Here we are at the end of another session, preparing to break for the Holiday Season. Good luck on your examinations and with your papers.

I hope you have a moment to savour this time and to reflect on the bright future ahead of you. Many young people around the world share your passion for knowledge but do not have an opportunity to pursue postsecondary studies. A university education, so rich on so many levels, can inspire hope and transform lives.

Enjoy the company of your family and friends and have a delightful Holiday Season. I look forward to seeing you back on campus in the New Year.

We are going to be offering textbook rental services at our bookstore in the University Centre as of January 2011. The Rent-A-Text program will save you 50% or more off the cover price of the nation's most popular textbooks.

In addition to promised savings, the new rental program offers:

• Same-day service: you can rent and return textbooks in store, ensuring that you have the right textbooks the day classes start;
• real-life usage: you will have the freedom to highlight and take notes all within the normal wear and tear associated with coursework; and
• extra spending power: your up-front savings on the cost of textbooks can be applied to other school supplies you may need.

The program is based on a major pilot project undertaken by Follett, our partner in the bookstore operation. Follett's pilot showed that the program saved students nearly $6 million on their course materials in just two terms at 27 schools. More than 90% of the students who rented textbooks expressed satisfaction with the pilot program.

I hope you also find the new program useful and convenient, and I'll be eager to receive reactions you want to share once you've tried it!

The tuition you pay is regulated by the provincial government, which decides whether, and by what amount, fees can be increased. For the next academic year, the province has decided that fees can go up by 5%. We proposed an increase of 4.3%, which the Board of Governors approved at a special meeting on November 22.

I am very much aware of the strong opposition to tuition increases expressed by your student associations. Many people believe there should be no fees at all for university enrolment, because education is a right. But until society accepts that principle, universities need to generate revenue to meet rising costs and operating expenses. Tuition is an important element in that equation.

Basically, Ontario universities derive their revenues from three sources: per-student grants from the provincial government (contributing about 60% of the total), tuition fees paid by students (amounting to about 28%) and "other sources" that include private fundraising and interest from our endowment funds.

Importantly, the proportion contributed by students through tuition has remained almost exactly the same over the last 10 years, as has the proportion provided by government. Because university degrees benefit both the individual graduates and society, many believe that this dual contribution is justified. Furthermore, since uOttawa has always devoted 30% of tuition increases to student financial assistance (in the form of scholarships and non-repayable bursaries for those in financial need), one can argue that the increased fees are not a barrier to access. Higher rates of enrolment over the years would seem to bear that out, and almost half of our graduates leave uOttawa with no debt at all.

The issue is always controversial, and I understand the position of those who argue against fee increases. The reality, however, is that our costs go up every year, and that, under the current system, tuition remains an important part of our funding. With the Board having allowed the increase, we will now set aside 30% for student financial assistance again this year, while using the rest to strengthen programs and services that we believe offer lasting value to our students in the form of learning and discovery.