August 18, 2009
The Ontario government announced Monday an $11.5-million investment from its Early Researcher Awards program in 82 research projects at 21 institutions across the province. The funds will support research in areas such as life sciences and advanced health technologies, bioeconomy, and digital media.
Ontario News ReleaseA feasibility task force established last year by the council of the Saskatchewan Association of Architects to study creating an architecture program finds that such a school could get off the ground in the province, the only one west of Halifax without an architecture program. The proposed architecture school, which could be housed in Saskatoon or Regina, would likely entail a 3- to 4-year graduate degree and would accept 25 students per year. Should discussions continue to move forward, the province could see young architectural graduates in as little as 6 years.
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix In its submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for consideration in the 2010-11 federal budget, Polytechnics Canada recommends Ottawa invest $75 million over 3 years in a pan-Canadian network of centres for commercialization and technology transfer. The organization also suggests the federal government invest $10 million a year on a pilot basis for 3 years in a federal commercialization voucher program. Another recommendation entails allocating $15 million annually to modernize and improve the country's Labour Market Information (LMI) systems by creating a Learning Information Platform to maintain, consolidate, and increase existing educational data and information surveys.
Read the submission Vancouver Island University is reporting a 4.5% increase in student enrolment in degree, diploma, and certificate courses for the fall semester. While the growth has been steady across the university's academic departments, the science department has experienced a higher jump in enrolment than others areas. Officials at VIU believe the rising enrolment is due in part to the economy and the school's
rebranding as a university last year.
Nanaimo News Bulletin According to a new RBC/Ipsos Reid poll, 43% of new college and university students and 35% of returning students surveyed believe their spending money will only last as far as the Christmas break, while 50% of students expect to run out of funds before the end of the academic year. 79% of respondents plan to work part-time while in school, with nearly half stating they need to work to pay the bills. Given the economic downturn, 66% of returning students report that they plan to be more cautious with spending this school year. The poll results come as
student unemployment reaches a record high and more and more students in
Ontario and
Alberta seek financial aid.
RBC News Release |
CBCOn Monday, some 50 Carleton University students gathered on campus to pressure the institution to set up a sexual assault centre. The movement for such a centre started nearly 2 years ago after a female student was sexually assaulted in a campus chemistry lab. (The student recently reached an
out-of-court settlement with the university). The founder of the Coalition for a Sexual Assault Centre on Campus hopes a dedicated centre will raise awareness and assist the Carleton community in preventing assaults before they happen. Carleton administration has no plans for the centre.
Ottawa CitizenLaunched in time for the fall term, an interactive wayfinding kiosk located on the mezzanine level of Simon Fraser University's Surrey campus is designed to help students find their way around campus. Developed by 2 SFU graduates, the wayfinder uses artificial intelligence to choose the best route from the user's current position to where he or she wants to go. The developers plan to market the system to other schools. Depending on funding, SFU may install other kiosks on campus.
SFU News Release Beloit College has released its annual Mindset List for this fall's crop of first-year students -- the Class of 2013. These students were generally born in 1991, and, according to the list, they are heading off to college as "tolerant, global, and technologically hip." For the Class of 2013, text has always been hyper, women have always outnumbered men at college, and everyone has always known what the evening news was before the evening news came on.
Beloit College Mindset ListThe University of Pittsburgh announced yesterday that it "has no interest" in receiving $225,000 from the estate of George Sodini, who earlier this month fatally shot 3 women and wounded 9 others at LA Fitness, a Pittsburgh-area health club, before killing himself. Sodini, a U of Pittsburgh alumnus, named the institution as the sole beneficiary in his will. The university believes the bequest should benefit Sodini's victims and their families.
Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewOn Monday, Facebook responded to concerns expressed in a
report last month by Canada's privacy commissioner, offering assurance that users will have better control over their personal information. If the privacy commissioner is not satisfied with Facebook's proposal, she has 15 days to determine whether to pursue legal action against the social network. Both sides have reportedly been working well together over the last month.
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