In my 10 years as a university president, I’ve seen public perception shift around the value of post-secondary education. In just the past four years, the percentage of Canadians who hold a positive impression of Canadian universities has dropped from 64 per cent to 50 per cent. At the same time, the percentage of respondents who have a negative impression grew from seven to 14 per cent.
Cost of living, inflation, accessible housing, health – these are the issues Canadians are most concerned about right now. These mounting pressures prompt people to question where their tax dollars are going and to question why more funds can’t be directed to the problems they consider most pressing.
This new reality calls us to reaffirm our relevance and how we talk about – and champion – our work.
It’s natural to talk about the things we’re doing from our own points of view. For example, we enjoy discussing how new technologies are changing how we teach and learn. While those are vital conversations that ensure we offer a quality education, industry is more interested in hearing about how ready our students are to transition into the workforce.
Communicating our value and relevance is made more challenging when we consider the complexity and diversity of audiences we engage with every day. Take convocation day – what does that event mean? Students are likely to see it as the launching point of their careers, of life after school. Parents may be hoping their child will ultimately be financially secure. Industry sees new talent to hire. Governments want to know how quickly these graduates will be in the workforce, paying taxes and supporting the economy.
Our value has always been evaluated through these different lenses. What has changed is increased public skepticism.
So what should we do?
We have already laid a strong foundation upon which to build. We have a strategic, holistic approach that focuses on the needs of students, industry, Alberta and our community at the same time. That approach is clearly laid out in our strategic vision Teaching Greatness, which outlines tangible and achievable goals and measures that hold us accountable. It celebrates our deep connections with our communities and our place in O-Day’min. It also aligns us with the province’s post-secondary strategy and illustrates how we’re the right institution for the times.
We understand our students – 80 per cent of our learners come from Edmonton and 90 per cent from Alberta. They choose to come here for many reasons – personal and intellectual growth and connection, preparing for a career, increasing their earning potential or simply exploring options for their future.
I liked how our holistic approach was featured in a recent CBC story about a MacEwan student who designed a game for Edmonton Public Libraries. When asked what he learned, he jokingly shared that “talking to people is hard” but he learned how to navigate multiple sources of feedback and share those across the project team. Those additional skills – along with his academic achievements – help prepare him for the real world and the demands of the workplace.
This strategy is working – 80 per cent of employers say our graduates are well prepared when they enter the workforce. While there is a lot of focus on how quickly our graduates get their first job, there’s also an enduring value to what we offer. Employers also indicate our graduates hit the ground ready to work and grow their careers from the ground up. When I talk to alumni, they speak about how the skills they obtained at MacEwan have helped them progress their careers long after they graduated. Our alumni also come back for continued learning, micro-credentials, diplomas, degrees or even our events. They will always be part of the MacEwan community, and most of them continue to have an impact regionally – 91 per cent of MacEwan’s 90,000 alumni have stayed in Alberta.
While it’s true that someone with a bachelor’s degree makes 44 per cent more than the average Canadian, the degree itself is not the only goal or benefit of a university education. As the overall affordability of education becomes more challenging, more people are questioning whether the investment is worth it. We can’t assume future students, their families and influencers, will intuitively know the value of a university education.
How can we do more to champion our ability to provide industry with job-ready, highly skilled talent? What more can we do to celebrate our success in addressing problems and issues that affect people and the world we live in? How can we continue to honour the graduates who take what they’ve learned here to make positive change in their own communities?
We do great work here at MacEwan. We need to keep connecting what we do in meaningful ways to the people and communities we serve. That way, we can buck current trends and cement our role as an important and valuable contributor to our students, our alumni, industry, Alberta and the community at large.
Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor
This new reality calls us to reaffirm our relevance and how we talk about – and champion – our work.
It’s natural to talk about the things we’re doing from our own points of view. For example, we enjoy discussing how new technologies are changing how we teach and learn. While those are vital conversations that ensure we offer a quality education, industry is more interested in hearing about how ready our students are to transition into the workforce.
Communicating our value and relevance is made more challenging when we consider the complexity and diversity of audiences we engage with every day. Take convocation day – what does that event mean? Students are likely to see it as the launching point of their careers, of life after school. Parents may be hoping their child will ultimately be financially secure. Industry sees new talent to hire. Governments want to know how quickly these graduates will be in the workforce, paying taxes and supporting the economy.
Our value has always been evaluated through these different lenses. What has changed is increased public skepticism.
So what should we do?
We have already laid a strong foundation upon which to build. We have a strategic, holistic approach that focuses on the needs of students, industry, Alberta and our community at the same time. That approach is clearly laid out in our strategic vision Teaching Greatness, which outlines tangible and achievable goals and measures that hold us accountable. It celebrates our deep connections with our communities and our place in O-Day’min. It also aligns us with the province’s post-secondary strategy and illustrates how we’re the right institution for the times.
We understand our students – 80 per cent of our learners come from Edmonton and 90 per cent from Alberta. They choose to come here for many reasons – personal and intellectual growth and connection, preparing for a career, increasing their earning potential or simply exploring options for their future.
I liked how our holistic approach was featured in a recent CBC story about a MacEwan student who designed a game for Edmonton Public Libraries. When asked what he learned, he jokingly shared that “talking to people is hard” but he learned how to navigate multiple sources of feedback and share those across the project team. Those additional skills – along with his academic achievements – help prepare him for the real world and the demands of the workplace.
This strategy is working – 80 per cent of employers say our graduates are well prepared when they enter the workforce. While there is a lot of focus on how quickly our graduates get their first job, there’s also an enduring value to what we offer. Employers also indicate our graduates hit the ground ready to work and grow their careers from the ground up. When I talk to alumni, they speak about how the skills they obtained at MacEwan have helped them progress their careers long after they graduated. Our alumni also come back for continued learning, micro-credentials, diplomas, degrees or even our events. They will always be part of the MacEwan community, and most of them continue to have an impact regionally – 91 per cent of MacEwan’s 90,000 alumni have stayed in Alberta.
While it’s true that someone with a bachelor’s degree makes 44 per cent more than the average Canadian, the degree itself is not the only goal or benefit of a university education. As the overall affordability of education becomes more challenging, more people are questioning whether the investment is worth it. We can’t assume future students, their families and influencers, will intuitively know the value of a university education.
How can we do more to champion our ability to provide industry with job-ready, highly skilled talent? What more can we do to celebrate our success in addressing problems and issues that affect people and the world we live in? How can we continue to honour the graduates who take what they’ve learned here to make positive change in their own communities?
We do great work here at MacEwan. We need to keep connecting what we do in meaningful ways to the people and communities we serve. That way, we can buck current trends and cement our role as an important and valuable contributor to our students, our alumni, industry, Alberta and the community at large.
Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor
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