McGill has its say

DANIEL McCABE | How much would it cost to run McGill the way it ought to be run? About $80 million more than what the University currently receives in its base budget each year. To bring the entire Quebec university network up to snuff would cost $500 million.

Dilly-dallying will only drive up the amount of money needed to fix things, according to McGill administrators. "The longer the government waits to act on this issue, the greater the erosion in the [Quebec university network]."

These views are provided in the document Tradition and Innovation: An International University in a City of Knowledge, which was sent to Quebec education minister François Legault last week.

Legault called on the province's universities to supply him with discussion papers outlining their academic priorities and their views on how Quebec's universities are funded. The expectation is that Legault will attempt to persuade the Parti Québécois government to increase the level of funding it currently sets aside for the province's universities. Whether he'll be able to succeed is a big unknown at this point.

The universities were given a deadline of September 15 to submit their documents. Principal Bernard Shapiro and Real Del Degan, associate director of the University Planning Office, collaborated closely in preparing the portion of the document that dealt with the funding formula. Vice-Principal (Academic) Luc Vinet, shortly after taking on his new job this summer, was assigned the task of writing about McGill's academic goals.

"It was a bit daunting," says Vinet. "I had to plunge into the matter immediately. But it was a wonderful way to get to know the University."

Drafts were prepared and critiqued by vice-principals, deans and the executive committee of the Board of Governors, who added their own thoughts about what McGill should say to Quebec City.

In its submission to Legault, McGill outlines why it believes more money should be spent. The University also presents a list of academic initiatives it would embark on if it had the resources to do so.

In a graph accompanying its submission, McGill demonstrates that it receives from Quebec less than $10,000 per full-time student. The University of Toronto has about $14,000 in provincial funding per full-time student, while Queen's receives about $17,000.

The document notes that, because of its success in fundraising, McGill is often perceived as a "rich" university. "It would be unconscionable to penalize McGill, and other universities as well, for the success it has had in establishing and maintaining relationships with its donors and alumni."

The University argues instead that the government should do more to support its fundraising efforts. "Several provincial governments have actually built in incentives and matching fund arrangements to reward universities who are able to convince their constituents of the importance of investing in higher education. Quebec universities could certainly benefit from such an approach."

Because of the way Quebec's funding formula for universities is currently structured, says the document, "the funds available for distribution have no relationship whatsoever to the level of activity either expected or actually undertaken by the Quebec universities." More flexibility is required, but the document advises against a dramatic overhaul, except in terms of the amount of money that is supplied.

On the subject of tuition fees, Tradition and Innovation counsels that universities ought to be allowed to set differential fees for highly restricted programs.

"Given sophisticated programs of student aid, it is evident that in a certain number of highly restricted programs (medicine, dentistry, law, MBA, for example) where the number of applicants is very high relative to the number to be admitted and where the job market guarantees a certain income level, higher fees would not be a deterrent to accessibility."

The Ministry of Education is also advised to revisit the way it funds training for graduate students. Universities currently receive funding for 45 credits (one and a half years) for master's students and for 90 credits (three years) at the doctoral level. "Virtually all students take longer to complete their studies than these 'residency periods' recognize. Universities thus teach students past these periods 'for free.'"

The document proposes "rewarding universities for results" by increasing the current graduation premium the government hands out for master's students from $600 to $3,000 per degree granted and for PhD students from $1,000 to $8,000.

McGill argues against any rise in tuition fees for graduate students. "These students, unlike many undergraduates, are not supported by their parents. They must also weigh the benefits of pursuing graduate studies versus the wages they would have otherwise earned had they instead entered the work force immediately."

The document credits Quebec City for being "a leader in Canada in recognizing the indirect costs of research." The government currently funds 15 percent of the indirect costs of non-medical research and 10 percent of the indirect costs of medical research. McGill asks for those levels to rise to 30 percent and 20 percent respectively.

The current funding system also "does not recognize…the skyrocketing costs of both journals and the rapidly evolving technologies for teaching and research," according to Tradition and Innovation.

In the document, McGill also outlines its vision for its academic future.

"There are a few main points," says Vinet. "We want to maintain our tradition in the liberal arts. That has been a trademark of McGill and it is something we value a great deal. We quote [U.S. chairman of the Federal Reserve Board] Alan Greenspan on the importance of having well-educated graduates for the future of society.

"We also talk about the current trend towards looking at more and more complex problems. To be able to do that, you require people who are associated with different disciplines. We're seeing more multidisciplinary approaches and that's certainly a direction we want to move in.

"We need to be responsive to the needs of our society. And we should capitalize on the fact that we are a research-intensive university."

Tradition and Innovation lists eight academic priorities for McGill.

Combining teams of engineers, physicists and chemists to focus on materials science and create durable new materials is one area. Building on the existing strength of the multi-disciplinary McGill School of Environment is another.

A third would be to focus on language studies, with experts in linguistics, cognitive science, education and other areas working together. Another proposed area for expanded activities would be to create a molecular medicine centre that would marry genetics specialists with pharmacology experts and others in a bid to target genetic diseases.

The University also wants to create a statistics lab to support work in the social sciences, develop more internships for its students and create new links between mathematicians, theoretical physicists, biologists and medical researchers.

Vinet emphasizes that these aren't the only areas McGill will expand into in the future. "These are certainly not the only plans we have for McGill. They're projects that we're keen on developing. They're an illustration of what we could do.

"It would not have been useful to send a long list of 50 projects -- that would have been tedious to read through."

Because of the timing -- universities responded to Legault's request during the summer when the schools are at their quietest -- there hasn't been much opportunity for wide consultation, Vinet acknowledges.

A special Senate sub-committee will begin tracking the process, Senate will be advised of further developments and the Tradition and Innovation document will soon be available on the McGill Gateway at ww2.mcgill.ca.

Legault has promised to respond in mid-October. Universities will supply their final thoughts on the subject in November. And then Legault will try to effect changes in time for the next provincial budget.

"It is exciting," says Vinet. "The minister is showing courage in leading this initiative. We have to support him as much as possible and hope that he can pull this off."