November 5, 2020
The Government of Manitoba has announced that it will be amending legislation to help internationally trained professionals begin working in their professions in the province. The proposed amendments are intended to remove barriers through a number of measures, including simplifying the administration of the act, creating a duty for regulators to ensure requirements and assessments for a profession are necessary, and requiring the regulated professions to work with postsecondary institutions and employers to ensure internationally educated applicants can address gaps and meet registration requirements. “Many newcomers to Manitoba are highly educated and possess in-demand skills and experience, and we want to help them keep their skills up to date so they can rejoin their professions more quickly after arriving in Manitoba and help grow our economy,” said Economic Development and Training Minister Ralph Eichler.
MB (MB)
Trent University’s School of Graduate Studies has launched an Interdisciplinary Social Research (IDSR) PhD program. The program emphasizes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study, including research, social inquiry, and leadership. It also provides students with experiential learning and mentorship opportunities. “This degree will offer students a pathway into both academic and non-academic research positions in a range of fields including education and caring professions, business and management, and the social sciences,” said Trent Dean of Graduate Studies Craig Brunetti. “The Interdisciplinary Social Research PhD will allow Trent to train the next generation of social science scholars providing advanced research capacity and leadership in a wide range of social science disciplines.”
Trent (ON)
Trent University’s School of Graduate Studies has launched an Interdisciplinary Social Research (IDSR) PhD program. The program emphasizes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study, including research, social inquiry, and leadership. It also provides students with experiential learning and mentorship opportunities. “This degree will offer students a pathway into both academic and non-academic research positions in a range of fields including education and caring professions, business and management, and the social sciences,” said Trent Dean of Graduate Studies Craig Brunetti. “The Interdisciplinary Social Research PhD will allow Trent to train the next generation of social science scholars providing advanced research capacity and leadership in a wide range of social science disciplines.”
Trent (ON)
The University of Lethbridge has announced it will be offering two new part-time graduate certificates that will provide professionals with training in public health. The Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics will teach students how to manage and report on the findings of epidemiologic studies. The Graduate Certificate in Public Health Program and Policy Planning and Evaluation will train students in creating health programs, and help students develop an understanding of health policy. “Our graduate certificates are ideal for students and working professionals who would like to expand their knowledge and skills in public health,” says Cheryl Currie, associate professor in ULethbridge’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
ULethbridge |
(AB)
North Island College has announced the expansion of their carpentry foundation program through the launch of a Carpentry Foundation Harmonized certificate at the college’s Campbell River campus. Students in the program will achieve level 1 technical training and complete work-based training hours. They will earn a variety of carpentry skills, preparing them to enter the industry as apprentice carpenters or to continue their training to achieve apprenticeship levels 2-4. “Construction trades continue to be in high demand,” said Cheryl O’Connell, NIC Dean of Trades & Technical Training. “This new offering means double the number of students will be able to take the program and students in the Campbell River area will be able to learn in shop space closer to home.”
NIC (BC)
Humanities can be a good choice for grade 12 students who are considering what field to pursue, writes Shawna Dolansky, Associate Professor in the College of Humanities at Carleton University. Citing a report from the Royal Bank of Canada, the authors note that skills commonly developed in the humanities, such as cultural awareness, language and adaptability, critical thinking, and problem solving will be in high demand in the future. The author writes that humanities students are often able to find well-paying jobs, and that in the current context, the workforce will require people who are conscious of others’ perspectives and experiences. “Technological skills, vocational training and scientific disciplines are clearly essential,” concludes Dolansky. “But humanities make scientists better at their work and as people, a fact that employers are increasingly coming to recognize.”
Ottawa Citizen (National)
Saint Mary’s University has launched a new teaching, learning, and research hub called the Wicked Problems Lab. The lab is designed to tackle local and global “wicked problems,” which are difficult or have even been deemed impossible to solve, by bringing together big data, analytic techniques, and resources. The lab will offer problem-based learning activities for classes, deliver training to community members, and enable students to work with a full-time research analyst. “We invite students and faculty to bring us their wicked problems, and we will work them to find a solution,” said lab director Matthew Novak. “We can help find data and use a host of analytical software that will help in understanding the complexity of the problem and contribute to our pursuit of new knowledge and solutions.”
SMU (NS)
Université de Saint-Boniface has received new funding to bolster training for early childhood education (ECE) and help meet the increasing demand for professionals in the Francophone early childhood sector in Manitoba. The two projects that the university will be undertaking include updating an introductory program, which includes integrating a course on Indigenous perspectives into ECE, and identifying a new way of delivering and improving a two-year diploma in ECE. The projects have received a combined $460K from the Association des colleges et universities de a francophonie canadienne (ACUFC).
USB (MB)
British Columbia’s Supreme Court has delayed its decision regarding a human rights complaint against the University of British Columbia Okanagan’s handling of a sexual assault complaint by Stephanie Hale. In 2018,
CTV News reports that the BC Human Rights Tribunal found partly in favour of Hale. The complainant claims that after reporting the alleged assault to UBCO employees, she was discriminated against based on sex and disability, and was not directed to relevant resources on options open to her. The judge has reserved his decision after hearing arguments from university lawyers and Hale.
CTV News |
CBC (BC)
McGill University’s law students will be staging a sit-in to oppose Quebec’s Bill 21, which prohibits public servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols. The protest will take place outside the municipal courthouse just before a challenge to the law is due to begin in the Quebec Superior Court. The Muslim Law Students’ Association and the Radical Law Students’ Association of McGill’s Law Faculty say that it will be “peaceful and socially distant.” “As law students we feel it’s important to speak out,” said third-year law student Emily Knox. “Under Bill 21, many of my peers in law school will be barred from public employment for their religious beliefs, and our justice system will be worse off for it.”
Montreal Gazette (QC)
Postsecondary institutions should design courses so they can be offered both online and in-person, writes Joshua Kim. The author writes that structuring courses for online delivery increases resiliency, enabling courses to pivot to remote offering if necessary. This design also increases flexibility in allowing courses to be offered at different times or through hybrid delivery methods. The author argues that the quality of courses also increases if instructors work with instructional designers to create engaging courses. Additionally, Kim says that designing courses as online courses improves extensibility, enabling institutions to repackage courses into alternative credential programs. “Even if the original use is face-to-face,” writes Kim, “courses born online lend themselves to transformation for alternative online offerings.”
Inside Higher Ed (International)
rtraction