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2019 Canadian Higher Ed

Year in Review

January 1, 2020 (/forum/2019-canadian-higher-ed-year-in-review) · Academica Group

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A Happy New Year to everyone in the higher ed community in Canada and beyond.
We look forward to sharing many incredible stories with you in 2020, but for now, we’d
like to look back on the year that was.

We’ve identi ed the key themes of the 2019 using the same process we use for
choosing stories in our Academica Top Ten and Indigenous Top Ten publications. To
begin, we drew on the expertise of our team of researchers and consultants, who spent
2019 working with clients at over 100 postsecondary schools across Canada to solve
institutional challenges and move higher ed forward (https://www.academica.ca/we-
know-higher-education). We combined this expert insight with data gathered from
30,000+ Top Ten readers and the 200+ Top Ten newsletters written in 2019, resulting
in a holistic view of some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing Canadian
higher ed.

So without further ado, here are the top stories of 2019...

Student mental wellness

e challenge of student mental wellness isn’t new to higher ed, but the urgency of
addressing it has only continued to climb in recent years. As in 2018, 2019 saw schools
from across Canada implement a multitude of new initiatives to better support student
mental health. ere were more new initiatives than we can mention here, but most of
these initiatives fell into the categories of:

• Extended (usually 24/7) live mental health support via phone or electronic device

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 • Expanded on-campus counselling services

• New campus community spaces devoted to mental wellness

• AI-powered mental health assistants

• Student-supported fee hikes to support more mental health services

• New content (podcasts, video, blogs) to support student mental health

• Peer support programs

• Drop-in mental health clinics

In addition to these new initiatives, the year also saw broader developments in the
conversation about the increasingly dire state of student mental health: In January,
Catharine Munn wrote about the necessity of understanding student mental health
from the inside out (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/understanding-student-
mental-health-inside-out-%C2%A0). In March, Diane Dreher argued
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/why-undergrads-have-anxiety) that an increase in
materialistic values, the rising cost of postsecondary education, and an “external locus
of control” were contributing to the prevalence of anxiety disorders amongst
undergraduates. A piece (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/student-
overcommitment-and-what-do-about-it%C2%A0mintz%C2%A0) in May by
Steven Mintz argued that growing rates of anxiety and depression were connected to
growing rates of overcommitment and sleep deprivation. In November, an article
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/canadian-students-are-lonely-bunch-institutions-
can-do-more-support-them-khaja) in Maclean’s pointed to loneliness as a factor in
poor student mental health, citing a 2016 survey across Canadian universities that
found that nearly 70% of students felt lonely throughout the school year.
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Institutions wanted to respond to the struggles these students faced, but as always, the
question was: how? Matt Reed wrote an article (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/reed-classroom-mental-illness-no-longer-private) from the faculty perspective
discussing how student mental health ceases to be a private issue once it enters the
classroom. Billie Wright Dziech wrote (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/problems-
addressing-mental-wellness-crisis-higher-ed-opinion) that discussions of the student
mental health crisis have oversimpli ed the issue due to the complexities and the costs
of consulting with a diverse student population on mental wellness concerns. Debbie
Bruckner, Andrew Szeto, and Susan Barker argued (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/responding-student-suicide-ways-reduce-risk-promote-healing-opinion) that
“universities face multiple challenges in establishing practices for mental health
referrals, suicide prevention and intervention and knowing how to respond after a
suicide to reduce risk and promote healing.”

Students across Canada also responded to these issues, kicking o

the #StudentsLetsAct campaign (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/students-across-
canada-demand-government-action-mental-health), issuing an urgent call for
government action on student mental health. Among the campaign’s calls to action
were a call for the federal government to expand the Canada Student Grant for
Students with Permanent Disabilities to support those with temporary conditions.
Students also called for the grant to be increased by 50%.

Ontario’s Student Choice

Initiative
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 e Ontario government made many headlines in the postsecondary world in 2019,
but perhaps its biggest move was to introduce legislation
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/government-axes-free-tuition-low-income-
students-reduces-overall%C2%A0tuition%C2%A0mandatory-fees) making student
fees that had previously been mandatory optional. Critics at the time, like
the Canadian Federation of Students (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/student-fee-
opt-out-option-could-undermine-transparency-cfs) and the Canadian Alliance of
Student Associations (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/new-legislation-could-badly-
damage-student-life-democracy-casa), claimed that giving students the ability to opt
out of mandatory fees was tantamount to giving taxpayers the ability to opt out of
paying for certain services, and that such a move would drastically impact student
campus life, especially for students from marginalized groups.

e Canadian Federation of Students and York Federation of Students ultimately went

to court (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/divisional-court-panel-hears-arguments-
legality-student-choice-initiative) to challenge the legislation. Others pointed to how
the legislation would impact pillars of student democracy like student newspapers
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/%E2%80%9C-blow-campus-media-blow-
journalism-whole%E2%80%9D-opinion) and radio stations, arguing that these
organizations provide students with much-needed employment while maintaining a
culture of accountability and transparency on campus. Defenders of the policy
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/results-student-fee-opt-out-may-allow-services-
demonstrate-%E2%80%9Cusefulness%E2%80%9D-and-
%E2%80%9Cquality%E2%80%9D), however, argued that students should be able to
choose where their student fees were going, and that the resulting legislation would

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provide campus clubs and services with new incentive to reach out, engage their
community, and demonstrate their value (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/student-
unions-tackle-challenging-task-articulating-value-their-organizations-students).

e story of the Student Choice initiative took a signi cant turn in November,
however, when an Ontario court struck down the legislation
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/student-choice-initiative-struck-down-divisional-
court), arguing that the provincial government was meddling in issues of institutional
autonomy and that there was “no statutory authority authorizing Cabinet or the
Minister to interfere in the internal a airs of these student associations." As
institutional communities turned to the questions around
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/student-groups-hopeful-funding-can-be-restored-
asap-wake-court-ruling) how soon student groups could restore their funding to
previous levels, Ontario appealed the court’s ruling (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/government-appeals-court-ruling-struck-down-student-choice-
initiative) and argued that it restricted the government’s ability to o er conditional
funding.

Alberta budget cuts

Many were expecting a new direction in Alberta when the United Conservative Party
took power on April 30th of 2019. On the postsecondary front, one of the rst
indicators of this coming change came in August, when AB’s auditor general released a
report (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ab-auditor-general- ags-concerns-makes-
recommendations-institutions) stating that several of the province’s institutions had
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failed to act on recommendations from previous years. But the true herald of change
would be what would come to be known as the MacKinnon Report
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ab-should-link-institutional-funding-
performance-rather-enrolment-provincial-panel), which stemmed from a provincial
panel led by former Saskatchewan nance minister Janice MacKinnon.

e report contained several recommendations, which included the lifting of the

postsecondary tuition freeze, a move to performance-based funding, and a
reconsideration of the continued viability of some institutions. ese recommendations
immediately sparked concern among some postsecondary stakeholders, but it wasn’t
until the government tabled its rst budget (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ab-
postsecondary-institutions-students-absorb-funding-decrease-mandated-new-
budget) that the higher ed community and broader public saw what form the new
changes would take. ese changes included:

• A 5% cut to Advanced Education Operations in 2019-2020, with a further 6%

cut in 2022-2023

• e removal of the provincial tuition freeze, with tuition increases capped at 7% at

the school level and 10% at the program level

• e reduction of tuition and education tax credits, and an increase in

postsecondary student loan interest rates to prime plus 1%

e cuts to institutional operating grants, however, were not the same for all
institutions. e government noted at the time of its buget that cuts would be based on
institutional size and the ability of institutions to absorb the cuts. When the o cial
numbers came out, some critics argued that faith-based institutions had been unfairly
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exempted (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ab-public-school-advocate-asks-why-
faith-based-postsecondary-institutions-were-spared-cuts) from the cuts. Students
also expressed concerns (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ucalgary-students-voice-
concerns-regarding-tuition-increases) about tuition increases, arguing that the measure
would only further disadvantage students who were graduating into a weak economy
with high levels of debt.

Toward the end of 2019, the Alberta government made two other major
announcements in the postsecondary world: rst, that it would be making a priority
of apprenticeship training (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ab-focuses-skilled-
apprenticeship-training-amidst-other-educational-cuts) to support and expand the
Alberta labour force, and second, that it would spend $22M to fund mental health and
addiction supports at the province’s 26 postsecondary institutions.

International student outcomes

Prior to 2019, a majority of media coverage touching on international education in
Canada took a celebratory and optimistic tone, focusing on the ways that Canada had
become a global leader in international education (particularly in the post-Trump,
post-Brexit era). Furthermore, the outcomes for international students continued to
outdo those of domestic students: Statistics Canada (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/international-students-more-likely-graduate-pse-earn-less-statscan) found that
international students were more likely to graduate from postsecondary than their
domestic peers, and more likely to possess the attributes associated with higher
earnings; yet they earned lower salaries after graduation.
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However, the tone shifted considerably in 2019 from congratulatory to concerned as
stories began to come in about the experience of international students in Canada. e
Quebec government’s decision to suspend (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/international-students-left-limbo-after-suspension-qc-grad-program) the Quebec
Experience Program, which had previously provided international postsecondary
graduates the opportunity to fast-track their immigration applications, drew swift
criticism (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/qc-international-students-criticize-
changes-province%E2%80%99s-fast-track-immigration-policy) from both students
and employers impacted by the policy. In the neighbouring province of New
Brunswick, Edmunston Mayor Cyrille Simard took to Twitter
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/nb-mayor-courts-international-students-a ected-
qc-immigration-changes) to inform any international students a ected by the change
that they would be welcome in New Brunswick. In November, QC Immigration
Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette announced on his Facebook page that to “reassure
stakeholders,” the government would suspend its planned changes
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/qc-halts-changes-fast-track-immigration-
program-amidst-criticism) to the Quebec Experience Program.

Several articles examined the challenges encountered by international students, which

many described as a potentially exploitative system of international student
recruitment: e story of an international student facing deportation
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/international-student-arrested-facing-deportation-
working-too-many-hours) for working more job hours than their study permit
allowed; public concern grew about the tuition hikes (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/researchers-investigate-international-tuition-hikes) imposed on international
students; the results of a major investigation by the Toronto Star and
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St Catharines Standard that found that Canadian institutions were woefully
underprepared (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/investigation- nds-international-
student-growth-has-left-students-overwhelmed-educators) to accommodate a massive
in ux of international students; and Douglas Todd’s call for attention to the high rates
of suicide (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/it%E2%80%99s-time-talk-about-high-
rates-suicide-among-canada%E2%80%99s-international-students-todd) experienced
by Canada’s international students. OPSEU President Warren (Smokey)
omas further argued that Ontario colleges were reaping great rewards from
international students, but not reinvesting (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/opseu-
highlights-e ects-%E2%80%9Cchronic-government-underfunding%E2%80%9D-
upon-international-students) in those same students.

Perhaps the boldest of pieces on this front was one from Fay Patel
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/age-exploitative-internationalization-dead-
patel) whose title simply read, “Exploitative Higher Education Internationalisation is
Dead.” In it, the author argued that high tuition fees, lack of English language skills,
and few job opportunities were just three of the ways that Western institutions were
failing international students.

The push for antiracist

campuses

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 e language of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) has been in higher ed for some
time now, and 2019 saw many strong initiatives in this area. Alongside the language of
EDI, another narrative began to play out more strikingly in Canadian higher
education: e narrative of antidiscrimination and antiracism. Using the language and
positioning of “antiracism,” as described by historian Ibram X Kendi
(https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/11/how-to-be-an-antiracist-by-ibram-
x-kendi-review), is a more common part of the culture of student groups in
Canada than of mainstream administrative discourse. Administration has typically
preferred to opt for the less contentious language of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
at said, there were some signs in 2019 that the language of antiracism was making
its way into the lexicon of some large postsecondary administrations.

One such example came from the University of Ottawa in June, in which student
Jamal Boyce was handcu ed and detained (https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-
news/humiliating-black-uottawa-student-cu ed-in-campus-carding-
incident/wcm/a0041934-82b3-4592-ba -a646f5dda51f ) for hours by campus special
constables after being asked for ID. An independent report
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/race-outdated-procedures-contributed-uottawa-
carding-incident-report) later found that race and “outdated operational procedures
and inadequate training” had contributed to the carding incident. In the wake of the
incident, the school also announced new measures (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/uottawa-announces-new-measures-after-carding-incident%C2%A0) including a
review of the university’s carding policy, more cultural sensitivity training for on-
campus security, and the creation of a "complaints mechanism" for future incidents. It
later changed the rules (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/uottawa-tightens-rules-

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around-when-where-security-can-demand-id) around when and where campus special
constables could demand ID and expressed its desire to ght racism by announcing the
creation of a President’s Committee for a Discrimination-Free Campus.

One of the most signi cant instances of an administrative shift toward antiracist
language came after an incident at Western University, when an instructor invoked the
n-word while teaching a class on racial language. Following the class,
student Chizoba Oriuwa publicly expressed disappointment with the instructor’s use of
the word and subsequent apology (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/english-lecturer-
western-issues-public-apology-use-racial-slur), noting that, “I instantly felt like my
presence as a black student, who sat in the front-row seat, was overlooked. I felt
devalued. I felt deeply humiliated and angered.” Immediately
afterwards, Oriuwa became the target of a doxing attack and received racist emails
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/western-student-who-called-out-
lecturer%E2%80%99s-use-racial-slur-class-targeted-racist-emails).

As these events unfolded, Western University Associate Vice-President (Student

Experience) Jennifer Massey issued a letter
(https://news.westernu.ca/2019/10/western-issues-letter-to-campus-community-after-
student-targeted-by-racist-emails/) speaking out against the treatment that Oriuwa
had received, adding that “racism is not just about individual behaviour – there is very
real systemic racism embedded in the fabric of our society that a ects thoughts, choices
and actions. We have to acknowledge this truth before we can address racism on our
campus in meaningful ways.” President Alan Shepard further bolstered this position
with the creation of a presidential working group
(https://news.westernu.ca/2019/10/president-strikes-group-targeting-racism-on-
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campus/) to collaborate with student groups and other campus partners to “focus on
the experience of Western community members, particularly from racialized groups,
with an aim to provide educational programs and enact systemic change against racism
and oppression.”

ese words and actions resonated powerfully throughout the sector as an unequivocal
acknowledgement of systemic racism, racial oppression, and their presence on one’s
own campus, which marks a notable shift from mainstream administrative language on
these issues. It will be worth watching in 2020 for the impact of e orts like those at
Western and UOttawa, and to see if other Canadian institutions adjust their responses
in kind.

The meaning of Indigenization

Four years after the release of the Final Report from Canada’s Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, 2019 saw many postsecondary community members
return to the fundamental questions around how institutions could Indigenize and
work toward the goals of truth and reconciliation.

In February 2019, University of Waterloo PhD candidate Melanie Goodchild stated in

an interview (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/what-it-might-look-incorporate-
indigenous-ways-knowing-academy) with TVO that education needs to be rooted in
Anishinaabe Gikendaasowin, an Anishinaabe concept that means “our knowledge and
way of knowing.” Goodchild admitted that transforming education at this level is
di cult to achieve, but added that she had seen enough positive examples in her work
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to know that such change was possible. at same month, a study by
Adam Gaudry and Danielle Lorenz at the University of Alberta found that
Indigenization initiatives tend to fall on a spectrum (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/what-do-people-really-mean-when-they-talk-about-indigenization) ranging from
the most moderate, “Indigenous inclusion”—which focuses on e orts to include more
Indigenous sta , faculty, and students—to “Decolonial Indigenization, which
represents total Indigenous autonomy.”

In a June interview with Academica (https://forum.academica.ca/forum/what-it-

means-for-an-institution-to-indigenize?rq=indig), Algonquin College’s Vice President
– Truth, Reconciliation & Indigenization Ron McLester similarly noted that while
many Indigenization initiatives had thus far focused on things like new campus spaces
and hiring more Indigenous faculty, community members were only recently beginning
to talk about “changing basic institutional processes to have them better integrate and
bene t from Indigenous ways of knowing.”

A new challenge that was covered in the mainstream media in 2019 was the increasing
demands being placed on Indigenous Elders (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/indigenous-elders-facing-increased-demands-their-work-expands-non-
indigenous-communities) across the country. As First Nations University of Canada
Professor Blair Stonechild stated, “Elders are now present within health, education and
justice institutions, [and are increasingly] being expected to provide ready solutions for
intractable problems.” In November, an Academica StudentVu study
(https://forum.academica.ca/forum/are-canadas-institutions-prioritizing-students-as-

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partners-in-indigenization?rq=students%20as%20partners) also found that institutions
had more work to do to engage their students on the value of Indigenization and the
importance of truth and reconciliation on campus and beyond.

Innovation and applied

research at Canada’s colleges
and institutes
2019 was a big year for Canada’s colleges and institutes as they continued to establish
themselves as vital contributors to the 21st-century workforce and innovation
ecosystem.

In April, Colleges and Institutes Canada President Denise Amyot responded

(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/amyot-budget-2019-supports-lifelong-learning-
overlooks-innovation) to the previous federal budget, stating that while it included
some important investments in lifelong learning, it did not go far enough in promoting
applied research. In June, Canada announced over $73M in new investments
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/canada-announces-73m-college-partnerships-
local-employers) supporting 90 recipients at colleges, cégeps, and polytechnics across
the country in their partnerships with local employers and businesses. Institutions were
tasked with using the funds to acquire new research tools and instruments, enhance
innovation methods, create new technology access centres, and establish industrial
research chairs.

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In September, CICan issued seven recommendations (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/cican-issues-seven-recommendations-respond-climate-change-invest-skills-and-
innovation) for the next federal budget aimed at supporting economic growth,
competitiveness, and the ght against climate change by investing in skills and
innovation. November saw the organization share a signi cant example
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ ve-colleges-cican-partner-form-canadian-
college-consortium-cannabis) of what such innovation and applied research might look
like when it announced that it and ve Canadian colleges had signed a Memorandum
of Understanding to explore collaborative cannabis training and applied research
opportunities. November also saw the release of research
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/colleges-institutes-playing-growing-role-canadian-
business-innovation) showing that Canada's colleges and institutes had led over 6,000
applied research projects across the country in 2017-18.

Evolving digital credentials

A new addition to this year’s Canadian Higher Education Year in Review is the
evolution of postsecondary credentials. While conversations on this issue are nothing
new in the sector, there were enough noteworthy developments in this area on the
topic of electronic and digital credentials to warrant inclusion in this Year in Review.

At the very end of 2018, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology announced that
it would become the rst postsecondary institution in Canada to issue its credentials
via blockchain (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/sait-issue-credentials-graduates-
blockchain), making these credentials more accessible to students and employers
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alike. In 2019, McMaster University also announced that it would pilot digital
diplomas (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/mcmaster-pilots-digital-credentials) to
give students the ability to carry and securely validate their credentials through their
phone. Campus Technology reported that nine universities from around the world,
including the University of Toronto, had embarked on an initiative
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/u-t-joins-8-other-universities-build-new-
generation-digital-credentials) to “build the next generation of digital credentials.”
Royal Roads University joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MITx
Micromasters pathway (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/royal-roads-joins-mitx-
micromasters-pathway), a program designed to allow graduates of MIT’s online
Micromasters programs to count credits received through these programs toward a
full Masters at Royal Roads.

In October, the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association released a report

(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/study-online-learning- nds-growth-enrolment-
experimentation-credentials-and-oers) of online learning at over 160 Canadian
colleges and universities, which found that schools were increasingly using alternate
forms of course delivery and experimenting at growing rates with the use of Open
Educational Resources and the implementation of alternative credentials. But perhaps
the biggest sector-wide story on non-traditional credentials came in November,
when eCampusOntario released a framework (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/ecampusontario-releases-micro-certi cation-system-harmonize-speci cations-
across-higher-ed) providing high-level guidance for micro-certi cation development in
local academic and workplace settings. e organization also deployed a micro-
certi cation platform and hosted a community forum.

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Performance-based funding
2019 saw a signi cant amount of discussion about performance-based funding,
particularly after the Ontario government announced in April that it would increase
the amount of institutional funding that was contingent on performance outcomes
from 1.2%-1.4% to 60% over the coming ve years. Provincial NDP Leader Andrea
Horwath argued that the move (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/government-
trying-control-schools-new-budget-says-ndp) would e ectively force institutions to
teach what the government wanted them to teach, while the Ontario Confederation of
University Faculty Associations expressed alarm over the vagueness of the 10 metrics
the government proposed to use to measure performance outcomes. However, some
university and college administrators welcomed the announcement
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/%E2%80%99s-pledge-tie-post-secondary-
funding-performance-met-mixed-sentiments-cbc) arguing that institutions receiving
public funds should be held accountable for achieving certain results.

Later in the year, Alberta’s MacKinnon Panel advised the government

(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/ab-mackinnon-report-fuels-debate-performance-
based-funding-university-autonomy) to adopt a more performance-based funding
model as well. e panel proposed that performance-based funding would likely
involve setting requirements for institutions to provide training to students based
on labour market needs.

In October, University of Regina professor Marc Spooner argued

(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/performance-based-funding-runs-risk-perverting-
very-objectives-it-sets-out-measure) that while collecting data on higher ed
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institutions can be productive in some instances, it too often “runs the real danger of
skewing university programs and perverting the very objectives it sets out to measure.”
Analyzing the 10 metrics created to evaluate Ontario’s postsecondary institutions,
Spooner concluded that “performance-based funding models lead to a narrowing of
scholarship, of what is possible, both in teaching and research, and inevitably harm
society by robbing it of opportunities for risky, yet innovative breakthroughs.”

Growing as professionals
While professional development is far from being a new topic, we saw growing interest
in articles related to professional development, especially PD that pertained to strong
leadership, in Canadian higher ed.

In February, Academica released a report

(https://forum.academica.ca/forum/canadian-higher-ed-professionals-share-their-
thoughts-on-professional-development) in partnership with Extended Education at
the University of Manitoba to ask higher ed professionals across Canada about their
attitudes toward professional development. 75% of respondents said that they were
either very or extremely interested in taking a professional development course or
program in the future. Interest in this regard was also higher among women and
younger respondents. A full 81% of respondents also indicated that email was their
preferred way to learn about new professional development opportunities.

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 e year also saw several think pieces o ering advice about how to better navigate
di erent aspect of the postsecondary landscape. ese included discussions on
building positive professional relationships (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/art-
building-positive-professional-relationships-schram), using subconscious
communications (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/using-subconscious-
communications-your-advantage-when-applying-job-barber) to succeed in job
applications, and embracing faculty members as drivers of innovation
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/how-embrace-faculty-drivers-innovation).

Faculty continued to consider di erent ways that technology and pedagogy interacted,
from recommending that faculty teach online courses (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/gannon-teaching-online-courses-improves-instructor-pedagogy) to improve their
skills to warning instructors to not abandon teaching students how to learn
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/warner-debunking%C2%A0-
%E2%80%9Cmeaningless-rhetoric%C2%A0-demands-
21st%C2%A0century%E2%80%9D) in favour of skills training. Discussions around
leadership ran from knowing when to assign blame or credit
(https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/when-should-top-administrators-get-blame-or-
credit) to PSE leadership to debating whether (https://www.academica.ca/top-
ten/sorry-it%E2%80%99s-best-university-presidential-searches-be-closed-tzuker) or
not (https://www.academica.ca/top-ten/no-evidence-justify-closed-searches-senior-
admin-ocufa-report)presidential searches should be closed.

We expect that 2020 will only see growing conversation around the topic of improving
and developing as a professional in higher ed.

*** /
It remains to be seen what will happen in Canadian higher ed in 2020, but we at
Academica plan to be with you every step of the way as we all work together to move
higher ed forward. ank you for reading this year’s Canadian Higher Education Year
in Review. We wish you all the best for 2020.

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