STUDENT UNION PERSPECTIVES ON THE MOU
AND ACADIA
The Acadia Student Union supports the last Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Universities and the Nova Scotia Government. Current president of the ASU, Kyle Steele, said that support is based on the tuition freeze in the MOU, which represents an advance from the previous limitations to increases of no more than 3.9%. The ASU is a member of the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA), which has also supported the most recent MOU. ANSSA represents the student associations of Dalhousie, Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Mary’s, and Acadia. While ANSSA issued a press release recognizing that the funding arrangements of the MOU would hurt Acadia and Cape Breton University, and that the new funding formula was unsustainable, ANSSA has not called for a return to previous funding arrangements. The Canadian Federation of Students Nova Scotia (CFSNS) on the other hand has rejected the MOU. CFSNS represents the student associations of CBU, University of King’s College, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and the Université Saint-Anne. The CFSNS has argued that beside the fact that the new funding arrangements will hurt smaller universities, particularly Acadia and CBU, the basic premises of the funding formula are misguided and therefore have called for a campaign to “push back” the last MOU.
Kyle Steele said that Dalhousie is the big winner in the recent funding arrangements, with SFX and SMU following Dalhousie with lesser gains. Acadia is, however, one of the big losers. Steele said that he was stunned when he heard that Acadia was left out of the discussions carried out between the Nova Scotia government and the presidents of Dalhousie, SFX, and SMU, who were representing the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents (CONSUP). The student associations ANSSA and CFSNS were also in attendance. The meetings resulted in the adoption of an enrolment model for funding rather than the core funding model that was previously the norm. Steele said that the “most important” reason for Acadia’s current financial crisis was the new funding criteria in the MOU. It has been reported that during the discussions on the MOU it was acknowledged that Acadia and CBU would be seriously hurt by the new funding arrangements. Apparently, this resulted in the transition formula, which will hardly spare Acadia or CBU the ultimate pain of increasing deficits – reportedly $5,000,000 at Acadia within three years. On the other hand, Dalhousie, SFX, and SMU gained from the discussion. These institutions had effective representation at the MOU discussions through their very own university presidents and the fact that ANSSA also represents these three institutions.
In response to questions on ANSSA and ASU’s future plans regarding the MOU, Steele pointed to the “Plan or Perish” campaign. The Executive Director of ANSSA, Kelly Wilson, describes the campaign as a rejection of the core and enrolment funding models and a call for a new model and a comprehensive review of postsecondary education. While Steele recognized that a three-year window between MOU’s was not enough to turn things around at Acadia, he noted that Tom Herman had the respect of the university presidents, pointing to the power of CONSUP.
The CFSNS rejects the MOU outright. The executive representative, Kaley Kennedy, said that the enrolment funding model will result in “forced growth” of the universities, increasing competition among the universities for scarce resources, and impacting negatively on class sizes and other indicators of a quality education, things particularly valued by smaller universities that the CFSNS largely represents. Kyle Steele failed to see the logic of the CFSNS position, arguing that enrolment was rising and that there were possible new areas of growth in Nursing and PhD programs. In addition, he said that the CFSNS protest-orientation in discussions with the government meant that political leaders were unwilling to listen or work with the CFSNS. ANSSA, on the other hand, had a real ability to influence government decision-making, such as, for instance, the recent MOU between the universities, where ANSSA and CFSNS representatives sat together with CONSUP representatives and government officials, winning the recognition of tuition freezes and increased accessibility through government grants for students. CFSNS has, of course, lobbied for similar reforms.
Jamie Whidden