Top Ten
March 7, 2018
Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Wenjack Education Institute to deliver mobile apprenticeship training
The Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Wenjack Education Institute in Thunder Bay, Ontario has announced that it will use a $1.8M mobile trades trailer to make apprenticeship training available to all the 49 communities of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN). “We want community members to be qualified tradespeople who live and work in their own community, looking after their own infrastructure but also be mobile and working in remote sites," said innovation and training coordinator Gordon Kakegamic. The trailer will be used to deliver Level One apprenticeship training for six trades: welding, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and millwright. Oshki is reportedly working with Northern College to develop curriculum. Northern Ontario Business
Indigenous Students' Council critical of USask reconciliation efforts
The Saskatoon Star Phoenix reports that the Indigenous Students’ Council at the University of Saskatchewan is urging its members to stop participating in reconciliation efforts on campus. In a statement following two separate trials in which white defendants were acquitted of murdering Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine, respectively, the Council asserts that reconciliation benefits those who are “well-embedded” in the university system. Jackie Ottoman, Vice-Provost of Indigenous Engagement, said that the university met with the Council following the statement’s release. In a prepared statement, Ottoman added that “[w]e have been and continue to be committed to listening to students’ voices and those of our Indigenous faculty, staff and the broader community as the university responds to the (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) Calls to Action.” Star Phoenix
Globe and Mail feature focuses on Canadian medical schools’ efforts to thwart patient sexual abuse
In light of renewed scrutiny over patient sexual abuse, Zoshia Bielskiof the Globe and Mail interviews deans and vice-deans across eight Canadian medical schools about sexual abuse prevention. According to Geneviève Moineau, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, "[f]aculties do whatever they can to ensure that they are protecting the public first.” Gurdeep Parhar of the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine reports that the faculty emphasizes the power differential between doctors and patients to its students. Bielski also notes a shift toward “patient-centric” practices, upheld in part by efforts to improve sexual abuse education. Globe and Mail
UPEI students and navy partner up for engineering project
The University of Prince Edward Island has partnered with the Royal Canadian Navy to conduct an engineering project by first-year undergraduates, CBC reports. “We want our students to get real hands on experience,” states Wayne Peters, instructor and director of student experience at the School of Sustainable Design Engineering at UPEI. “They learn how to do certain analysis and engineering. The skills they learn in building. All of these things are the take away skills that they're going to go with and use in all kinds of other future projects.” The project, which gives first-year students hands-on experience with real-word engineering scenarios, is is the first of its kind for UPEI and RCN. CBC
Graduate students six times more likely to suffer depression and anxiety: study
A study published in Nature Biotechnology warns of a mental health crisis amongst PhD candidates. “Our results show that graduate students are more than six times as likely to experience depression and anxiety as compared to the general population,” the authors report. “It is only with strong and validated interventions that academia will be able to provide help for those who are traveling through the bioscience workforce pipeline.” The study found that women, transgender, and non-gender conforming respondents reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than cisgender men. Insider Higher Ed
MSVU introduces new and revised TESOL graduate programming
Mount Saint Vincent University has announced that it is launching new graduate programming in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The university states that the Master of Arts in Education in TESOL and revised Master of Education (Curriculum Studies): TESOL programs will be launched in September, with new certificate and diploma programs to be launched in two years. “We live in an increasingly global context and the needs of educators are evolving as a result,” said MSVU Acting Co-Dean of Education Ardra Cole. The programs will be initially offered on-campus with the intention of offering them online in the future. MSVU
Lambton, partner organizations launch Sarnia-Lambton Innovation Bridge
Lambton College and organizations in the Sarnia-Lambton region have launched the Sarnia-Lambton Innovation Bridge, an alliance supporting private and public enterprises focused on innovative technologies. The alliance aims to attract companies to the region with a variety of services, including collaborative industrial applied research and development, access to infrastructure and industrial broadband, and business services. “Economic development and diversification are essential for Sarnia-Lambton, and collaborations such as Innovation Bridge are critical to helping us achieve these goals,” commented Lambton President Judith Morris. “Lambton College strongly supports Innovation Bridge through research and development activities as well as training highly qualified personnel to grow existing and establish new industry clusters in Sarnia-Lambton.” Lambton
RRC suspends work on $95M project in light of tight deadline
Red River College has halted the construction of the $95-million Innovation Centre in light of a “near-impossible project completion deadline” of November 30th from the federal government. The centre is expected to attract more than 1,200 students and staff to the college’s downtown campus, and has been described as "an incredibly important project for the Exchange District and for Winnipeg” by Mayor Brian Bowman. A project source stated that Ottawa has contributed $40.6M towards the initiative, and that the college would need to return any unused funds by the November deadline. Winnipeg Free Press (Subscription required)
UCalgary-led open-access family medicine curriculum recognized by UN
The University of Calgary’s Shared Canadian Curriculum in Family Medicine has been recognized by the United Nations as a partner resource for medical students and educators throughout the world. The SHARC-FM is a free, open-access, national curriculum that includes clinical flashcards, virtual patient cases, references, and assessment tools. The project began in 2006 and involved all 17 Canadian medical schools in the development of the curriculum and materials. “We developed several types of resources,” said SHARC-FM Founding Lead/Editor David Keegan. “The most successful are the point-of-care clinical cards that students can have in their hands and refer to as they care for patients.” UCalgary | UN
New collective agreement to see St Michael’s faculty, administration through 2020
After 17 hours of mediation, faculty and administrators at St Michael’s College agreed to a new collective agreement in February, the Ontario Confederation of Faculty Associations reports. According to a press release, faculty associations throughout Ontario demonstrated solidarity through letters and motions of support. The new collective agreement, which expires in 2020, reportedly maintains salary parity with UTFA members of the University of Toronto’s main campus, ensures equitable and diverse hiring practices, and includes a commitment to diversity training on campus. OCUFA
