2002/03 Annual Service Plan Report Ministry of Advanced Education

Year-at-a-Glance Highlights

In addition to reporting on performance measures, this Report provides the Ministry with the opportunity to highlight its achievements during the past year for British Columbians:

• Over 2,700 new student spaces added to the public post-secondary system, and funding for operations and capital provided for a number of New Era commitments including:
• new spaces for computer science and electrical and computer engineering as part of the Double the Opportunity Initiative, a five-year project to double the annual number of graduates in those programs;
• new spaces for nurses and healthcare workers as part of the Ministry's commitment to address the nursing shortage.
• Creation of the innovative Medical School Expansion program, linking the University of British Columbia (UBC) to newly established satellite medical programs at the University of Victoria (UVic) and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), with student intake beginning in September 2004. As part of the commitment to expand physician training in the province, the Ministry began construction of a new Life Sciences Centre at UBC and planning for training facilities at UNBC and UVic.
• A unique loan forgiveness program instituted, providing forgivable British Columbia student loans to graduating doctors and nurses who agree to practice in our province's underserved communities.
• Creation of the $45-million Leading Edge Endowment Fund, a cost-sharing program to establish 20 BC Leadership Chairs in medical, social, environmental and technological research. The first chair — in spinal cord research — has already been established.
• A new Simon Fraser University Surrey campus replaces the Technical University of British Columbia, with a strategy to double the number of student spaces there to 860 by 2005/06.
• BCcampus, an online and distance learning initiative, will allow students from throughout British Columbia to centrally access all online and distance courses and programs and learner support services offered through our province's public post-secondary institutions.
• A review of the Open Learning Agency (OLA) determined it required restructuring in order to contribute to the BCcampus initiative. An OLA wind-up plan was approved and a transition process is underway, including the transfer of core programs and services to other public post-secondary institutions.
• Passage of the Degree Authorization Act allows for expanded degree-granting opportunities at private and public post-secondary institutions and, ultimately, offers greater choice for students.
• In a move to increase quality and return autonomy to our province's universities, colleges, university colleges and institutes, the government lifted the tuition freeze, allowing institutions greater flexibility in expanding programs and services to suit the needs of their students and their communities.
• A new model for industry training is being developed to better meet the needs of apprentices, employers and communities. The proposed framework for the new model was set out in a discussion paper that formed the basis for broad regional consultation on the new direction of industry training.
• In an effort to build bridges to students, the Minister took steps to expand student input into issues respecting post-secondary education, for example, through the tuition consultations, and through a series of Student Forums.
• The Ministry announced the decision to replace the Private Post-Secondary Education Commission (PPSEC) with a self-regulating, cost recovery board comprised of industry representatives. The core services review of PPSEC was done as part of the broader Administrative Justice Project.
• As a result of debt service savings and prudent fiscal management over the past year, the Ministry was able to allocate additional funding to key priorities within British Columbia's post-secondary system, such as:
• $7.5 million for BC Regional Innovation Chairs program to support the creation of new social and economic development opportunities at British Columbia's colleges, university colleges and institutes;
• $8 million in funding toward one-time unconditional grants to colleges, university colleges and institutes;
• An additional $2 million to assist institutions with realigning industry training programs as the province moves toward a new model; and,
• $1 million for start-up costs to accelerate the Medical School Expansion program currently underway at UBC, UVic and UNBC.