Science for profit: Conservatives target the National Research Council | rabble.ca

More on the budget, the national research council and funding in the 2012 budget for graduate students, in this editorial from Rabble:

Science for profit: Conservatives target the National Research Council | rabble.ca

Federal Budget & Grad students

Updated: links to responses to budget for research/graduate study added below

The budget was touted for many cuts (and the demise of the penny!), but there are some additional resources for research, when business related, plus small increases for graduate students.

You can see the (more) detailed budget plan section on "Supporting Entrepreneurs, Innovators and World-Class Research"
Or visit the budget main page here, which includes briefs, press releases, the full budget plan, and even a video of the Minister looking really serious (kids in the hall fans may think he is about to crush your head).

The following is the quick version of the funding increases related to university research:

"Support for Research, Education and Training
The Government is committed to providing additional resources to support advanced research at universities and other leading research institutions. Economic Action Plan 2012 proposes:

• $37 million annually starting in 2012–13 to the granting councils to enhance their support for industry-academic research partnerships.

• $60 million for Genome Canada to launch a new applied research competition in the area of human health, and to sustain the Science and Technology Centres until 2014–15.

• $6.5 million over three years for a research project at McMaster University to evaluate team-based approaches to health care delivery.

• $17 million over two years to further advance the development of alternatives to existing isotope production technologies.

• $10 million over two years to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research to link Canadians to global research networks.

• $500 million over five years, starting in 2014–15, to the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support advanced research infrastructure.

• $40 million over two years to support CANARIE’s operation of Canada’s ultra-high speed research network.

• $23 million over two years to Natural Resources Canada to enhance satellite data reception capacity."

  
  
  [How did McMaster do it? (shakes fist)! Develops theory.]
  
  There are also some items of particular grad student interest:
  
  
  

  "Economic Action Plan 2012 proposes $14 million over two years to double the Industrial Research and Development Internship program.
  The Industrial Research and Development Internship program currently helps 1,000 graduate students undertake hands-on research in innovative Canadian firms each year. This initiative provides host firms with access to cutting-edge research and skills, while providing students with valuable applied research experience in a private sector setting. To double the resources of the Industrial Research and Development Internship program, Economic Action Plan 2012 proposes $14 million over two years. This new funding will be administered by Mitacs, an advanced research organization with a proven track record of helping businesses solve problems through access to graduate students."

  
  and,
  
  

  "This new approach will promote business innovation through improved support for high-growth companies, research collaborations, procurement opportunities, applied research and risk financing. This will provide a solid foundation on which Canada’s globally competitive businesses can build by making the investments in innovation required to create high-value jobs and long-term economic growth. In particular, the Government will:... Support private and public research collaboration through internships for graduate students and funding for business-led research and development.  ..."

 I hope all that extra money means these internships will be paid.

UPDATE: Responses to budget:

CIHR provided some excellent summaries of how reasearch money is shifting (my summary here)

CBC Power Politics longer interview on innovation and the budget (video)

Liberal finance critic, MP Scott Bryson, described the research funding as a "shell game" on CBC's As it happens March 29, 2012. He said funds that once went to innovation in the private sector was being shifted to the public sector, which was being cut, thus leaving the private sector worse served in terms of supporting research. NDP critic also on, doesn't speak to the research funding. Check out the CBC As It Happens budget interviews (before there is 11% less of it).

NDP tried to get a jump start calling for the  National Research Council to be saved the day before the budget was launched.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC)  applauded the research funding  and the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies also called the budget a positive development (PDF) but the press release "noted the details are still sketchy".

Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of University Teachers said the budget "compromises research, hinders prosperity", saying tying research to commercial goals will hinder, not help, innovation.

And from the student groups: CASA says thumbs down [pdf], saying it shifts money from granting councils to industry related research, and the CFS love it. Just kidding, they don't like it either.

UBC likes it. So does UVIC, but we have less to say, and refer back to the AUCC statement.

Mixed reaction from the business community according to the Financial Post

A few days pre-budget, the Globe and Mail had some more in depth coverage on how r&d  funding for industry works now, and proposed changes with the budget.

Also of interest:

CCPA alternative federal budget

Globe Graduate Studies section for MBAs only

For a moment I was excited to see the Globe and Mail has added a "Graduate Strudies" section to their education report.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/graduatestudies/

However, a quick review shows that virtually every story is about MBA students -- ony 6 of 43 posts thus far are about a subject other than MBA programs. And even the 6 non-MBA stories were often more general interest than graduate studies (ie. scandal related to a speech at convocation, kids visit a lab, etc).

It is too bad because there are lots of interesting things to consider about graduate school -- changes to research funding, corporate involvement on granting council boards, research facilities in various universities, the changing demographic of graduate school. Even graduate student unions occasionally do something interesting!

So, if you are an MBA student, I encourage you to have a look.. there is some interesting stuff there. Otherwise, unfortunately, not so much.

Ouch!

It seems everyone is down on grad school these days. Newest commentary comes from the economist.

here is a sample

The interests of academics and universities on the one hand and PhD students on the other are not well aligned. The more bright students stay at universities, the better it is for academics. Postgraduate students bring in grants and beef up their supervisors’ publication records. Academics pick bright undergraduate students and groom them as potential graduate students. It isn’t in their interests to turn the smart kids away, at least at the beginning. One female student spoke of being told of glowing opportunities at the outset, but after seven years of hard slog she was fobbed off with a joke about finding a rich husband

For my own research (into potential for graduate students to form co-operatives as  a service provider) I just obtained the much cited (and also bleak) book , Leaving the Ivory Tower: The Causes and Consequences of Departure from Doctoral Study (by Barbara E. Lovitts).

For me, the hardest departures I see are where the student has made a huge sacrifice, for many years, to attend grad school, but at the end of their program it doesn't work out. In my experience there are usually several factors piling up against the student, many of them also outside the university's control, and little means to help the student find their way through if those external problems cause long delays.

Grad rep? Moi?

Grad Students… Be your department Grad Rep to the GSS!
 
What do the Graduate Representatives do?
-  represent the interests of fellow grad students in your department
-  report back to your home department on discussions and decisions made during grad council meetings
-  where possible, sit on one university committee a year
-  hold a departmental meeting at least once a semester to discuss common issues of concern and bring concerns and issues raised back to grad council 
-  participate in major governance decisions about the GSS (e.g. last year, the Grad Rep Council was involved in discussions regarding changes to the health and dental plans)
-  attend the monthly grad rep council meetings the Annual General Meeting and Semi-annual General Meeting
-  participate in GSS sub committees and represent graduate students to committees of the university

How do I become the Graduate Representative?
It is up to students in each department to select a representative. This call for grad reps should be forwarded to students in your department by email by the department graduate secretary. Typically interested students submit their name to the graduate secretary, and if there are several candidates, elections are held either by ballot in the department office, email vote or election at a meeting of all graduate students in the department. The nature of the election is determined by the students in the department, and usually depends on the number of students enrolled, whether the department has a department graduate students union that can administer the election, and whether many students are studying by distance. Departments should make efforts to select the representative before the first meeting of the Council on Tuesday, September 27 

Can there be more than one representative for a department?
Grad Council meetings are open to all members of the Society. However, each department has only one vote. If the representative is unable to attend a meeting, an alternate may attend in her/his place. If a representative fails to attend three consecutive meetings without sending an alternate, she or he shall be deemed to have resigned from the Council.

When does the Council meet?
Grad Council meetings are usually held on the last Tuesday of each month, at 5 pm at the Graduate Students' Centre (see exceptions below). In September there will be a meeting September 27 at 5pm. normally, there is no meeting in December or between April and August. Pizza or other light fare is served for dinner. (January 2012 meeting will be on Tuesday the 24th).

I’ve been elected, what now?
Please ensure that your grad secretary sends notice of your election to the GSS by email at gssmgr [a] uvic.ca. Successful candidates can contact Stacy Chappel at gssmgr[at]uvic.ca to provide contact information and obtain more information.

Any questions:
Please call/email Stacy Chappel at 472-5163 / gssmgr[at]uvic.ca.

UVIC GSS website

Hi all, we are experiencing some trouble with our UVIC Graduate Students' Society website in google since it migrated to the new site. It is being fixed, but for now, the link is the same: http://gss.uvic.ca/

UVIC graduate student health plan information can also be found at http://gss.uvic.ca/.

kick start you writing using online motivational tools

Beyond my life working for graduate students at the gss, I also have a secret life as a graduate student.

This term I am to submit my research proposal. Through my first two terms of graduate school, I have attempted to journal as a means to help my writing process, but with limited success.

Today I embarked on a new effort to ensure I do keep to my writing commitments, partly inspired by Joan Bolker's book, Write your dissertation in 15 minutes per day. (What an inspiring title!) Which advocates keeping a research journal.

But for those, like me, who need some prodding, some online tools may be of interest.

Do you forget to write every day? Oh, Life may be fore you. It is a simple system. you set up an account using your email, and then each evening Oh, Life sends an email asking about your day. You respond, and that is these emails become the substance of your journal. After you build up content, it will send snippets of past entries as reminders/starting points, selected at random. I wish I could choose its question to suit my purpose (not "how was your day" but "how's the research?" or something ... as long as it isn't "are you done your thesis yet?"). However, I can't fault the simplicity of the system, and the fact that an email prompt will likely be helpful for someone like me.

If goals and rewards are what you need, you might like the online journal, 750 words. With this site you are encouraged to login and write 750 words per day, and if you do this for five days in a row you get a little reward (penguin badge), and each month you get a score card with more points the more days you write. The site also assigns moods based on what you write (which unnerves me). There are challenges as well -- you could end up on the wall of awesome (or wall of shame) so think on that before choosing your pen name!

In both cases, the online journal can be downloaded for use elsewhere. Perhaps in your thesis methods section!

80% cuts to eduction in UK draws 50,000 protestors

At the GSS we are following the demonstrations for public education funding with interest.

Excellent democracy now coverage on the demo, followed by very good explanation of the cuts happening in the UK to education and other cuts to social programs.

University was free in the UK in the 90s, it will now be 9,000 pounds per year ($14,600 Canadian)

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/11/over_50_000_students_protest_in

BC graduate tuition above national average

Statistics Canada produced a report yesterday about tuition for Canadian students by province.

According to the report, graduate student tuition is increasing at a rate higher than undergraduate tuition.



Of interest at UVIC is that BC graduate tuition is above the national average by about $1,000 per year. This is particularly daunting given BC's lack of a graduate scholarship program, and high cost of living.

Obtain the stats can report here.

The UVIC GSS is working with graduate student unions across western canada to advocate for better graduate funding, maintaining tuition caps, and support for students.

Festival of Budget news

Here is some more detail regarding the 2010 budget from the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, there is this mention of graduate students:

Objective 1.2: BC’s post secondary education sector fosters creativity, innovation and knowledge development.

British Columbia’s future economy will be shaped by innovation. Collaborative partnerships and knowledge development will be critical to unlocking BC’s full economic and creative potential in the years ahead. Our ability to capitalize on BC’s leading-edge research and competitive strengths in key knowledge industries will require unprecedented collaboration between government, post secondary institutions and industry. It will also require a province-wide effort to build a culture of science in BC to ensure the province has a critical mass of people with the knowledge and skills needed to support the knowledge-based economy.

Strategies

- Work in partnership with the Ministry of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development on the continued development and management of research and innovation policy and research-related investments.

- Support research and innovation through operating grants to post secondary institutions, targeted funding for graduate students, and through the BC Knowledge Development Fund, which supports investments in research infrastructure.

- Work with partners to advance a culture of science across BC.

But what does it mean?

In past years the government has set targets for increasing grad enrollment. They have also created, then expanded, then put on hold the BC Pacific Leaders scholarship program which funded graduate students. This doesn't indicate if there will be a shift to more or less, or maintenance of the same.

The Advanced Education ministry's service plan also mentions international student recruitment as a key goal for BC, with Goal 3 to make BC a "global destination of choice for students, skilled workers and entrepreneurs".

Increasing first nations participation is another key goal, but unfortunately no specific targets are given except to increase enrollment over previous years.

Supporting research universities is also given as part of a plan to increase the knowledge economy in BC. They specifically mention supporting research in key labour market areas as well, and medicine gets a particular nod with a goal to increase the number of doctors. This sort of thing makes universities nervous. Traditionally universities have been arms length--receiving government funds, but able to allocate to areas of research and education as they choose. Recently past couple years, the ministry created quite a stir by adding "Letters of Expectation" to their funding letters, with the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia arguing the letters violated the University Act. The ministry seems to be addressing this fear in particular with Minister Stillwell's introduction:

We want our public universities to have the independence and flexibility needed for them to pursue their unique areas of excellence in partnership with others, and in a way that provides better services for students. Working closely with our institutions, we will be exploring ways for them to unleash their creativity and thrive in an increasingly competitive market.

You can read the full BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Management Development March 2010 service plan here.

Graduate Students join massive strikes at U California

Graduate students joined staff unions and undergraduates in a state wide strike protesting plans to drastically increase tuition in the face of cuts to university funding in the state.

Graduate students are facing a wide range of possible fee increases, including increases of a whopping 64% for some programs, in a move which violates a university policy to keep the grad tuition in line with other schools.

Undergraduate tuition is slated to increase 32% across the baord.

Meanwhile, senior adminsitrators apparently voted themselves a raise at the same time, while cutting wages or laying off staff and non-tenure professors.

Callout to graduate students at UC Berkeley is here.

The website of the strike is:
http://ucsolidarity.org/

A fascinating interview with Bob Samuels, president of the University of California, American Federation of Teachers (author of the blog Changing Universities) and Zen Dochterman, UCLA grad student taking, was on Democracy Now on November 20, and the interviewees provide some interesting analysis of the privatization of the university and how funding is allocated.

Martlet Story: GSS responds to athletics referendum

Amy Cox and Mike Large have been busy ensuring grad students are heard on the referendum campaign with two recent op eds in the Martlet.

Newest is here:
http://www.martlet.ca/article/20376-gss-disappointed-with-referendum-information

My fave comment is "Why is the GSS so well run?" Thanks, "argh", it's because we have people like Amy and Mike!!

It’s your call: One click could save you $55 per term in athletics fees

Should students pay for a new athletic facility with a “new” $55/term fee (in addition to the current $73/term fee)?

You will be asked to vote on this question October 19-23, 2009 on webvote at https://webvote.uvic.ca

The Graduate Students’ Society is opposed to this fee increase. Here are some of our reasons:

Is this fee increase legal?

The GSS is concerned that the fee increase is not permitted under BC’s tuition limit policy, which caps increases of tuition and fees for current programs at 2% per year. This new fee will be a 75% fee increase for students.

The GSS has sent UVic a letter (PDF) asking UVIC to account for this, and will post any reply we receive on our campaign site here: http://gss.uvic.ca/2009athletics.htm

Who uses and who pays?

In the January 2009 term alone, contribution by students to the Athletics and Recreation budget was $1,082,939.00—without including additional fees paid by students for intramural, weight room, and program fees.

According to UVIC data for January – March 2009, which assumes average usage of 1-3 visits per week, about 30% of undergraduates and 8% of graduate students are using the Ian Stewart Complex (the most popular recreation facility on campus).

Athletics fees: the goal posts keep moving!

Until UVIC purchased the Ian Stewart Complex (ISC), athletic fees increased at a rate almost identical to inflation. Since the purchase of ISC, students have been paying a greater proportion of the cost for Athletics at UVIC each year. In the past decade, the proportion of the Athletics budget covered by student fees has risen from 20% to 38%.

Mandatory fees can be a benefit—if they are less than market rate

Compare this fee proposal to the U-pass... the U-pass costs one quarter the cost of buying a monthly buss pass. Every student pays in, but the cost is kept lower than market rate. In return, transit improves bus service to Victoria campuses.

Now compare the proposed athletics fee proposal to other recreation passes in Victoria *:

No. of terms	Current fee	New fee
One term	$73	$128
Two Terms	$146	$256
Three Terms	$219	$320*
COMPARE
Sannich Rec student pass	285/year
Oak Bay Rec annual pass	$345/year
YM-YWCA pass - family pass	$444/year $780/year

* graduate students will have the option to opt out of the summer term; summer term will be charged at 50%. 60% of graduate students and 20% of undergraduates pay 3 terms of fees per year.

What are the other options?

UVIC says mandatory student fees need to cover 36.7% of the cost of the building—but what are other options? UVIC’s consultation process suggested selling the Ian Stewart Complex as one revenue source. Other options include bigger donor campaigns, a stronger lobby for government support.

UVIC’s facility analysis indicates UVIC will seek to cover costs of the building with the following revenues:

1. New students Mandatory Fee

2. Program revenues

3. Donors

4. Government funding

5. UVIC contribution

What are the arguments in favour of the fee increase?

UVIC made a presentation to the GSS Grad Council about the proposal. It can be found here.

UVIC’s facility analysis (500 pages) can be found here.

UVIC’s/vikes website supporting the fee increase is here

Student facebook group in support of the fee increase is found on the vikes website here

Visit open houses

Help the campaign

Visit the GSS campaign site, download a poster, learn more: all here