March 1, 2010
The Ontario government announced last Friday more than $20.8 million in grants from the Ontario Research Fund for 6 University of Waterloo-led research projects, which involve the institution's departments of electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and mechatronics engineering, and computer science, as well as the optometry school. The funding is part of a larger investment in research supporting at least 214 scientists across Ontario.
uWaterloo Daily BulletinLast Friday, University of Saskatchewan professor emeritus Karim (Kay) Nasser announced a $12-million donation in the form of real estate to the university, making it the largest gift uSask has ever received. The value of the donation will be channelled into student awards, 2 new campus buildings, the college of engineering, and the business school, which is
moving to downtown Saskatoon with the help of a previous donation from the Nasser family.
uSask News Release |
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix |
CBCMcMaster University's board of governors will consider this week a plan for a $40-million primary care centre to be built at the southeast corner of McMaster Innovation Park. Should the proposal be approved, construction would start this fall, with the facility opening as early as September 2012. The need to get moving is urgent, says McMaster's health sciences dean, who stresses that without the training spaces the centre will provide, Hamilton risks losing the new, larger cohort of health-care professionals to other communities.
Hamilton SpectatorIn a recent referendum, members of Queen's University's Society of Graduate and Professional Students voted against a $112-a-year pledge to support
Queen's Centre. Noting that the recreation facility has "
drained the university's resources," a society vice-president says its executive has always been against the investment -- $4.5 million over 10 years -- because it felt it did not serve the need of its member students. Grad students at the University of Victoria
challenged a proposed fee to support a new $58-million athletics centre.
Kingston Whig-StandardCarleton University, Vancouver Island University, Wilfrid Laurier University, SAIT, and Acadia University are the Canadian winners in US-based
Higher Ed Marketing Report's 25th Annual Education Advertising Awards. Carleton's "
Anything but Textbook" recruitment campaign earned a gold, silver, and bronze in the radio single spot, newspaper series, and total advertising campaign categories, respectively. VIU picked up gold in the annual report and outdoor categories. WLU received a gold and bronze in the magazine single ad and internal publication categories, respectively, and merits in the brochure and student viewbook categories. SAIT won gold in the brochure category, and Acadia earned merits in the poster and new media categories.
Carleton News Release |
HEMR Competition Winners List by InstitutionLast month, College of the North Atlantic held the first international applied research roundtable of its kind at its Qatar campus. Participating Atlantic Canadian institutions joined CNA's delegation and colleagues from several Qatar organizations in the signing of an Intent to Partner MOU. With this agreement, the Canadian signatories have a path to develop applied research partnerships with Qatar organizations.
CNA News ReleaseLast Wednesday, Eva Markvoort, whose battle with cystic fibrosis is the subject of an award-winning documentary, received her fine arts degree from the University of Victoria from her hospital bed in Vancouver. In January 2007, Markvoort became too ill to continue her studies. When her sister Annie told a professor about Eva's failing health, the professor and several faculty members worked to grant Markvoort her degree within 24 hours. One of Markvoort's theatre professors says she is an inspiration. "We're incredibly proud to have her as one of our alumni."
Victoria Times-Colonist The federal and Alberta governments and the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs of Alberta signed an MOU last week pledging to bring graduation rates among Aboriginal youth in Alberta to the same level as the rest of students. Both governments plan to analyze existing funding protocols for First Nations education and explore new "strategic" funding opportunities. The MOU calls for an Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre to establish an "education expertise" hub for all of the province's First Nations.
INAC News Release |
Calgary HeraldAn article in Sunday's
Toronto Star takes notice of a trend among post-secondary schools using social media to connect with prospective students. "Young people consume video; video are their currency," says the marketing director for the University of Toronto, which 2 years ago produced 52 video testimonials from students and professors for its website. "You don't just tell them U of T isn't impersonal -- you show them." York University has 4 "e-ambassadors" monitoring its presence on social networks. A recent survey of social media on Canadian campuses found over 1,400 official Facebook sites, nearly two-thirds of them created by students in a certain field of study.
Toronto Star Inspired by
UQAM students' popular lip-synching video, a student life co-ordinator at the University of Alberta's Campus Saint-Jean recruited over 100 students to participate in a similar production. Filmed in early February, the lip dub, featuring the song "Good Girls Go Bad," was recorded in one long, continuous shot through the halls, classrooms, and lounges of the campus. The staff member who spearheaded the project hopes the video gains some positive attention for uAlberta, and for the French-language campus in particular.
uAlberta ExpressNews |
Edmonton Journal |
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