Top Ten

CFI distributes $665 million in research infrastructure funding

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation announced yesterday over $665 million for new state-of-the-art infrastructure at 41 research institutions across the country. CFI's Leading Edge Fund and New Initiatives Fund are supporting 133 projects to help Canada's top researchers conduct cutting-edge research. CFI News Release

Ottawa withholds over $2 million in FNUC funding

The federal government is holding back $2.4 million in funding from the First Nations University of Canada until changes are made at the beleaguered institution. Before Indian and Northern Affairs Canada will release the funds, university officials must meet a number of deadlines in the next few months and submit a final "action plan" by January 1, 2010. In March, the Saskatchewan government released half of the funds it had withheld from FNUC following the creation of a subcommittee to study new governance models for the university. Meanwhile, FNUC's board chair has written to the Canadian Association of University Teachers asking it to lift its censure on the institution. Regina Leader-Post

uSask graduate pleads guilty to stealing credit card info

Brandon Brian Therens, who graduated from the University of Saskatchewan this month, pleaded guilty Wednesday to using a university computer in 2007 to hack into a website where he accessed 300 pages of confidential credit card information. uSask's computer system was not breached in the incident.  The 25-year-old also admitted to committing other frauds and thefts between May and October 2007. Therens has been sentenced to 2 years less a day in jail, followed by 18 months probation. He must also pay $46,782 in restitution to 9 parties. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

7 Canadian universities win CASE Circle of Excellence Awards

7 Canadian universities have picked up medals in the 2009 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards. Memorial University earned a grand gold and a bronze, and the University of Toronto picked up 2 silvers. The University of Waterloo received a grand gold, York and Queen's Universities each earned a silver, and Wilfrid Laurier and McGill Universities both took home a bronze. Some of the winning work is available online, such as York's YorkU magazine and McGill's "Six Words" campaign microsite. List of 2009 CASE COE winners | WLU News Release

NL not graduating enough nurses

Educators in Newfoundland and Labrador say there is not enough space in the province's nursing school to train the individuals interested in the occupation, and NL's nursing shortage is likely to get worse. By 2012, the number of nurses retiring every year may match or even exceed the number of new nurses graduating in NL. A registrar with Memorial University's nursing school says the school can only accept a third of the people who apply. The university needs a bigger facility in order to meet the demand. CBC

McMaster breaks ground for Burlington campus

On Wednesday, McMaster University kicked off construction of its South Service Road campus in Burlington, to be known as the Ron Joyce Centre at the DeGroote School of Business in honour of Joyce's $10-million donation to the campus. The centre will house the university's MBA program, along with a range of targeted executive education initiatives. The new business campus will be built on valuable land donated by the son of the business school's namesake, Michael G. DeGroote. McMaster Daily News | Hamilton Spectator

Holland College applied science building would displace nearby houses

Holland College plans to build its $17-million applied sciences facility in an existing parking lot in downtown Charlottetown, and it will also require some adjacent property currently occupied by houses. The college is negotiating with several homeowners, and is still considering what to do with those properties. A Holland College official says a plan will be submitted to city council later this summer. CBC

Great Plains College buys Legion Hall parking lot

Saskatchewan-based Great Plains College has bought the parking lot next to the Legion Hall in Swift Current. The purchase was necessary because the Swift Current campus expansion project, which recently received funding from the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, involves facilities being built on current on-campus parking space. The Legion lot will provide college students and staff much-needed parking space within walking distance of the campus. Great Plains is considering leasing a limited number of spaces to local businesses and their customers. The college takes ownership of the lot on July 1. Great Plains College News Release | Southwest Booster

Personal solicitations help persuade alumni to donate

Based on an analysis of all alumni donations to an anonymous institution between 1983 and 2007, a new report from the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research finds that personal solicitations by phone help persuade reluctant alumni to donate. Since volunteers at the school usually worked through the list of names alphabetically, they were more likely to phone alumni with last names near the beginning of the alphabet, and tended to be more enthusiastic towards those individuals. Alumni with surnames beginning with A-F were 1.2% more likely to give than those whose last names fall between S-Z. Inside Higher Ed