Canada's universities have lost their autonomy. Under the guise of accountability, reformers from government and large corporations have undermined the original purposes of these institutions, insisting that they operate according to a business model.

The chief tool used to effect this change is the performance indicator, a method of evaluation and ranking well suited to measuring sales per square foot, for example, but useless in assessing qualities such as critical thinking, creativity and wisdom. Evaluating use of performance indicators in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand, the authors challenge readers to look beyond this narrow, business-based measure of value, and to consider more creative and effective methods of evaluation.

Counting Out the Scholars is a penetrating analysis of current methods of performance evaluation in the university, one that offers alternatives to the prevailing orthodoxy.

William Bruneau began his post-secondary education in Saskatoon at the University of Saskatchewan, taking degrees in history and in education. He completed his doctorate at the University of Toronto, spending years in Paris and Oxford. He was a member of faculty at UBC from 1971 to 2003. He has lately been a member of the regional council of the Canadian Music Centre, and as a pianist, has been a vigorous proponent and performer of chamber music. When the opportunity arose to write a biography of Jean Coulthard, it was impossible to resist. The project was a collaboration with David Gordon Duke—an accomplished musicologist and composer. Combining history, music, and biography, Bill found the work on Coulthard allowed him to indulge his enthusiasms, and led to the creation of a permanent reminder of Coulthard's person and work. In 2005, he accepted a contract to edit and write a volume in the Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. That project, in collaboration with McMaster historian Stephen Heathorn, is to be published in 2011.

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DONALD C. SAVAGE is a consultant in higher education, Former Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers and an adjunct professor of history at Concordia University in Montreal.

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