood o accountability


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is in ormation timely, accurate, and meaning ulin ormation. And there have to be governance andadministrative structures and processes in place

whose task includes analysis o that in ormation sothat it is employed in ways that lead to improvementsor corrective action. There is too much at stake,in people and money, to not insist on an e ectiveaccountability system.

New Brunswick will not be the rst province to attemptto re orm its post-secondary education system. Inthe last ew years British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario,and New oundland and Labrador have all madee orts to signi cantly re orm and reinvest in their post-secondary systems. Each has added something to our

understanding o the importance o an educationalsystem and the steps needed to achieve the desiredgoals. New Brunswicks contribution and its strategicadvantage (Advantage New Brunswick) will be therst truly integrated and responsive system in Canada,i not North America.

A Brie Description o the SystemPerhaps our single most important recommendationor change is to trans orm post-secondary educationrom an institutional ocus into a true post-secondary

educational system. We have some excellentinstitutions, but they operate too much within theirown silos. Students may be well looked a ter, providedthey make the right choices and do not deviate romthe path they initially selected. But many students arenot well served, and both time (student) and money(student and government) are o ten wasted. Forexample, when credits (educational achievements)earned in one institution are not accepted byanother, or when students cannot nd out rom asingle source what their educational options are, orwhat the ull cost will be or, indeed, how much theywill owe on their student loans, less then optimaldecisions are made. We will recommend a morerobust credit trans er regime and, because success ulcredit trans er depends on con dence in thequality o other institutions o erings, we will proposechanges that will strengthen the provinces qualityassurance sa eguards. There are also the possibilitieso substantial increases in e ciency through improved

institutional co-ordination. Is it necessary or eachinstitution to be an island unto itsel , or are thereopportunities to share resources and services or the

betterment o the entire system? We think ar more co-operation is needed, and will recommend signi cantchange in this area. A student should be able to applyto any publicly unded provincial post-secondaryinstitution or program, or example, through a singleapplication process.

The New Brunswick government will not be immuneto the changes being proposed. There are somestructural changes necessary at both the provincialand institutional levels i a more co-ordinated post-secondary system is to be obtained. For one thing,

the provincial government needs to better clari yits own mission and purpose in the area o post-secondary education. For example, its institutionalrelations with universities are almost non-existent,while it o ten plays a ar too intrusive role vis--vis thecolleges and the apprenticeship program. There is avitally important role or the provincial government inpost-secondary education, but that role should ocusprimarily on policy, not on administrative detail. To usecontemporary jargon, the province should steer, notrow. With regard to colleges and apprenticeship, thegovernment has been doing ar too much rowing andhas done little steering with respect to universities. As aresult, we will propose a care ul rede nition o the roleo the provincial government. Part o this rede nitionwill a ect the Department o Post-SecondaryEducation, Training and Labour itsel . Another partwill propose the establishment o an arms-lengthco-ordinating agency or the entire post-secondarysystem, public and private. We will also recommend asigni cant reinvestment in the post-secondary system,designed to bring total provincial spending on post-secondary education closer to the average o otherprovinces, and we will propose a rationalization andexpansion o student aid programs.

One dys unctional eature o New Brunswicks post-secondary system is the absence o structuredmeetings o the senior o cials o the institutionsthemselves, even o an in ormal nature. As a result,many opportunities or co-ordination are missed. Forthe institutions, the need or provincial direction could


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revitalize their governing structures. In doing this, it willbe important that they ocus their program prioritiesand strengthen their work in graduate education

and research.

Expanding university research and graduateeducation is one o the most important conditionso economic and social development or NewBrunswick. Research and graduate studies bothrequire a concentration o resources to create thenecessary critical mass. For New Brunswick, thismeans that the provinces e orts in this regard mustbe primarily concentrated in the two institutionsalready committed to this as a priority: the Universityo New Brunswick and Universit de Moncton. Other

universities as well as the colleges and the newpolytechnics can certainly make contributions andin act take a leadership role in appropriate areasor in di erent types o research that particularlycomplement their di erentiated roles and missions.

Both St. Thomas University and Mount Allison Universityhave well established traditions o undergraduateeducation, and they should be encouraged tocontinue with this emphasis. The one condition ocontinued public support, however, should be theirwillingness to embrace the goals o New Brunswickspost-secondary system and thus to participate in theinstitutional arrangements designed to give point andpurpose to those goals. We do not expect this to bean onerous condition.

Ensuring quality in our post-secondary institutions is ocritical importance to the students who study thereand to the broader society, and it is a necessarycondition or building the provincial system webelieve is critical or the provinces uture. At presentthe MPHEC has a limited mandate to assess the qualityo university programs in the three Maritime provinces.At the very least, the existing quality assuranceregime needs to be strengthened and extended toencompass colleges, the polytechnics, and, in somecases, private institutions.

Access is o critical importance to the province inlight o the projected demographic declines. Giventhis, there are some speci c groups which do not

participate in post-secondary education to the extentthey are capable o or to the extent the provincerequires. I we are to increase participation rates in

the province, we will need to nd ways o changingthis. We re er to those who have grown up withoutthe expectation that a post-secondary educationis something appropriate or them. We re er also tothose whose amily income makes the cost o post-secondary education a daunting prospect. We re eras well to women who are still under-representedin certain occupational areas. And we re er to FirstNations citizens whose experience, cultural traditions,and bureaucratic impediments have combined tocreate barriers to participation. Those with disabilitiesare an additional clientele that needs special support.

Access or these groups must be improved, and theactors responsible or their lower rates o participationaddressed, including the way we nance post-secondary education.

Finally, there is much that needs to be done toimprove access or those already in the labour orcewho need to re resh their knowledge and skills orimprove their quali cations. For many, especially thoseor whom the desired education or training is notavailable locally, distance education is the only viableoption. Distance education in New Brunswick has tobe improved, but it has to be done in a cost-e ectivemanner, which means concentrating e orts.

While we do not presume to be able to magicallysolve these access issues that have vexed the rest othe country, we do have suggestions that we think willmake the situation better.

This is a very brie and general indication o ourapproach to the re orm o post-secondary educationin New Brunswick, along with some o the issues weneed to address. O course, we need to be muchmore speci c. In what ollows, we can not possiblyprovide all o the details that will be required. That willbe the responsibility o the department, with its newmandate, o the proposed new commission, ando the Presidents Council. A ter all, there would belittle need to establish or rede ne the mission o thesebodies i their unction was merely to implement analready prescribed program. What, then, should NewBrunswicks post-secondary system look like?



In order to achieve the kind o post-secondary systemNew Brunswick requires to succeed, the governmentmust be willing to lead the way by implementing itsown internal re orms. There needs to be a system ogovernance that is designed not only to make thekinds o changes required but also to ensure thestructures put in place yield results on an ongoingbasis. Change has to start at the top, and this willinvolve three key players: the provincial department,a new arms-length commission, and the post-secondary institutions. We shall discuss in turn whatneeds to be done by each.

Students o public administration have cometo the conclusion that the most important roleo government is to have a clear idea o thedesired direction o public policy, the goals to beaccomplished, and to possess the capacity to employthe necessary tools to get there. The administrativedetails required to carry out government policy are o tenbest le t to specialized agencies that have the capacityand fexibility to work out co-operative arrangementswith organizations on the ground. Politicalaccountability is preserved while administrativefexibility and creativity are enhanced.

This maxim applies with special orce in areas suchas health and post-secondary education, wheresigni cant aspects o the design and delivery oprograms must be in the hands o specially trained

and quali ed pro essionals. The structure we areproposing is based on this understanding and wediscuss each o these key components in turn.

The Department oPost-Secondary Education,Training and LabourIn one respect, New Brunswick has already put inplace an important building block or success. Having

created a single department with responsibility orpost-secondary education and training, with labouran important player especially in the apprenticeshipprogram, it means that one department hasresponsibilities that encompass virtually the ull rangeo post-secondary activity. There is just one thing thatneeds to change: the role o the department needsto be re ocused. There is a certain paradox here. Onthe one hand, the department is so distant rom theuniversities that it has little capacity to infuence theirdevelopment, even using the carrot o money. Onthe other hand, the department is too close to the

day-to-day running o the college and apprenticeshipcomponents, the result o which is that it lacks thecapacity necessary to address the broader issues osystem design and policy priorities. This is important,because only government can assume responsibilityor post-secondary policy i democratic accountabilityis to be ensured.

Universities, polytechnics, colleges, and theapprenticeship program need to have essentiallythe same reporting relationship with government.This means the colleges and the apprenticeshipprogram need to be removed rom day-to-daymanagement control by government, and operatein a more arms-length relationship, accountable togovernment through a board or commission. Thiswill greatly enhance their administrative fexibilityand creativity and their ability to orge partnershipswith other institutions and with the private sector,while preserving their accountability to government.

Setting the Context or Action:The Necessary First Steps


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Setting the Context or Action: The Necessary First Steps

Universities, meanwhile, have received little attentionrom the Government o New Brunswick, operatingwithout a clear policy ramework, even including

nancial incentives. This should change.

The principal responsibilities o the departmentshould ocus on:

Policy: set the objectives o the post-secondarysystem and the instruments to be employed inreaching them.

Priorities: identi y the issues that need to beaddressed and their order o importance.

Funding: determine how much money can be

made available or the institutions and studentaid, and how it should be directed.

Governance: prepare the legislative changesrequired and make the necessary appointmentsto boards and other institutions.

Data Analysis: extract the in ormation neededto support the other responsibilities o thedepartment and present it in ways that actuallyin orm public policy.

These are important responsibilities, but perhapsthe most important eature is that they cannotbe e ectively carried out except by governmentitsel . In order to ocus on these responsibilities, thedepartment must be relieved o its operationalactivities with respect to colleges and apprenticeship.Conversely, it needs to develop and strengthen itscapacity or policy co-ordination and direction in theentire post-secondary sector (universities, colleges,polytechnics and apprenticeship). It will not be easyto move rom an operational orientation to oneocusing on policy, but it is a critical transition that

must occur. This takes us to the second component othe proposed structure.

The New BrunswickPost-Secondary Education

CommissionIt is necessary to create a link between thedepartment and the institutions. This is the role tobe played by the proposed New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education Commission. This commission isnot envisioned as a large, bureaucratic organization,but rather as a lean representative mechanism thatworks with both the government department andthe institutions to operationalize the policies set bygovernment, while being sensitive to the needs andconstraints o the institutions. It would also providesystem advice to the government. It would have itsown executive head, appointed by the government.The commission board (Appendix A) would bemade up in part by representatives o the institutionsa ected, and in part by government appointees whowould constitute a majority o the membership. Thequality o the members appointed by governmentwill be critically important to the success o thecommission. They must not be appointed or partisanreasons. They will need to bring expertise in variouspro essional and occupational disciplines, and theywill need to be broadly representative o the sectoral

and regional interests o the province.

The commission should be responsible or theollowing activities:

Quality Control/Assessment/AssuranceQuality assessment and control, or quality assuranceas it is o ten described, is the necessary quid pro quoo the operational independence granted to post-secondary institutions. It has to be rigorously applied,so that students and employers can be con dentthat what institutions say they are doing is actuallydone and so that the quality o the outcomes is o thehighest order.

The quality assurance regime must apply to allinstitutions, colleges, polytechnics and universitiesalike. All institutions should submit to institutionalaccreditation. Whether o ered through publicor private institutions, accreditation o all degree



programs, should be compulsory. It may also benecessary to accredit some diploma programsdepending on their nature and their relationship to

other credentials. Degrees and diplomas are grantedunder authority delegated by the province, and thereputation o the province is at least indirectly at stakeeach time a diploma or degree is issued. It is there orethe responsibility o the province to ensure that anydegree or diploma granted under this authority is o aquality acceptable to the province. The commissionwill see that this responsibility is discharged e ectively.

It is worth noting that New Brunswick participates in thework o the Council o Ministers o Education, Canada(CMEC) which seeks to advance the common

interests o all the provinces in education, includingpost-secondary education. A recent and potentiallyimportant initiative o the council, agreed to by allministers in February o 2007, was the establishment oa ramework o standards or degrees granted underprovincial authority. The impetus or this agreementwas concern over the variety o new degree-grantinginstitutions emerging in Canada, and a perceivedneed to protect the international value o a Canadiandegree. The ramework includes descriptions o thegeneral learning outcomes expected o degreeholders as well as standards or quality assurancereviews. The quality assurance regime proposed herewould go well beyond the standards envisioned bythe CMEC.

This will have implications or the MPHEC whichcurrently administers a limited quality assuranceregime. That regime has serious shortcomings,however. For one thing, it applies only to universitiesunder its jurisdiction. It thus plays no role in assuringthe quality o college programs, and under presentconditions it would play no role with respect tothe proposed polytechnics. Even with respect touniversities, its mandate is limited to evaluatingthe quality assurance procedures in place in eachinstitution and the quality o new proposed programs,but not o existing programs. And nally, it has verylimited authority in en orcing compliance withrecommendations that result rom its evaluations. Itsgoverning structure and its mode o operations allowthe institutions to intervene in the evaluation processwhich undermines its credibility and can lead towatering down assessments.

The community colleges have also developed qualityassurance measures. But in their case, the process isan internal one relying mostly on indicators. It does not

have the rigour and distance which would make it acredible quality assurance mechanism.

There needs to be a major tightening up o the qualityassurance regime or New Brunswick.

One way to accomplish this would be to changethe mandate o the MPHEC and the composition oits board, in order to broaden its institutional reachto encompass colleges and private institutions, andstrengthen its en orcement capability. For severalreasons this would be the much pre erred route,

since it would preserve the regional scope o qualityassurance. However, it would almost certainly requirea change to the legislation governing the MPHEC.This, in turn, requires identical legislation passed bythe three Maritime legislatures. The last time that wasattempted, it took eight years to accomplish, andthat was a ter agreement had been reached on thesubstance o the changes. New Brunswick cannota ord to wait that long.

Apart rom changes in the legislation, changes arealso needed in the MPHEC culture; that is, in its modeo operation and its evaluation criteria. It would haveto establish more clearly the independence o itsevaluations and put more emphasis on criteria relatedto planning, e ciency, and outcomes. It would alsohave to be open to new types o establishments anddevelop appropriate criteria.

An alternative approach might be to reachagreement with the MPHEC by which the qualityassurance regime operating in New Brunswick di eredmaterially rom that in the other provinces. Or perhapsthe other provinces could be persuaded simply toagree that the program would be expanded andinterpreted more rigorously in all three provinces,without changing the legislation. There is also thepossibility that legislation could be given a ast trackto approval. We do not know whether any o theseoptions is easible. What we do know is that qualityassurance has to be improved, and quickly. I theMPHEC cannot respond appropriately in a timely


19/641Setting the Context or Action: The Necessary First Steps

ashion, and in a manner that recognizes the distinctand legitimate roles played by the various post-secondary system players, New Brunswick will have to

explore other options.

An Application/In ormation PortalThis is without question one o the mostimportant recommendations we will make. Ourrecommendation is or the commission to build asingle point o access, or portal, to provide a range oin ormation and action that is necessary or studentsto make their way through the public post-secondarysystem. It is di cult or those who are not in the midsto the system, or thinking o entering it, to appreciate just how complicated, even daunting, it can be. Thisis particularly true or individuals who do not haveprior individual or parental experience in the post-secondary system. Just as one example: we askeda student to compile a list o the distinct student aidoptions and programs available, including loans,grants, scholarships, bursaries, tax reductions, debtrelie , loan orgiveness, ederal programs, provincialprograms, private-sector programs. Just listing thevarious options, without explanations, took over twopages! No wonder students sometimes get con used.No wonder they do not always take advantage o

programs ostensibly there or their bene t. And this is just student aid. Think about career choices. We heardover and over that both parents and students elttheir knowledge o their academic and educationaloptions was a mystery. Much the same applies whena student wants to know whether a university willgrant credit, or advanced standing, or courses takenelsewhere, or when a high school student wants toknow what he or she needs to get into a particularprogram and what the job prospects are i he or shegraduates, and how much it will cost. Much i not allo this in ormation is no doubt available somewhere.

The point is, it is not available in a orm and at a placethat is readily accessible to students.

That is what we propose to x. We stronglyrecommend the creation o a single access point, orportal, where a student or prospective student mustapply or admission to any public post-secondaryinstitution in the province, where he or she will receivea provincial student number, and where he or she can

survey the programs available in various institutions,how they are rated, and what the job placementrates have been, including where graduates are

employed, i courses they have already taken will beaccepted or credit and, using a nancial calculator,can nd out exactly what the cost will be, what aid isavailable, and provide application orms, right there,online. All this in a readily accessible, student- riendly,manner. This recommendation in no way takes awayrom the admission role that must be maintainedby the institutions but rather provides a requiredport o entry that will enable all students to get thein ormation they need to make appropriate choicesbased on knowledge, not on suspicion.

No other province has such a comprehensive system.What an advantage or New Brunswick! This will notonly provide a valuable service or New Brunswickers,but provide a signi cant recruitment advantage inattracting both international and domestic students.And it need not cost an arm and a leg. The Ontariocommon application centres, which unlike whatwe propose or New Brunswick require separateapplications or university and college, actuallyoperate at a pro t. Incidentally, New Brunswicksgrowing sophistication in the eld o in ormationtechnology (IT) means that the development o thein ormation portal is likely well within the competenceo a local rm or a consortium o rms.

Data Collection and AnalysisEarlier we emphasized the importance o shi ting thedepartments ocus rom operations to policy. Theli eblood o good policy is good in ormation. Goodin ormation, in turn, requires accurate data care ullyanalysed. The collection o accurate and meaning uldata, analysed to yield in ormation use ul or policydevelopment, must be an important unction o the

proposed commission (as well, in some cases, o thedepartment, as noted earlier).



The MPHEC has done a good job in this area and itmight well continue to do so, perhaps under contractto the commission. The commissions role would be to

ensure that good data are available, not necessarilyto generate them. Furthermore, there needs to be acapacity to extract rom data the in ormation thatactually in orms issues important to the province andits post-secondary institutions. The commission musttake responsibility or that.

Policy Advice to the DepartmentThe purpose o data collection and analysis is toenable the commission to o er good policy adviceto the department and to the several post-secondaryinstitutions. The commission, o course, would have aparticular responsibility to work with the department ingenerating ideas, based on data analysis, designed tosolve problems and promote objectives important tothe department and the government.

Review o Institutional Strategic PlansWe will propose later that an important responsibility oindividual public post-secondary institutions will be toprepare and submit strategic plans or their institution,detailing where they place their priorities, what theirenrolment targets are, and how they intend to moveorward to reach their objectives. We will discuss thisissue in more detail later in this report. But a necessarycorollary o institutional strategic planning is that theplans not only be reviewed but that the process leadto action based on agreement between governmentand institution. Government unding will, to someextent, depend on this agreement. The iterativeprocess through which agreement can be reachedwill be mediated by the commission.

It is important to emphasize the value o strategicplanning. The post-secondary education systemrecommended here is based on institutionsdi erentiating their roles in such a way as to createsystem strength and provincial advantage. Thestrategic planning process becomes the means toachieve this objective, and the role o the commissionis crucial in leading the system according to thepriorities o New Brunswick and assuring the essentialdi erentiation o the institutions.

Not only do strategic plans strengthen the institutionsmanagement capability, but they are the key topreserving institutional autonomy while satis ying the

governments legitimate need or accountability.E ective strategic planning, with appropriatemonitoring and ollow-up, obviates the need ordetailed reporting and scrutiny o institutionalactivities. It refects a mature relationship o trust, onethat bene ts all parties concerned.

Credit Trans erWe heard a story rom one post-secondary instructorwho described how he taught the same coursein a college and in a university. He used the sametext book, the same curriculum, the same courserequirements and examination. Yet students enrolledin the college version o the course could not obtaincredit in the university. This is neither acceptablenor de ensible.

To be air, New Brunswick has made some progress inworking out credit trans er arrangements. But it hasbeen largely a bilateral approach, accomplishedone institution at a time, course by course or programby program. At the rate we are going, it will take artoo long to arrive at a comprehensive system. A lot

o the di culty is rooted in philosophical di erenceswhich are not easy to resolve. However, when suchdisagreements are patently disadvantageous tostudents and cost the system more time and moneywith little or no justi cation, the system has to change.Creating more general and trans erable rst- andsecond-year programs will constitute an important rststep on the way to improved credit trans er protocols.

We should emphasize that we are not advocatingblanket recognition o anything and everything astudent may have done. O course standards are

important. That is why a robust quality assuranceprogram is essential. Once the objectives andstandards o a program or course have been attestedto, it should be relatively easy to evaluate thetrans erability o a course taken at one institution orcredit at another. The New Brunswick Post-SecondaryEducation Commission should play an active role inpromoting credit trans er. It would not only oversee theprocess, but play a proactive role in collaborating with



System-Wide Support and InitiativesWe have made the point be ore that New Brunswickis a small, nancially challenged province. In order tosucceed in the competitive world o contemporarypost-secondary education, it has to be strategic in thechoices it makes as to where to put its resources. Oneattractive option is to select a small number o proj-ects or programs which could make a real di erenceto the province and support centres o excellence inpursuing research and advanced education in thoseareas. The proposed commission could assist in iden-ti ying and evaluating such areas and could advisegovernment as to the best way o supporting them.

There are also a range o services that could beo ered more e ectively and economically i resourceswere pooled among the several institutions o theprovince. Co-operative arrangements already exist insuch areas as library and computer services, but evenhere the breadth o current and uture services couldbe expanded as changes occur in several institutions.Many o the so-called back o ce administrativeservices required in post-secondary institutions couldeasily be shared. This would result in e ciencies whichwould increase the resources available or otherinstitutional needs and priorities. This approach toshared responsibilities ties in with the single in ormationportal discussed earlier.

Regional and National Co-ordinationThe establishment o the MPHEC was greeted withmuch hope or a promised boost in co-operationamong the three Maritime provinces with respectto university a airs. And while some notableaccomplishments have occurred, many more remainto be explored. The act o the matter is that under thecurrent regime, co-ordination is only possible a ter the

three provinces have agreed a common approachis desirable. The requirement or tripartite agreementis the reason it takes so long to do anything jointly.The problem is exacerbated when the provincialgovernments, individually, lack the policy capacity towork through possibilities or cooperative action. It isreasonable to anticipate, there ore, that strengtheningNew Brunswicks post-secondary system will acilitateincreased co-operation in the longer run.

We were told...A change o orientation is very expensiveLike many students with excellent grades, Marilynregistered in Health Sciences, a two-year programthat, she was told, would open doors to a brilliantuture or her.

Each year, she obtains the maximum amountavailable in student loans. Despite this nancialaid, she o ten has to borrow money rom herriends to make it to the end o the semester.

A ter her two years in the program, Marilyn doesnot embark on a career in health sciences. Togive more thought to her career orientation,she puts her studies on hold or a year. Backat university, she registers in Education, headstoward a career teaching science. Although anumber o the courses she took in Health Sciences

can be used or her training in Education, therequirements o this ve-year program are suchthat Marilyn will have a tough time completingher program in three years.

I I nish in three years, in 2010, Ill have $83,000 torepay in student loans. I wonder how Im goingto be able to pay that debt a ter I graduate, shecon des.

Marilyn views the uture with a great deal oconcern, as she eels that her debt will be like

a ball and chain or several years to come.Although she wants to have a amily and acom ortable li estyle, she knows she has to remainrealistic.

I know Ill be living like a student or many years,even a ter my education is completed.

the institutions. Since course contents are regularlychanging, credit trans er requires sustained andcontinuous attention.



The point is, however, that we cannot wait, or we willlose the advantage that awaits us now. I we can getour house in order now, chances are others will see

the advantages o a more co-ordinated approach.We wish to encourage regional co-operation andco-ordination. I ways could be ound to accomplishthis through the MPHEC, we would support such anapproach. But we are orced to concede that theprospects are not promising and time is o the essencein this instance.

Duality and Linguistic ObligationsBesides its role in ensuring that the system developsand maintains vibrant institutions or the two maincultural and linguistic communities o New Brunswick,the New Brunswick Post-Secondary EducationCommission will ensure that at least a minimum opost-secondary education courses are o ered to therancophone minority in anglophone regions andto the anglophone minority in rancophone regions,where numbers warrant. One way o achieving thiswould be to assign a lead role to one anglophoneand one rancophone institution, as will bediscussed later. The proposed New Brunswick Post-Secondary

Education Commission may appear to be a heavy-handed, even excessively bureaucratic, organization.It does, admittedly, have a wide range o unctionsand responsibilities. But it is important to emphasizethat these are unctions and responsibilities thatthe commission needs to make sure are providedor in the system. They need not all be provided bythe commission. We have already mentioned theMPHEC and quality assurance. Improving qualityassurance and extending it to encompass collegesand the polytechnics does not necessarily mean thatunction has to be taken over by the New Brunswick

commission. It could be contracted to the MPHEC iit is willing and able to make the necessary changes.The same applies to data collection. There could beothers. Indeed, one possibility is that some o theseactivities might be undertaken by the universities,colleges and polytechnics themselves, on behal othe entire system, i they had an organization capableo acting collectively. That takes us directly to the nalplayer in the three-part organizational structure we

are proposing or the governance o post-secondaryeducation in New Brunswick (commission, governmentdepartment and the institutions).

The Presidents CouncilWe propose that the post-secondary institutions,through their presidents or executive heads, jointogether to orm a post-secondary Presidents Council.It would be comprised o the heads o most o thepublic post-secondary institutions in the province universities, colleges, polytechnics, the apprenticeshipprogram, and representatives rom the privateinstitutions and high schools (their total representationis not possible given the numbers involved). There is no

such body at present, not even among the universitiesalone (we did receive a brie rom the New BrunswickUniversity Presidents Group but it appears to haveno ormal structure and the brie seems to have beenprepared by the Association o Atlantic Universities).A detailed list o the proposed membership o thecouncil is set out in Appendix B.

The council is intended to be primarily an advisorybody, working out common problems and developingcommon positions to take to the minister, department,and commission. It could play an especially important

role in developing and proposing system-wideinitiatives, especially where economies are possiblethrough co-operation, or where new or expandedmarkets could be created (international studentrecruitment, or example). It could advise on and acilitatecredit trans er arrangements and in co-ordinatingindividual institutions contributions to the provincialin ormation/application portal.

The council could also take on responsibility orspeci c projects, perhaps delegated by thecommission. Indeed, the more the institutions areable to work together, the more they might assumeresponsibilities otherwise assigned to the commission.The essential point, however, is that the council wouldshare in ormation and acilitate co-operation andsystem co-ordination. It could be an extremely cost-e ective mechanism or this, especially i secretarialsupport were provided by the commission.



Governance structure o the proposed New Brunswick systemThe Department o Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour

Policies and priorities

Funding

Legislation

Data analysis

The New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education Commission

Quality Control/Assessment/Assurance

Application/In ormation Portal

Data Collection and Analysis

Policy Advice to the Department

Review o Strategic Plans

Credit Trans er

System-Wide Support and Initiatives

Regional and National Co-ordination

Duality and Linguistic Obligations

The Presidents Council

Advisory role to the New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education Commission

Speci c projects



A New Kind o Institution orNew BrunswickThe present structure o post-secondary education inNew Brunswick is very much a product o its history.Indeed, the ounding o what is now the University oNew Brunswick dates almost rom the ounding o theprovince itsel . Each o the other public universitiesin the province has a long, proud, and, at times,traumatic history. That history has to be treated withgreat respect when we contemplate change. Butsometimes change is necessary and sometimes itis essential.

Such was the case when Dr. John J. Deutsch proposedthe consolidation o the scattered rancophonecolleges into the Universit de Moncton, withcampuses o the aculty o arts in Shippagan, Bathurstand Edmundston, and when he proposed theestablishment o a second campus o the University oNew Brunswick at Saint John with teaching rights orSt. Thomas in Saint John. Dr. Deutsch came to thoseconclusions because o the burgeoning demandsor post-secondary education in the province, andbecause the existing rancophone colleges couldnot cope with the nancial burdens that wouldbe imposed i they attempted to respond to thosedemands in their existing orms.

In some ways the situation has changed dramatically

since then. Instead o unprecedented growth,universities in the province ace the reality o decliningenrolment. For some o them, most especially theUniversit de Moncton campuses in Shippagan andEdmundston, declining enrolments threaten the veryexistence o the institutions.

At the same time there are other equally persuasivepressures or change. Since the restructuring o the

university system occasioned by Dr. Deutschs report,New Brunswick has embraced a new entry to itspost-secondary system: the community college.There are now 11 college campuses in the province:six anglophone (Miramichi, Moncton, St. Andrews,Saint John, Woodstock and the College o Cra tand Design in Fredericton) and ve rancophone(Bathurst, Campbellton, Dieppe, Edmundston andPninsule Acadienne), plus the Maritime College oForest Technology in Fredericton which is currentlynot part o the college system. The college systemhas certainly earned a respected place in theprovinces post-secondary system, but it remainsrelatively underdeveloped, attracting proportionatelyar ewer students, or example, than in most otherprovinces. It is also constrained by being an integralpart o government, without the fexibility to respondas quickly and e ectively as it should to training needsand opportunities.

There have been several articulation arrangementsentered into between colleges and universities, bywhich a student may progress rom a college programto a related university program, or vice versa, with thecredits earned in one applicable in the other, thusreducing the total duration o the combined program.We applaud these arrangements, but un ortunately

they are one-o agreements, negotiated program byprogram and institution by institution. We need a moregeneral protocol, one that assures all students thatthere are no dead-end programs in New Brunswick.

Science elds are expanding rapidly, with newtechnologies that are impacting elds like health,engineering and the environment, but also suchother elds as communications and even the arts.Current and innovative programs are emerging in

Organizing the System


25/641Organizing the System

other provinces and countries, preparing students inbasic knowledge and theory as well as in working skills.These new initiatives refect a paradigm shi t in post-

secondary education, where programs and institutionsare more community-based, learner- ocused, industry-connected and global in perspective.

These new initiatives have become associated with anew kind o institution that is emerging in other parts othe world and which we now wish to introduce to NewBrunswick. This new kind o institution, the polytechnic,involves the combination o university and collegeactivities into something greater than the sum o thetwo parts.

In New Zealand, or instance, polytechnics delivertechnical, vocational and pro essional education.Their emphasis is on student- ocused teaching, ratherthan research. Much o the learning is practical,and they all operate student support services. Theyo er programs at all levels community interestcourses, oundation programs, certi cates, diplomas,degrees and some post-graduate opportunities. Theyencourage students to build rom lower quali cationsto higher ones. Their programs are well-regarded byNew Zealand employers and many have achievedinternational recognition. They are very responsive tothe needs o the community in which they are based,developing programs to meet the particular needso local industries and businesses, and the specialinterests o the local community.

In Finland, polytechnics train pro essionals in responseto labour market needs and conduct research anddevelopment activities which support instructionand promote regional development in particular.Polytechnics are multi- eld regional institutionsocusing on contacts with working li e and on regional

development. They deliver degree studies whichgive a higher education quali cation and practicalpro essional skills. All degree studies include practicalon-the-job learning. They o er programs in variouselds including humanities, social sciences, businessand administration, natural resources, technology,communications, natural sciences, health, tourism,catering and domestic services.

Closer to home, in the United States, the name iscommonly used and some polytechnics or instituteso technology have evolved to become some o the

leading higher education institutions in the world. Thinko the Massachusetts Institute o Technology (MIT),the Cali ornia Institute o Technology (Caltech), theRochester Institute o Technology, or the RensselaerPolytechnic Institute. A trend is emerging in whichuniversities, especially those operating as campuseso a multi-campus institution, are adopting the namepolytechnic to signi y a distinct orientation, one thatemphasizes teaching and applied learning.

The idea is also coming to Canada. In Quebec,as in French speaking societies in Europe, the termgenerally used is cole polytechnique . Thus wend the cole Polytechnique de Montral or thecole polytechnique de Bruxelles. A particularlyrelevant example can be ound in Quebecscole de technologie suprieure (ETS), whichdeveloped highly sought a ter co-op programs inengineering or students with a technician diploma.In this way, ETS not only increased participationbut also carved out a niche or itsel in the highlycompetitive Quebec university system. In EnglishCanada, the term is gradually replacing the olderuse o institute o technology. Consequently, theSouthern Institute o Technology in Calgary is now SAITPolytechnic. Polytechnic is coming to have a broaderconnotation than institute o technology. It connotesa comprehensive approach to post-secondaryeducation, one that embraces many aspects o atraditional university but grounds it in a more practicalapproach that is quite easily meshed withcollege programs.

A current web publication, Polytechnics Canadadescribes the polytechnic advantage as based

on a three-pillared approach: strength in academico erings, strength in industry connections, andstrength in applied research. That comes close tosummarizing the concept we have in mind. We wouldonly add a ourth descriptor: strength incommunity responsiveness.

In their most recent study o uture trends in post-secondary education, the RBC Royal Bank and the



Brondesbury Group described polytechnics as rapidly emerging as the third stream [a ter universitiesand colleges] that blends applied skills with broad

subject-matter expertise. They went on to argue:

We see them as a solid middle ground thatis capable o meeting many o the labourmarket demands or skilled pro essionals intodays society. Since they are still ndingtheir position, they are relatively fexible inadapting to new demands. We believe theywill emerge as distinctive within the next 5-7years. (The Future o the Public Sector 2007:Post-Secondary Education CommentatorOverview, p. 40.)

Here is a clear opportunity or New Brunswick tomove ahead o this emerging trend and, in so doing,to claim the advantage o national leadership.For this reason, and because it ts the needs andcircumstances o several communities in the province,we think New Brunswick should embrace the idea othe polytechnic.

The New Brunswick polytechnics would be createdby combining a university campus with one or severalcollege campuses. They would be authorized to o ercollege level programs, as well as university levelprograms and their pro essors would be expectedand encouraged to teach at both levels, accordingto their competences. They would be governed by aboard comprising a majority o members coming romthe community, along with pro essors and students(Appendix C). They would have a senate, or morelikely an academic council, that would report to theboard through the presidents o the polytechnics.

The polytechnics would be closely tied to theircommunities, able to respond to the particular needso the regional community they serve but also o erprograms o provincial and national importance. Theywould have close ties with community institutions andagencies, including business, non-pro t organizationsand municipal governments. Their educationalmission, or the most part, would be tailored to theneeds o their region, and they would have thefexibility to adjust their teaching programs in ways

that respond e ectively to these needs. Their researchunction would similarly be developed by buildingon their institutional strengths, and by addressing

opportunities in their region in ways that contribute toits socio-economic development.

The changes that the adoption o the polytechnicmodel would bring are obviously important, but theywould not mean a break in all activities. Many o theprograms now o ered would continue, and thosethat were to be modi ed would be phased in, withull and open consultation and with protection orstudents needing to complete programs. The pointis that the institutions a ected would acquire a newcentre o gravity, one vested securely in the needs o

their region and its students, and with a mandate thatallows them to respond to a more complete rangeo post-secondary opportunities in an integratedashion. Given the quality assurance mechanismsproposed, there would be no need or existingtrans er agreements with an established university orcollege to be a ected. Existing programs based onsuch agreements would continue or be modi ed, asdetermined by the partners (university, polytechnic,college). This would not be a loss or the province or itsexisting institutions. Rather, it would give New Brunswickthe rst post-secondary system with a well de ned andunctioning university, college and polytechnic system.

It would be a real shame i concerns or preservingthe status quo, and protecting the vested interests oexisting institutions, were to rustrate the opportunity tocreate something new and dynamic or the province.

These new institutions would o er students theopportunity to learn in a range o disciplines,spanning the educational ladder rom relativelyshort, occupationally-speci c programs, includingthe in-school components o apprenticeship training,through to university degrees. They would o er inall their campuses the rst years o some universityprograms. They would be authorized to o er graduatedegrees in some speci c areas, up to and includingthe Ph.D. i they have the resources needed to deliverprograms o high quality. This would not precludeinvolvement in other programs o ered byUNB and UdeM.



The polytechnics would pre erably o er integratedprograms, mixing a good basic education with thedevelopment o speci c skills. Their ocus would lean

toward the applied end o the spectrum (which iswhere the need in New Brunswick is most evident)but they would not lose sight o the importantand meaning ul contributions that the liberal arts,humanities and social sciences bring to educationalprograms. Their governance structures would benimble, able to respond quickly to emergent needsand opportunities in the communities they serve, whilestill being capable o providing a longer term ocus.

Faculty interests would be well represented andrespected. Advisory councils would unction to ensure

this, but decision-making authority would rest rmlyin the hands o an appointed board and president.An important eature o the new institution would bethe possibility or aculty members to teach studentsin di erent programs. We recognize that traditionaluniversity systems place a premium on such thingsas publications and peer evaluations, so stepswould have to be taken to ensure that the kinds oactivities envisioned in this proposal development oinnovative programs, activities aimed at technologytrans er, approaches to teaching that integrate theteaching o basic and applied knowledge areappropriately recognized and rewarded in personneldecisions such as promotion. We rmly believe thisnew kind o institution could be an exciting andrewarding place or aculty, as well as or studentsand the broader community. This more integratedapproach would also be at once more economicaland more attractive or students and provide acultywith a whole new breadth o opportunity.

It should be clear that this new kind o institution inNew Brunswick should not be called a universitycollege or university institute. Such terms aregenerally associated with a bi urcated institution,retaining the separate traditions and orientationso the previous institutions. That is not what we areproposing. Quite the contrary, the essence o thisproposal is to create a true usion o the two cultures.The term polytechnic, as described previously, bestcaptures the concept we have in mind. It is in generaluse around the world and, as noted be ore, has someoutstanding exemplars.

We readily admit that creating such an institution willnot come without challenges, and that the history oprevious attempts at joining university and college

work has sometimes been problematic. Yet, wermly believe that there is a genuine willingness inkey communities within the province to move in thisdirection and that with strong leadership and goodstrategic planning, it can not only work success ullybut also create a new momentum that will provideNew Brunswick with a signi cant advantage. Alongwith the quality assurance mechanism we haveproposed, it holds the promise o not only solvingsome real problems acing the province, but alsopointing the way to a more responsive, accessible,and productive post-secondary system. The tripartite

relationship being proposed (universities, polytechnicsand colleges) combined with a post-secondarysystem involving both public and private institutions,provides New Brunswick with a responsiveness that isunmatched anywhere else in Canada. Where mightwe see this new type o institution established?

The Saint John PolytechnicThis new institution would be created by combiningthe Saint John campus o the University o NewBrunswick with the Saint John campus o the New

Brunswick Community College. The new institutionwould ultimately be located in a common area.Some have suggested Tucker Park while othershave suggested a downtown location. Regardlesso the ultimate decision, the true strength o thearrangement will only emerge with a commonlocation. It has been pointed out that the currentphysical acilities at NBCC Saint John are in need oreplacements, so this might be a reason to acceleratethe process. Again, we emphasize that this should notbe a simple merger o two institutions. A new institutionhas to be created, combining strengths rom the

ormer two but building them into something distinctand stronger: an institution that takes as much pride inthe educational services they provide to apprenticesas they do to their Ph.D. students. Yes, this will be a tallorder, but student-centred institutions are capable osuch trans ormational change.



We were told by both parties that they already co-operate in numerous areas. This is certainly a goodstart. A single campus would acilitate this even urther.

There are some obvious examples where synergybetween the college and university could yield veryquick and positive results. One thinks immediatelyo health, energy-related and business programs.The proposed location o a unit o the DalhousieUniversity medical school in Saint John, joined withcollege programs in the health sciences, would createalmost immediately the makings o a true centre oexcellence in health. Saint Johns emerging ocus asan energy centre means that the polytechnic wouldbe a natural extension o joint programming thatwould o er an enormous strategic advantage to

the region and the energy sector. This would includetechnical, technology, and degree programs allrelated to energy, and o ered not only in a singleinstitution, but in an integrated ashion that acilitatedsynergy in research, teaching and learning. Theexisting strength in business education, in both thecollege and university campuses, would be an addedstrength and logical complement to this potentialcentre o excellence.

We are well aware that the University o NewBrunswick, in its o cial submission to our commission,proposed a more limited orm o co-operation,based on the physical co-location o the college anduniversity campuses. This would certainly be a stepin the right direction, but in our opinion it would notgo nearly ar enough. For one thing, it would leaveintact the two very distinct cultures and governancestructures. In itsel , co-location would do nothing toenhance co-operation or integration. There is plentyo evidence to support this assertion. And why shouldNew Brunswick settle or hal a loa when it can havethe ull advantages o ered by ull integration into theSaint John Polytechnic?

As mentioned, the Saint John campus o thecommunity college is in need o expanded acilities.We were told there are ve applicants or everytraining seat available, so it is obvious that demandoutstrips supply and that the new polytechniccould look orward to increased enrolment. This iscritical in expanding accessibility to post-secondary

education in the province. University, college and joint programming empowered by a new and moreresponsive governance model could develop in ways

that better refect the needs o the region. SaintJohn needs a post-secondary institution that refectsand contributes to both the regions strengths andpotential, and to those o the province.

The small college in St. Andrews, with its specializationin the tourism and hospitality industry, and in aspectso the shery and marine technology, should becomea campus o the Saint John Polytechnic with the sameopportunity to provide university credits as has beenassigned to other colleges. The college is well withincommuting distance and would add to the diversity o

the polytechnics programming. It would also preserveand expand access to post-secondary education inthat part o the province.

The Northeastern New BrunswickPolytechnicPost-secondary education in the communities onortheastern New Brunswick ace some dauntingchallenges but have the opportunity or a creativeresponse. These are all relatively small communities,and the existing post-secondary institutions refect

that. Community colleges, operating in French, havebeen established in the Acadian Peninsula, Bathurstand Campbellton. In the Acadian Peninsula, nineregular college programs are o ered, but six o themhave ewer than 20 students enrolled (as o 2005-06).Campbellton o ered 17 programs, with 13 o themenrolling ewer than 20 students. Bathurst, the largesto the three college campuses in the region, o ered23 programs, some o which are noteworthy or theirinnovative nature, but 15 o them enrol ewer than20 students. These small enrolments mean that thesystem is very expensive. And it can only become

more expensive i , as current high school enrolmentsindicate, enrolments decline signi cantly in thecoming years. An enrolment decline o 30 per cent,the number projected by the Universit de Moncton,would render the institutions virtually unmanageableand unsustainable.



A similar story is told with respect to the Universit deMoncton campus in Shippagan. Its current enrolmentstands at just 456 students with an instructional sta o

48. That yields a aculty-student ratio o less than 10 toone. Again, the prospect o a declining school-agepopulation o as much as 30 per cent in coming yearshas to put the uture viability o this small campus inserious doubt.

In the context o northeastern New Brunswick, thenew type o institution we described above, thepolytechnic, presents some obvious advantages.By combining the university and college campusesinto a new institution, it would acquire the fexibilitynecessary to use its resources more e ectively. With

the expansion o the previous college locationsmandates ( rst or second year university courses), plusa new ocus by the whole institution on responsivenessto regional needs, priorities and programming, thereis the possibility o developing a sustainable institution.None o the strengths o the existing institutionswould be compromised. Existing programs wouldcontinue where justi ed and new ones developedwhere needed. Trans er arrangements with theUniversit de Moncton would continue unless anduntil modi ed by mutual agreement. Above all, thereis no intention and no need or this arrangement tolead to competition between the polytechnic and theUniversit de Moncton. The requirement to developstrategic plans will emphasize this and, i necessary,the New Brunswick Post-Secondary EducationCommission will insist on it.

The administrative headquarters o the NortheasternNew Brunswick Polytechnic would be located inShippagan, where college and university campusesalready co-exist, and it would have campuses inBathurst and Campbellton. It should be encouragedto develop specialized training programs, aswell as research, in areas important to the uturedevelopment o the region. The existing Coastal ZonesResearch Institute, cole des pches, and the centreso excellence in woodworking, metal technologiesand computer science o er examples o the kindo specialization that is possible, and that should beencouraged and expanded where possible,and justi ed.

The point is that i a post-secondary institution is tocontinue to exist in northeastern New Brunswick, it isgoing to have to change. The present bi urcation into

colleges and university is no longer viable. A moreocused curricular orientation, combining collegeand university work, as well as advanced education,training and research in care ully selected areas ospecial emphasis, o ers the most promising route tosuccess. The present course, to repeat, is simplynot sustainable.

The Northwestern New BrunswickPolytechnicThe story is much the same in the northwesterncommunities o the province and, as in the previouscase, the creatio

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