August 7, 2007
The latest proposal to address Toronto's looming university space crunch suggests a second Ryerson University campus on the Toronto waterfront. Not only would this help offset the projected surge in university-age students, but a campus would also help revitalize the Jarvis Street neighbourhood. "A new Ryerson campus is at a very, very early stage of consideration. It is just one of many options." The Toronto waterfront area, currently a "bleak collection of warehouses and parking lots," is a major priority for the City. Maclean’s
Yet another proposed solution to the Toronto university space crunch includes the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and the proposal for improved transit between Toronto and UOIT’s hometown of Oshawa. Also a suggestion for further consideration is for an outer GTA school, such as UOIT, to open a satellite campus in Toronto. UOIT’s enrolment has been growing steadily since the year of the double cohort. Durham Region News
Having been a degree-granting institution since 2002, the Ontario College of Art and Design has evolved into a "specialized university" and the time has come for the word "college" to disappear from the institution's moniker. The Ontario government and the institution have initiated talks of a formal name change, and OCAD is now going to its community for creative input.
OCAD NewsMiddle-class families often find themselves in a financial bind to pay for PSE. Family incomes too high for full student loans, but inadequate to pay for PSE from petty cash, middle-class students are forced into private loans and heavy work schedules. A new study by the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation found a $10,000 annual gap between average student income and school expenses. Students from household incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 are twice as likely to borrow from a bank.
The Toronto StarA new student-run website features an "inside look" at life on McMaster University's campus. Articles, videos and forums on the site are entirely run by students. More than 1,000 students (including 400 freshmen) have joined the network over the last few weeks.
With many schools debating the value of their own version of Facebook, the success of Macinsiders.com would suggest that students are interested in the offering -- if the right content and freedom is part of the deal. McMaster Daily News | Macinsider.comDalhousie University, the University of New Brunswick, and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada are jointly sponsoring the fifth annual First Nations and Inuit National Science Camp this week. 51 First Nations and Inuit students from across Canada will attend the camp, which will visit Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine as well as UNB's Faculty of Engineering. Aboriginal history and medicine, forestry, engineering, chemistry, physics, geology, forensic science and hydroelectricity are on the program for these lucky 12- to 15-year-olds.
Governm ent of Canada News ReleaseTo encourage distance education enrolment, alumni of the Memorial University of Newfoundland spent last weekend taking the word to the streets dressed in academic gowns and handing out "pseudo degrees" to community members during public events in St. John's. The message behind the campaign is that you can earn your degree from wherever you are, even at a folk festival. Traditional promotions via print and radio ads will also be part of the campaign. The provincial government has committed $1.5 million to develop new distance ed courses at Memorial.
[email protected] offers 350 undergraduate and graduate degree-credit courses via distance ed. (Memorial Email News Release)
Ontario students can now use their college or university ID cards in partnership with supplementary documentation, as proof of identification in October’s provincial election. Student loan agreements, residence address information and other government documents will be acceptable. Confusion over elections requirements has been suggested as a cause of decreased student participation in the 2003 election.
CBC | CFS News Release A new research study of more than 60 US colleges indicates that 23% of living alumni have made financial contributions to their alma maters. On average, 4% of those who are offered an alumni credit card accept the offer. 25% of the schools surveyed offered car insurance to their alumni. More than three-quarters of schools used telephone calls to solicit a financial contribution from alumni.
Primary Research Group News Release Italy' s universities will no longer grant honorary degrees, by government order. It is believed that the tradition undermines the "prestige" of the university system. The decision was made after such a degree was offered to a businesswoman and former medal-winning equestrian, despite objections from the Minister of Higher Education. Recently many honorary degrees have been offered to Italians, such as a champion motorcycle racer, who are thought to have "debatable academic achievements."
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