December 12, 2007
On Monday, federal and provincial funders announced $7.5 million for Collège Boréal to build a new French-language campus in Timmins, Ontario. $4 million in additional funding will be used to increase PSE access for Francophone students in Northern Ontario. Timmins is the home of Ontario's largest French-language high school.
UBC's Faculty of Law has received a $1 million gift from the national law firm Davis LLP and the founder's grandson, Irwin Davis, towards a new building project. The new building will include a student lounge named for the firm, as well as space for 50 faculty, 600 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. The facility will bring additional classroom space, student services space, moot court space, a larger library and new research space. Construction will begin in 2009 and is scheduled to take 18 months.
Conrad Black made many philanthropic donations, in his own name and through Hollinger. 2007 has been a troubling year for the Black name, and some organizations may be considering the pros and cons of remaining affiliated with the Lord of Crossharbour. The University of St. Michael's College, at UofT, received a $1 million donation from Black 8 years ago, and will wait to make a decision until the legal dust settles. Two years ago, Queen's University returned a $900,000 gift to David Radler and removed his name from its School of Business, following his own guilty plea.
A new report by the Canadian Council on Learning claims that without a "national road map" for PSE, Canada's prosperity is at risk. The Council's report finds that "Canada does not have the structures, practices and mechanisms to maximize the PSE sector's social and economic contributions." CCL estimates that by 2015, 75% of all new jobs in Canada will require PSE.
Laurentian University has announced a new School of Rural and Northern Health. The school will be part of the Faculty of Professional Schools, and will provide training for students from many different health streams as well as provide a "critical mass" in rural and northern health to promote faculty development and community partnerships.
BC's universities will reportedly require applicants in 2008 to write fewer provincial exams to qualify for admission. uVictoria has already passed such changes, and UBC and SFU are expected to follow suit in the next month. Students will be required to write only the same exams required to graduate high school: Grade 10 math & science, Grade 11 social studies and language arts, and Grade 12 language arts. Currently, BC's students are required to write 8 provincial exams, including 4 at the Grade 12 level.
Red River College in Manitoba has closed its waiting list for nursing upgrade programs. Practical n
urses hoping to upgrade their skills may be receiving notices in the mail indicating that applications are not being accepted. There are 25 LP's sitting on the waiting list currently, and no more will be added. The list was capped because it had reached a 5-year waiting period, and the College feels it is unfair to ask students to wait such an extreme length of time.The Université de Montréal has announced plans for a new Centre for Innovation in Nursing Education, due to "pressing need". This unique new facility will be used to research how nurses learn the "best practices in patient care." The Centre will open in 2008 and will "provide research into nursing education as the profession faces increasing responsibilities and pressures from an overtaxed healthcare system."
The College of the North Atlantic and the Canadian Department of National Defense have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, as part of the Canadian Forces Continuing Education Program. CNA is noted for its breadth and credited by the DND as "a modern Canadian community college and a truly impressive institution, with rich connections to the working world." 60 military personnel are already training from pre-existing agreements, and new students will live on campus to meet the pace demanded by the Canadian Forces.
50% of male students at the University of Victoria were unable to taste a difference between regular and light beers. The study by uVic's Centre for Addictions Research will fuel a campaign to price liquor according to alcohol content.
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