Nick Falvo – Page 8 – The Progressive Economics Forum

Funding for Federal Granting Councils

September 3, 2011 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

The Canadian AssociationÂ of University Teachers represents 66,000 university and college teachers, academic librarians, researchers and staff at more than 120 universities and colleges in Canada. Their 2012 brief to the Federal Finance CommitteeÂ containsÂ someÂ useful numbers.Â IÂ was particularly interestedÂ to seeÂ theirÂ data showing decreased funding to Canada’s federal granting councils. Using constant dollars, the brief spells out that, over the past five years, the […]

Quebec Tuition Fees

September 1, 2011 Nick Falvo 5 comments

In light of plans by the Charest government to increase tuition fees in Quebec by 75 percent over the next five years, Eric Martin and Simon Tremblay-Pepin have written a recent article on Quebec tuition fees. The article points out the following: -Though tuition fees in Quebec have been lower than in most other parts of Canada, this hasÂ come with […]

Copyright on Campus

September 1, 2011 Nick Falvo 2 comments

A recent article by George MonbiotÂ in The Guardian takes a critical look at academic publishers, apparentlyÂ with a focusÂ on the United Kingdom.Â The articleÂ makes the following points: -Journals now eat upÂ 65 percent of university library budgets. -“[A]cademic publishers get their articles, their peer reviewing (vetting by other researchers) and even much of their editing for free.”Â -The research published by academic publishersÂ isÂ largely […]

Is There a Student Debt Bubble?

August 23, 2011 Nick Falvo 4 comments

A recent article in The AtlanticÂ looks at student debt in the United States and suggests there may be a student debtÂ bubble.Â Written by the authors of the recent book, Higher Education?,Â the article points out that “college loans are nearing the $1 trillion mark, more than what all households owe on their credit cards.” The article also features the following provocative excerpt: […]

The Double Whammy of Defunding Universities

August 21, 2011 Nick Falvo 2 comments

As I’ve blogged about here, federal funding forÂ post-secondary education (PSE) in CanadaÂ is decreasing.Â Between 1985-1986 and 2007-2008, annual federal cash transfers to Ontario for PSE (in constant 2007 dollars) decreased from roughly $1.4 billion toÂ just under $1 billion.Â (Yet,Â during that same period, PSE enrolment in Ontario increased by more than 60 percent). And as I’veÂ written about here,Â during Dalton McGuinty’s time as […]

The Racialised Impact of Tuition Fees

August 20, 2011 Nick Falvo One comment

Mainstream policy wonks often claim that tuition fees and rising levels of student debt in Canada are relatively inconsequential. They argue that though the costsÂ of higher education for students (and sometimes their families) are increasing, so is post-secondary enrollment, meaning that raising the cost of post-secondary education clearly doesn’t block access. While enrollment is indeed rising, the increases in costs […]

2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities

August 17, 2011 Nick Falvo One comment

The 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) was released on Monday.Â Because it’s compiled byÂ Shanghai Jiaotong University,Â it’s commonly known as “the Shanghai ranking.”Â Â As I recently blogged about here, Â the methodologies used inÂ global university rankings typically advantage English-language universities. This year’s Shanghai ranking confirms this: 20 of the Top 25 universities in the ARWU are located in the United States, andÂ four […]

Concordia’s “Culture of Contempt”

August 14, 2011 Nick Falvo 4 comments

In June of this year, a report was released on governance at Concordia University.Â Entitled Strengthening Governance at Concordia: AÂ Collective Challenge, the report can be accessed here: www.concordia.ca/vpirsg/documents/EGRC-REPORT.pdf. The 39-page report was written by the External Governance Review Committee, a three-person committee chaired by none other than Bernard J. Shapiro (Canada’s first Ethics Commissioner). The report paints a picture of a […]

Tuition Increases by Stealth

August 4, 2011 Nick Falvo 5 comments

On Tuesday night, Peterborough City Council approved a plan for a for-profit corporation to own and operate a new student residence at Trent University.Â I’m concerned that this may signal a new trend at Canadian universities; about a year ago, I blogged about a similar plan at the University of Toronto. I am not opposed to private sector actors being […]

Is Social Assistance a “Poverty Pariah?”

July 24, 2011 Nick Falvo 13 comments

An article in the current edition of NOW Magazine looks at social assistance in Ontario. The article is aptly entitled “Poverty Pariah,” in light of how apparently unpopular Ontario’s welfare system has become over the past 20 years. As can be seen at the National Council of Welfare’s Interactive Welfare Incomes Map, a single adult on welfare in Ontario receives […]

Global University Rankings

July 22, 2011 Nick Falvo 2 comments

The European University Association (EUA) recently released a report they’d commissioned entitled Global University Rankings and Their Impact. The report was written by Andrejs Rauhvargers. According to the EAU,Â one of theirÂ major motivations in commissioning the report was that their member universitiesÂ are “often under pressure to appear in the rankings, or to improve their position in one way or another.” Some […]

How To Fund Innovation

July 22, 2011 Nick Falvo 4 comments

Just over a year ago, I wrote an opinion pieceÂ about the federal government’s “innovation strategy” andÂ its impact onÂ the post-secondary education sector. In the piece,Â I argue that the strategy has resulted in significant funding increases for university R&D.Â But I also argue in the piece that the strategy creates winners and losers–i.e. a “world class” doctoral student might get a $50,000/yr. scholarship, […]

Use University Research to Increase Manufacturing Jobs

June 26, 2011 Nick Falvo 8 comments

Manufacturing jobs have been declinining as a percentage of total jobs in most OECD countries for several decades, with Ontario being especially hard-hit as a jurisdiction. At the end of the Second World War, manufacturing jobs accounted for 26% of all Canadian jobs; by 2007, this figure had dropped to just 12%. And as I’ve written about elsewhere, the Harper […]

How Rob Ford Can Fix Social Housing

June 19, 2011 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I have an opinionÂ piece in today’s Toronto Star regarding Toronto’s Mayor, Rob Ford, and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). Mr. Ford would like to see a considerable number of units from TCHC’s existing stock sold off.Â ForÂ background on the issue, pleaseÂ my blog post of April 13, whichÂ can be found here. In today’s piece, I argue that it is more […]

Fix PSE System Before Building Addition!

June 8, 2011 Nick Falvo 4 comments

According to an article in yesterday’s Toronto Star, the Ontario government will create room forÂ 60,000 new students in its colleges and universitiesÂ by 2015-2016, 10% of which will be for graduate students.Â (I assume this means that, by 2015-2016, there will be 60,000 more students enroled in Ontario’s post-secondary insitutions than is currently the case, and that 10% of these new spaces […]

Reduce Student Debt to Reduce Household Debt

June 5, 2011 Nick Falvo 5 comments

At this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association, Armine Yalnizyan gave a presentation entitled “Surviving the Recovery:Â The Distribution of CanadianÂ Household Debt.” The panel was co-sponsored by the Canadian Association for Business Economics and the Progressive Economics Forum. As Armine made clear in her presentation, household debt in Canada has steadily risenÂ over the past two decades.Â In 1990, […]

Access to Post-Secondary Education

April 20, 2011 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I recently had the chance to read a 2008 book entitled Who Goes?Â Who Stays?Â What Matters?Â Accessing and Persisting in Post-Secondary Education in Canada.Â Edited by Ross Finnie, Richard Mueller, Arthur Sweetman and Alex Usher, the anthology features 14 chapters written by a total of 21 authors.Â Â Â I found Chapter 4 (co-authored by Finnie and Mueller) and Chapter […]

NDP’s “Balanced Budget” Platform

April 10, 2011 Nick Falvo 7 comments

Jack Layton unveiled the NDP’s policy platform today.Â Among other things, it promises to eliminate the deficit (i.e. balance the federal budget) within four years.Â I’m not sure it should. Several years back, I had the opportunity to take a directed reading course from John Smithin.Â In addition to being a long-time member of the Progressive Economics Forum, John is […]

Reforming Ontario’s Universities

March 31, 2011 Nick Falvo 3 comments

I have just finished reading a 2009 book entitled Academic Transformation:Â The Forces Reshaping Higher Education in Ontario.Â The book, written by Ian Clark, Greg Moran, Michael Skolnik and David Trick, has received a fair bit of attention among post-secondary (PSE) wonks.Â Â While I find itÂ informative, I am uncomfortable withÂ the book’s central feature:Â a proposal to reform Ontario’s PSE sectorÂ with the […]

Danny Williams’ PSE Legacy

March 18, 2011 Nick Falvo One comment

Keith Dunne and I have an opinion piece out on what we consider to be one of the best-kept secrets in Canadian social policy:Â Danny Williams’ post-secondary education (PSE) legacy.Â Among other things, the piece points out that: -Since 2003, the Newfoundland and Labrador government has increased funding for PSE by 82 percent. -Average tuition fees for domestic students in […]

Professors’ Salaries

January 14, 2011 Nick Falvo 17 comments

Yesterday, Alex Usher blogged at the Globe and Mail’s web site about the salaries of Canadian university professors. He argues that professors in Canada are now paid better than professors in the United States. He also suggests that, in Canada, “professors are getting world-class pay without producing world-class results.” While I’ve never argued that tenured Canadian university professors are underpaid […]

When CEOs Run Universities

December 19, 2010 Nick Falvo One comment

Yesterday’s Globe and Mail features an articleÂ on the resignation of Paul Bates as Dean of McMaster’s business school.Â I believe the article is instructive in terms of understanding what can happen when private-sector actors are put in senior administrative roles at Canadian univerities According to the article, McMaster hired Mr. Bates in 2004.Â Mr. Bates had no university degree, yet […]

Homelessness in Canada’s North

December 15, 2010 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’m the main researcher on a three-year SSHRC-funded research project looking at homelessness and affordable housing in the Northwest Territories (NWT).Â Frances Abele (Carleton University) is Principal Investigator on the project, and Arlene HachÃ©Â (Yellowknife Women’sÂ Society) is Co-Investigator.Â The project falls under the larger umbrella of the Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada. Though several larger papers will come out […]

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