Startling facts about Canadian universities university, fighting, against, reading, trouble

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Startling facts about Canadian universities

Generation Y is stirring up trouble on Canadian university campuses.

No, they’re not demonstrating against war, fighting for equal rights or trying to reform university administration. Rather, they’re demanding better marks than they deserve, slighting professors and reading junk.

That’s the view of two professors who have written a book called Campus Confidential: 100 startling things you don’t know about Canadian universities. (James Lorimer & Co., 245 pages).

Not all of the 100 facts are startling, but there’s enough to hold the interest of anyone heading to university this year or helping their offspring make the leap.

“Every generation claims that the next one has been coddled and spoiled, but it really may be true this time,” writes Ken S. Coates, arts dean at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, and Bill Morrison, history professor emeritus at the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George. “Something new and nasty is going on with university students these days, and there’s more trouble in store.”

The authors blame societal permissiveness, child-centred educational and parenting styles, overwhelming materialism, video games, sexualized media and the guilt of two-income families. It’s not all bad, the authors write, because these new students are also more assertive and more confident than previous generations and not intimidated by professors or any adults.

“But they also have a deep sense of entitlement,” the book says. “They often expect deadlines to be altered, want their explanations accepted without confirmation and try to insist that course requirements fit their availability to do work. Not all students fit this description, but the general student population has changed.”

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The entitlement generation is killing the joy of teaching, they say, but students aren’t the only challenge for universities. There are also declining admission standards combined with high-school grade inflation; interfering helicopter parents, who hover over their children; stiff competition for dwindling numbers of Canadian students and even tougher competition for international students; growing academic fraud; and confusion about the university mandate and weak leadership, the book says.

The 100 startling things are organized into short chapters with snappy titles, such as: Forget the BA, now you need two degrees; Canadian universities are all pretty much the same; It’s about careers, not education; university fees discriminate against the poor; our math students just can’t compete; eighteen-year-olds control our universities; PhDs don’t drive taxis; the “man” problem at our universities; and Canada needs a Harvard.

The authors conclude by saying the Canadian university system is not in crisis yet. “But even those who love the institution, and count us foremost among them, know that substantial change is in the offing. Universities cannot be sacred cows — they take too much public and private money to maintain their aloofness and isolation.

“Hanging onto the status quo is just about the worst thing for these vital institutions to do.”

A book that speaks more directly to students entering university is The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College (Sourcebooks Inc., 526 pages). While it’s an American publication, much of the advice is just as helpful for Canadians. It includes tips for dealing with a range of issues, such as homesickness, drunken/lying/indiscreet roommates, overbearing parents, academic clubs and organizations, how to get an A, time management, unsafe sex, hangovers, student loans, laundry, depression and bad cheques.

Students sit in a lecture hall.