Alex Hobbs’s scientific contributions

The question of how to hold Ontario’s publicly supported universities accountable to the needs of students and the Province is a relatively complex one. On the one hand, government control of universities raises serious concerns about the institutional autonomy that safeguards the ideals of academic freedom and innovation. On the other, given that public investment in higher education exceeds $8,000 per student, the public has a right to know where, for what and how tax dollars are being spent. Over time, the Ontario university system has developed a series of accountability mechanisms that have attempted to acknowledge both realities. While these initiatives have been worthwhile, the results have not been entirely effective or accountable. Moreover, they do not adequately provide an avenue for quality improvement. To address these shortcomings, this paper makes recommendations for changes to current accountability mechanisms that will allow a greater degree of transparency in the system, but will also move universities towards certain public goals.

The question of how to hold Ontario’s publicly supported universities accountable to the needs of students and the Province is a relatively complex one. On the one hand, government control of universities raises serious concerns about the institutional autonomy that safeguards the ideals of academic freedom and innovation. On the other, given that public investment in higher education exceeds $8,000 per student, the public has a right to know where, for what and how tax dollars are being spent. Over time, the Ontario university system has developed a series of accountability mechanisms that have attempted to acknowledge both realities. While these initiatives have been worthwhile, the results have not been entirely effective or accountable. Moreover, they do not adequately provide an avenue for quality improvement. To address these shortcomings, this paper makes recommendations for changes to current accountability mechanisms that will allow a greater degree of transparency in the system, but will also move universities towards certain public goals.