AUCC 'Trends' says universities face major challenges soon

It's going to be a decade of enormous challenges for Canada's universities, according to a major new report released Oct. 15 by AUCC - the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.

An AUCC news release states that the 94-page Trends in Higher Education, report states that, by 2011, universities will face a projected 20- to 30-per-cent increase in enrolment, or up to 200,000 new students.

They will also need to hire as many as 40,000 new faculty members to respond to enrolment growth and to replace retiring professors.

At the same time, universities will be expected to perform significantly more research if Canada is to reach the federal government's objective of being one of the top five countries in the world for research and development.

But, the AUCC news release states, all of this comes at a price: $6.2 billion more annually in operating revenues and $6.4 billion more a year in research funds will be needed by 2011 to meet these challenges, according to the Trends report.

Universities currently receive about $10.7 billion in total operating support and conduct roughly $3.2 billion in sponsored research annually.

"All the studies show that more and more children want a university education, and this is being echoed by their parents," says Herb O'Heron, AUCC Senior Analyst and principal author of the report.

"Universities are trying to respond to this demand and have managed to make room so far. But classrooms are often overflowing and the growing teaching and research requirements, coupled with static or shrinking faculty numbers, cannot be sustained," O'Heron says.

"Without new money, particularly for the core teaching function, there is little more that universities can do. But with new resources, we can increase accessibility by expanding capacity and also improve the quality of the education experience."

The AUCC news release says that, building on previous editions of Trends, the current report uses data from Statistics Canada and other sources to give a comprehensive view of the current state of higher education and a detailed look to the future. Among some of highlights this year in the report:

• Over the past three years, full-time university enrolment has increased by almost 45,000 students to reach an all-time high of 645,000 students.

• Although there were 800 more full-time faculty positions in 2001 than in 1998, faculty growth did not keep pace with enrolment.

• Investment in university research has grown significantly in Canada in the last five years, with an estimated 35-per-cent increase in real terms since 1997, but it remains below the levels found in many other countries.

• Despite increases in government operating support in the last few years, per-student government operating support in 2001-02 was 17 per cent lower than in 1992-93.

"We hope that Trends will be a useful publication for all those who have a stake in the success of Canadian universities," says AUCC President Robert Giroux.

"The publication is intended to stimulate discussion among all stakeholders as to the ways in which we can work collectively to ensure that universities are well-equipped to help Canada play its role on the international stage as a leader in education, research and international collaboration."

Other findings in the report include:

• University faculty spend about one-third of their time on teaching-related activities, another third on research, and the remaining third on community service, institutional and other professional activities.

• In 2001, there were an estimated 34,500 full-time faculty members employed by Canadian universities, of which 10,000 were women.

• One-third of today's university professors are over the age of 54. Over the next decade, due to retirements and normal attrition, universities will need to replace about 20,000 of these faculty members.

• Universities also will need to hire up to 20,000 new faculty by 2011 to respond to a projected 20 to 30 percent increase in student enrolment, as well as to respond to demands for greater quality and rising research requirements.

• Given these hiring requirements, Canada will need to train more PhD graduates and increase the share of PhDs who remain in academia after graduation.

• Canadian universities currently award about 4,100 doctoral degrees a year, but roughly one-quarter of these are to foreign students. A majority of PhD holders in Canada occupy positions outside academe.

• In 1999, Canadian universities generated more than $22.6 million in revenue from intellectual property and held $55 million in equity through the 454 spin-off companies they created.

• The combined annual revenue of Canadian universities is $16 billion. In recent years, growth in university revenues has been driven by increases in tuition fees and by public and private sector support of sponsored research.

• In real terms, universities are now receiving $4,000 less support per student than the $12,000 per student provided by governments at the beginning of the 1980s.

• As a result of strong increases in state and federal support, U.S. governments provided almost 30 percent more support per student in 2001-02 than they did in 1980-81, while Canadian governments provided 20 percent less per student support over the same period.

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