The following is a joint statement on behalf of the Red River College Faculty Association (RRCFA) and the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations (MOFA).
MOFA and RRCFA: Faculty members leave consultations with more questions than answers
Earlier today, faculty members from Manitoba’s universities and colleges attended a meeting with the province on the topic of performance-based funding (PBF). Despite years of opposition from students and faculty, and a range of evidence demonstrating that PBF will reduce access for students and will dilute the educational experience, the government continues to push forward with this backward scheme.
At the meeting, the university faculty associations stood together and jointly presented a submission from MOFA, supported by the RRCFA, which outlined serious concerns with PBF along with our recommendations, which are available here. The government was unable to present any evidence that such a policy would improve outcomes within Manitoba’s post-secondary sector. Perhaps most concerning is that the provincial government has yet to identify where our universities and colleges are falling short, and why they feel such a radical shake-up of our post-secondary sector is required.
Faculty felt that the scope of the consultation was far too narrow, with a presumption that performance-based funding was necessary for greater accountability, a premise with which faculty fundamentally disagree. We are concerned that the provincial government is pursuing a policy that is based on political ideology rather than clear objectives and evidence-based decision-making. Faculty repeatedly asked what information the government is missing from the post-secondary system to inform this policy direction.
In response to these consultations, we were pleased to hear from the Deputy Minister Eric Charron that performance-based funding is not a certainty, but unfortunately that it is still a policy option for the government. We encourage the provincial government to consider the overwhelming consensus from peer-reviewed research that these policies do more harm than good.