New Act for Higher Education Commission Introduced
Education Minister Jane Purves introduced legislation today, April 2, to replace the act that now governs the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC).
The commission was created through legislation in the 1970s. The three Maritime provinces agreed on an updated mandate for the commission in 1997. It has been operating according to the agreement ever since.
The proposed Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission Act better reflects the functions the commission actually performs.
"We want to ensure that our universities offer quality programs and that we have reliable information about their tuition, enrolments, graduate success and more," said Ms. Purves. "MPHEC's new mandate helps us to do this and it should be reflected in the legislation."
Nova Scotia is the first of the three Maritime provinces to table legislation that reflects MPHEC's role. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are expected to follow soon.
"The commission is a fine example of regional co-operation that helps each Maritime province to offer excellent post-secondary opportunities," said Ms. Purves. "By combining our resources through the commission, we're able to accomplish more than we each would individually."
Until the early 1990s, MPHEC often focused on providing advice on university funding. Now, the Nova Scotia Advisory Board on Colleges and Universities provides this advice to the provincial government.
Under its current mandate, MPHEC has four core functions.
It approves new university programs and reviews existing ones every 10 years. The approvals and reviews ensure quality programs are offered at Maritime institutions.
The commission collects data such as tuition and enrolments from Maritime universities, which are often used by Statistics Canada.
It also conducts commissioned research. Projects include graduate surveys and accessibility and research studies.
Finally, MPHEC facilitates the transfer of funds between provinces for specialty programs such as medicine at Dalhousie, forestry in New Brunswick and veterinary science in Prince Edward Island.