Premier Campbell’s university-making magic wand

When it comes to making universities, B.C. premier Gordon Campbell’s government is productive. With five new university announcements under his belt, Campbell churned out more universities in a week than B.C. was able to do in the previous 50 years.

But with the frequency with which Campbell has been using his university-creating magic wand as of late, many are wondering about the validity of the new so-called universities.

The premier and the minister of advanced education Murray Coell brought their magic show to five campuses in just over a week: University College of the Fraser Valley, Kwantlen University College, Malaspina University College, Capilano College, and the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design.

Skeptics, including Robert Clift at the Confederation of University Faculty Associations, have brought up the curious timing of the announcements, mere weeks after the provincial Liberal government told existing universities that they would be receiving less money than they had expected in the fiscal year that started April 1.

But the creation of the new universities has little to do with money. In fact, thus far the government hasn’t pledged any funding to help the institutions transition into universities, which suggests that the schools won’t be all that different than their previous selves.

Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer hit this issue on the head: “There’s the old joke about what the boss offers when he can’t provide a raise: a new title.”

The legislative changes tabled last week in Victoria will pave the road for these schools to be called universities, while ensuring they maintain their focus on undergraduate education and vocational training. The province was careful to make sure that the newly-minted universities don’t turn into research-obsessed institutions. So if the schools continue to focus on education and not research, are they really universities?

There is no perfect definition of “university.” But the general consensus seems to be that a university is a degree-granting (extra points for masters degrees and PhDs) institution engaged in at least some research. Up until now, B.C. has made a distinction between universities pursuing academic knowledge and institutions (colleges, university-colleges, and institutes) mainly concerned with job training. With the five new universities in B.C., the provincial government seems to be broadening that definition.

Not all of the schools are cut from the same cloth. In last year’s Campus 2020 report, Geoff Plant recommended that Kwantlen University College, Malaspina University College, and the University College of the Fraser Valley be promoted to regional universities. One of his reasons for the recommendation was that the title “university-college” is not understood outside of the province.