July 2004
ORION prepares submission to Bob Rae Postsecondary Review panel
ORION is drafting a submission to the Ontario Postsecondary Review Panel led by former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, now reviewing Ontario’s postsecondary education system.
“This panel represents a wonderful opportunity for us to raise awareness of ORION’s terrific potential as new, enabling infrastructure across Ontario’s postsecondary system,” says ORION President and CEO Phil Baker.
"Our primary objective is to signal a very positive message, that ORION is already in place, fully paid for and extends to all regions of Ontario. We are the envy of other jurisdictions and really far ahead of the game when it comes to advanced research and education networking capabilities,” he said. “We just have to move quickly to exploit this competitive advantage.”
The Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Mary Anne Chambers launched the review earlier this year, asking former Ontario Premier Bob Rae to lead a comprehensive review of the design and funding of Ontario's postsecondary education system.
"The key to competing and winning in a highly competitive global economy is having the most highly skilled and educated workforce," said Chambers.
"Our review will look at not only what we have done in Ontario but more broadly at the world to consider what other jurisdictions with great public institutions of higher learning have done, are doing, and plan to do," Rae said. "We are seeking to put Ontario at the forefront of innovation in support of higher education."
A discussion Paper will be released in the Fall 2004, followed by consultations involving students and their parents, university and college institutions, faculty and staff and members of the private sector. The purpose is to develop recommendations for “an accessible, affordable and accountable, high quality postsecondary education system with a sustainable funding framework”.
Mr. Rae will also ask leaders, innovators and experts from Ontario, other provinces and abroad for advice on issues such as system design, collaboration, funding, student assistance and accountability. He is expected to present his report and recommendations to Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Mary Anne Chambers in early 2005.
Ontario’s colleges and universities are hopeful about the exercise.
“Ontario universities are confident that the review, which will focus on ensuring a high-quality, accessible and accountable education system, will point to a need for reinvestment in Ontario universities,” said Richard Van Loon, Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and President of Carleton University.
“The colleges will work with Bob Rae on the postsecondary review process to ensure that the college system is properly funded to provide accessible, transferable educational opportunities for its students,” says Richard Johnston, chair of the Funding Advisory Committee of the Committee of Presidents of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario, and also a member of the Advisory Panel.
The ORION network currently connects virtually every college and university in Ontario to each other and to other research and education networks in Canada and around the world.
“There are many ways that ORION’s telecommunications infrastructure can be applied to support new, innovative and more efficient delivery of education and access to learning resources. Our users are already exploring ways to take advantage of this connectivity for shared initiatives and new forms of collaboration,” said Baker.
“We are hoping that the panel will recognize that there are opportunities to build-on existing system-wide initiatives, like ORION, that can be leveraged to achieve innovation and bring about transformational change in Ontario’s postsecondary education system. We would like the panel to recognize our network’s potential as an inter-institutional platform and as a dynamic engine for innovative approaches to research, teaching and learning”, said Baker.
Baker expects ORION’s submission will recommend a strong direction to post-secondary institutions to fully explore the network’s potential to bring enhancements to the system and to strengthen Ontario institutions’ global reach in research and education.
Members of the advisory panel include Leslie Church, a law student and former executive director, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance; Ian Davidson, chief of police for Greater Sudbury; former Premier William Davis; Don Drummond, senior vice president and chief economist TD Bank Financial Group; Dr. Inez Elliston, retired educator and community leader; Richard Johnston, retiring president of Centennial College; and Huguette Labelle, chancellor of the University of Ottawa.
Learn more about the Panel and its schedule of activities at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/postsecreview/index.html.
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