PCCAT/CPCAT

Michael L. Skolnik

Professor Emeritus
The University of Toronto
The Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education
Higher Education Program

The Impact of Postsecondary System Design on Student Mobility

The design of a postsecondary education system refers to the mix of institutions by mission, type, and major characteristics such as highest academic credential awarded; their relationships with one another; and the arrangements through which the system is governed. Although all systems of postsecondary education perform essentially the same functions, there are substantial differences across jurisdictions in the way that these functions are distributed among different types of postsecondary institutions. These differences in the configuration of institutions and the division of functions among them reflect different design choices.

The most fundamental design choice concerns the extent and nature of institutional differentiation. The more that postsecondary institutions are differentiated from one another, the greater the need for students to be able to move from one institution to another; but also the more difficult it is to do so. Some jurisdictions have built student mobility into the design of their postsecondary systems. It is possible to alter existing system design characteristics, and many jurisdictions have done so in recent years, often with a view toward enhancing opportunities for student mobility between institutions. There is some question as to how much government policies can offset the adverse effects that some system designs have on student mobility.

This presentation will describe the major choices and variants in the design of postsecondary education systems and their implications for student mobility. Then it will discuss possible modifications in system design and other policy initiatives that may improve opportunities for student mobility. The emphasis in the discussion of student mobility will be on movement from colleges and institutes to universities.

Biography

Michael Skolnik was the first occupant of the William G. Davis Chair in Community College Leadership in the University of Toronto, where he is now Professor Emeritus in the Higher Education Program. He has published widely in the areas of the organization and governance of higher education and the relationship between colleges and universities. One of his particular areas of expertise is the design of postsecondary education systems, a subject on which he did commissioned background papers for both the Rae Review in Ontario and the Campus 2020 Review of Postsecondary Education in British Columbia. Some of his other research and professional activity that are relevant to this presentation are: having done research for and served as an adviser to the College-University Consortium Council in Ontario, including having chaired the negotiations that produced the Port Hope Accord; co-editing the only book on the community college baccalaureate in North America, and other writing about this phenomenon; co-authoring , with Dr. Glen Jones, a 2009 monograph for the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario entitled, Degrees of Opportunity: Broadening Student Access by Increasing Institutional Differentiation in Ontario Higher Education; and writing the chapter on Canadian colleges and institutes in a 2009 book, Global Development of Community Colleges, Technical Colleges, and Further Education Programs, published by the Community College Press.