Committee formed to develop education policy
ITC paves way for Council on Post-Secondary Education

Gord Reid, Toban Staff

On Monday, December 4, Minister of Education and Training Linda McIntosh announced the creation of the Interim Transition Committee (ITC).

The eight-person committee will develop the policy framework for the Council on Post-Secondary Education, which will be formed as a result of the 1993 Roblin Commission. The Roblin Commission's report, "Post- Secondary Information in Manitoba: Doing Things Differently" recommended establishing the council as a "proactive planning. co-ordinating and moderating link for post-secondary education."

The committee was formed from a group of Manitobans involved in the post-secondary education field, but not directly with either the provincial government or any of the province's post-secondary institutions. It includes two recent U of M grads, Leslie Zegalski and Bryan Gray, and a former U of M Chancellor, Dr. Henry Duckworth. Paul Goyan, deputy minister of training and advanced education, will be acting as secretary but not sitting on the committee.

"The work of the Interim Transition Committee will focus on the entire post-secondary education sector, including universities and colleges," explained McIntosh at a press conference. "The committee will be consulting students' associations, boards of governors, administrators, faculty associations, unions of universities and community colleges, the leaders of Manitoba's francophone community, the aboriginal community, church-related colleges, and a wide variety of interest and community groups."

The ITC will advise on the structure of the Council on Post-Secondary Education and will oversee the drafting of legislation regarding the council's creation. The committee will also be responsible for creating a new post-secondary funding mechanism, and will serve to implement the government's responses to the recommendation of the Roblin Commission.

"[The ITC] will have a tremendous effect on post-secondary education in the province," said UMSU President David Gratzer. "The government will take a leadership role."

The ITC will allow the government to adopt a "hands-on approach," according to Gratzer. Included in its agenda are: a new tuition fee policy, increasing professional accountability and reducing administrative waste. The committee will also focus its attention on making post-secondary education more accessible.

The committee's mandate extends until July 1996 and will report continuously to the minister.

This article first ran in The Manitoban, Vol. 83, No. 17 (December 6, 1995). To research this story, I made my first trip to the Manitoba Legislature and received my first press kit. At no other time in my life have I felt more like an actual journalist.

Also, David Gratzer gave me a ride back to campus and bought me a bagel afterwards. No, he didn't ask for sex in return... his girlfriend was there.