October 26, 2009
Queen's University held a groundbreaking ceremony last Friday for a new home for its School of Medicine. Allowing the university to further expand medical programs, the $77-million facility will serve as a hub for innovative medical education, including small group teaching, simulation, and integrated science labs. Queen's has set up a Web page dedicated to the project.
Queen's News Release |
New Medical School BuildingYork University broke ground yesterday for its new Life Sciences Centre, which received $70 million in joint infrastructure funding from the federal and Ontario governments. The 160,000-square-foot facility will feature classrooms, offices, and laboratory and research space to support increased enrolment in disciplines such as biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and kinesiology. The Life Sciences Centre will also house specialized facilities such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, X-ray, Mass Spectrometry, and Radioisotope laboratories.
York News ReleaseLast Friday, McMaster University officially opened its new $48-million Engineering Technology Building. The 5-storey, 125,000-square-foot, glass-covered building, which will accommodate over 2,000 students, professors, researchers, and staff, features state-of-the art learning and research facilities, sustainability systems, and novel architectural design. The facility will house the McMaster-Mohawk Bachelor of Technology Partnership, the first-year Engineering Program, the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering, the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice, a new Biointerfaces Institute, and the Centre for Research in Micro- and Nano-Systems.
McMaster Daily News |
Hamilton SpectatorYork University's Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program placed first among Canadian business programs in recent rankings by the
Financial Times of London. The program placed 23rd worldwide. Other Canadian EMBAs listed in the rankings included those offered at uToronto's Rotman School of Management (29), UWO's Richard Ivey School of Business (30), uAlberta and uCalgary (36), Queen's School of Business (65), and Concordia's John Molson School of Business (80). York's business programs have received top marks in recent rankings by
The Economist and the
Aspen Institute.
Y-File |
Financial Times EMBA Rankings 2009Tonight's broadcast of TVO's
The Agenda with Steve Paikin will feature a debate on the merits of a
tiered university system in which some schools concentrate on research and graduate studies, while other focus on undergraduate education. Participating in the discussion are the presidents of Brock, uAlberta, Carleton, Queen's, and a former uToronto president. Tonight's episode will also feature an interview with Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy about his vision of the institution as a key driver of urban renewal.
Brock News |
The AgendaCape Breton University reports that for the 2009-10 academic year, foreign-student enrolment is up 12.3% in undergraduate programs, and 77.3% in graduate programs. The majority of international students at the university come from China, Egypt, India, and Saudia Arabia, and 44 countries are represented on campus. Overall full-time undergraduate enrolment at CBU has grown by 1.7%, while full-time graduate enrolment has risen by 26.1%.
CBU News Release |
CBCIn a new survey of over 16,000 Canadian college and university students, the Government of Canada has been chosen as the top employer, with provincial and municipal governments as well as Health Canada making the top 10. Google, Microsoft, and Apple were the only for-profit companies to be listed among the top 10 employers. 71% of students surveyed reported that their employer will be loyal to them if they work hard, and 53% said they would like to find an employer with which to spend their entire career. 62% of respondents said the current economic situation makes them "worried about" their job prospects; however, 76% believe employers will see them as "good candidates for employment."
Canada's Top Campus Employers 2009The University of Winnipeg held a town hall meeting yesterday to inform students and staff about how asbestos is being managed at the institution. University officials plan to remove the dangerous substance from campus as older buildings are renovated. While some asbestos has been found on campus, one uWinnipeg administrator says there is no immediate concern for the safety of students and staff.
CBCWhile the availability and convenience of online PhD programs could help Canada compete in the global knowledge economy, one University of Calgary researcher studying retention and socialization in online doctoral programs is concerned about their effectiveness. Because PhD programs have traditionally imposed residency requirements, says researcher Liam Rourke, "the capacity of e-learning methods to produce world-class researchers is an open question." Rourke reports that distance education has a high rate of incompletion at around 70%. Due to the apparent lack of student socialization in online education, Rouke suggests there needs to be more one-on-one mentoring.
uCalgary NewsYesterday the University of British Columbia launched a contest challenging teachers and students worldwide to show how they are using learning technologies to foster a broader understanding of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in their classrooms. The Global Minds Challenge asks K-12 classrooms to demonstrate how they are using Twitter, mobile phones, and other digital technology to help promote student engagement with the Games. An international panel of judges will award up to 5 prizes of $2,010 each to the best submissions. Winners will be announced in February.
UBC News Release |
UBC Global Minds Challenge
rtraction