The Alberta government has announced new performance guidelines to determine how much post-secondary funding each institution gets..“Performance measures will encourage institutions to improve services, increase efficiencies and create opportunities for Albertans through strong labour market outcomes, innovative programs and research,” according to a press release from the Ministry of Advanced Education on Monday morning..The government is also proposing three-year terms for funding arrangements to provide funding certainty within those years..Alberta is still climbing out of a recession that began in 2014 and officially ended in 2016 with less jobs being created in the oil and gas industry. Alberta’s unemployment rate jumped back up to seven per cent at the end of 2019, with more than 150,000 Albertans still looking for work.. “One concern to consider when funding is based on employment rates is that it will depend on the macroeconomic environment. Recession (leads to) lower employment, (which could lead to) lower education funding. Potentially counterproductive to help workers adjust,” University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe wrote on Twitter..Since 2014, engineering and trades were some of the hardest hit occupations in Alberta due to the downturn in oil and gas. Investment in the province’s natural resource industry also plummeted, resulting in fewer jobs being created for those education backgrounds..Other examples of performance measures could potentially include “median graduate income,” an outcome post-secondary institutions have no control over..According to a recent study of earnings in Canada by the Labour Market Information Council, “in every field of study, women earn less than their male counterparts five years after graduating and in the vast majority of cases, average gender earning differences increase from year one to year five.”.The report focused on students who graduated from publicly-funded colleges and universities in Canada between 2010 and 2014 and allowed the study to measure earnings between graduates in their first and fifth years after graduation..Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary also had some questions about the new plan..“What indicators? How are they measured? How are they established? Who establishes them? How different are they institution to institution,” he wrote on social media..“In principle, I have no issue with performance-based funding for post-secondary institutions, but the devil is in the details.”.Minister of Advanced Education Demetrios Nicolaides said the funding model would apply to Alberta’s universities, colleges and polytechnics..“Our new approach will help ensure students are set up for success by encouraging institutions to produce job-ready graduates,” Nicolaides said..“By shifting the focus to performance, we will ensure taxpayer dollars are being used in the most responsible way possible.”.The government of Alberta’s press release referenced the report from the Blue Ribbon Panel, chaired by former Saskatchewan NDP finance minister Janice MacKinnon, on cutting government expenses..“The MacKinnon Report identified that the current post-secondary funding structure does not link funding to specific goals or priorities for the province, such as ensuring the required skills for the current and future labour market.”.Story ideas? dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com Twitter @Mitchell_AB
The Alberta government has announced new performance guidelines to determine how much post-secondary funding each institution gets..“Performance measures will encourage institutions to improve services, increase efficiencies and create opportunities for Albertans through strong labour market outcomes, innovative programs and research,” according to a press release from the Ministry of Advanced Education on Monday morning..The government is also proposing three-year terms for funding arrangements to provide funding certainty within those years..Alberta is still climbing out of a recession that began in 2014 and officially ended in 2016 with less jobs being created in the oil and gas industry. Alberta’s unemployment rate jumped back up to seven per cent at the end of 2019, with more than 150,000 Albertans still looking for work.. “One concern to consider when funding is based on employment rates is that it will depend on the macroeconomic environment. Recession (leads to) lower employment, (which could lead to) lower education funding. Potentially counterproductive to help workers adjust,” University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe wrote on Twitter..Since 2014, engineering and trades were some of the hardest hit occupations in Alberta due to the downturn in oil and gas. Investment in the province’s natural resource industry also plummeted, resulting in fewer jobs being created for those education backgrounds..Other examples of performance measures could potentially include “median graduate income,” an outcome post-secondary institutions have no control over..According to a recent study of earnings in Canada by the Labour Market Information Council, “in every field of study, women earn less than their male counterparts five years after graduating and in the vast majority of cases, average gender earning differences increase from year one to year five.”.The report focused on students who graduated from publicly-funded colleges and universities in Canada between 2010 and 2014 and allowed the study to measure earnings between graduates in their first and fifth years after graduation..Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary also had some questions about the new plan..“What indicators? How are they measured? How are they established? Who establishes them? How different are they institution to institution,” he wrote on social media..“In principle, I have no issue with performance-based funding for post-secondary institutions, but the devil is in the details.”.Minister of Advanced Education Demetrios Nicolaides said the funding model would apply to Alberta’s universities, colleges and polytechnics..“Our new approach will help ensure students are set up for success by encouraging institutions to produce job-ready graduates,” Nicolaides said..“By shifting the focus to performance, we will ensure taxpayer dollars are being used in the most responsible way possible.”.The government of Alberta’s press release referenced the report from the Blue Ribbon Panel, chaired by former Saskatchewan NDP finance minister Janice MacKinnon, on cutting government expenses..“The MacKinnon Report identified that the current post-secondary funding structure does not link funding to specific goals or priorities for the province, such as ensuring the required skills for the current and future labour market.”.Story ideas? dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com Twitter @Mitchell_AB
