"B.C’s reputation for high-quality post-secondary education is at stake if the WTU is allowed to call itself a university without going through an approval process and meeting minimum standards required of all other private institutions, says Robert Clift, executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C."
This raises some of the conversations that we have had as private institutions in different provinces, with different factors contributing to the reasons we are (or are not) called University, University College, College, etc.
Do you think it puts the reputation of a high quality education at stake? Do you think that being prevented from having "University" in your name limits the opportunity to get a good reputation?
DC
2 comments:
This is a huge topic as you said. SSU didn't receive it's charter until '98 but was always able to call itself a university under New Brunswick regulations. The practical reality of the time was that the NB government was almost hostile to us at the time we got going so there was no way we would ever have received our charter until that government fell and new leadership took over. When the government then changed hands, it took time to build relationships to the point where it was time to present the private members bill to get the charter process going.
So in the meantime we called ourselves a university and did our thing. Would things have been different though if we couldn't have used University in our name? Internally, most likely not. We would still have our distincitves that made us who we were and are and gone about our business accordingly. That's my guess.
At the same time though when we did receive our charter, the amount of recognition our degrees were given by other institutions (mostly secular) increased significantly. So our students probably benefitted the most in that they are now able more than ever to continue their studies at schools accross the country with relative ease compared to the pre-'98 days.
So what am I saying in all this? Although a school's designation most likely won't affect its core values and mission, it does have an outward impact...fortunately or unfortunately...on how it is viewed in the greater academic community. That is the reality.
The WTU was the brain child of the United Nations and it was considered quite a coup when BC landed it. With the backing of the UN it was or should have been a free ride through the Legislature. Though it did pass it had quite a time. We faced tougher questioning in our own private hearings because of WTU. Taken at face value, WTU was given a free pass concerning the normal standards associated with degree granting priviledges as the following portion of the bill shows "The university has the power to grant degrees in its own right and name and to award
certificates and diplomas, despite the University Act."
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