Q and A with Tom Traves

Dalhousie University President Tom Traves was recently elected board chair of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) (Nick Pearce Photo)

Dalhousie President Tom Traves recently became chairman of the board of directors for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). It’s the national voice for 92 publicly funded degree-granting institutions, and conducts research and drafts federal policy proposals regarding higher education issues. Dr. Traves discussed his new post with Dalnews, and shared some thoughts on the challenges and opportunities ahead for post-secondary education in Canada.

Dalnews: How will your involvement with AUCC at this level benefit Dalhousie?
Tom Traves: To see the president of Dalhousie represent Canadian universities both nationally and abroad in this capacity ... I think it helps reinforce Dalhousie's international status as a high quality, esteemed institution, along with things like our recent number one rating in The Scientist magazine as the best scientific place to work outside the U.S. There's a reputational gain for us in having that kind of profile.

Dalnews: Do you feel qualified to represent Canada’s universities at home and abroad, and if so, why?
TT: I do feel comfortable doing this. I've been a university president here for 12 years, was a senior academic administrator at two other universities (UNB & York), and I've participated in the AUCC in various capacities for a number of years ... so I have a pretty good grasp of the national issues. Moreover, the AUCC has a superb and professional staff. It's probably one of the best lobby organizations in Ottawa. They don't send us into conversations without very detailed briefs and position papers ... there's a lot of support.   

Dalnews: Canada is enjoying a strong national economy, and the looming wave of baby boomer retirements will really open things up for graduates. Is it fair to say there has never been a better time to get a university education? 
TT: Yes, I think so. Obviously, a lot of opportunities will emerge in the next decade. We know from the research that a university education significantly impacts an individual’s opportunities for better jobs, professional experiences and higher lifetime earnings. Graduates tend to also have more successful lives and better health, and their children tend to have brighter futures.

Dalnews: Even so, enrolments declined at many universities in the Atlantic region this year. That’s partly because Ontario’s double-cohort phenomenon has now moved through the system, but are there other factors at play?
TT: Over the last few decades we've actually seen a significant increase in participation rates, largely driven by the tremendous expansion of enrolments by women, who now represent about 55 per cent of the university student population. There are, however, some worrisome questions to consider in this region. Over the next decade, we’re expecting a substantial decline in the size of the high school population. Our population is aging, and we're also seeing a lot of emigration from this region to more dynamic economies. Many of our young people are moving to places that offer very high wages, and they’re raising their families elsewhere.

From a national perspective, we're going to see substantial growth – Metropolitan Toronto is projecting an increase of some 50,000 students over the next five years. That's more than all the students in Nova Scotia combined! But some of them will need to study elsewhere, so from Atlantic Canada's perspective, there are still reasonable opportunities for growth ahead.  

Dalnews: What are some other big challenges facing Dalhousie, and how are we planning to meet them?
TT: Dalhousie has gone through a substantial renewal of its faculty but we still have a significant number of retirements ahead in the next decade. That’s a big challenge in order to remain competitive, but 95 per cent of our new appointments last year were our first choice applicants. So that suggests Dalhousie is an attractive place to work, and external feedback like The Scientist ratings confirm that.

The second issue is that a sustainable financial base turns to a large extent on the size and composition of the student body. Obviously with our regional demographic situation, we have to be very proactive and reach out in creative ways to make sure students in other parts of the country know about us, think about us and consider us. We’ve invested heavily in our marketing efforts and that’s paying off. We’ve seen increases in the size of our first-year class for the last two years.

Then of course you have to offer a supportive environment, which requires substantial investment in our facilities and equipment. Dalhousie has put a lot of money into these areas but we have to do much much more. And the support services we offer are more than physical. We need strong academic and research supports for students and faculty, things like writing and career centres, advising centres, good athletic facilities – all of the things that go into a positive and enriching academic, cultural and social experience.

Dalnews: We’ve seen a lot of media coverage lately about tuition rates in Canada becoming unrealistic for young people, many of whom face major debtloads when they graduate.
TT: Tuition fees in Canada are actually quite modest, and lower than in many countries. They’re wrongly identified as the source of the graduate debt load. Debt levels have grown far more than tuition levels over the last few decades, so something else is happening, in terms of the cost of living for students. The real source of the problem is that various levels of government have not sustained a strong investment in grants to support students. There’s a substantial loan program, so students end up borrowing a lot of money. The best way to deal with the debt problem is not to force universities to lower their tuition fees, which will erode our ability to offer high quality education, but to make sure there are adequate financial supports and grants.

Dalnews: Ottawa is phasing out the Millenium Foundation Scholarship Program this year – is that a cause for concern? (Dal students receive roughly $17-18 million per year from this fund.)
TT: It’s particularly worrisome in a province like Nova Scotia, when the government invests in student loans but not grants. The AUCC is pushing for an appropriate continuation and expansion of the scholarship policy, either by the foundation or another form of federal government investment. 

Education is considered a provincial responsibility … but research, development and innovation are critical to the success of the national economy. At the national level, we focus on a handful of issues we feel are crucial areas of federal responsibility: people (for example, Canada Research Chairs, graduate scholarships), projects (through NSERC and other granting agencies), infrastructure (through funding vehicles such as Canada Foundation for Innovation) and research success services.
 
Dalnews: Can you define “research success services”?  
TT: We have to maintain the equipment, provide a range of support services and manage the flow of grants coming into the university, and make sure they’re accounted for appropriately. It’s estimated that every research dollar costs a minimum of 40 cents to administer and support – other estimates put it closer to 65 cents. The American government recognizes this; with every research grant, they provide matching funds of 65 per cent to cover support costs. In Canada, we get about 25 per cent to cover these costs, so our universities essentially have to subsidize the federal government in this area. 
 
Dalnews: The AUCC is also urging higher federal investment in graduate student support – why is this a priority?  
TT: Canada’s tremendous economic boom is largely driven by high prices for resource commodities. In terms of productivity, we still lag behind significantly. In the 1950s and 60s, Canada ranked third among OECD countries in terms of productivity, and today we’re 17th. A part of the solution is to have a more innovative economy. In an increasingly technological and complex environment, we need a highly skilled, highly educated workforce. Universities are not the sole solution but we play a significant role. Many jobs of the future are going to require more than undergraduate degree. Canada graduates about 50 per cent fewer master’s level students than the United States on a per capita basis, and two thirds the number of PhDs. So we’d better invest heavily in that area, soon. 
 
Dalnews: Why are international students a big part of this picture for AUCC?
TT: We believe that since Canada is lagging so far behind in graduate degrees, we should significantly reach out to international students. In a competitive way, by offering them scholarships to come study here, with the ultimate hope they’ll stay in Canada and contribute to our success. But we can’t deliver on that priority unless we have sufficient support for those other areas I mentioned earlier. As we expand the research environment, we need to increase the support mechanisms or risk undermining quality.
 
Dalnews: How important is it for Canadian universities to collaborate with the private sector, and commercialize our research? 
TT: We’re publicly supported and thus we contribute to a larger social mission – our country’s economic success, cultural success, health success, on so on. The private sector drives the economy, so of course we need to work closely with them. There are good ideas here that can make a difference, so why would we keep them bottled up in somebody’s lab rather than bring them forward for the greater health and welfare of our country?

On the other hand, it’s important to appreciate this is just one component of a university’s contribution. Arguably, it pales in significance to our fundamental mission, which is to produce highly qualified graduates who will go out into our communities and contribute to our knowledge base, our economy and the ultimate success of Canadian society. We’re part of a much larger effort. An important part – we help shape people’s skills and critical thinking abilities. Universities are increasingly understood to be vital building blocks of strong societies.

Read: Hiring boom hits campuses in The Globe & Mail