January 21, 2008
Ryerson University has formally announced its acquisition of Sam the Record Man's former home on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, along with 3 adjacent properties, to provide space urgently needed for study space and an expanded Student Learning Centre. The purchases, which total $40 million, show Ryerson moving ahead with its 20-year revitalization plan, and goal to be a "city-builder."
The Ontario government has announced $23 million in research funding for two Queen's University projects. $18 million will fund ongoing research at Sudbury's SNOLAB, the world's deepest underground lab. SNOLAB is a collaborative project between Queen's, Carleton, Laurentian, UBC, uGuelph, uMontreal, and international partners. $5 million will go to research on developing green technologies for powering information systems.
The Canadian government has announced $1.5 million in funding to purchase new composites research equipment at the University of Manitoba. uManitoba has proposed the creation of a unique regional state-of-the-art Composites Research and Commercialization Centre (CRCC), which is expected to be built within the next two years.
10 McGill students staged a peaceful protest last week, in their principal's office. The protesters, part of the radical Grassroots Association for Student Power, are calling for free education, and occupied the principal's office for 4 hours. The students blocked the doors to the Principal and Provost's office and several bound their arms together. One student was apparently forcibly pushed.
New Brunswick's Union of Public and Private Employees has issued 11 recommendations regarding PSE in the province. The union calls for community colleges to continue their important roles in their communities -- supporting the local economies and often serving as a stepping stone to university. They also recommend that colleges remain separate from the university system, to preserve the emphasis on hands-on training, small groups, apprenticeships, and job readiness. The union also urges more fluid transfer policies to allow easy movement between institutions.
BC's post-secondary students, presidents, and board chairs will come together with the Advanced Education Ministry to discuss the next phase of
Campus 2020. The
Campus 2020 report was released in 2007, and made 52 recommendations for the province's PSE system. BC has already fulfilled several recommendations, including making adult basic education tuition-free, commissioning an independent review of PSE governance and accountability, and appointing more members to the board of the Private Career Training Institutions Agency. A forum next week will focus on collaboration and student-centred education. BC News Release
Ten students across the country will be camping out in campus libraries for ten days to raise money for literacy. The national campaign is led by Queen's University, and will include students at universities nationwide. Students are hoping to bring in $20,000 to build 5 school libraries in Nepal. The students will not be attending class during the event, and will be restricted to a roped-in area for the full 10 days. This is the third year the program has run at Queen's and the first year that it has extended to other campuses.
The Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology has launched a reality-based health-care lab that will simulate scenarios for nursing, continuing care and paramedic students. The new facility includes 2 trauma rooms, a 500-square-foot apartment, and 3 computerized mannequins that can speak, breath and blink. The mannequins are able to respond to medical procedures such as drug therapy.
A new blog written by students and faculty at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School has been named the best new law blog of 2007 by the Canadian Law blog awards. TheCourt.ca is updated daily with news and opinion pieces about the Supreme Court of Canada and its judgments. "Osgoode Hall's The Court was easily the most important new Canadian law blog in 2007." Student editors of the blog receive an honorarium for their participation.
The University of Toronto, York University and the University of Western Ontario were the top three application winners in Ontario this year, with 42,277, 38,745, and 36,505 applicants respectively. Laurentian University's Heart campus saw the largest percentage growth with a 26.8% jump over last year's numbers. The University of Guelph-Humber and UOIT came in close behind with 24.7% and 24.4% respectively.
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