Last fallDonald Trump theorized that the computer hacker who stole emails from the Democratic National Committee could have been “someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.” But the stereotypical rogue nerd isn’t the threat that most concerns information-security officers on college campuses.
There is a growing body of research demonstrating that there have been major changes in the work and working conditions of university teachers in many countries over the last few decades. In some cases this has led to the increasing employment of non-full-time university instructors, and questions have been raised, especially in the United States, concerning the working conditions of part-time faculty and the implications of these changes on educational quality. The number of full-time faculty at Ontario universities has not increased at the same pace as the massive growth in student enrolment, raising questions about whether universities have employed non-full-time faculty in larger numbers and whether the balance between full-time and non-full-time instructors is changing. However, very little empirical research has been conducted on non-full-time instructors in Ontario. This study offers a preliminary exploration of the issue by addressing four key questions
Every professor has had one: the incredible disappearing student. Mine was "James," a talented and innovative thinker who had great things to say in class until he vanished, about halfway through the semester. He didn’t submit his paper. He didn’t show up in office hours. He didn’t respond to my emails. He was just gone. Poof.
Students like James are increasingly common at colleges and universities. Report after report has shown that undergraduates today experience more anxiety and stress than ever before. In extreme cases, the "pressure of perfection" can have tragic consequences. Nationally, suicide rates for 15- to 24-year-olds have risen, and suicide remains the second-leading cause of death for college students.
For Canada to succeed, all Canadians must have the opportunity to develop and use their skills and knowledge to the fullest. So said the government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in the Speech from the Throne that opened the 37th Parliament of Canada in February 2004: “Investing in people will be Canada’s most important economic investment.”
Revenues and expenses
• In 2012-13, college system revenues totaled almost $3.7 billion. Grant revenue from all sources accounts for half of college system revenue.
• College system expenses amounted to about $3.5 billion. Like other organizations in both the public and private sectors, salaries and benefits are by far the largest expense item for colleges.
Trends in college funding
• In 2013-14, real operating funding per student (FTE) was about five per cent higher than in 1998-99 – but 16 per cent lower than during the peak in 2007-08.
• Per student revenue from operating grants and tuition fees for Ontario colleges continues to be the lowest among the provinces. Funding per student for Ontario colleges continues to be significantly lower than that for secondary schools and universities.
• Space per student is much lower for Ontario colleges (90 square feet per student) in comparison to universities and secondary schools.
• In current dollars, the apprenticeship per diem has decreased slightly since 1998-99. However, after inflation is taken into account, the per diem has decreased by 28 per cent. The student in-school fee, which was implemented in 2002-03, has not been increased since its introduction.
Human resources
• Colleges employ more than 43,000 people. From 1997-98 to 2012-13, the number of full-time staff employed at colleges increased by 28 per cent, while enrolment increased by 31 per cent.
Student financial aid
• In 2012-13, almost 125,000 college students were OSAP recipients. This represents about two-thirds of the total full-time post-secondary enrolment.
• The default rate for student loans for all post-secondary institutions in 2012 was 9.8 per cent. For the college system, it was 13.4 per cent.
This draft framework has been approved by the Committee of Presidents of the 24 publicly-funded colleges. In approving this template, the presidents recognize that individual colleges may need to make changes to reflect local circumstances during the development of their stand-alone sexual violence and sexual assault policy and protocol. In doing so, the colleges have committed to retaining as much consistency with the template as possible to reflect a similar style, tone, and format that will help
students and others easily access information they need no matter which college they approach.
How much time does it take to teach an online course? Does teaching online take more or less time than teaching face-to-face? Instructors, department chairs, deans, and program administrators have long believed that teaching online is more time-consuming than teaching face-to-face. Many research studies and practitioner articles indicate instructor time commitment as a major inhibitor to developing and teaching online courses. However, while they identify the issue and provide possible
solutions, they do not empirically measure actual time commitments or instructor perceptions when comparing online to face-to-face delivery and when comparing multiple iterations of delivery. The results of this study show distinct differences in developing online courses relative to developing face-to-face courses and distinct differences in teaching online courses relative to teaching face-to-face courses. The data from this study can be used by instructors, administrators, and
instructional designers to create higher quality course development processes, training processes, and overall communication.
Writing assignments, particularly for first- and second-year college students, are probably one of those items in the syllabus that some professors dread almost as much as their students do. Yet despite the fact that essays, research papers, and other types of writing assignments are time consuming and, at times, frustrating to grade, they also are vital to furthering student learning.
This report provides a systems perspective on the state of skills and higher education in Canada an identifies areas where the sector could improve in producing highly skilled graduates. It is one of the three foudational studies for the Centre for Sills and Post-Secondary Education, that, together, offer the first steps in a diagnosis of the sector and its performance.
In November 2013, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) asked students to comment on their experience with summer and in-study employment. Of particular interest were: the number of jobs students were working during these
terms; whether or not these opportunities were within a student’s field of study; and whether they positively impacted their academic performance.
Results of OUSA’s 2013 Ontario Post-Secondary Student Survey (OPSSS) were further broken down based on institution and field of study for questions of particular interest. This was done to easily compare the responses from these distinct groups to see how consistent the undergraduate employment experience was across academic disciplines and universities.
Mission
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Confederation College inspires learners to succeed in their lives and careers in Northwestern Ontario and beyond.
Vision
• Confederation College will enrich lives through learning.
One in three students globally is enrolled in private higher education institutions, according to research that reveals the huge growth and wide reach of private providers.
The analysis, the first study based on comprehensive data on the size and shape of private higher education internationally, finds that private institutions have 56.7 million students on their books, or 32.9 percent of the world’s enrollment.
In May 2004 the Adult Education Review was launched at the request of the Minister of Education and the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. The goal of the review was to propose a policy framework for adult education and recommend
actions that would not only support but also improve adult education in Ontario.
Not only did the Great Recession place many people in the unemployment line, it also led to declining access to full-time jobs. Underemployed workers comprise those who want a job but don’t have one as well as those who want a full-time job but only have a part-time job. Now, five years into the recovery, underemployment has declined to less than 10 percent from its peak of 17 percent during the recession. College graduates’ rate of underemployment has declined from 10.2 percent to 6.2 percent today. That is much lower than the 13 percent underemployment rate of high school graduates.
Since their creation in 1965, Ontario’s colleges have played a pivotal role in providing PSE opportunities to all residents (Rae, 2005). Often located in smaller and more geographically dispersed communities than Ontario’s universities, colleges were intended to be more responsive to and reflective of these communities (Canadian Council on Learning, 2010) and to work closely with business and labour sectors to ensure programming that produced employment-ready graduates (Rae, 2005).
In recent years, there has been a surge of research into early brain development. As recently as the 1980s, many professionals thought that by the time babies are born, the structure of their brains was already genetically determined. The role of experience on the developing brain structure was under-appreci-ated, as was the active role of babies in their own brain development through interaction with their environment (Shore, 1997). While much of the research examining brain func-tioning has been done with animals, new technologies are enabling more non-invasive research to be done with humans. Although there is still much to learn, we now know much more about the brain’s development and functioning.
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Failure in one way or another, is likely unavoidable. The experience can take on different meanings for each of us, but the feat behind is something we all share, Moments of failure are typically viewed as poor performances. A teacher attaches a grad to an assignment or test, and the course often continues, in spite of the fact that a number of students have not mastered a significant portion of the material.
The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) is the international organization for counseling center directors comprised of universities and colleges from the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, comprised of 737 members as of this survey period. The mission of AUCCCD is to assist directors in providing effective leadership and management of campus counseling centers. The organization promotes college student mental health awareness through research, dissemination of key campus mental health issues and trends, and related training and education, with special attention to issues of changing demographics including diversity and multiculturalism. In 2006, AUCCCD developed and administered the Annual Survey to its membership as a means to increase the objective understanding of those factors critical to the functioning of college and university counseling centers.
In December, 2014 all college and university counseling center administrators, identified in the Higher Education Directory, were invited to participate in the Annual Survey. The survey was administered to 1708 verified email accounts via a secure internet interface. The reporting period for the 2014 Annual Survey varies among administrators, reflecting variations in organization specific annual reporting periods. All participants had reporting periods ranging from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 to September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014. This monograph serves to provide a summary of data trends reported in the AUCCCD Annual Survey. Participants have access to the online reporting features of the survey including data filtering and export. Additionally, AUCCCD members have access to a separate comparable salary table and items that access ethical dilemmas and legal issues. A total of 499 counseling center administrators completed the 2014 survey, of which 389 were AUCCCD members.
There is a global trend toward improving programs and student experiences in higher education through curriculum review and mapping of degree programs. This paper describes an action research approach to program improvement for a course-based MEd degree. The driver for continual program improvement came from actions and recommendations that arose from an
institutionally mandated, year-long, faculty led curriculum review of professional graduate programs in education. Study findings reveal instructors’ perceptions about how they enacted the recommendations for program improvement,
including (1) developing a visual conceptualization of the program; (2) improved connections between the courses; (3) articulation of coherence in goals and expectations for students and instructors; (4) an increased focus on action research; (5) increased ethics support and scaffolding for students; and (6) the fostering of communities of practice. Study findings highlight strengths of the current program and course designs, action items, and research needed for continual program improvement.