While the university system isn’t perfect, it needs to be protected from the influence of the secondary school system, if only because the secondary school’s concerns are not the university’s concerns.

University students, for the most part, have reached the age of majority. Even those that have not have at least surpassed the requirements for compulsory attendance in school. As different as a Gr. 12 math class is from a Gr.9 math class, where students are still compelled to attend, the difference between a Gr. 12 math class and a university math class is greater still. The classes are held with different expectations: nothing short of an A is acceptable to a university applicant, but once in university, Bs and even Cs can look pretty good.

The primary career activity of most professors is research, not teaching. The landscape is changing somewhat with the increase in part-time or contract faculty who must sometimes scramble to pick up classes to earn a living, but for the most part, past achievement and future innovation in one’s field are characteristics of university professors, not high school teachers.

Elementary and secondary school attendance are locally based whereas one has their choice of any university. This may sound like a trivial distinction, but I know a thing or two about lazy computer programmers. Tell me that your local high school does NOT auto-fill the province field with “Ontario” in their database of student addresses. I don’t want to think about the added cost to update student records with a country field.

OK, so I’ve given some sound and one “I just plain don’t trust them” reasons for keeping the two entities separate. But, in all seriousness, the goals of the institutions are just too different to be effectively melded together. One hinges on tight provincial control of curriculum, attendance and pedagogy, attempting to provide (whether they want it or not) the same thing to students who are in no position to refuse. The other prides itself (at least historically) on academic freedom and discovery while offering a variety of paths (some would claim too many paths) ranging from academic to professional, general to hyperspecialized.

I just can’t see much common ground between the two sets of teachers, and yet, the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (union) has been finding its way into the university system.

Now, those much more cynical than I would argue that all unions do today anyway is demand salary increases. So, why wouldn’t university staff want to hitch its wagon to a large, provincial union?

But, if we go with the assumption that being part of a union means having the same interests at heart, then why on earth would university staff want to join a high school union? So they can be forced to strike when the next provincial government makes radical changes to the high school education system again? So that they can get caught up in issues that don’t concern them, forced to feign interest in topics surrounding P.D. (or P.A.) days, teacher licensing, and the Gr. 10 literacy test?

That’s why I was shocked to read a short blurb stating that the University of Waterloo had voted at the end of the month on this very issue. As far as I can tell, the results are not yet in. Apparently, there are disputes over whether the OSSTF had enough consent of the membership to even hold the vote. Furthermore, several votes were “segregated” at the polling station because there was a question as to whether certain voters fell into the appropriate job categories to vote.

As shocked as I was to discover that this vote had been held, when I dug around for more information, I was even more surprised to learn that “upwards of 1,400 or 2.3 per cent of their total membership belongs to the university community with members from the universities of Brock, Ottawa and Algoma.”

I just don’t get it. I’m thinking that my first rule of thumb would likely be, “If the organization name doesn’t represent me, maybe the organization is not for me.”

But then again, for how many years was I a member of the “Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents” when, as I’ve made very clear in the past, I’m not a parent? But in that case, I had a specific goal in mind that only the homeschooling community was actively working towards: breaking down the barriers of university entrance for students without a high school diploma.

At the time, every seedy tutoring company located over a bakery in a strip mall was applying for government accreditation so they could issue high school credits and cash in on the “credit shopping” craze. I wanted to go in the other direction. If students didn’t need a high school diploma for university entrance, then they didn’t have to fall victim to the whims of educational and pedagogical fads nor get sucked into the grade inflation race caused by easy access of marks for sale. They could “radically” choose a their own path (which ironically, was often more traditional than the school system itself!) and prepare themselves for university however they saw fit. This was my vision, and if I had to align myself with “strange bedfellows” to realize it, then so be it!

So, if we go with the assumption that the university staff is getting something out of the deal, or that some goal is being achieved . . . what is it? Are the universities concerned about the underprepared first year class and want to become more involved in what goes on at the secondary level? Do the universities want to show support for their secondary school counterparts, whom they think have a “tougher” job than they do? Do university profs want easier access to high school teaching jobs as an option, and think this might be a way around teacher certification?

I honestly don’t know what the arguments in favour of this alliance are. (In a cursory reading of a few websites, I’ve heard only the opposition speak.) If people vote in favour of it, there must be something in it for them. I’m all for people improving their own situation, I just hope this isn’t the beginning of the end of the separation of secondary and post-secondary.

I was a graduating senior during the York strike of ’97 where classes were pretty much canceled in February and never resumed. I was sympathetic to my professors, who could clearly articulate and stood behind the reasons for the strike. Fortunately I didn’t lose any credits, nor was I asked to “come back next year” to write any final exams (on my own dime) as happened to several others.

If my graduating year had been disrupted because my prof’s hands were forced by a striking OSSTF, I’m not sure I would have been so sympathetic.

This is not a new practice, nor is it a secret one. Even when I was applying to university in my OAC year, and yes, Waterloo was one of my choices, we knew the implications of writing Waterloo on our application forms.

First things first
If you were going to put Waterloo on your application, rank it first. It didn’t matter whether Waterloo actually was your first choice, but all schools would see the order in which you ranked their school. Glendon, I was assured, would think it was an honour “just to be nominated.” But Waterloo, we were told, expected to be ranked first.

An “A” by any other name
Even back in the early 90′s, we knew that Waterloo would adjust our Top Six average based on the high school from which we applied. We also knew that we would likely benefit from this curve. O’Neill CVI was one of two high schools in the Durham Region to offer the gifted program. We also had one of the strongest math programs in the region and wrote every math contest available to us. So, Waterloo certainly knew who we were. We never knew (as no school really does know) exactly what the adjustment factor was, but we all were pretty confident that the average we submitted to Waterloo admissions would be bumped up at least a little bit. Other schools might suffer the opposite fate, based on the performance of that high school’s graduates once they arrived at Waterloo.

Come on down! You’re the next contestant
Waterloo is not the only school to keep these kinds of records, but it is the only one to publicly and unashamedly use them in its admission decisions. And, you really can’t fault a university that makes their criteria public. Waterloo also, however, uses data such as CEMC competition scores in maths and sciences and is the only university to require that applicants to certain programs take the Euclid math competition (formerly requiring the Descartes, from the OAC days).

These extra requirements are completely understandable, since Waterloo is the premiere math/science/co-op university in Ontario and as you can imagine, they receive a ton of applicants with marks in the mid to high 90′s. Differentiating between candidates from an applicant pool such as this is no easy task!

What does this mean for home schoolers?
Waterloo is used to looking at a “bigger picture” than other universities, at least when it comes to their competitive programs, so home schoolers have an opportunity to showcase their academic achievements and interests in a broader context than simply high 12U grades. Waterloo will be interested in students who take an academic initiative and have taken advantage of opportunities such as AP examinations, mentoring experiences with a professor, writing/publishing of an academic nature, participation in talent-based programs and personal research.

Waterloo still maintains high admission standards, however, and students with less than shining academic records in traditional 12U courses or standardized tests scores are definitely going to have to demonstrate their academic worthiness and readiness for admission to some of Ontario’s most demanding undergraduate programs.

With no “high school” to use in the adjustment factor calculation, 12U marks from home schoolers applying with the Top Six will generally not be adjusted one way or the other. (Unless they have begun using data from AMDEC and other similar applicants. Note to self, look into this!) This puts home schoolers, strictly speaking, at neither an advantage nor a disadvantage in the admissions average calculation.

But, in terms of seeking out those other opportunities that will make a student stand out in the application process, being home schooled could be a double-edged sword. Home schoolers generally have the flexibility to schedule their time to include mentorship programs, 12U credits earned at the Ontario Science Centre school or self-directed research. Yet, without the guidance or experience of teachers and counselors, home schoolers may not be aware of the programs that exist. Some programs may also have a “current secondary school student” requirement built into their criteria that hasn’t evolved to keep pace with the growing number of homeschooling high school students.

It is also worth noting that while Waterloo is primarily known for its Math and Computer Science programs, it also has fine programs in the Arts, making it a perfectly acceptable choice for seekers of B.A.s and B.Sc.s/B.Math.s alike. Since university admissions is a game of competition, you’ll find that entry into many arts programs is significantly less competitive than entry into the maths and sciences. This, as always, is more a statement of demand than of program quality.

So without further ado . . .

The University of Waterloo ~ http://www.uwaterloo.ca

200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 • Tel: +1 519 888 4567
Size: Large – 23,000 undergraduates

Admissions Website:
http://www.findoutmore.uwaterloo.ca/admissions/index.php

Home School Admissions Requirements (scroll down):
http://www.findoutmore.uwaterloo.ca/admissions/requirements.php

From their website (emphasis mine to highlight key points):

• Applications from home-schooled students will be considered individually by the appropriate Admission Committees.
• Evidence that studies have been completed at an academic level equivalent to the minimum standard required for your programs(s) of application. This evidence may include a letter from the principal of a traditional and accredited high school confirming that the equivalent of an OSSD has been completed and indicating an estimated overall standing/average based on a typical final year of high school studies.
• Courses equivalent to the specific course requirements and recommendations listed in the program requirements section.
• It is preferable that you complete your final year of studies at a traditional and accredited high school.
• You are strongly encouraged to present test scores in related high school prerequisite subjects such as the Euclid Mathematics Contest, the Sir Isaac Newton Physics Contest, the Chem 13 News Contest.
• Test scores such as the SATs, ACTs, and provincial or state college entrance examinations will better enable the Admission Committees to assess your background.
• An Admission Information Form is required.
• If your first language is not English, see UW’s English language requirements.