Nova Scotia university MOU gives province teeth, minister says
Michael Gorman | CBC News | Posted: June 23, 2016 7:26 PM | Last Updated: June 23, 2016
Advanced education minister says schools must meet 'outcome agreements' to secure funding increases
Advanced Education Minister Kelly Regan says a new memorandum of understanding with the province's 10 universities gives the government teeth to ensure better accountability and transparency.
The document, which was signed this week, sees stable funding for universities, with annual increases of one per cent in each year of the deal.
It also includes a requirement that universities fulfil outcome agreements. While those documents are still being negotiated, Regan said failure to meet the outcomes could have financial implications for universities.
"In order to get those one-per cent increases, they will have to meet their outcome agreements," the minister said Thursday.
Work underway on sexual violence prevention policies
The agreements will include specific measures to make universities more sustainable as well as education-focused outcomes. They will also deal with the creation of sexual violence prevention policies.
A working group has already formed to develop the policies, said Regan, and the plan is to have them in place as soon as possible. Tying the policies, which must be reviewed every three years, to the outcome agreements gives the government a sort of financial hammer, she said.
"Here, your money, your increase in funding, can be reduced or eliminated if you don't meet that [expectation]."
The new MOU, which is retroactive to 2015-16, runs until 2018-19 and includes a requirement that schools provide annual financial reports and projections. Regan said that requirement is in response to some universities getting into financial trouble too often.
The regular reporting means the province will be able to monitor how schools are doing and address any potential problems before they get out of hand.
"I felt that they needed to be open and accountable with us because they were, quite frankly, coming to the government and asking for emergency funding and that's no way to run an institution and it's no way to run a government."
Tuition cap in place — for some students
Following a one-time market adjustment last year, which allowed universities to adjust program tuition by however much was required to bring it in line with other areas, the document resumes the three-per cent cap on tuition increases for Nova Scotia students in undergraduate programs.
That cap, however, doesn't apply to out-of-province students, international students, or anyone in a graduate program or attending medical, dentistry or law school.
Advocacy group Students Nova Scotia, which largely supported the contents of the MOU, said it opposes the lack of an across-the-board cap.
'Cannot lose sight of' supporting vulnerable students
"With the one-time market adjustments that were allowed this past year, all students will be faced with increased financial barriers to attending post-secondary education," the group said in a news release.
"This government cannot lose sight of the importance of investing in supports for our most vulnerable students."
The Canadian Federation of Students in Nova Scotia was even more critical of the document, saying the lack of more government funding shifts even more of the cost of post-secondary education onto students.
But Regan said the government, and people in Nova Scotia, are already doing a lot to support post-secondary education. She noted taxpayers in the province pay the second highest amount per capita toward the university system in Canada.
No more extreme president contracts
As for another hot-button topic, university president compensation packages, Regan said it is ultimately up to universities and their boards to negotiate contracts, but after talking with presidents and board chairs she expects no future agreement will contain the kind of rich retirement perks as those for the former presidents of Dalhousie University and St. Francis Xavier University.
"They've indicated to me that they understand that this is something that, quite frankly, sticks in my craw and sticks in the craw of Nova Scotians and I expect that they will abide by this when they have new leadership coming in in the future."