Student Organizations React to Drummond Report

This week’s release of the Drummond Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services has garnered different reactions from everyone in Ontario—and the education sector is no different.

The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) praised the report, and said they appreciate a focus on improving the student-experience in Ontario.

“The Commission has emphasized that the province’s economic growth and competitiveness depends on a strong postsecondary sector, which confirms the importance of the government’s commitment to fund 41,000 new spaces for university students over the next five years,” said Alastair Summerlee, Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and President of the University of Guelph.

“Through our own commitment to student success, quality and efficiency, Ontario universities will provide Ontario with talented graduates for the workforce and conduct research that drives economic and social change.”

The Drummond report was not as well received by Ontario’s professors and academic librarians, who feel they’re already stretched too thin.

“If Drummond had bothered to ask Ontario faculty about their jobs, we could have given him a better idea of what was actually going on. As it is, his picture is incomplete,” said Constance Adamson, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).

“Overall, Drummond is asking Ontario’s universities to do more with less. But in the face of steadily rising enrolment, this just means less for our students: less interaction with professors, fewer learning choices, and more barriers to young people seeking an exceptional experience.”