Inter-Institutional Diversity in the Ontario College System ( ): A Comparison of Three Colleges Kevin Ramdas Ph.D. Candidate, Higher Education

Changes in Legislation Post-Secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act (2000) -Degree granting Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act (2002) -Shift in accountability structure -Addition of research into mandate -Created ‘Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning’ (ITALs)

The Ontario College System 23 Colleges, spread over geographic region Responsive to local community needs Range of programs/credentials: apprenticeship, 2- and 3- year diplomas, grad certificates, degrees, continuing ed, new immigrant All colleges are different, but the same

Drivers of Change Resource Management Students (Enrolment Growth and Demographics) Government

The Effect of College Size and Growth Larger colleges have more leeway to absorb start-up costs for new initiative Greater enrolment growth allows a college to hire more personnel

Two main changes Degree offering Research activity

Findings: Degrees College Response to Degree- Granting Capability

General Findings: Degrees Why do colleges want to offer more degrees? 1) Serving student population, pathways for students 2) Key to enrolment growth 3) Need to cluster programs to make financially viable (The mid-size colleges will need to surpass the 5% cap to make degree offering a financially sustainable activity)

General Findings: Degrees PEQAB Faculty requirement All faculty teaching in degree programs must have one credential higher than the program offered 50% of faculty teaching core and breadth courses must have terminal credential Effect In all potential degree areas, Ph.D. applicants are preferred faculty hires requirements will lead to slower, but sustained differentiation

General Findings: Research Activity All colleges lacked experience and a research track record Research capacity takes long to develop –Internal mechanisms: policies, procedures, release time, support for grant writing, internal-funding, –External funding needed to create programs to focused on colleges Colleges established the CONII research network to develop a track record and promote research at all colleges

Comparison of Colleges CollegeEnrollmentAnnual Budget # of campuses Large>15000$300M 10 Medium5000<15000$120M 2 Small<5000$60M 1

Program Distribution comparison CollegeOntario certificates APPdiplomaAdvanced diploma Graduate certificates Degrees Large Medium Small

Research Activity Comparison CollegeYear Research Office Established CONI I Fed Dev CFINSERCOtherTotal Grants since 2002 Large2004Yes NoYes$1.5M Medium2010Yes $6.5M Small2007Yes NoYes $2.5M

Other Activities College LargeLarge-scale university partnerships International campus International Partnerships Local partnerships MediumSmall-scale university partnership Local partnerships SmallInternational campus Small-scale university partnership Local partnerships

Summary The differentiation process has only been happening for 10 years There is a divide between colleges that offer degree and those that do not offer degrees All colleges are trying to do research

Future Research Does differentiation aid students and increase choices in Ontario? Effect of Funding Framework on College program decision-making The effect of Inter-institutional diversity on individual institutions

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