The Muse, vol. 49, no. 20 (19 March 1999)

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March 19, 1999
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Volume 49, Number 20
Memorial scores low on efficiency study
Low ranking could be due to university's isolation and unique status in province, says economist
By AMANDA LABONTE
A National Post article on a
study which gave Memorial a low
efficiency rating could give people an incorrect impression of the
university, says the university's
president and an economics prof.
Prepared by two University of
Alberta economists, the study
measured the efficiency of 45 universities across Canada, grading
them in nine categories.
Melville McMillan, one of the
report's authors, says efficiency
was measured by comparing a
university' s output—the number
of students who graduate in four
years, the number of grants and
research dollars faculty bring in—
with its input — all the resources
put into running the university
such as faculty, libraries and building maintenance.
The report was published in the
December 1998 issue of the journal Canadian Public Policy and
was subject of a news story in the
National Post. The Post reported
that while most Canadian univer-
Several Burton's Pond ducks enjoy a swim. Photo by David Laidley
Students pressing for
ombudsperson by 2000
CSU, GSU want admin., MUNFA together to develop guidelines
By MICHAEL CONNORS
Unions representing graduate
and undergraduate students at
Memorial are hoping to have a
campus ombudsperson up and running by next January now that
they've drafted proposed guidelines for the position.
Nancy Peckford,presidentof the
Graduate Students' Union, says
the terms of reference were developed last fall. She adds that with
the helpofacommittee established
byuniversity'svice-presidentaca-
demic, she hopes to see the administration, faculty association and
both student unions meet to develop the final guidelines.
The guidelines call for an independent ombuds office that could
help resolve problems informally
and inquire into university-related
concerns or complaints. Serving
as a general information resource,
the ombudsperson could recom
mend but not impose solutions,
and would be restricted from infringing on the provisions of any
collective bargaining agreements.
The position would be governed
by a co-ordinating committee with
representatives from the two student councils, the MUN Faculty
Association (MUNFA), a member
appointed by the vice-president
academic, and a non-studentmem-
ber of Senate.
• Please see "MUNFA"page 4
sides operate at "uniformly high
levels of efficiency," Memorial
University lagged significantly
behind the national average.
McMillan says while the most
efficient schools got scores of 100
percent,Memorialscored between
55 and 77 per cent.
But Wade Locke, an economics
professor at Memorial, says the
Post article could give people an
inaccurate impression of the university.
"People reading that story could
get the impression that MUN is
somehow wasting resources and
that would not necessarily be a
legitimate inference to draw from
that particular story," he said.
• Please see "May"page 5
Policy unfair,
say students
By MICHAEL ROSSITER
A provincial policy that claws
back the living expenses portion
of a student loan from students
who are also on social assistance is
unfair, say student leaders.
Under the policy, established in
April 1997, students receiving
social assistance cannot receive
full loans from student aid. In ex-
changeforsocialassistancemoney,
students applying have to pay back
the portion of their loan normally
calculated to cover living expenses.
Gloria Williams, social work
representative with the CSU, has
been circulating a petition to fight
the policy. She says students on
social assistance should be able to
take out a full loan like any other
student.
"All of a sudden, they decided
that they are going to take 'X'
amount of money out of our loans
because we receive assistance,"
she said, adding that the policy is
"blatant poor bashing."
But Wayne Penny, director of
incomesupportforthe Department
of Human Resources and Employment, says the policy exists to help
social assistance recipients get an
education.
"We continue their social assistance unaffected, and the arrangement is the living expenses
portion of the student loan is returned to the department," he said.
"And we' ve made an arrangement
with student loans to have that
automatically done."
By clawing back part of the student loan, the policy also helps
reduce the total amount of debt
social assistance recipients accumulate.
Penney says the department is
interested in helping those who
are on social assistance improve
their "lot in life" by improving
their education.
"Obviously social assistance is
much greater than the living expenses [portion of a student loan],
so it is to their advantage to continue with social assistance and to
repay the small portion ofthe student loan that is designated for the *
living expenses," he said. "[Living expenses] is what social assistance was designed to govern."
Jeff Braun-Jackson, a political
scienceprofessorat Memorial, says
the policy only serves to further
marginalize those who rely on
social assistance.
"This policy is not very logical,
in the sense that you have people
on social assistance who are obviously for the most part demonized
or marginalized by society," said
Braun-Jackson. "Certainly
marginalized economically, they
• Please see "Students"page 4
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