July 27, 2021
Seneca College’s choice to mandate vaccines for those on campus was an easy decision, explains Seneca President David Agnew in an editorial for
The Star. The health and safety of students has been a top priority for Seneca, which has introduced enhanced sanitization, ensured only a minimal number of people are on campus, and encouraged vaccination over the summer. Agnew explains that mandatory vaccines have been used successfully to beat a variety of viruses safely and argues that this is the only way to beat COVID-19. Agnew says that being vaccinated is a way to protect the community and keep the campus environment safe and healthy. “[COVID-19] will not go away until we defeat it through vaccinations,” writes Agnew. “Seneca is proud to be doing its part.”
The Star (ON)
The University of Manitoba will be upgrading its Fort Garry Campus’ Central Energy Plant and its Max Bell Centre building. The projects will improve the energy efficiency of the 41 major buildings on the campus while reducing the university’s greenhouse-gas emissions. The projects are part of a recent $22M investment made by the Government of Canada and Government of Manitoba through the Community, Culture, and Recreation Infrastructure Stream and the Green Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. “We thank the governments of Canada and Manitoba for their support of UM’s sustainability goals,” said UManitoba President Dr Michael Benarroch. “This investment in upgrades to our Central Energy Plant and Max Bell Centre support the efficiency and resiliency of our infrastructure, and deliver social and environmental benefits to our community.”
UManitoba (MB)
OCAD University and the University of Windsor Faculty of Law have partnered to create an online course geared towards creative entrepreneurs on intellectual property (IP) literacy. The course will cover topics such as copyright, trademarks, industrial designs, and Indigenous entrepreneurship and IP. The course was designed to foster collaboration between arts and law students, who will work together on projects. “Providing IP education and training to creative entrepreneurs is key to enabling the knowledge and awareness of the steps that can be taken to protect their artistic creations,” said Heather Pratt, UWindsor executive director of research and innovation.
UWindsor (ON)
Nurses in Quebec are calling for paid internships, saying that they could help to attract people to the profession and retain nurses. Students are reportedly required to complete unpaid nursing internships as part of their education, which results in some having to take on additional part-time work to pay their bills. “It doesn’t pay bills, it doesn’t pay your rent, it doesn’t pay anything,” said Katia Maksoud, a second-year nursing student at CEGEP du Vieux-Montréal. “We only want adequate pay and good working conditions.” Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux President Jeff Begley and Quebec Nurses' Association President Natalie Stake-Doucet both indicated that the nursing profession, which is mostly comprised of women, faces issues of discrimination and poor working conditions. Begley explains that improving pay enables people to pursue training without living in poverty.
CBC (QC)
LaSalle College Vancouver has announced that it will be moving to a new educational centre which will be opening in Summer 2023. The seven-storey centre, which will be over 108,000 square feet, will be located next to LaSalle’s current campus. It will have makerspaces, a gaming lounge, a suspended theatre, kitchens, physical activity rooms, and access to outdoor spaces. “With a mix of flexible, high tech and high touch spaces, open gather places, natural light, access to outdoor spaces, a meditation garden and fresh and healthy culinary delights, this is a great space to learn, work and grow,” said LaSalle President Dr Jason Dewling.
LaSalle (BC)
The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) have released a new brief titled Women’s Representation in Higher Education Leadership Around the World. The brief examines women’s leadership in higher education from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Ghana, South Africa, Mexico, Australia and Finland, and argues that women’s access to higher education is neither uniform nor paralleled in the highest level of leadership roles. The brief also argues that the context of education matters, that a variety of barriers limit equality in leadership, and that any supports need to address these barriers in order to be effective. The authors conclude that “the most significant barrier to women’s equality in higher education is a tenacious complacency within our academic communities.”
University World News (Editorial)
Conestoga College is launching a Business Supply Chain and Operations for Commercial Trucking program to address a driver shortage in Canada’s commercial trucking industry. The diploma program, which will start in Winter 2022, will take 16 months to complete through accelerated delivery. Students will study areas such as transportation communication, customer service, freight calculations, e-logging legislation, and logistics business practices. Graduates will receive $1K towards pursuing AZ licensing at Challenger Transportation Training Academy. “Conestoga is ... providing a foundational pathway to this type of career, providing students with career flexibility and job security,” said Dr Amanda Feeser, chair of Conestoga’s School of Workforce Development, Continuing Education & Online Learning.
Conestoga (ON)
Postsecondary institutions would benefit from using a student-centric approach rather than focusing on business models, writes Steve K Stoute. The author argues that postsecondary institutions have been under stress for some time, but that focusing on meeting the needs of students will have greater benefits. Stoute says that institutions should recruit the students that are best fitted to the institution using data and predictive analytics, and work to provide additional supports to student groups such as adult learners and historically underrepresented populations. Additionally, the author argues that institutions should empower students to own their academic experience and provide co- and extra-curricular experiences to enable holistic development.
Inside Higher Ed (Editorial)
Memorial University and Saskatchewan Polytechnic are helping local Indigenous communities to find and investigate unmarked graves. MUN community members have formed a working group to discuss how they can use their wide range of skillsets to benefit the Indigenous communities of Newfoundland and Labrador. MUN archeology professor Lisa Rankin explained that the research and skills needs differ by area, and that their research could be applied to other parts of Canada and other situations. Sask Polytech has partnered with Cowessess First Nation on the Remote Sensing of Residential School Cemeteries applied research project. The project will use ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate grave sites and unmanned aerial vehicles to capture aerial observations.
CBC (MUN) |
Nation Talk (Sask Polytech) (NL | SK)
York University and CUPE 3903 Units 1, 2, and 3 have renegotiated and renewed their collective agreements for the 2020-2023 period. The agreements were negotiated in a remote environment. They include advancements in language and terms and conditions regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion that will support YorkU’s diverse workforce. YorkU and CUPE 3903 will also be collaborating on a new joint committee that will be provide recommendations for a new, comprehensive job stability program for CUPE 3903 unit 2.
YorkU (ON)
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