Minister presents his views

BRONWYN CHESTER | Lysiane Gagnon didn't like it. The columnist at La Presse accused the "Project d'énoncé de politique à l'égard des universités," released last week by Education Minister François Legault, of being utilitarian and anti-intellectual in tone. But the tired clichés regarding universities needing to "be more responsive to society's needs," "make optimal use of their resources," and "to be more concerned with preparing young people for the job market" don't worry Principal Bernard Shapiro. "The ivory-tower notion is used to show that we're out of touch and that the government is, therefore, in touch and doesn't need to do anything," said a philosophical Shapiro in an interview earlier this week, pointing out that "the word money isn't mentioned except to say that students won't pay any more." Legault has pledged to maintain the Parti Québécois government's freeze on tuition fees, not a declaration that cash-strapped university administrators welcomed. Still, Shapiro is not unhappy with Legault's discussion paper -- one more step in the government's process of establishing Quebec's first policy on universities - whose key words are: accessibility, performance and relevance. Among the things he likes in the 27-page document is the government's recognition of the importance of universities in the "société du savoir." He also appreciated the recognition that "universities must be competitive" with those outside the province, in order to have high-quality teachers, researchers and students, while being collaborative among themselves. "That's much better than the usual thing about universities not being as important as they say they are." He is also pleased that the government recognizes that Quebec's 18 universities have different strengths. "Because they are diverse and unique, Quebec universities have the potential to complement one another in their specializations and work to enrich the entire system," reads the report. How that recognition will translate into dollars is not addressed. Legault's press attaché Alain Leclerc did, however, tell the Reporter that there will be changes in financing formulae for universities -- which he called outdated -- in order to favour different sectors at different times as economic, social or cultural need dictates. Some of the other factors driving the reform will be to make it easier for universities to collaborate in teaching, research and procuring research and teaching materials (e.g., books and journals) and to put an end to the soliciting of students simply so that universities can bolster their numbers and, therefore, their financing. In Le Devoir, last week, Shapiro was misunderstood to say that he believes there should be no "hiérarchisation" of universities: i.e., the province's three big research-strong universities, McGill, the Université de Montréal and Université Laval, vs. less research-oriented others. What he meant was that, in general, he is not in favour of rationalizing programs and used the example of how each of Montreal's four universities have either a music faculty or department. "All of them are full of students. Will we turn away students under the pretext that there are too many musicians in the city?" he told the newspaper. The principal does, however, favour "the differentiation of institutions. "It's a fact now and it will be more so in the future. Institutions have different goals," he says, noting that some are more research-oriented while others specialize in teaching. "And that's necessary because no one can imagine being able to afford every institution doing everything." Shapiro proposes the government accord "multiple dimensions of status" to the universities, rather than a hierarchy of importance. "Each category would be different." But he's keenly aware that there are only a few politically acceptable ways in which to do this. Either the government has selective funding by status of university, deregulates tuition -- which is not an option at the moment -- or has selective funding by program. Shapiro uses the example of graduate programs as an area where the government could use the latter option. "The weight given to graduate programs by Quebec is lower than in any other province, he notes. "This reflects the reality that the government hasn't felt that research programs were that relevant." Figuring among Shapiro's reservations about the Legault paper is the question of universities preparing students for the job market. "There's a danger in looking at universities as job-training facilities," he says, warning that we'll be in trouble if there is funding only for applied research. "The whole high-tech industry now is driven by pure research that was done 40 years ago. Pure research is the best protection for society." Furthermore, he continued, "there's an assumption that we [universities] know what's relevant when we don't. We don't know what an employer will want next week, much less next year. There's a disjunction between the market and what universities do, but over time, adjustments take place naturally." Another shortcoming Shapiro points to is the Ministry of Education's proposed formula for determining the education budget based on a percentage of gross provincial product. "GPP doesn't matter. If Ontario gives X%, then we'll do the same? But that's a wrong index if we are concerned with the results." Over the next few weeks, Shapiro and the rest of the province's university principals and rectors will prepare their responses to Legault's discussion paper, due on Nov. 26. CREPUQ, the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec, will also respond. The organization's initial response to the paper was positive: "It is comforting to see the policy paper's reaffirmation of the importance of higher education to Quebec society," said Laval rector François Tavenas, the president of CREPUQ, adding "that much remains to be discussed." Students, on the other hand, were more damning of the document. Youri Chassin, vice-president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, accuses Legault of wanting to direct students into the disciplines deemed important by the economy, under the guise of accessibility, while controlling the universities with the proposed measures for indicating efficiency. Wojtek Baraniak, vice-president (community & government) of the Students' Society of McGill University, was less negative. "The process is much wiser [than it was under former minister Pauline Marois] because this time the university rectors and principals are being asked for their ideas," he says. He questions, however, the wisdom of maintaining the freeze on tuition. "Students are paying the same but they're getting less for their money." Legault's policy on universities, which will also be influenced by position papers from the different universities, McGill's Tradition and Innovation, for instance, is due sometime in December.