The State of the Province Address
Well the good news was the long-overdue announcement that UNBSJ will remain a university campus and part of UNB. So we will still be here to deal with all the rest of it.
It will take a while to chew over all the implications of the speech (available here) despite, or perhaps because of, its lack of particulars, but here are some preliminary reactions:
Much of the coming “transformational change” in post-secondary education has clearly been off-loaded on to the universities themselves, with the Presidents and Principles working group (which has yet to submit its now-anticlimactic final report), and a new proposed commission within UNB tasked with examining bi-campus relations. I think many of us in Saint John will need to hear a lot more about the mandate, and in particular the make-up, of such a committee.
And it is hardly reassuring to hear “UNBSJ will retain programs like liberal arts while expanding with new program offerings to meet emerging economic opportunities in the Port City and beyond.”
Leaving aside the question of what programmes are “like” liberal arts, the whole argument about the arts and sciences being the core of UNBSJ has clearly passed the premier by. Not to mention the fact that market-contingent programmes are what this government has wanted for our campus since back when they were calling it a polytechnic.
The Premier said
Each of New Brunswick’s four universities has an important role to play; each brings particular strengths. First, the Working Group will propose that each university have its role, mandate and critical mission articulated in legislation.
An odd proposal coming from a group that must know that the various mandates of the universities already exist in legislation. This is, rather, a proposal to open up the existing legislation, in our case the UNB Act, and that would not be something to be undertaken lightly. Particularly if the goal would be to entrench newly imposed “roles.”
As far at the Community Colleges are concerned, they are soon to be free of direct governmental control in order to be “more closely aligned with their communities.” Sounds good until we remember that “community” is just short for “business community” as far as this government is concerned.
More troubling, at least as far as the universities are concerned, is the suggestion embedded here:
The Working Group also envisions much greater co-operation between universities and community colleges. Where appropriate, first- and/or second-year university courses will become more available across the province. Strengthening this relationship will also help build the necessary critical mass to make our universities more competitive and sustainable.
If these university-level courses “become more available” because they are being taught in community colleges, the result will hobble any attempts to reach “the necessary critical mass”: first- and second-year courses are the lion’s share of what universities do. Not to mention the loss of accreditation for New Brunswick students.
Some omissions were just as disturbing of some of what was included. No mention of the long-anticipated medical education in Saint John; the only mention of medical education at all was an announcement about a clinic tied to the Nursing programme at UNBF. Also no mention — not a breath — of the real issue: that the level of funding for post-secondary education in New Brunswick is the lowest in Canada.
The premier closed his remarks on post-secondary education by saying
To meet the needs of our changing economy, the business community must step forward to form deep and meaningful partnerships with our post-secondary institutions. I have every confidence that all of you and the rest of the New Brunswick business community will welcome this opportunity….
What Minister Doherty and our government have been saying is that post-secondary education reform really comes down to two things: we need to lower student debt loads and we need to ensure that our graduates are getting the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow, right here in New Brunswick.
Here here to lowering debt. But such a restricted and functional view of education, particularly after all the public discussion of the last several months, is disheartening and can only reinforce the suspicion that this government has not moved from its initial position.
As for the rest of the speech: New Brunswick is open for business. Wide open.
So yes: we will still be here. But who “we” are remains contested territory.
I just went over to read the speech [thank you for the link] and agree that although things are not looking quite so bleak, it still is not completely feeling *right* to me.
Regardless of what happens, whether we maintain all of our programs and university status, I will never forget the damage that this government has done to my school in dragging this thing out so long. They made people question whether or not to come to UNBSJ, whether or not to stay at UNBSJ, and they have kept a dark veil of threat over students like myself who are approaching completion of their programmes and they have placed an unforgivable amount of stress on the professors as well.
My son, in eleventh grade, came home a few weeks ago from school with pamphlets about STU and UNBF and nothing from UNBSJ. He has always talked about coming to ‘SJ and doing his concurrent Arts and Education degrees. We often joked around about he & I being in classes together at some point if I didn’t hurry up and finish my degrees. The fact that MY son began to dismiss UNBSJ completely as a possibility for his post-secondary education was a stark reminder to this proud UNBSJ student of the damage inflicted by this government.
This speech was positive, however, it doesn’t negate everything that has occurred by a long shot in my book.
In my view, the bottom line is that we will be here as UNB, and it will be now up to us to define ourselves in a way that will be true to our university and promote the higher education aspirations of the citizens of the greater Saint John area and encourage those around the province, country and world to join us.
I too am relieved that the grim reaper has receded into the mists–for now–but I am still uneasy about some of the comments regarding the impending changes to post-secondary education.
Yes, we get to keep our name and our connection to UNB, but we are really none the wiser about the fate of liberal arts and general sciences in Saint John.
Now we not only await the deliberations of the presidents and principals, but also the recommendations of a yet-to-be established committee on bi-campus relations.
On the positive side, the last inter-campus review committee (1984) determined that the one-university, two-campus model was preferrable to splitting the university into two separate institutions, and did give us our own Senate. It also recommended that faculty from UNBSJ be permitted to teach courses and supervise graduate students–something that had been rejected formally by UNB-Fredericton faculty in 1975.
Can we hope that the soon-to-be established committee will improve upon these initiatives–now two decades old–and promote actions that will address aspirations of faculty, students, and the people of Saint John for access to a comprehensive university education in our community?
I hope I am not being over-optimistic… especially given that the premier, without blushing once, was able to predict the future rosy state of NB–in 2026 no less!–but did not offer up any predictions about what our post-secondary system might look like two decades down the road.
Look! It is a bold, new, transformational cliche!
The clock is ticking, but the rubber is meeting the road and there’s a turning point. There are exciting opportunities on the horizon — oh, wait, no they might be serious challenges (Thank goodness they aren’t problems; problems require solutions). We used to meet them with short term fixes, band-aid solutions and false hupe but now, well, heck, now we prepare for new realities.
We have to understand New Brunswick’s future fibre needs (All-Bran muffin, anyone?) and hope that they act quickly and decisively.
We need to innovate, diversify and be true to ourselves and be leaders in our own way, which if it isn’t the Shawn Graham / Liberal business alliance way, well, maybe the rubber should meet the road (perhaps before the gene pool becomes even shallower and more polluted).
Let’s embrace new ways of doing things (see rubber meeting the road, above) and get rid of that nasty old status quo / business as usual sayings — WE NEED NEWER CLICHES — yes, that’s the answer!
Ohh! A nuclear cluster on my energy hub — no wait, it’s only wind energy brought on by fulfilling my fibre needs. Ahh, the joys of natural gas and positive energy news.
Let’s collaborate but in a self-sufficient way. Let’s explore opportunities but only the ones I tell you to like and be open to change (change for coffee?).
Let’s have francophone immigration and a culture of apprenticeship. Let’s use our network of expatriate New Brunswickers. Let’s use every tool at our disposal — and we’ve got a lot of them.
We need stronger links to transform and renew — STUFF!!!
Aarrrgh!
“Coordinated efforts” are going to be “quarterbacked”. We have a huge mountain to climb in terms of adult literacy. (I’ll say!)
We’re going to break the cycle of dependency. We need to turn the tide, we need a fresh start. We need to be a place of opportunity. We’ll be innovative — Did I already say this? No matter …
Welcome to the Shawn Graham Redundancy Theatre, starring the incredibly redundant Shawn Graham and an equally redundant cast.
Ah Linda… you missed the one cliche that is to become common currency in the bold new world–and I quote: “Standing by is not an option.” (Shawn Graham, 31 Jan 2008)
And don’t forget that latest catchy slogan introduced in the speech:
“standing by is not an option.”
I wonder how many times we’ll hear that in the next few months?
And let’s not foget that latest sound bite:
“standing back is not an option.”