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Enrollment and Funding: Recurring Themes in Ontario Higher Education Policy

On Thursday, May 15, 2015 the Higher Education Group at OISE joined with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), as well as the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) to host a free, one-day symposium.  The event addressed key policy research issues facing Ontario’s post-secondary system including PSE funding incentives and enrollment trends.

Click here for printable program:

9:00 – 9:15   Welcome and Introduction       

• Glen Jones (OISE, University of Toronto)

9:15 – 10:45 –   Panel 1: Incentives, Performance and Funding in Postsecondary Education – Recent Research Findings and Analysis

WATCH PANEL 1 VIDEO

10:45-11:15    COFFEE BREAK

11:15 -12:45    Panel 2: Enrolment Trends in Ontario – Leveraging Large Data Sets

WATCH PANEL 2 VIDEO

12:45-1:30  Lunch

Organizing Committee: Glen Jones (OISE), Richard Wiggers (HEQCO) and Lucia Padure (MTCU)

This event is sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities; the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario; and the Higher Education Group, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Symposium Participants 

George Fallis is University Professor and Professor of Economics and Social Science at York University in Toronto. He did his BA at the University of Toronto, his PhD at Princeton University, and worked for the federal government and a provincial research agency before joining York University. At York, he has been Chair of the Department of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He has been Academic Colleague on the Council of Ontario Universities and an auditor of degree programs at Ontario universities.  Professor Fallis’ research often deals with issues of public policy. He has published widely on housing policy, urban policy, and written on constitutional reform. His current research deals with universities: their roles and responsibilities in the 21st century; the place of an undergraduate liberal education; and the role of university-based research in national innovation.  He is author of Multiversities, Ideas, and Democracy (University of Toronto Press, 2007, paper 2011). His most recent book is: Rethinking Higher Education: Participation, Research, and Differentiation (Queen’s Policy Studies Series, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013).
Glen A. Jones is the Ontario Research Chair in Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement and Professor of Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.  Glen’s research focuses on higher education policy, governance, academic work, and administration. He is a prolific contributor to the Canadian and international literature on higher education and a frequent public speaker and commentator on higher education issues. He was Chair of the Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education at OISE from 1998-2001 and Associate Dean of OISE from 2003-2011. He received the Research Award from the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education in 2001, and their Distinguished Member Award in 2011.
Daniel W. Lang is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies at the University of Toronto. Previously he was Senior Policy Advisor to the President, Vice Provost, Planning and Budget, and Vice-President, Computing and Communications. His principal areas of interest are institutional planning and management, finance, accountability, and quality assurance. He has been a member of the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies Appraisals Committee, and the Task Force on Quality Assurance.  His current research asks how, when, and why community college students decide to transfer to university, investigates the effects of performance incentive budgeting, and considers the role of informal knowledge in the formation of human capital.
Barry McCartan is the Director of the Postsecondary Financial Information System Project in the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Government of Ontario, where he is currently leading a range of projects to modernize the business processes and information management systems used to collect student enrolment, program and financial data from Ontario colleges and universities to support policy development, research and the administration of over $4B in postsecondary operating grants. From 2007 to 2011, Barry was the Director of the Postsecondary Finance and Information Management Branch, which establishes and administers all operating and capital funding for Ontario’s college and university sectors. Barry has held a number of positions in the Ministry such as Manager of the University Finance Unit from 2004-2007 as well as Tuition Policy Coordinator for the Division. From 2000 to 2004, Barry was a Senior Policy Advisor in the Universities Branch, MTCU. He served from 1998-2000 as an Analyst in the Student Support Branch, MTCU and staff member of the Investing in Students Task Force in 2000-01.
Chris Monahan  is the Director of the Research and Planning Branch, Strategic Policy and Programs Division at MTCU.   In his current position, Chris has been responsible for a number of key postsecondary education files, including capacity planning, tuition policy, enrolment demand forecasting, labour market and research strategies, and the extension of the use of the Ontario Education Number. He has worked at the Ministry since 2005, and previously held positions at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as Director of the Business Cluster Policy Secretariat and in the Fiscal Planning Branch at the Ministry of Finance.  Through an executive exchange, Chris also had a temporary assignment as Executive Director, Office of the Principal at Queen’s University at Kingston. Chris is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Yale University.
Lucia Padure is currently the Research Coordinator at the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) with the Research and Planning Branch, Strategic Policy and Programs Division. Previously she acted as a Senior Policy Advisor in the same division in the Strategic Program Initiatives Branch. She received her PhD from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at University of Toronto (2009) and her Master of Public Administration from Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (2003). Lucia’s research interests include higher education policy, differentiation, quality assurance and comparative education.
Abigail Payne is a Professor of Economics at McMaster University and Director of the Public Economics Data Analysis Laboratory (PEDAL). Dr. Payne’s current research in the area of the economics of education includes understanding the decision to attend PSE, understanding gender gaps in educational performance, and the determinants of successful transitions from high school to university. Dr. Payne received her PhD from Princeton University, a Juris Doctor from Cornell University and a BA from Denison University. She has published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, and other journals. Abigail Paine is currently an associate editor on the Economic Journal, an International Fellow with the Centre for Market and Public Organisation at the University of Bristol (UK), is a member of the CESifo Research Network (Germany), and is serving on the executive council of the Canadian Economics Association.
Richard Wiggers, PhD (Georgetown) is the executive director of research and programs at HEQCO.  In addition to past positions with the federal government, he has worked for two private sector education organizations.  Before arriving at HEQCO in 2009, he worked with the New Brunswick government in the Post-Secondary Affairs Branch and as the Manager of Innovative Learning and Professional Development with the Department of Education.  In his role at HEQCO, Richard is responsible for managing more than 60 research projects dealing with Student Services, Teaching and Learning and Learning Outcomes, and he oversees all research projects and policies at HEQCO. He is leading a major research project on Work Integrated Learning that involves 14 Ontario colleges and universities, and he also serves on the Editorial Board of the Canadian Apprenticeship Journal, as an External Associate with the University of Waterloo’s Centre for the Advancement of Co-Operative Education, and as a Faculty Advisor with Humber College’s new Research Analyst Post-Graduate Program.
Harvey P. Weingarten became President and CEO of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) on July 1, 2010. Prior to his role at HEQCO, Harvey Weingarten was President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calgary from 2001 to 2010.  Dr. Weingarten was at McMaster University from 1979 to 2001.   At McMaster, Harvey also served as the Dean of Science from 1995 to 1996 and as Provost and Vice-President (Academic) from 1996 to 2001.   Dr. Weingarten has served on many boards and councils including the Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) of Canada that advises the federal government on issues related to science, research and development and innovation policy; Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC); Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research; Alberta Ingenuity Fund; Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network; and Shad Valley.
Margaret Whetstone’s career has focused on participating and leading software development projects for a newspaper conglomerate, the municipal police and the provincial government. Margaret has been with the Ontario College Application Service for more than half of her career, leading and managing the Ontario College System Data Warehouse.  A passion for data and turning it into useful and meaningful information for decision making at and for the Ontario colleges and others supporting postsecondary education is the current focus of her career.