Top Ten

uAlberta opens $300-million diabetes institute

Last month, the University of Alberta officially opened the new Alberta Diabetes Institute and Health Research Innovation Facility, "the most advanced centre for diabetes research in the world."  More than 200 researchers and staff will populate the centre and focus solely on diabetes treatments.  The Institute will eventually take over two-thirds of the 65,000 square metre Health Research Innovation Facility.  CFI has invested $28.5 million in the project, and the Alberta government has contributed $246 million.

uToronto Law receives $7.5 million from CanWest VP

The University of Toronto Faculty of Law has received a $7.5 million gift from Canadian businessman, philanthropist, lawyer and executive vice-president of CanWest Global Communications Corp., David Asper.  The donation will fund the establishment of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights.  The gift is apparently the largest made by an individual to a Canadian law school. 

OCAD student suspended after art project "bombs"

A student from the Ontario College of Art & Design has turned himself into police and been suspended from school after a bomb hoax at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum on Wednesday night.  The art project gone wrong included a fake bomb and "an equally phony video on Youtube" of the famous museum blowing up.  An AIDS charity fundraiser was cancelled because of the scare.  2 OCAD faculty members have also been suspended with pay.

NL moves forward with plans for independent Grenfell

Newfoundland & Labrador is pushing ahead with its controversial plan to establish Sir Wilfred Grenfell College as the province's second full university.  The province hopes to keep both Grenfell and Memorial University under a single board of regents, while each would have its own senate, budget and executive.  Memorial University has resisted the loss of Grenfell as a satellite campus, saying Memorial's reputation would suffer. The government feels the change will benefit western Newfoundland, and that Grenfell has proved itself deserving of university status. 

PSE applicant research in Canada evolves

After 11 years, Academica Group announced today that its flagship market research studies, the University and College Applicant Surveys, will be combined in a new, national UCAS Applicant Study. The UCAS will better capture the 25% of university applicants who cross-apply to college, and deal with competitive sets that may include various types of institutions, particularly in Alberta and BC. The UCAS will go to field nationally with at least 100,000 applicants, starting as early as mid-January. Institutions interested in better understanding how the marketplace perceives them and their competitors are encouraged to contact Ken Steele soon.

SFU students launch "global fight" against Chartwells

500 Simon Fraser University students have launched an online protest against the campus food service provided by Chartwells.  Students living on campus are required to purchase what they say are overpriced products.  Earlier this month, Maclean's magazine rated SFU's food service the worst of 9 Canadian campuses, with 1.5 stars out of 5.  The students are fueling their protest with an "in your face" Facebook effort. 

"Homophobic" policy might get Canadian Blood Services banned from campus

The King's University College students' union at the University of Western Ontario is considering a ban on Canadian Blood Services on campus, because of its "homophobic" policy.  CBS has a zero tolerance policy against receiving donations from men who have had sex with men.  "Without question, there is support to remove CBS from campus."  Student council at UWO's main campus agrees that there are issues with CBS' policy, but will lobby at federal and provincial levels rather than pursue a ban. 

UOIT features "Flash-y" virtual campus tour on website

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology has added a virtual campus tour to its website, with aerial views, moving traffic, and profiles of selected buildings.  The tour was developed internally, and staff estimate that it will require annual updating, as well as expansion as new buildings are added in a wave of construction on campus. 

US college applicants develop their personal "brands"

After years of colleges and universities applying brand strategy to their recruitment efforts, now kids are "responding in kind." Some US applicants (or their parents) are hiring admissions consultants who specialize in developing a "personal brand." Students are distilled to slogans like "the Greenwich ballerina who mentored students in the South Bronx." Explains one applicant, "at the end of the day, you're just a piece of paper.  If you're not packaged, you're all over the place.  It's important to be focused."