September 12, 2007
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As many as 30 police officers in London Ontario were called to the scene of an off-campus back-to-school party attended by Fanshawe College and University of Western Ontario students. What started as a keg party turned into a street brawl: police officers were attacked, nearby homes were damaged and dozens of students were charged. One student was subdued with a taser gun when he resisted arrest.
The Globe and Mail Calgary's PSE institutions received a record-breaking number of applications this year, and as many as 10,000 students may have been turned away in all. Mount Royal College saw a 17% increase in applications over last year (14,652 applications for 4,397 spots). Susan Gottheil, MRC's AVP Enrolment Management, says "we are turning more people away, despite the fact we opened more spaces." Enrolments in eCampusAlberta have risen 45% this year.
The Calgary Herald The University of Alberta has accumulated at least $656 million in deferred maintenance costs, according to its VP of Facilities and Operations. $350 million in surplus funds from the province was announced late in the summer towards maintenance of schools, hospitals and PSE institutions. uAlberta estimates it will see $40-50 million from that amount.
The Gateway (Student Newspaper)
Lakehead University is looking for a new home for its Orillia campus, now that negotiations for its preferred property have fallen through. Lakehead and Orillia's Mayor are now considering an 85 acre site known as the Horne Farm. If negotiations go smoothly, the new Lakehead facility could be open as early as September 2009, with 1,300 student spaces.
Thunder Bay’s SourceMore than 100 Oshawa community members showed up for a public meeting on student housing called earlier this week, to gather public feedback on a proposed bylaw to regulate rental units near Durham College and UOIT.
The meeting was "over before it began," cancelled in order to reschedule at a much larger venue. "The city didn't plan for student housing, why would they plan for this meeting?" asks one frustrated landlord. Durham Region News Queen's University has acquired the former site of the Federal Prison for Women in Kingston, as of January 2008. The property will accommodate space issues on campus. Female offenders were in residence at the facility from 1934 until 2000. The administrative building and cell block are designated as heritage structures and will be retained.
Queen’s News ReleaseThe new brand launched by the University of Windsor on Monday is meant to "raise awareness of the school, and differentiate uWindsor from its competition." The rebranding effort, website redesign, research and a planned national campaign carried a price tag of $1 million. The new tagline "Thinking Forward" has been very well received by the school community, but some stakeholders are hesitant about the new logo, which they fear may not be as timeless as the former logo, a maple leaf comprised of linked W's.
The Windsor StarOnline and email donation strategies are effective ways of capturing the "giving impulse." Over the last 6 years, the number of non-profit organizations that have found success with collecting donations online has doubled. The response rate to email solicitations has increased to 28% (from just 15% in 2000). Online donations are usually smaller in size, and account for only 1 to 5% of total contributions for 50% of non-profits.
Face ValueHigh school "exit exams" are becoming increasingly standard in the US, but higher education institutions are seeing little difference in the preparedness of their freshmen. The Center on Education Policy has suggested that this is caused by a mismatch between what is taught in high school and what is expected at college and university. Only 6 of 23 states that require an exit exam include questions that measure college preparedness.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Subscription Required)
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