Collective Autonomy: A History of the Council of Ontario Universities, 1962–2000

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Originally known as the Committee of Presidents of the Universities of
Ontario (CPUO), the COU was formed in 1962 and comprised the executive
heads of each of Ontario’s provincially assisted universities. In
1967, the committee was enlarged to include two representatives from
each member and associate institution: the executive head and an
academic colleague appointed by each university’s senior academic
governing body. In 1970, the CPUO changed its name to the Council of
Ontario Universities.

Throughout its history, the COU was charged with the responsibility of
speaking to government as the collective voice on Ontario’s publicly
funded universities. A particular strength of this book is Monahan’s
analysis of the COU’s relationship to the slew of government reports
affecting universities.

In the 1960s when public funding was plentiful, the emphasis was on
planning and the COU played a major role. It was instrumental, for
example, in setting up a process for the appraisal of new graduate
programming. In the 1970s and 1980s, as universities fell in government
spending priorities and funding was reduced, the emphasis shifted. The
limited ability of a voluntary association to persuade its members to
exercise self-restraint now became a planning liability and the COU
gradually ceded its earlier planning role. In the 1990s, with the advent
of the Common Sense Revolution—which saw a large reduction in
government funding and greater emphasis on private enterprise and
competition—the role of the COU shifted again and universities were
forced to compete with each other not only for students but for the
favour of private donors.

While the COU has not always been able to reach consensus, it has been
able to promote co-operation in service areas such as libraries,
computers, and university admission procedures. One of the greatest
successes was the establishment of the Guelph application centre.

Monahan has the ultimate insider’s view of these developments. As
president of Laurentian University between 1972 and 1977 he sat on the
council, and between 1977 and 1991 he was its executive director. You
would never know this by reading his text, which is unleavened by
personal anecdotes. That said, this exhaustively researched and
well-organized book represents another major accomplishment by a man who
has had many over his long career.