City seeks more for “heads and beds” City council is being urged to pursue a higher head tax on post-secondary students studying in Windsor. Windsor is being asked to join an effort by Waterloo and other Ontario municipalities to lobby the province to increase the so-called “heads and beds” levy charged to public hospitals, universities, colleges and correctional facilities. Because such entities are exempt from property taxes, the “heads and beds” levy provides an alternative payment to help offset the costs of providing municipal services such as fire, water and sewers. Educational institutions pay an amount per student, hospitals and jails pay based on their number of beds. But the levy hasn’t been changed in a quarter-century, with the last raise, from $50 to $75, made in 1987. “Sometimes the right thing to do is the right thing to do,” said Windsor treasurer Onorio Colucci, whose department is recommending council join the petitioning of Ontario’s ministry of finance for the change.
Universities and colleges need more online courses | Kitchener TORONTO - A report before the Ontario government is calling for universities and colleges to move a third of their courses online -- a proposal that's received a failing grade from a prominent students' organization. The draft report obtained by The Canadian Press calls for a shift toward web-based learning that would have students take up to three courses out of five online each semester. "As the world of online learning expands, Ontario will be at the forefront of this digital, portable and low-cost alternative," reads the document, which was prepared for the ministry that oversees post-secondary education. It advises that "approximately one-third of courses each year be available online and count toward a student's undergraduate degree." The courses would be offered through each institution and the province's long-promised Ontario Online Institute, which has yet to materialize even though it was slated to launch last summer. "If this is a measure to save money...
Specialize or risk losing funding, Ontario tells universities and colleges Ontario's government has taken its boldest step yet to compel universities and colleges to make hard choices about how they spend their resources, circulating a draft policy designed to stretch limited provincial dollars by narrowing some schools' missions. The draft framework for greater "differentiation" between schools was sent to higher-education leaders for feedback on Tuesday, marked "Confidential" but obtained by The Globe and Mail. After spending a decade investing in massive enrolment growth, the government is trying to climb out of a record deficit, and the paper argues that, without change, "Over time the sustainability of postsecondary education may be at risk." The paper sets the province and its schools on course for tricky negotiations, which could kick off before 2013 ends and drive some difficult shifts in priorities. The aim is to boost schools' quality and competitiveness, but the impetus is clearly financial. "Of course there are concerns," Dr.