LHAE :: Michael Skolnik :: Leadership Higher and Adult Education at OISE

	Michael Skolnik phone: (416) 978-1210 email: mskolnik@oise.utoronto.ca email: mike.skolnik@utoronto.ca website: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~mskolnik/ Department: Leadership, Higher and Adult Education
Research Overview One of my primary research interests is the design of higher education systems, a subject on which I did background papers for commissions on postsecondary education in Ontario (2004) and British Columbia (2006). I am interested in both the factors that influence the design of higher education systems and in the implications of different system designs for accessibility, quality, innovation, costs, and the effectiveness of higher education in meeting societal needs. Two aspects of system design in which I have a longstanding interest are the role of the community college and how that has been changing, particularly in regard to its relationship with the university and its involvement in degree credit activity; and the emergence of new types of postsecondary institutions that combine the applied learning and teaching-focused orientations of colleges with the broad degree-granting authority of universities. Much of my recent research has been focused on the issues and implications associated with community colleges awarding baccalaureate degrees. Another primary research interest is quality assurance in higher education, an endeavor in which I have some practical experience, having served on Ontario’s Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board. Professional Activities Some of my most recent professional activity has involved examining the structure of academic credentials awarded by Ontario colleges. One paper, for which I received financial assistance from Colleges Ontario, explains the rationale for colleges to award baccalaureate degrees and how doing so increases the efficiency of Ontario's postsecondary education system: Skolnik, M.L. College Baccalaureate Degrees and the Diversification of Baccalaureate Production in Ontario, May 24, 2012. Subsequently, I did the following two papers, under contract with Colleges Ontario, as part of its review of the credentials awarded by the colleges: Skolnik, M.L. Rethinking the System of Credentials Awarded by Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology, June 20, 2012. Skolnik, M.L. Should Ontario's Colleges Award the Associate Degree? August 26, 2012. Representative Publications Skolnik, M.L. "Should Ontario's Colleges Award the Associate Degree?" August 26, 2012. Copyright: Colleges Ontario Skolnik, M.L. "Rethinking the System of Credentials Awarded by Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology", June 20, 2012. Copyright: Colleges Ontario Skolnik, M.L. "College Baccalaureate Degrees and the Diversification of Baccalaureate Production in Ontario", May 24, 2012 Copyright: Michael L. Skolnik Skolnik, M.L. “Re-conceptualizing the Relationship between Community Colleges and Universities, Using a Conceptual Framework Drawn from the Study of Jurisdictional Conflict between Professions,” Community College Review, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2011, 352-375. Skolnik, M.L. “Quality Assurance in Higher Education as a Political Process,” Higher Education Management and Policy, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2010, 1-20. Skolnik, M.L. “A Look Back at the Decision on the Transfer Function at the Founding of Ontario’s Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology,” Canadian Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 40, No. 2, 2010, 1-17. Clark, I.D., Moran, G., Skolnik, M.L., and Trick, D. Academic Transformation: The Forces Reshaping Higher Education in Ontario. Kingston, ON: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009.