-
7/28/2019 Open Letter advising Athabasca University not to agree
to the Enterprise & Advanced Education Ministrys Letter o
1/3
From the President of AUFA and the Co-Chairs of CUPE Local
3911
To the Board of Governors of Athabasca University
Open Letter advising Athabasca University not to agree to the
Enterprise &
Advanced Education Ministrys Letter of Expectation
2 April 2013
Dear members of the Board of Governors of Athabasca
University,
The Athabasca University Faculty Association is deeply concerned
with the Enterprise &
Advanced Education Ministrys Letters of Expectation. Having
discussed these Letterswith colleagues at Athabasca U and Albertas
other comprehensive academic research
(CARI) universities, we are concerned that Albertas
postsecondary institutions are beingpressured to agree to terms and
conditions of public funding that counter the public
interest. The public interest is best served by universities
with autonomous governanceand academic freedom; these protect the
integrity and effectiveness of research and
teaching. In the wake of the devastating postsecondary budget
cut, the Letters of
Expectation show evidence of a lack of knowledge of - or
disregard for - the post-secondary sector (as do several Ministry
statements to the media), and they underminethe academic autonomy
and integrity on which universities - and the public interest -
depend.
The best interests of neither the universities nor the public
will be served if Albertasuniversities are forced to comply with
directives from a government that appears to be
working from false assumptions about our post-secondary
education system, and thatseeks to be seen as having the support of
students without substantially consulting with
them - or with faculty groups like the Confederation of Alberta
Faculty Associations, orwith other PSE stakeholders. The government
has drastically cut the PSE budget,
provoking layoffs and program closures: the government thus
diminishes student servicewhile demanding improvements to it. This
contradiction casts aspersions on the
legitimacy of these Letters of Expectation, which represent
unprecedentedly authoritarianplans for higher education.
1 U N I V E R S I T Y D R I V E A T H A B A S C A , A L B E R T
A T 9 S 3 A 3
P H O N E : 7 8 0 - 6 7 5 - 6 2 8 2 F A X : 7 8 0 - 6 7 5 - 6 1
8 2 E M A I L : a u f a h q @ a t h a b a s c a u . c a T W I T T E
R @ A U F A C U L T Y A S S O C
http://eae.alberta.ca/media/letters/Athabasca.pdf
-
7/28/2019 Open Letter advising Athabasca University not to agree
to the Enterprise & Advanced Education Ministrys Letter o
2/3
AUFA-CUPE Open Letter on E&AE Letter of Expectation 2
Some especially noteworthy evidence for our concern with
Athabasca Universitys Letter
of Expectation includes:
1) This Letter of Expectation threatens to displace the
authority of the University's
existing Mandate and Roles Document. On page three of this
Letter, the third point underGovernance requires the signing
institution to "review your Mandate and RolesDocument to ensure it
is aligned with this letter." The implications of agreeing to
this
clause could be serious and adverse, especially for the autonomy
of universitygovernance. Specifically, the Letter has the potential
to displace the institutional authority
of bodies like General Faculties Council and the faculty
association. Going forward,acceptance of this Letter would concede
unprecedented authority to the government to
tell universities what they are expected to do. Government
dictated education mandatesare good neither for higher education
nor democracy.
2) On page two of the Letter, under Learners, the fourth point
instructs the University to
"demonstrate a 10% increase" in the development of mechanisms to
"support studentmobility and success." This "10% increase" appears
to be an overly simplistic
"performance indicator," given according to no clear
evidence-based reasoning. How issuch a percentage to be calculated
or quantified, exactly, when the object of its
measurement - e.g. "mobility and success" - is itself unclearly
defined and thus difficult,at best, to quantify? This difficulty is
compounded, for instance, by the profoundly
different way in which Aboriginal students and communities -
whom this Letter alsopurportedly seeks to serve - define success
(as U of Regina PhD candidate Cassandra
Opikokew explained at theIgnite! Alberta students conference in
February). Thisinstruction invites the strategy of grade inflation
to create the appearance of an increase in
student success. And it is inappropriate, even contradictory,
for the government to
demand improved success rates for students while so drastically
cutting the resources thatuniversities could devote to helping
marginalized students to improve their skills andachieve academic
success.
3) On page two of the Letter, under Collaboration, the second
point directs universities to
work with Campus Alberta partners to increase access and better
serve students; the firstsub-point directs universities to
"reduc[e] program duplication across Campus Alberta
institutions through transfer agreements, collaborative delivery
arrangements, anddelivery through Campus Alberta." On this point,
the Ministry issuing this Letter appears
to be unaware of how efficient and successful Alberta's existing
transfer credit systemalready is. Athabasca University is a
provincial and national leader in credit transfer
programs and prior learning assessments; and the Alberta Council
on Admissions andTransfer (ACAT), though it is not perfect, is the
envy of other provinces, thanks largely
to its institutional autonomy in orchestrating transfer credit
agreements among Alberta'spostsecondary institutions. Closer
engagement with the sectors key stakeholders could
enhance the Ministrys support for successful features of
Albertas post-secondaryinstitutions such as ACAT.
-
7/28/2019 Open Letter advising Athabasca University not to agree
to the Enterprise & Advanced Education Ministrys Letter o
3/3
AUFA-CUPE Open Letter on E&AE Letter of Expectation 3
4) Another concern is that the Letters of Expectation for all
four CARI universities aremore or less identical in substance. Like
the issues raised above, the Letters close
similarity suggests a problematic lack of either knowledge about
or interest in Albertaspose-secondary sector, and a need for
meaningful consultation with this sectors key
stakeholders. (All Letters of Expectation are publicly available
atthe E&AE Ministry
webpage linked here.)
The Letter, ultimately, is best understood as an attempt to
justify the unjustifiable cut to
the province's postsecondary budget, a cut so deep - and made in
one of the worldsrichest jurisdictions - that it must be understood
primarily as political, not financial. This
cut and the Letters of Expectation gravely hurt the capacity of
universities to producenew knowledge and engaged citizens - two
critical requirements for a knowledge
economy and a healthy democracy. We advise Athabasca University
not to agree to thisLetter, which, in its current form, also
asserts an unjustifiable level of directive control
over university operations and mandate. AU's Administration and
Board would be betteradvised to join with other university
stakeholder groups now mobilizing - student
associations, the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations
(CAFA), the U ofAlberta Board of Governors - to publicly oppose
Ministry plans that will compromise
student learning, university autonomy, and academic freedom, all
of which vitally servethe public interest of Albertans.
Sincerely,
Mark A. McCutcheon
President, AUFA
Mark DimirskyCo-chair, CUPE Local 3911
Ernie Jacobson
Co-chair, CUPE Local 3911
Dougal MacDonaldCo-chair, CUPE Local 3911
CC: CAFA, AUSU, AUGSA,Edmonton Journal,Athabasca Advocate
About AUFA and CUPE Local 3911:
The Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) serves and
represents Athabasca
University academic faculty and professional staff
[email protected]
1-800-788-9041 ext. 6282 or 780-675-6282
CUPE Local 3911 represents tutors, academic experts, markers and
lab instructors atAthabasca University.
[email protected](780) 421-3276
http://eae.alberta.ca/post-secondary/letters-of-expectation.aspxhttp://eae.alberta.ca/post-secondary/letters-of-expectation.aspxhttp://eae.alberta.ca/post-secondary/letters-of-expectation.aspxhttp://eae.alberta.ca/post-secondary/letters-of-expectation.aspxmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://eae.alberta.ca/post-secondary/letters-of-expectation.aspxhttp://eae.alberta.ca/post-secondary/letters-of-expectation.aspx
