2018 Canadian Higher Ed Year in Review Table of Contents

3 A Look Back Before Moving Forward 3 Student Evaluations of Teaching Take a Big Hit 4 PSE Delivery in Canada’s North 5 Higher Ed in Ontario Under Doug Ford 6 Pressure on Senior Admin in the West 7 Cannabis Comes to Campus 8 #MeToo in Canadian Higher Ed 10 The Power of Place 11 Skills and the School-to-Work Transition 12 The Challenges of Indigenization 14 The International Student Experience 15 What to Look for in 2019

2 A Look Back Before and promotion. Moving Forward In an op-ed that was covered in the May 7th edition of the Top Ten, Northwestern University Happy New Year to all the members of Law Professor Michelle Falkoff highlighted A the higher ed community in Canada and mounting evidence suggesting that student beyond. We look forward to sharing many evaluations of teaching are rife with gender and incredible stories with you in 2019, but for now, racial biases. The author also cited recent research we’d like to take a look back at what happened suggesting that students were becoming more in the year that was. likely to use abusive language when describing their teachers’ performance in the classroom. We selected the top ten stories of 2018 using Falkoff’s criticism was quickly followed, however, the same process we use for choosing stories by another op-ed in which Grand View University in our daily Top Ten and Indigenous Top Ten History Professor Kevin Gannon argued that publications. To begin, we drew on the expertise when student biases are accounted for, teaching of our team of researchers and consultants, evaluations can still provide important information who spent 2018 working with post-secondary to teachers looking to improve the classroom schools all across Canada to solve institutional experience. challenges and move higher ed forward. We combined this expert insight with user traffic Just over a week later, Colleen Flaherty of data gathered from 30,000+ Top Ten readers and Inside Higher Ed published a piece stating that over 7.5 million Top Ten emails that went out in student evaluations of teaching were in need 2018, creating a selection process that draws on of a significant overhaul. Flaherty highlighted unparalleled access to both an on-the-ground several US institutions that had implemented more understanding and bird’s-eye-view of the biggest nuanced tools to measure teaching success on a challenges and opportunities facing Canadian holistic scale that emphasized learning outcomes. higher ed. Early in July, the website RateMyProfessors.com Without further adieu, here are the top announced that it would be removing its infamous stories of 2018... “chili pepper” icon, which had previously allowed students to rank their professors by level of physical attractiveness. Even after the symbol’s Student Evaluations of removal, critics continued to express concern about the site due to the anonymity of its users Teaching Take a Big Hit and the growing skepticism around the value of student evaluations of professors. idway through 2018, we saw a surge in M stories questioning the reliability of student All of this debate in the US was a prelude to assessments of post-secondary teaching. The a landmark decision that would be made by a emerging consensus appears to be that while Canadian arbitrator overseeing a case between student evaluations of teaching can provide Ryerson University and the Ryerson Faculty instructors with useful feedback on how to Association. In a precedent-setting ruling, improve their classes, the persistent evidence of arbitrator William Kaplan declared that the racial and gendered bias makes them unreliable university could no longer use faculty course as a measurement of teaching effectiveness, or surveys for the purposes of measuring teaching as an evaluation tool for the purposes of tenure effectiveness for promotion or tenure. Kaplan

3 noted that student evaluations of teaching were Indigenous Governance in partnership with all 14 still important to the mission of the university Yukon First Nations and it is much stronger due and could indicate engagement and satisfaction. to their guidance and input,” explained Yukon He determined, however, that as a measurement President Karen Barnes, adding that the program of teaching effectiveness, these evaluations were would see students benefit from the experience “downright biased and unreliable at worst.” The and insight of YK First Nations leaders, Elders, and move was applauded by faculty from across former Chiefs. This development was followed less Canada, including Canadian Association of than a month later by a piece from the Canadian University Teachers Executive Director David Press calling for more degree-granting powers in Robinson, who noted that “it’s wonderful that the Canadian North. reason has prevailed,” adding that the arbiter’s conclusion would “unleash debate at universities In the neighbouring Northwest Territories, across the country.” however, debate was emerging around the future of Aurora College, a primary provider of post- secondary education to NWT. It was announced PSE Delivery in in August of 2017 that the school would undergo a broad review to determine its ongoing viability Canada’s North and best strategic direction. It was decided that proposed cuts to the college’s teacher education was a major year in the ongoing and social work programs would be deferred until 2018 discussions about how post- the review’s completion. In May of 2018, however, secondary education should be delivered to the school’s president Jane Arychuk resigned those living or studying in the Canadian North. her post just weeks before the NWT’s legislative In the Academica Top Ten and Indigenous Top assembly was scheduled to discuss the report’s Ten, two stories in particular dominated the findings. headlines: the push to offer university degrees in Canada’s North, and the future of Aurora College, The review reportedly found problems with student an institution that provides adult and post- housing, daycare facilities, and inter-campus secondary education in the Northwest Territories. communications, and recommended that the college be converted to a polytechnic that would In late December of 2017, Yukon College learned be moved from the college’s current home in Fort that it had been recognized by the Campus Smith to Yellowknife. “I think that this a long time Alberta Quality Council as being ready to deliver coming, and I’m really excited that this review and sustain high-quality undergraduate degree actually has some recommendations — not only programs. The recognition stemmed from a complaining about what we aren’t doing right, partnership established earlier in the year but where we need to move forward,” said NWT between the Governments of Yukon and Alberta, Education Minister Caroline Cochrane. Yellowknife with YK saying that this would be the first time Centre MLA Julie Green, however, expressed that a post-secondary institution in any territory concern about the scope of the recommendations. had been evaluated to grant degree programs. The review was accompanied by news that In May of 2018, the college announced that it Aurora’s social work and teacher education would begin accepting students for the first ever programs would remain suspended pending a “made-in-Yukon” degree program after receiving further budget review. approval from the YK government for its new Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Governance. Residents of Fort Smith, NWT pushed back against “We have developed the Bachelor of Arts in the recommendation that the college be moved

4 to Yellowknife. Others pushed back against the the province. Before Ford’s party had taken power, suspension of the school’s social worker program. Creso Sá of OISE at the University of Toronto Residents of Inuvik also raised concerns about published a piece in which he claimed that “no what would happen to Aurora’s campus in their one is holding their breath in anticipation of big town should the school move its operations ideas or transformative change,” although Sá to Yellowknife. Caroline Cochrane reassured did predict that Ford would attempt to take on community members that neither the Fort Smith the apparent crisis of free speech on Canadian nor the Inuvik campuses would be closed. campuses in order to please his political base.

In October, a 60-page review prepared by the This prediction would later come to fruition. In NWT government found that Aurora’s social work September, Ford’s government told the province’s program should be both restarted and expanded. universities and colleges that they would need to The review was released by MLA Julie Green, develop and implement free speech policies by the who told reporters that she needed to obtain the beginning of the new year or face funding cuts. report through an access to information request The government stated that the Higher Education after alleging that the Department of Education Quality Council of Ontario would be in charge of had refused to share it with her. The report stated monitoring compliance with the legislation starting that social workers were in high demand in NWT, in September 2019. and that the program should be restarted and expanded in order to help meet this demand. Critics and skeptics were quick to point out that the dictate was sparse on details and that Later, the NWT released its official response to it was unclear how the government planned to the review of Aurora College, noting that it would interpret or enforce it. Chris Selley of the Ottawa accept 51 of the report’s 61 recommendations, Citizen contended that the move was “mostly including the proposal to turn Aurora into a harmless symbolism”. The Canadian Association polytechnic university. According to CBC, the of University Teachers, however, didn’t see the report’s most controversial recommendation— policy as being quite so harmless. The group to relocate the campus from Fort Smith to issued a statement arguing that the policy marked Yellowknife—was partially accepted. Many in Fort an “unprecedented interference with institutional Smith again expressed outrage at the notion of autonomy,” adding that the supposed threat to moving the campus, stating that the loss of the free speech on Canada’s university campuses was college would hurt the community. Chris Joseph, wildly overblown. The Ontario Confederation of the review’s project lead, told CBC that key University Faculty Associations also expressed stakeholders would need to address an array of concern with the policy. questions before making any conclusions about the school’s new location. Free speech wouldn’t be the only place Ford would make his presence felt. In July, the Progressive Conservative government also introduced the Higher Ed in Ontario Urgent Priorities Act, an omnibus bill that would end a record-breaking strike by academic staff at Under Doug Ford York University while also banning future lockouts by the university. CUPE President Mark Hancock he election of Doug Ford’s Progressive stated that Ford was “sending a clear message T Conservatives to a majority government in to working people in Ontario that, despite all the June 2018 led many in Ontario to wonder how rhetoric, this is not a government for the people.” the sudden change would impact higher ed in The editorial staff of the Province,

5 however, defended Ford’s decision, adding that the university and the union shared the blame for the Pressure on Senior five-month work stoppage. Admin in the West

In early July, Ford fired Molly Shoichet, a University t’s nothing new for senior administrators in of Toronto professor who was appointed as the I Canada’s post-secondary sector to face criticism province’s first and only Chief Scientist. The move for the salaries and benefits associated with their prompted further criticism from scientists like positions. However, a general pressure on senior Reinhart Reithmeier and Peter Love, who claimed admin seems to have grown in Western Canada that the firing and accompanying plan to dismantle over the past two years, with provinces, faculty, the province’s Ministry of Research, Innovation, and institutions taking a closer look at executive and Science sent a dangerous message that compensation and staffing numbers. This trend has science didn’t matter to Ontario. been fuelled by provincial cuts to post-secondary education, particularly in Saskatchewan and These moves were in some way a mere prelude Manitoba. for what to many was the most dramatic of Ford’s post-secondary policy moves. In October, Ford A bold move by University of Saskatchewan announced the cancellation of three planned President Peter Stoicheff set the tone for this shift university campuses in the GTA region. The move in 2017. Stoicheff announced that his school would provoked criticism from many corners, but found respond to a 5% cut in its operating budget by support from Trent University President Leo “seriously looking at” the salaries paid to its top Groarke, who argued that the Ford government administrators. In August of 2018, USask followed “made the right decision” in cancelling the up on this claim by launching a public database campuses. Groarke cited a HEQCO study on disclosing the salaries of its top earners. post-secondary enrolments to argue that the new campuses would place a further strain on In November of 2018, a provincial Task Force on existing institutions that are struggling to fill Regional College Efficiency also recommended seats. Groarke added that the Ontario government that the Nipawin-based Cumberland College should reallocate the $300M that was set aside for and Melville-based Parkland College enter a the campuses to initiatives that would “keep the partnership that would see the two schools share province’s current institutions healthy.” a single President/CEO and board of governors.

This news was soon followed by another The pressure on senior admin spread to Manitoba announcement that Ford would be cancelling when the ruling Progressive Conservatives the planned creation of a proposed Francophone announced a 0.9% cut to post-secondary University that had received support from the operating grants in June. This announcement was previously governing Liberals. The move prompted followed by a directive ordering a 15% across-the- Francophone Affairs critic Guy Bourgouin to board cut in all public sector managerial positions, claim that the PC government’s actions “are which the province later confirmed would apply to telling us clearly that we do not count, that our post-secondary education. The 15% reduction in constitutional rights to be served and educated in senior administrative positions would go on to be French are unimportant.” implemented by colleges and universities across the province.

6 This newfound pressure placed on senior administrators found perhaps its most public In 2019, it will be worth watching the Canadian expression in March 2018, when Alberta Advanced West to see if this trend continues, or to see if Education Minister Marlin Schmidt rebuked the growing fiscal pressures cause it to emerge in University of Alberta for hiking student fees other regions of Canada. rather than cutting costs to senior administration. Schmidt singled out UAlberta President David Turpin for criticism, demanding to know why he Cannabis Comes to remained one of the highest-paid administrators in the country while students were asked to pay Campus higher fees. “When it comes to getting money in the university’s budget, he goes rummaging he legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018 in the pockets of students and doesn’t reach T had a massive impact on the Canadian post- into his own pocket,” Schmidt said at the time. secondary system, as throughout the year, stories UAlberta Board Chairman Michal Phair came about new academic programs, partnerships with immediately to Turpin’s defense, stating that Turpin industry, campus smoking policies, and academic was compensated “competitively,” and adding research flooded the news landscape. Indeed, that the rise in tuition was due to the fact that there seemed to be no part of higher ed that the university relied too heavily on short-term wasn’t touched by the legislation and the culture investment income to fund its operating costs. shift it heralded.

A few days later, Turpin clarified that all of To begin, the legislative change would see the UAlberta’s financial decisions had been submitted emergence of some of North America’s first to the ministry long before Schmidt’s statements, post-secondary institutions to allowing smoking and that no objections had been made by the cannabis on campus. Inside Higher Ed highlighted province at that earlier time. “There were no the University of , Simon Fraser surprises here,” Turpin added, noting that Schmidt University, and the University of Victoria as three had also failed to note that UAlberta already had Canadian institutions that allowed recreational plans in place to cut executive compensation. marijuana use on campus. A series of additional Turpin backed this response by holding a town articles explored the diverse ways that Canadian hall at UAlberta’s campuses to discuss the fiscal campuses would regulate the use of cannabis on pressures faced by the university. campus, with many moving toward completely “smoke free” campus policies. By May, UAlberta Board Chair Michael Phair told the Edmonton Journal that the Alberta Premier’s In January, debate was sparked in Quebec when Office was “very interested” in “moving forward the Fédération des cégeps and Fédération (and) restoring the relationship between the étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ) demanded university and the government.” Marlin Schmidt that cannabis outlets not be permitted to exist later informed media that the province had “been near any CEGEPs or universities. The fédération assured that the additional money we’ve again des cégeps also reportedly called for marijuana provided to the U of A will be used to support possession to be completely banned for all post- students, staff, and faculty this year, as we’ve made secondary students, regardless of age. very clear was our expectation.” Phair added at the time that a public apology from the government One of the most significant trends to come out of might be in the offing. the legalization of marijuana was the explosion of partnerships between institutions and private

7 sector companies. The following list is by no One institution that seized the opportunities means exhaustive, but offers a general cross- related to cannabis legalisation early in the year section of such partnerships: was Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario. In January, Loyalist announced the official opening of • In February, Gemma Karstens-Smith of the its Applied Research Centre for Natural Products Globe and Mail produced a strong overview of and Medical Cannabis (ARC). The college followed the efforts being undertaken at Canadian post- this news in April by announcing a partnership secondary institutions to train students for work with Kwantlen Polytechnic University to offer in the cannabis industry. Cannabis Career Training courses through its Distance Students and Continuing Education • In May, the University of New Brunswick and department. In October, Loyalist also announced Canada House announced a Memorandum of that it had partnered with VIVO Cannabis to Understanding to foster research on the research extraction techniques for commercial potential health benefits of cannabis. cannabis oil products.

• In May, Niagara College stated that it had In 2019, it will be worth watching to see whether signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the enthusiasm generated around public-private MedReleaf that would “foster the development cannabis research partnerships is maintained, and of cannabis production expertise in Canada more broadly, whether this momentum spreads to through its Graduate Certificate Program in other post-secondary research areas. Commercial Cannabis Production.”

• In June, Canopy Growth Corp, Canada’s #MeToo in Canadian largest cannabis company, stated that it would donate $2.5M to establish the Canopy Higher Ed Growth Professorship in Cannabis Science at the University of British Columbia. central storyline for the Canadian post- A secondary landscape in 2018 was the ongoing • In July, Conestoga College announced that saga of , the former head of the it had partnered with cannabis company Creative Writing program at the University of James E Wagner Cultivation to investigate how British Columbia who was fired amidst allegations new technologies can advance current cannabis of sexual misconduct in 2016. cultivation practices. In June of 2018, an arbitrator ordered UBC to pay • In July, Durham College signed a Memorandum Galloway $167K in damages after determining that of Understanding with Molecular Science the university had contravened Galloway’s privacy Corporation to facilitate opportunities for rights through a number of its communications. student experiential learning placements and CBC reported that during the arbitration, UBC’s collaboration on research initiatives related to faculty association withdrew its claim to have the medical and recreational cannabis industry. Galloway reinstated, as well as any claims for UBC to compensate him for lost income and benefits. • In September, the University of Alberta The issue of whether UBC had cause to fire partnered with Edmonton-based Atlas Growers Galloway was also dropped from the arbitration. to research potential uses for cannabis waste. An earlier independent investigation by retired BC Supreme Court judge Mary Ellen Boyd had found that the main complainant’s sexual assault

8 allegation against Galloway had been unfounded, • In February, The BC Human Rights Tribunal but determined that Galloway had engaged in a agreed to hear a complaint about the length two-year affair with a student in contravention of of time it took the University of British Columbia UBC policy. to handle a sexual assault complaint by a former student. In July, the main complainant in the sexual assault allegations against Galloway told the Globe and • In March, Zane Schwartz of Maclean’s wrote an Mail that she was entitled to access an unredacted article chronicling the alleged failures of copy of the Boyd report that deemed her claims Canadian post-secondary institutions to to be unfounded. Galloway replied that he would properly act on allegations of sexual assault. not waive any rights granted to him by the law, which included his right not to disclose the • In March, the Canadian Federation of Students report. Shortly after, Galloway penned an editorial expressed concern about a statement made in describing how the unproven allegations against the recent federal budget about the government him had destroyed his career and personal life. In withdrawing funding from institutions that failed the editorial, Galloway described the arbitrator’s to meet certain standards in addressing campus award of $167K in damages to be a full exoneration sexual assault. of his conduct with respect to the sexual assault allegations. • The University of Manitoba faced criticism for a campus survey on sexual assault that Soon afterward, UBC released a statement reportedly contained agree/disagree statements defending its decision to fire Galloway. Philip that some accused of reinforcing myths about Steenkamp, UBC’s VP of External Relations, sexual assault that are hostile to women. The reiterated that Galloway’s termination was “fully survey’s designer, UManitoba Sociology justified,” although the university remained bound Professor Tracey Peter, agreed that some of the by confidentiality laws and could not disclose statements relayed dangerous myths, but added its reasons. In November, CBC reported that that “The reality is that a lot of people still Galloway was suing UBC and up to 20 people for believe these things. The whole goal of this defamation. survey was to have a better sense of our campus community.” While the Galloway case might have generated the most headlines, sexual violence and misconduct • In May, McGill University announced it would remained one of the most significant storylines in appoint an arms-length investigator to look into Canadian higher education in 2018. The following allegations of sexual misconduct by faculty. list is by no means exhaustive, but provides a cross-section of some of the stories that • In June, the Canadian Press reported that comprised this trend in Canadian PSE last year. two former University of Ottawa hockey players had been found not guilty of sexual assault, an • In January, newly-appointed University of accusation that had resulted in the suspension Calgary research chair Michael Kehler of UOttawa’s hockey program and the firing of announced that he was looking to spur a its coach in 2014. new age of “detoxified masculinity” through the creation of a new masculine studies program at • In August, a group of students at the University his school. of Manitoba said that they were frustrated and confused by the reported $156K paid to former

9 professor Steve Kirby in 2017. Kirby left the physical place. What 2018 saw, however, was a university in June 2017 amid sexual harassment renewed emphasis on the power of place to solve allegations, yet reportedly made over $20K more challenges related to innovation, sustainable in 2017 than he did in 2016. communities, and social infrastructure.

• In August, an anonymous Canadian university In February, the federal government announced student published their account of navigating the five groups that together would receive $950M the barriers of their school’s reporting from Canada’s new Innovation Superclusters structures after experiencing sexual assault. Initiative. The initiative marks an unprecedented attempt by government to create and bolster • In August, the Toronto Star reported that York regional economies through the promotion of University would be returning to the Ontario excellence in a particular area, attempting to Human Rights Tribunal for allegedly breaching create Silicon-Valley-like regions for each of the its settlement with PhD student Mandi Gray, supercluster subject areas. It is yet to be seen a sexual assault survivor who had criticized what short- and long-term impact this initiative the school for not providing adequate support will have, yet its attempt to bring together post- for survivors. secondary institutions, businesses, and other key regional stakeholders marks a bold attempt to • In September, University of Manitoba President help specific regions of Canada transition into a David Barnard announced that the university 21st-century economy. The five recipients were had placed several staff members on leave due the Ocean Supercluster based in Atlantic Canada, to allegations of sexual misconduct. the SCALE.AI Supercluster based in Quebec, the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster based • In September, Quebec put forward a new in Ontario, the Protein Industries Supercluster provincial bill stating that of the province’s based in the Prairies, and the Digital Technology universities and CEGEPs must implement Supercluster based in British Columbia. policies for sexual violence prevention by September 2019. The Montreal Gazette reported Another storyline in post-secondary education that at the time that student activists were criticizing reinforced the importance of place came from a the bill for failing to require an independent growing interest in the power of post-secondary review board for complaints and failing to institutions to solve the challenges faced by the provide minimum guidelines for consent local communities in which they are based. training or sexual assault policy. In March, President • Late in 2018, the debate surrounding the Andrew Petter was featured in an Academica Galloway case and others across Canada led Forum Original article, alongside then-president a growing group of stakeholders to call for the of King’s University College David Sylvester (now banning of all professor-student relationships president of University of St Michael’s College, across academia. University of Toronto), VP of Governance and programs at Universities Canada Philip Landon; and Chad Lubelsky, program lead for RECODE, The Power of Place a multi-year National initiative that aims to provide social innovation tools and opportunities or years, the promise of worldwide internet for College and Universities to become drivers F connectivity and record growth in international of progress and community change. In this student numbers has led some to declare the article, the commentators argued that while 21st century a world beyond the limitations of large factories and businesses used to “anchor”

10 local communities with stable employment and procurement dollars, the increased Skills and the School-to- international mobility of companies has meant Work Transition that this community anchoring must be performed increasingly by publicly funded institutions like he focus on graduate employment outcomes schools, hospitals, and libraries. T has been a concern of post-secondary education in Canada for years now, but 2018 In a separate piece, Petter argued that saw a more concentrated shift toward skills and Canada’s network of universities, colleges, and competencies as the key elements of enhancing institutes was ideally positioned to take on this students’ school-to-work transition. responsibility, not only through its core mission of teaching and learning, but also “in the ways Harvey Weingarten, President of the Higher we use land and facilities; purchase goods and Education Quality Council of Ontario, kicked services; manage and invest funds; steward off the year with a New Year’s Resolution to human resources; and nurture and maintain “continue advocating for quality testing programs relationships.” by determining the knowledge and skill set of graduating students, and replace the term In June, Simon Fraser University, the British ‘learning outcomes’ with ‘skills measurement.’” This Columbia Institute of Technology, the University explicit emphasis on the teaching and assessment of Northern British Columbia, and Vancouver of skills was echoed by the ongoing development Island University partnered with the McConnell of the federally funded FutureSkills Lab, an Family Foundation to found the BC Collaborative initiative whose stated mission is to ask what for Social Infrastructure. The initiative promises critical skills workers will require in the future, to focus on green campuses, Indigenous how these skills will be measured, and how they entrepreneurship, social procurement, and library can be taught and learned effectively. outreach programs. McConnell President Stephen Huddart noted at the time that social infrastructure Only weeks after Weingarten’s call for greater offered universities and colleges a way to emphasis on skills, Ontario announced that it “contribute to social and environmental resilience would take advantage of the federal government’s and sustainability, while deepening relationships “Skills Boost” program, which provides federal with their local communities.” incentives to encourage adult students to return to post-secondary education. The program enables It wasn’t only with an eye to solving local would-be students who are currently collecting social challenges that post-secondary leaders Employment Insurance to return to school without emphasized the power of place in 2018. In needing to give up EI. The province paired this September, University of Toronto President Meric announcement with a pledge to make more grants Gertler wrote that place was becoming ever-more available to mature students. vital to innovation across the world. “[O]ne of the paradoxes of modern life is that, for the most There were more individual programs, knowledge-intensive forms of economic activity, partnerships, and initiatives launched at post- geography and the quality of place now matter secondary institutions in 2018 than we can hope more, not less, and geographical clustering is to chronicle here. But on the whole, the trend saw becoming more apparent over time.” stakeholders from the private, public, and non- profit sectors redouble their efforts to support students and recent graduates looking for a

11 more fulfilling and frictionless transition into the because of the knowledge and skills obtained Canadian workforce. from advanced degrees. In February, Statistics Canada also announced that it would reinstate the Additionally, 2018 saw a number of think pieces Full Time-University and College Academic Staff on the school-to-work transition that focused System survey to highlight the challenge posed by largely on technological disruption; precarious the surge in underemployed PhD graduates. employment; and the resilience, flexibility, and 21st-century skills young people will require Perhaps the boldest development in post- to thrive amongst these forces. The boldest of secondary education and skills development these pieces, however, was an article published came late in the year out of the US. In November, by the Ottawa Citizen in September, in which the international data company Burning Glass Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke claimed that “one of the published a report that assigned numeric ingredients in Shopify’s success has been to risk indicators to various university majors, completely ignore academic credentials in hiring” ranking them according to a student’s risk of in favour of a more skills- and experience-based underemployment after graduation. To some, this approach. Claims like this should cause a fair move marked a significant step toward helping amount of reflection in Canadian higher ed, as students make a more informed choice of major the tide seems to be turning from an emphasis as it relates to future employment prospects. on credentials to an emphasis on skills among Others questioned the means by which the study employers. defined underemployment and whether it properly captured the long-term employment benefits of In May, eight large companies announced that some majors. they would hire 40,000 Canadian youth facing employment barriers over the next five years. Starbucks, Walmart, Chipotle, HMSHost, Tridel The Challenges of Corporation, The Source, Coast Capital Savings, and Telus each committed to the hiring project Indigenization under the common banner of the Opportunity for All Youth initiative. In July, the federal government ollowing the release of the Truth and also announced that it would connect 3,725 F Reconciliation report in 2015, there was much students to green jobs through its Green Jobs in enthusiasm surrounding post-secondary education Green Spaces Program. as a vital component of reconciliation between Canada’s settler populations and Indigenous One particular area of focus for the school-to- peoples. Many post-secondary initiatives have work transition in 2018 was graduate students, since had an opportunity to develop from good which came to the forefront of Canada’s post- intentions into real-world implementation, and secondary landscape in in February, when the with this shift has come a newfound sense of the University of Toronto released a study highlighting difficulties of Indigenization and reconciliation. In the job outcomes for 10,000 PhD graduates. Soon each of our two previous Year in Review features, after the report’s release, however, Maren Wood we’ve focused largely on the brighter side of and Jennifer Polk cautioned readers against Indigenization in the Canadian post-secondary the suggestion that a PhD education prepares landscape. But this year, we’re going to focus on students for jobs outside the academy. The authors its challenges. note that while it is true that PhDs may go on to hold many jobs outside the academy, this is A bellwether institution for the challenges of not the same as saying that they get those jobs Indigenization in Canadian PSE this year was

12 Lakehead University, and more specifically, the to six months in jail for their refusal to grant the ongoing story surrounding the departure of its mining company Plantinex access to their territory Bora Laskin Faculty of Law Dean Angelique ten years earlier. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy EagleWoman. “I have been the victim of Grand Chief Derek Fox told APTN that the law systemic discrimination at Lakehead University,” school’s Indigenous partners should have been EagleWoman wrote in a letter to the law consulted about the appointment, adding that faculty’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee in April. Smith was “definitely not an expert in Aboriginal EagleWoman later told the Toronto Star that issues.” the school accused her of focusing too much on the school’s Indigenous mandate, and that In November, EagleWoman said that she would the administration ignored her concerns about be suing the university for racial discrimination. staffing, workplace respect, and the need for A statement of claim alleged that Lakehead cultural competency training. “At times, I went to undermined EagleWoman’s authority when it people higher in the administration and asked for placed a consultant between her and her direct their intervention and, again, it all led to me seeing supervisor. The statement added that EagleWoman there was no way forward,” she said. EagleWoman also faced hostility and opposition from some reported that she had also taken on the job within the university, and that her ability to lead of teaching all mandatory Indigenous courses the law school was repeatedly undermined by in addition to the demands of being a dean. senior administrators who made decisions without EagleWoman’s resignation prompted dozens of consulting her. Lakehead told CBC that it had Indigenous leaders to call for “immediate changes” received Eaglewoman’s statement of claim, but at Lakehead, with council members from several added that it would not comment on litigation or First Nations forwarding a list of recommendations personnel matters. None of the allegations have for systemic reform. been tried in court.

In response to the conflict, Lakehead pledged to Eaglewoman’s case would not be the only curb systemic discrimination and racism on its story calling attention to the challenges of campus and in its administration. In a statement, Indigenization in 2018. Here are some other Lakehead said that it was “committed to creating notable developments: the conditions whereby everyone at Lakehead University can flourish and we look forward to • In June, two Indigenous faculty members at ongoing dialogue and action,” adding that it would Saint Mary’s University in Halifax departed from consult with Indigenous and non-Indigenous their positions, citing their frustration with the stakeholders as part of this commitment. “There school’s efforts toward Indigenization. may well be many recommendations that we will land on together,” Lakehead interim President • In the second half of 2018, Indigenous students Moira McPherson told CBC. “But it would be very at the University of Saskatchewan began wrong of us to move forward with commitment to looking into the possibility of forming an particular ones without that consultation.” independent student union for the school’s Indigenous students, with an aim to gaining But the conflict wasn’t over. In May, Indigenous their own seats on the school’s board of leaders spoke out against Lakehead’s decision governors, senate, and other powerful bodies. to appoint Justice George Patrick Smith as the USask Vice-Provost of Indigenous Engagement interim Dean of Law to replace EagleWoman. Jacqueline Ottoman said at the time that she Smith reportedly sentenced Kitchenuhmaykoosib would be happy to help any group that would Inninuwug Chief Donny Morris and five Councillors like to form a union, while noting that the

13 school’s students had the ultimate say over their academic disciplines. In August of 2018, the own governance structures. Canadian Press ran an article highlighting some of these efforts. The year also saw Canadian • In September, University of Manitoba Professor institutions make an effort to incorporate Barry Lavallee made headlines when he called Indigenization directly into their strategic planning, for the university to replace current president one of which was the University of Saskatchewan, David Barnard with an Indigenous woman. whose new strategic plan was highlighted in an Academica Forum Original article in October. • In November, the Students’ Society of McGill In June, Academica Group also worked with University voted 78.8% in favour of dropping Algonquin college to host the inaugural Global the nickname of the school’s athletics teams, Conference on Indigenizing Entrepreneurship.

The Redmen.

• In December, Lynn Lavalée, the University The International of Manitoba’s first Vice-Provost of Indigenous Engagement, resigned from her position, Student Experience alleging that university administrators had resisted her efforts to fight systemic racism. s international student enrolments in Canada In a statement, VP Academic Janice Ristock A continued to hit record highs in 2018, the said that UManitoba “remains firm in its year saw an increasing focus on the quality of the commitment to bring about transformations international student experience. at the institutional level that will facilitate Indigenous achievement.” The shift was heralded in January on Canada’s West Coast, when Kwantlen Polytechnic University It is worth noting that these spaces of contention, announced that it was closing applications and the many others that exist across the country, from all international students enrolled in 2018 are essential to the cause of Reconciliation. It after reaching institutional capacity. The school would be dangerous to think that post-secondary reported that its international enrolments had institutions could Indigenize in a truly meaningful grown 41% since the prior academic year, and way without this process being challenged by that it needed to close applications in order to the very individuals and communities whom continue fulfilling its commitment to providing a Indigenization is intended to recognize and positive experience for all its students. support. USask President Peter Stoicheff summed up the position of Canadian post-secondary In February, the University of Toronto attracted institutions well when, earlier this year, he noted, international attention when it announced that “We will know that we have made headway it would begin charging domestic tuition rates when Elders, when Indigenous students, when for its international PhD students. Times Higher Indigenous leaders and Indigenous communities Education wrote at the time that the move are telling us that we are.” represented a significant step in U of T’s effort to attract leading talent from around the world. It’s also important to note that 2018 saw many Less than a month later, McMaster University positive steps taken by post-secondary institutions announced that it would lower international PhD to create more Indigenous campus spaces, support tuition fees, in addition to increasing funding and the preservation of Indigenous languages, and improving its research environment in an effort to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing into attract top international PhD students.

14 At the end of February, Brock University made Newfoundland in September in 2018. The program headlines when it announced the creation of a marked a bold step in pairing international student new intercultural communications coordinator recruitment with a holistic plan to secure stable position, which was reportedly among the first of and meaningful work for those students following its kind at a Canadian university. In addition to graduation as part of a regional immigration offering intercultural competency and awareness strategy. This plan is likely to bolster the success programming, the role was designed to foster of efforts like those of PEI, which in August 2018 values such as inclusion and cultural respect in announced that it had surpassed its targets for the campus community. finding full-time work for international graduates in 2018. The year also saw challenges to the international student experience. In March, Manitoba’s Perhaps the most substantial resource for Progressive Conservative government announced improving the international student experience that it would introduce a legislative amendment in 2018 was a report published by the Canadian repealing the provision of universal health care Alliance of Student Associations. Released in to the province’s international students. However, September, the report outlined the numerous individual institutions were quick to meet this new benefits that international students bring to challenge, with several announcing throughout the Canada’s economy, workforce, and post-secondary year the creation of new student health insurance culture. It then provided recommendations on policies to provide international students with how to better recognize and reward international some or all of the coverage they lost due to the students for bringing such value by investing in legislative change. Despite these changes, CBC the quality of the international student experience. reported in September that international students In April, former international student Prajwala Dixit in MB suffering from serious illness might have to published an article via CBC advising international return to their country of origin or risk losing their students about the qualities they would need insurance coverage. to embody to thrive in Canada throughout—and after—their post-secondary education. Another challenge area was the growing trend of international students becoming the targets of scams that included the solicitation of down What to Look for in 2019 payments for fake housing, the charging of a fake “Welcome to Canada” tax, and even a n a SectorVu poll conducted in December, “fake kidnapping” scheme in which students I we asked our readers to select (from a list of were blackmailed into going into hiding before options) what they thought would be the biggest scammers asked these students’ parents for a priority for Canadian post-secondary institutions in ransom. 2019. Here’s what the post-secondary community told us: One area of growing interest in the international student experience in 2018 was career preparation “Which of the following do you think will be the for international students looking to stay and work biggest priority for Canadian post-secondary in Canada after graduation. On this issue, the institutions in 2019?” Atlantic provinces emerged as national leaders, particularly with the expansion of the Study and Stay Program. The program, which began as a pilot in Nova Scotia, was slated to expand into New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and

15 Career readiness for students 29%

Financial and funding cuts 23%

Student wellness 16%

Indigenization 12%

Internationalization strategies 9% partnerships, and policies

International Student Recruitment 5%

Cannabis on campus 2%

Something else 4%

t remains to be seen what will happen in I Canadian higher ed in 2019, but we at Academica plan to be with you every step of the way as we all work together to move higher ed forward. Thank you for reading this year’s Canadian Higher Education Year in Review. We wish you all the best for 2019.

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