March 5, 2010
In a letter sent last month, B'nai Brith Canada asked the University of Manitoba to reconsider its decision to allow Israeli Apartheid Week events on campus this week. Speaking at a news conference last Thursday, the Jewish organization's senior legal counsel stated the events have spread misinformation and hatred on campuses in other cities, and should be banned from universities in Winnipeg. The IAW events will go on as planned, uManitoba president David Barnard wrote in response, stating that the university is committed to a respectful work and learning environment that includes academic freedom of thought and expression.
Winnipeg Free Press |
Winnipeg Sun McMaster University has posted online the 5-year contract of incoming president
Patrick Deane, who begins his term on July 1. Deane will receive an annual salary of $340,000 with a maximum 15% performance bonus (compared to $524,000 for current president Peter George). Perks include a $10,000 annual car allowance, up to 6 weeks of vacation time, and paid membership at the Hamilton Club. The contract does not include any form of post-retirement benefits or access to McMaster's contributory pension plan, both of which are proving difficult to maintain as the university faces a
financial crunch. The public posting of the contract is part of McMaster's ongoing move towards greater transparency. The university
released George's contract in 2008 following a 2-year battle with the
Hamilton Spectator over a
freedom-of-information request.
Hamilton Spectator |
Read Deane's contract The University of Windsor's academic integrity office is probing a possible case of cheating on a mid-term psychology test that may result in over 1,000 students having to rewrite the exam. The office will determine whether or not questions used on the exam were distributed before the test was administered. An e-mail sent to students states evidence suggests a test bank was compromised, therefore exam results are deemed invalid and students must retake the test.
Windsor Star |
CBCLate last month, Cambrian College's board of governors decided to suspend the school's broadcast new media program due to declining enrolment. The college may resurrect the post-graduate program should there be renewed interest in the community. Students currently enrolled in the program will not be affected.
Northern LifeSome Grant MacEwan University students have launched a campaign urging the institution to reverse its decision to
close its pool in favour of an expanded fitness centre. One student is organizing rallies and a poster campaign, while another is starting a petition to keep to the pool open. A Facebook group dedicated to the cause yielded over 750 members within 24 hours of its creation. In a letter to MacEwan's public-relations department, one university employee described the pool's removal as "an active deterrent to fitness."
Edmonton Journal |
"Save the Grant MacEwan Pool" Facebook GroupYouth Protecting Youth, a pro-life club at the University of Victoria, took to campus grounds last Tuesday to protest the UVic students' society's recent decision to revoke the group's club status. YPY's president says the society is acting in a discriminatory matter by denying the group resources just because it may hold a view some may see as unpopular. The student government cited 35 harassment complaints directed at YPY as the reason to revoke the group's status until the definition of "harassment" and other policies are clarified.
Saanich News Graduate teaching assistants at Laurentian University recently voted to join the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The 233 graduate TAs will join the union's growing family at the university. CUPE already represents 20 sessional instructors at Thorneloe College, an affiliate of Laurentian, and 60 food service workers at the university.
CUPE News ReleaseThe Northern and Southern Alberta Institutes of Technology have been recognized by
Alberta Venture magazine as 2 of the province's best workplaces. NAIT was chosen as the best workplace for working parents, while SAIT was selected as the best workplace for benefits. Both institutions were finalists in the best overall workplace category.
SAIT News Release |
Alberta Venture
rtraction