Top Ten
July 5, 2012
Quebec student strike to resume on August 17, says FEUQ president
The Quebec student strike over tuition-fee increases is not over, and will resume on August 17 when courses are set to start again at 14 CÉGEPs, says FEUQ president Martine Desjardins. However, she notes that the strike will likely take second place to a provincial election. If, as pundits have suggested, Premier Jean Charest calls for an election for September 17, provincial law would require him to do so by August 8, although the Quebec cabinet will also meet a week earlier, when Charest could call an election for September 10. For their part, students plan to campaign to unseat Liberal MNAs who won with small majorities in the 2008 election. Montreal Gazette
$2-million donation funds Alzheimer's research chair at Dal
A $2-million gift to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation (DMRF) from The Sobey Foundation will be used to create the DMRF Irene MacDonald Sobey Endowed Chair in Curative Approaches to Alzheimer's Disease at Dalhousie University. The donation represents the first in a joint major gifts partnership between DMRF and Dal. The gift brings the Sobey family's contribution to the university's $250-million "Bold Ambitions" fundraising campaign to $5 million in total. Dal News
Potash Corp. commits to match up to $1.2-million for Parkland College Trades Centre
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. has announced a commitment to match up to $1.225 million in community and industry contributions for Parkland College's Trades and Technology Centre in Yorkton. The 24,550-square-foot centre will house a power engineering lab, a science and technology lab, technology-enhanced classrooms, and an 8,000-square-foot industrial trades shop. Parkland College News | Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
OUSA outlines short-term priorities regarding student aid for Ontario budget
Last month the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance appeared before the province's Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs to speak about its short-term priorities for the budget, with a particular focus on student financial assistance. In a new report OUSA recommends that the province continue and improve upon its tuition grant, by ensuring that independent students who are Aboriginal or have a child under the age of 12 are adequately supported by the grant, and by extending eligibility for the grant by one year for first-entry students in 5-year programs. OUSA also recommends maintaining the Ontario Student Opportunities Grant debt cap at $7,300 per annum, as well as gradually phasing out provincial tuition and education-tax credits and diverting incremental savings to up-front grant programs. Report
Sault College considers purchasing public school
Sault College president Ron Common says the institution is hoping to buy Prince Charles public school, should it become available, and make it a permanent home for one of its services. "We are lusting after a surplus school," Common says. "We very much need the space and would jump at the opportunity to purchase it." The college has been renting the school and using it to provide daycare services. While the college is interested in the school, action cannot be taken until the site is declared a "surplus school" by the Algoma District School Board. Soo Today
uToronto-Canadian Sport Centre Ontario partnership boosts learning, research opportunities
A new partnership between the University of Toronto's Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education and Canadian Sport Centre Ontario (CSCO) will enhance support for the province's top athletes while boosting learning and research opportunities for uToronto students, faculty, and staff across a wide range of sport science projects. One feature of the partnership is the sport science assistant program, already in its second year. The CSCO employs undergraduate kinesiology students from uToronto as summer science assistants, giving them hands-on experience in applied sport science. uToronto News
Royal Roads, Indian academy sign MOU
Royal Roads University continues to build on its commitment to boost its international student population with the signing of an MOU this week with India's Sahibzada Ajit Singh Academy (SASA). Designed to encourage the progression of students from SASA to Royal Roads, the 3-year agreement sets out expectations for the development of the partnership and the endorsement of programs, particularly in the areas of business, environmental sustainability, and tourism. Royal Roads News Release
Nipissing develops virtual campus tours
Nipissing University has launched a set of virtual campus tours. The tours use 360-degree panoramas, allowing users to pan and zoom in any direction. Current tours include the university's Athletic Complex, Campus Pond, Harris Learning Library, and Governors House. Over the summer, more full tours will be added. Nipissing Virtual Campus Tours
Print textbooks, laptops still dominate on US campuses, survey finds
E-textbooks and tablet devices have a lot of buzz, but old-bound volumes and laptop computers still dominate on 4-year college campuses, according to a new US survey of 1,200 full-time students. Two-thirds of respondents said the iPad was "in" on their campuses, but fewer than 6% actually own an iPad, and just 1% plan to purchase one in the next year. 19% of respondents own a desktop computer, compared to 10% who own a tablet. Laptops continue to dominate campus computing, with 88% of respondents having one. 20% of students surveyed either bought or "rented" an e-textbook this spring. The survey found that print textbooks are nowhere near extinction. Used print editions accounted for 45% of textbook purchases, new print editions accounted for 31%, and print rentals accounted for 15%. Inside Higher Ed
Artwork channels international students' negative feelings over visa changes in UK
When Min Jae Huh, a South Korean student at the UK-based Royal College of Art, decided to create an artistic protest against the UK government's decision to end post-study work visas, she asked other foreign students to suggest images that symbolized how they are seen in the UK. One respondent put forward "criminals," while others suggested "a person in a crate, i.e. a disposable good" and "ants." The most common theme was that international students felt they were seen as "walking cash," a "cash machine" or a "cash cow." The images collated by Huh were featured in an exhibition at the Royal College of Art last month. Visitors to the event were invited to write their thoughts about the issue on postcards, which are now being sent to the UK's immigration minister. Times Higher Education
