The sneaky way universities are privatizing teaching
UWindsor rejects deal with for-profit company to teach international students; UManitoba criticized for similar program.
Thousands of students from all over the world come to Canada every year to pursue a coveted western credential and the accompanying promise of economic success. Yet, for every student who makes it to a Canadian university, there are many who don’t qualify because their grades aren’t up to snuff or their English skills are lacking. Some of these students instead enroll in the countless ESL schools that cater to international students, some of which offer high quality English training and others, well, not so much.
Recently, however, some Canadian universities have begun offering a new option for these students: the private prep college that offers a year of intensive studies with the chance to get into the real university in second year. The catch is that the colleges are run by for-profit companies, and that is attracting the ire of university professors who see the move as privatizing the public system.
Fraser International College, which is affiliated with Simon Fraser University, was the first college of its kind. Run by the Australian company Navitas, it offers first year courses in business, computing science, arts and social sciences that are designed for international students who need extra support; the program boasts class sizes under 40 students, additional learning and language support and longer classes. Students who earn the requisite GPA in these courses progress to second year as a regular international student at SFU.
While programs like FIC may sound like a dream come true for bright students with borderline English abilities and marks, faculty associations at universities across the country are raising concerns. They say that the practice of bringing in a for-profit company to teach international students equates to “outsourcing” and they have questions about the quality of education these students are receiving.
“It’s a form of contracting out jobs,” explained Brad McKenzie, president of the faculty association at the University of Manitoba, where Navitas opened its second Canadian location in 2008. He worries that Navitas instructors, who are hired by the company and are not employees of the university, aren’t given the same academic freedom, fair pay or benefits to which UManitoba faculty are entitled.
These concerns were echoed by Brian E. Brown, president of the faculty association at the University of Windsor, where a similar company is facing opposition. “Our main concern is the quality of education,” he said. “What are faculty to do with these students if they get into second year and aren’t prepared?”
Last week, the UWindsor senate voted against contracting a company called Study Group International (SGI) to set up a program to prepare international students for its business programs. The decision represents a major blow to SGI’s Canadian expansion plans; SGI claims to be “the largest single provider of international students into the U.K” and has similar programs in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.A.—UWindsor would have been its first Canadian foothold.
It would have helped to talk to at least one international student and include their perspective in the story. Just saying.
Are you just campaigning to get a job at Macleans?
[...] to fund universities. Universities are in turn turning to students for increased tuition and, in some cases, to for-profit sub-contractors. Many universities are already relying to a greater degree on [...]
Jeez, faculty unions are regressive. The question of whether these educational experiences are worth it is easily answered. How do the stduents who complete the first year of one of these private programs perform in their second year (and beyond) at the public institution.
And, by the way, it would not be surprising that a univesity senate voted agaionst such arragnements. Univesity senates are notoriously stacked with engaged faculty union members. It’s one way the faculty unions can exert some form of control over the institutions in which they reside.
Finally, this story is so one-sided and lacking in alternative voice that Macleans should be embarrassed to host it on its site.
Stig is E Aboyeji’s sock puppet account. You can tell because he makes the same spelling mistakes! That guy is going onto every thread and posting about how important it is to include international student opinions… even in articles like this one that don’t have a big international student perspective. Stop campaigning for a job at Macleans!
@Stig,
With respect to your suggestion that our story is one-sided, you will note that throughout the article there is mention that we attempted to speak with university administrators at Dalhousie, UWindsor and UManitoba. As noted, in the story, they either declined, were unavailable or took too long in responding.
The arguments concerning this article’s limitations also included a failure to include international student’s view points, the one’s who stand to gain the most in a pre-university acclaimitization year.
This is still a somewhat ragged whole in the above article’s argument. Perhaps a follow up of sorts could be done?
(I can assure you, I do not post using an alias but my name is but my first and last initials.)
Steve,
1. I am not Stig. I have never in my life posted under an alias. I always post in my full name and leave a website so if you would wish to, you can reach me. I come from a country that prides itself on its frank talk. I say shit like it is. No fear, no favor!
2. Frankly, I don’t need a job from Macleans. I am already occupied with a better paying, more important job. I just wish the discourse on Canadian Higher Education would broaden beyond Candian’s noses because believe it or not, Canadian Universities need to become a part of the world they are competing in or risk being local champions. Nevertheless, if Macleans would man up, I would gladly volunteer to provide this perspective. Hell, I already do for Imprint.
Besides Steve,
If you actually read the article, which I honestly doubt you did, you would find that it has a huge international student perspective.
This is terribly sloppy journalism….Not one international student, nor anyone involved at Navitas or Study Group International (who come in for a pounding here!) were approached for comment. Shocking…
Privatizing universities? Hmmm…works in the US and around the world, and seems like a great idea to break out of the stultifying faculty-union atmosphere that chokes so much innovation at our Canadian public institutions. Canadians don’t want to buy retail at government commissaries or canteens, so lets have a choice of private hospitals, municipal services – and schools!!
Links:
http://www.fraseric.ca/index.php/about-us-mainmenu-2/a-member-of-navitas.html
If by “works in the US and around the world” you mean that America has one of the lowest education ratings in the industrialized world, and the sick are forced to buy their lives from corporations because of loopholes in the fine-print of their insurance contracts, then yes, privatization does work.
If you’re sane, on the other hand, and view life, health, and education as the rights of all people (especially those in the richest countries in the world, who can easily pay for them) then you will oppose handing our education and health-care systems over to corporations – unaccountable, pathologically selfish, private tyrannies.
As for your unsupported claim that “Canadians don’t want to buy retail at government commissaries or canteens”, I’ll remind you that in a democratic state the government is run by the people for the people, and the people, if so inclined, have every right to choose free, government-provided healthcare and education (it’s what taxes are for).
Note, also, that in considering the government as a foreign entity separate from the population you are assuming an enormous democratic deficit in Canada today. This may well be the case. However, the solution is to revamp our governmental system to make it functionally, and not just ostensibly, democratic – not hand the state apparatus (responsible to the electorate) over to corporations (who are responsible only to profit).
My primary concern is that Canadian public institutions, funded by the Canadian taxpayer, are using their infrastructure to support private companies to turn a profit. Although it might appear that these ‘private colleges’ are separate and distinct from the mother university in fact they rely heavily on the name recognition and the promise that students will move on to academic studies in those universities.
My secondary concern is that the enormous profits realized by international students coming to Canada to study are not staying in Canada but are going to the stockholders of Navitas and other similar companies. Canadian universities may charge a set fee to these private colleges, e.g. $2-3 million/contract or some sort of arrangement, but if the private college has 1000 students paying $15,000/year then the $10-15 million in fees go outside of the university and presumably outside of the country.
My third concern is that these students study for 2 years in Canada at a university campus, like SFU, but end up with ‘credits’ that are not transferable to any other universities in Canada. In BC this flies in the face of BCCAT.
This is all pretty much ‘buyer beware’ but reflects badly on post-secondary education right across the country.