Everyone in the McMaster and Hamilton communities is invited to attend a town hall meeting tonight on the future of post-secondary education in Ontario. It's part of the province-wide consultation sessions being hosted by Bob Rae, who is heading Ontario's post-secondary review Higher Expectations for Higher Education.

The town hall will be held Oct. 20 at Mohawk College's McIntrye auditorium from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Rae will be at McMaster earlier in the day to host a roundtable discussion with invited guests from across the community.

Provost Ken Norrie is leading the development of McMaster's submission to the Rae Review. He says, “I'd encourage everyone to take the time to read Rae's discussion paper on higher education. It reveals a keen appreciation of the difficult financial situation facing Ontario's universities and colleges and an understanding of the need to change the system to provide greater accessibility, to maintain and strengthen quality, and to build greater accountability.”

The Task Force report includes a workbook section that raises a number of questions on possible ways the province could make changes. “This is an opportunity for McMaster to demonstrate how it has developed new ways to teach and learn, how to create university/college partnerships that work, and to emphasize the added value a research-intensive university brings to students and the province,” says Norrie.

The University's brief to the Task Force is being developed in consultation with a number of campus groups including the University Planning Committee and Senate.

Rae is expected to deliver his final report early in the new year.