Nothing Less than Great

Nothing Less than Great addresses the current challenges faced by Canada’s university system and offers solutions to help improve the academic experience of students.

Harvey P. Weingarten is Principal of the School of Applied Health Sciences at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN and a Senior Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. He was formerly Vice-President (Academic) and Provost at McMaster University, President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Calgary, and President and CEO of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.

"Nothing Less than Great is an honest and insightful attempt to stress the current and urgent necessity of putting the word "great" into our academic institutions. It's an urgent plea to not be frightened of innovation, even if it sometimes fails. And that's a good message to hear from a profoundly intelligent and incisive mind at such a critical juncture on so many fronts."

Patricia Hughes, Independent Scholar:

"Nothing Less than Great benefits from this experience and knowledge of institutions across the country with which [Weingarten] dealt during his time as president of Calgary. He knows the nuances of the relationship between Ontario universities and the government from his time at HEQCO. The book is chock full of data culled from a wide array of studies and secondary sources."

Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's 24th Premier:

"Canadian universities have, by and large, served Canada well in the past. But times have changed and so must our universities. If you are leading the higher education file in government, whether from the public service or public office, you need to read this book. It will give you an honest lay of the land and the makings of a plan to move our universities forward. It's time to get on with it."

Ryan Craig, author of A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College and College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education:

"It’s increasingly obvious that universities are no longer a panacea for socio-economic mobility or workforce development. In Nothing Less than Great, Harvey P. Weingarten maps the gap between Canada’s substantial investment in post-secondary education and expected outcomes, and then offers a well-articulated plan for closing that gap. Canadian university leaders would do well to follow this sage advice."

Lorna R. Marsden, Professor of Sociology and President Emerita, York University:

"An experience- and data-based critique of Canadian universities by an admired leader. It will attract an enriching deluge of responses from the all parts of the sector."

Peter MacKinnon, President Emeritus, University of Saskatchewan:

"This is an excellent book by an author with wide and deep experience in Canadian public university education. It should command attention from universities, governments, students, and all who care about the future of our universities and those they serve."