July 24, 2009
Last Thursday, the federal and Saskatchewan governments announced $16.7 million in joint infrastructure funding for the University of Regina. The money will go towards 4 projects, including the completion of the fifth floor of the Research and Innovations Centre.
Saskatchewan News Release |
Regina Leader-Post A Peterborough city councillor has written to residents living near Fleming College asking them to identify student rental properties that could cause problems. The councillor says the city, college, and police need an "action plan" to address off-campus student housing issues before students come back in the fall, and gives examples in his letter of town-gown tensions. Fleming's president urges residents to call the college if they have issues with off-campus students.
Peterborough Examiner In a letter to Metro Vancouver, the RCMP's University of British Columbia detachment commander expresses opposition to the university's application to expand the alcohol-licensed area of its Thunderbird Area and to add an outdoor patio, stating it would lead to increased social disorder that would further erode the quality of life of area residents. While the University Neighbourhoods Association, which represents 5 UBC neighbourhoods, does not oppose an expansion of the license, it is wary about the idea of allowing drinks in most spectator areas of the arena.
Georgia Straight |
Read the letter Durham College is reporting a 5.28% increase in applications to the school for fall studies over this time last year. Preliminary figures indicated a 4.86% increase in the number of students confirming Durham as their first choice. The college expects overall enrolment to rise to approximately 6,600 students, along with an estimated 1,600 apprenticeship students, for the 2009-10 school year.
Durham College News ReleaseA task force assembled last year to address strategic enrolment management at the University of Saskatchewan has come up with a dozen initiatives designed to improve student recruitment and retention. uSask's vice-provost for teaching and learning says efforts such as revising admissions procedures and expanding learning communities will have an impact on enrolment next year, while program innovation and academic advising improvements would likely have an impact 5 years from now.
uSask On Campus NewsAs outlined in Mohawk College's 2009-10 business plan, recently posted online, the school's activities during the year will be guided by the launch of a multi-year strategic plan based on the priorities of quality, innovation, and sustainability. Tasks Mohawk has set out for 2009-10 include completing the master plan for its Fennell campus, assessing strengths and opportunities for applied research, and meeting SEM targets. The report also details the college's commitment to increase participation by under-represented students.
Mohawk College 2009-10 Business Plan Friday's edition of the University of Waterloo's Daily Bulletin touched on the widespread reaction to some elements of the university's new visual identity, particularly the
prototype marketing logo. An article in the bulletin explains the reasoning for creating a new logo; consensus on campus was that current marketing efforts were not working as well as expected, that uWaterloo was not as well known as it thought it was. Before the "hard" launch of the new visual identity occurs throughout 2010, the university will hold a town hall meeting in October about the design, and set up a Facebook page for the new logo this fall.
uWaterloo Daily BulletinEarlier this month, Grande Prairie Regional College held a public meeting as part of academic planning sessions to determine how its new
Fairview campus would best suit the needs of students, the town, and the region in the long term. One option for the campus is to offer courses that are unique to Fairview, such as the Harley-Davidson program. One resident suggested a hairdressing course given the lack of hairdressers in town, as well as more female-oriented programs. Another said the college should revive a once-popular business course.
Fairview Post As part of its
2-part series on Canada's higher-education system,
Maclean's compared the nation's universities to those in the rest in the world, looking at access, education, international rankings, money, and size. While Canada has a higher rate of working-aged citizens with a PSE credential than any other developed country, its ranking falls to sixth place if only university credentials are taken into account. Compared to their American peers, Canadian universities generally have larger undergraduate populations, smaller endowments, and, according to NSSE results, lower levels of "student-faculty interaction." Few Canadian universities appear in international rankings, which largely ignore undergraduate education and concentrate on academic reputation and research. While not entirely fair to Canada's universities, these rankings are neither entirely wrong,
Maclean's observes. Canada ties with Israel for 12th place in the world for the number of major international science prizes won since the 1940s.
Maclean's Last Thursday, a cow escaped from the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinarian Medicine, stopping by a McDonald's restaurant in Saskatoon before eventually being recaptured. After an hour of leading police on a wild bovine chase, the cow was trapped in a fenced compound of another business. The animal was sedated by a team from the vet college and taken back to uSask.
CanWest News Service
rtraction