A Declaration on OER Funding - Canadaoer

6 Feb 2020

Hi Everyone,

As some of you may be aware, the University of Alberta will be hosting an
OER summit on May 20, 2020, and as part of the planning process, I've been
handed some leeway (thanks Krysta) for the final plenary session.  Based on
some conversations with colleagues here in Alberta, one idea I've had is
that it would be nice to finish the day with some sort of tangible
outcome/takeaway.  After ruminating about this for a bit (and in relation
to ongoing discussions over the listserv on national advocacy), I've been
thinking about how nice it would be to conclude the day with a declaration,
specifically in relation to OER funding.

If I had to sum up my thinking in a sentence it would be - the declaration
would call on governments that generate revenues from student loans to
invest 1% of those revenues into OER.  This approach would end up
implicating the federal government because of the Canada Student Loans
Program (CSLP).  For reference this number would work out to $8.73 million
this year (or roughly the same as the $8m the Finance Committee recommended
in 2017, and slightly less than the US Federal Investment, which is
currently $7 million, but in USD). My sense is that when you suggest 1% of
revenue go back into textbook affordability you have a reasonable starting
point. That said, I'm open to alternate suggestions.

In terms of background the federal government holds over $18 billion in
student debt (with an array of provincial and territorial programs adding
in another $10 billion in student loan debt).  While there have been calls
for the elimination of all revenues on student debt (the Canadian
Federation of Students has argued for this, and the NDP had it in their
last platform), it is important to note that the CSLP program actually
doesn't 'profit' in that expenses are greater than revenues.  Also, the
federal government rather regularly writes-off bad debt from the CSLP.
According to the most recent annual report from 2016-17 (
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/canada-stud…)
the amount of bad debt the government writes off is in the $160-$175
million range, or (conveniently enough) 1% of the overall loan value.  In
Jan of this year, the Feds wrote off another $163m (
https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/01/28/liberals-write-off-163-…)
again in the roughly 1% amount range.  Also, it should be noted that
revenues on the CSLP are predicted to grow (this isn't good news, but it
would mean that the 1% value would also increase).  The Parliamentary
Budget Officer predicts that CSLP revenue will rise to $1.4b by 2024 (which
would make the OER fund about $14 million).

Thus, I'm reaching out to all of you to see if perhaps we might be able to
work toward some declaration.  The idea being the declaration is worked on
in advance, and then read and signed at the May 20, 2020 event (of course
we'd have a mechanisms for those who can't be present in Edmonton to sign
the declaration).  I'd be willing to do some leg work here locally to see
how we might get some broader pick-up of the declaration reading/signing.
As I noted earlier, I'm open to other suggestions on funding ideas, but I
thought targeting loan revenues was a) a way to implicate the federal
government, b) it also implicates most of the provinces (excluding QC) and
the Yukon, c) there is a degree of simplicity to this approach as opposed
to going after a marker tied to education spending.  If there are a few
supporters, then I'm happy to try to see this through.

Finally, just before the holiday break, I mused at trying to frame some of
the issues for a Hill Times op-ed.  I have a draft if anyone wanted to
critique/comment/add their name to it (
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OUfYOsozemjcAoAiMfqpA-887eyEXqJAOeZk-6A…)
-
I'm happy for any feedback. I'll admit it is a clunky piece (dealing with
the idea of 1% of loan revenue funding mentioned earlier), but my rough
sense is the audience for a Hill Times op-ed isn't the general public.  At
the end of the day, if this gets rejected (which wouldn't surprise me),
I'll probably still aim for something in *Policy Options*.

Michael

-- 
Michael B. McNally,
Associate Professor, Faculty of Education (School of Library and
Information Studies)
5-171 Education North, University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta CANADA T6G 2J4
mmcnally(a)ualberta.ca
Phone: 780-492-3934
Fax: 780-492-2430