View from the top: Allan Rock, president of University of Ottawa

'I hate to say it comes down to money, but in many ways it does'

Elizabeth Howell

Oct. 21, 2009 12:00 PM EDT

As president of the University of Ottawa, former Liberal cabinet minister Allan Rock is fighting for funding to maintain research while expanding his campus to keep class sizes down. Although five of Canada's largest universities recently made a public appeal arguing for the lion's share of research funding, Mr. Rock argues smaller institutions like his are just as deserving.

Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa.

Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa.

Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa.

Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa.

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What are your priorities for the university?

The first is the opening of an office called Au Service du Monde, or In the Service of Others. It's an office linking our students with opportunities to serve the community—whether it's down the street at the mission, across the country in an aboriginal community or around the world in a developing country. The other thing is more global engagement. We want to have more exchanges. We want to have the University of Ottawa thought of as a Canadian Georgetown (University), so that when a foreign leader comes to Canada, she or he will want to give a keynote speech here.

How has the university fared in the downturn?

Our endowments diminished between 15% and 18% for the year ended March, 2009. But I must say, touch wood, compared to others we've not done badly. We have a very small deficit this year, less than $1 million, on an operating budget of $850 million. Next year we predict a slightly larger deficit, so we're looking at ways of spending more efficiently and increasing our revenue. But we've not been forced to cut programs, cut positions, lay off people or have furloughs.

What do you think of the push by the "top five" universities—the University of Toronto, McGill University, l'Université de Montréal, the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia—for more research funding?

I think it's a bad policy. It's not good for the country and it's not good for research. You can't say there are a handful of universities that can get preferred treatment in terms of investment. I like the idea of a competition for the best ideas, and sometimes those "best ideas" will come from the University of Winnipeg, or Mount Allison. It's not a matter of size, but a matter for brilliance. We should not overlook the fact that some of the greatest innovations in Canada have come from universities outside the top five, like the relationship between the University of Waterloo and RIM (Research In Motion).

Do you think the university needs to work on strengthening its reputation in relation to the "big five"?

Every university has to work constantly on reputation. I see the University of Ottawa as being beautifully positioned to advance to the next level of prominence here and around the world. We have a faculty of law that teaches both of the world's legal systems—civil and common law—in both languages. We've got a medical faculty that's one of the most research-intensive in the country, and is linked to three teaching hospitals and includes an aboriginal student stream. We've got a science faculty that has three winners of the (NSERC) Herzberg Medal for excellence in science in the last 10 years. That's a record that is unmatched by any university in this country. I don't care how big and how important they are.

In the Globe's annual student survey, University of Ottawa gets largely Bs, and sometimes Cs, in key areas such as student facilities, services and class size. How can you improve the student experience?

It's a major problem for any urban campus. In many ways, this campus was not designed for 37,000 students. We've had to build very rapidly to accommodate the growth. With the 500 professors we've hired during the past three years, we've succeeded in bringing down class size so that we're now just at or slightly better than the provincial average. But that's not good enough. We also have to work on creating a sense of community in an inner-city campus. Part of that is my responsibility. I try to make sure the students know that I'm there, I'm responding and I have a team to react to students' needs.

What is the biggest challenge facing Canadian universities?

In an era of economic turbulence, to achieve levels of funding that will enable us to succeed in our mission. That means the cost of research and the operating revenues to enable us to maintain the level of excellence among our teachers and our staff. That also means investment in infrastructure so that we have the equipment and the buildings to provide first-class education and carry on world-class research. I hate to say it comes down to money, but in many ways it does.

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