Top Ten
September 26, 2008
Lakehead launches $20-million capital campaign for Orillia campus
Lakehead University has begun a $20-million capital campaign for its Orillia campus. Leading the campaign is businessman Paul Weber, founder of the successful roadside eatery Weber's Restaurants. The campaign will aim at alumni and industry, and will target several geographical areas, such as the GTA and Horseshoe Valley. Lakehead has also opened an Orillia Campus Project Advancement office in Toronto. Lakehead News ReleaseuPEI students, faculty concerned over focus on science
The University of Prince Edward Island's student union held a forum last Wednesday to discuss concerns over the university's increasing focus on scientific research. A number of students and faculty are worried that arts programs are not receiving the millions of provincial dollars science programs are garnering. uPEI's student union president says the change in focus is due to the province shifting PSE responsibility from the education department to the innovation and advanced learning department. The bulk of funding from outside agencies has gone to science research, and most construction on campus is for science and research. Charlottetown Guardian | CBCUBC student pleads not guilty to classmate's murder
A University of British Columbia law student pleaded not guilty last Thursday in the stabbing death of his former classmate. Sasan Ansari is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Joshua Goos, who was killed in May 2006 at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver. The Crown told the jury the 2 men were involved in a business deal that had gone sour. Ansari is free on $400,000 bail. CanWest News ServiceStriking uWindsor profs accuse school of falsehoods
Striking University of Windsor faculty are accusing university administration of spreading falsehoods after the school took out a full-page advertisement in local media last Wednesday to make its case to the public. The faculty union says the school is misleading the community with the ad, which suggests the strike is about money. The union says the strike is more about the declining quality of education and research at uWindsor. Globe and Mail | Windsor Star | Maclean's OnCampus | WUFACarleton hacker drops out to avoid punishment
A Carleton University student who hacked into the accounts of 32 students to expose flaws in the school's information system has dropped out of Carleton to avoid accepting its punishment. Mansour Moufid says he is leaving the university because it is asking him to lie. One of the six sanctions Carleton imposed on him is to write a letter of apology that must include that he lied about alerting the university before distributing his technical report. Moufid says he e-mailed the report to Carleton 2 weeks before sending copies to the affected students and campus media. Ottawa Citizen | CBC
New BC medical school being discussed
Talks have been going on about establishing a second medical school in BC to address the doctor shortage in the jurisdiction governed by the Fraser Health Authority. The proposed medical school could be located either at Simon Fraser University or a new satellite campus of the University of British Columbia. Although UBC has doubled enrolment at its medical program in recent years, the province still has one of the lowest ratios of medical students to population in the country. Vancouver SunMore women registering for apprenticeship programs
The number of women registering in apprenticeship programs is on the rise, according to new Statistics Canada data. In 2006, registrations among women grew at a slightly faster rate than they did for men. Women accounted for 10% of all apprentices in 2006, double the proportion in 1992. The food and service trades group was the most popular among women, as nearly three-quarters of the women who received their certificates in 2006 did so in that trades group. Statistics CanadaNunavut creates university-acceptable high school curriculum
Education officials in Nunavut have developed a new high school curriculum to meet university entrance standards in southern Canada. A territorial education department official says the curriculum has been accepted by 25 universities as meeting their entrance requirements. The Aulajaaqtut curriculum for courses in Grades 10 to 12 replaces an Alberta-based curriculum that Nunavut students needed to complete in order to graduate. The new curriculum will be implemented in 2010. CBCTrend in "Open Teaching" in the US
A number of professors in the US are embracing "Open Teaching," a concept developed by MIT officials in 2001 in a pledge to make lecture notes and other course material available online for free. This month, Stanford University unveiled 10 free engineering courses online. Last year, a professor at Utah State University allowed anyone to participate in his online course, even if they weren't registered. The availability of free course material may force colleges to revise the traditional core curriculum, as technology advances mean employers want the latest skills without having to wait for workers to get degrees. The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required)
