Editor's note: President Alastair Summerlee welcomes comments on his column at president@uoguelph.ca.
I have often talked about the characteristics that distinguish the University of Guelph from other institutions of higher learning: our attitudes and values, approach to teaching and research, openness to differing opinions, the people who work here, and the way we work together.
Indeed, this diversity is to be embraced. Not only is it what makes U of G a remarkable place to live and work, but differences among universities are also critical for the future of post-secondary education in Ontario. There must be variety and contrasts in the preservation, transmission and advancement of knowledge.
But what I have not talked about at great length is how our diversity evolved, for it was anything but happenstance that Guelph came to be the institution it is today.
French philosopher and writer Albert Camus once said: “Life is the sum of one's choices.” Indeed, the same can be said for the life of a university. The values and attitudes that are the underlying guiding principles at Guelph are the result of choices made and developed over the history of the institution.
More than 140 years ago, the University's founding colleges set out to be certain types of places: institutions that pushed the boundaries of research and teaching in agricultural and animal health and that provided some of the first programs geared to women.
U of G was built from this foundation of legacy and quality. Each University president inherits the traditions, values and sprit of the president who went before and commits to continue making choices and decisions that are consistent with Guelph's original purpose and mission.
Indeed, our tradition of embracing the people and lessons of the past while reaching out to the future has been integral to our success. At heart, the decision-making process has always been focused on the quality of the learning experience for all.
But it's important to remember the definition of “choice.” Each time a choice is made, we are selecting from many options. There will always be many other directions, paths and alternatives we could have selected that would have brought about different outcomes. There will also always be both positive and negative consequences of the choices we make. Part of the process of making choices is accepting this inevitability.
Over the years, there have been many positive outcomes from the choices we have made in striving to be consistent with our notion of the kind of place we want U of G to be.
We've made an effort to hire new faculty and staff to maintain the excellence of our teaching/ learning experience. In the process, we have always sought to find individuals with a clear sense of vision and an understanding of the values and attitudes that make Guelph unique. Deliberate efforts were made to recruit people who would continue with these traditions, who demonstrated a real sense of caring about the people and the institution.
We have created a research environment that is based on our roots of providing practical and applied opportunities. At the same time, we have chosen to expand in new directions that are true to our history of innovation and progression, supporting esoteric research that fulfils our University motto: “To Know the Meaning of Things.”
We have strived to ensure that fundamental research remains free from bias and influence. We've chosen research support and backing that are appropriate to our endeavours, including pushing to have as much publicly funded inquiry-driven research as possible. Over the last five years, the impact of our values has seen the amount of inquiry-driven research grow by 13 per cent and the amount of funding from corporations and direct funding from government reduced.
In our classrooms, we've generated environments that support learning both in and outside the classroom. We've created a campus atmosphere where student input and diversity are welcomed. In fact, the result of student contributions has helped result in the formation of policies around sweatshops, tuition and not allowing exclusivity agreements for services.
And U of G was the first Canadian university to have a fully integrated human rights policy.
We have strived to enhance accessibility on our campus and throughout the entire Ontario system. Our Presidential Task Force on Accessibility to University Education produced a report that made important inroads on this issue. It suggested changes at both the provincial and federal levels aimed at making education more affordable and accessible to all. Guelph is the only university in Ontario that has published reports on accessibility and on the quality of the undergraduate experience (see “White Paper.”).
We've supported the government tuition freeze and, in years where tuition increases were allowed, made an effort to keep increases to a minimum. We've also resisted raising revenue by differentiating tuition for some of our programs as part of our commitment to accessibility. I have strongly supported and promoted both decisions.
But these choices — as well as the many others made over the years to maintain Guelph's uniqueness — have come at a price, and we continue to deal with the consequences.
Our tuition fees are now $700 a year lower than the average tuition fees in Ontario, and our decision not to differentiate tuition for our professional programs translates into $11 million less in revenue each year. That difference means we have not been able to fill and augment faculty and staff positions or replace teaching assistants according to the original plans, nor have we been able to replace part of the aging infrastructure every year or retrofit an energy-inefficient building annually.
It also means we've struggled to continue to deal with inflation, including salaries and benefits, hydro and gas increases, and deferred maintenance.
But these decisions have been part of the balancing act of values in the institution, the consequences of the choices in keeping with the kind of university we want to be.
We must decide if we will continue along this path of choice-making or whether it's time to look in new directions, to make new choices with different outcomes.
This is more important now than ever as the University embarks on a transition to a fully integrated planning process. We will be looking back to the past and moving ahead as we strive to bring forward five-year plans for all our colleges, units and departments.
There is a reason that the integrated planning process is called “Making Change, Making Choices.” We have arrived at a period of uncertainty and change — a crossroads in the history of this institution — and this may mean a bumpier ride for Guelph than for some of our peer institutions.
Yet no matter what challenges arise, we can confront them as we have in the past and emerge an even stronger institution. Our reputation as a university that emphasizes creativity, innovation, artistic integrity, scientific discovery and leadership — a reputation that was formed by choices and decisions made more than a century ago — will endure long into the future. Of this, I have no doubt.
