Post-Secondary News Digest for November 16, 2009
Canada
U of Calgary gets largest-ever donation:
(The Gauntlet – University of Calgary) The University of Calgary received its largest-ever donation last week from local businessman and Calgary Flames owner Harley Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss donated $39 million toward a $64-million endowment for the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. This comes five years after Hotchkiss donated $10 million to the institute, which he founded when a small aneurism was located in his brain. While Hotchkiss’ donation is the largest in university’s history, it was only one of 9,000 donations the university received last year.
Molotov cocktail engulfs Ottawa rooming house:
( Canada.com) A fire gutted an all-female rooming house in Ottawa late Saturday night. The fire engulfed the 19-room facility, which housed 17 tenants, many of whom were international students at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Investigators say the cause of the fire was a Molotov cocktail that had been thrown into the residence. No one was injured in the fire.
Ontario colleges pushes for provincewide strike:
( National Union of Public and General Employees) The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is pushing its members to go into a provincewide strike. OPSEU, which represents 9,000 faculty members employed by the network of 24 colleges across Ontario, has been in negotiations to match recent wage settlements that other post-secondary educators have been offered. But the council representing community colleges in Ontario is refusing to negotiate, according to OPSEU.
UNB prof’s experiment sends trees into space:
(The Canadian Press) Some Canadian trees will be heading into space today on board the space shuttle Atlantis when six astronauts begin an 11-day mission. The tree experiment is led by professor Rodney Savidge of the University of New Brunswick and is funded by the Canadian Space Agency. The goal is to study how gravity – or anti-gravity – affects the formation of different kinds of wood.
York gets PanAm Games:
(Excalibur) Toronto will hosting the 2015 PanAm Games and York University will be a large part of it. York’s Rexall Centre will host the tennis competitions during the games. York University hopes its involvement in the games will boost both participation and funding for its athletic programs, and put York University on the world stage.
U.S.
International student enrolment at all time high:
(Inside Higher Ed) A new study published by the Institute of International Education, a not-for-profit educational group, says more than 670,000 international students were enrolled in 2008-2009. The figure is up more than seven per cent from the previous year, but more recent reports say those numbers may already be down in 2009-2010 due to the worldwide economic downturn. While the current number of international students is expected to even out, as those currently in America finish their programs, their numbers are not expected to be replicated over the coming years.
China sending more students to the U.S.:
( New York Times) International students bring US$17.8 billion to the United States and China is rapidly adding to that total. While it’s not the nation leading the way for international students – that distinction belongs to India, which sends more than 103,000 students – China is rapidly catching up, sending more than 98,000 students to the United States last year alone. That’s 21 per cent more than the previous year, an increase that can be attributed to China’s one child only policy – Chinese parents invest much more into a single child.
U of Michigan smoke free by 2011:
(U.S. News) The University of Michigan might be the next major U.S. university to go smoke free. The University of Michigan held a forum last week for students to discuss how to change on-campus smoking policies, citing a report that lists a 97 per cent compliance rate with smoking bans at four universities. University officials say that they won’t take a “law and order” approach to the ban, but students caught smoking on campus will be invited to a smoking cessation workshop. While students heavily supported the smoking ban, some students felt it might be a violation of students’ individual rights.
Universities turn to consultants to save cash:
(New York Times) Like plenty of other businesses, universities are now turning to private consultants to help trim their budgets. Bain and Company, a consulting firm hired by the University of North Carolina, says the school can save almost US$150 million annually by centralizing its operations, information technology functions, as well as simplifying its organizational structures. The University of North Carolina joins Berkeley and the University of California on the list of universities hiring private consultants to curb their inefficiencies.
Gambling a problem for NCAA athletes:
(Inside Higher Ed) A report published by The National Collegiate Athletic Association says gambling among its athletes may be on the rise. The amount of online gambling by college athletes has doubled in the period between 2004 and 2008, with the report suggesting that gambling was “very much a part of the culture” on campuses. The rise in gambling is of particular concern for high-profile NCAA divisions, where athletes risk falling into debt. This leaves them susceptible to allowing outside sources to influence their games.
Oregon universities target Latino students:
(Oregon Live) Universities in Oregon are hoping to boost their enrolment numbers of Latino students, a typically under-represented group in higher education. Western University, in Monmouth, Ore., is leading the way, citing a 73 per cent boost in numbers of Latino students since 2004. University leaders are saying they are branching out to Latino communities via in-school visits and providing bilingual staff support services. In 2006, only six per cent of university freshmen were Latino – as compared to 20 per cent rate in first grade classes.
World
Poor staff relations threaten Birmingham sociology department:
( Times Higher Education) A review committee at the University of Birmingham suggested the university close its entire sociology department. The committee cited discord among academics, falling numbers of undergraduate applicants, problems with the supervision of postgraduate students and a low level of research grants. The review group has been criticized because no member of the department was included in it. A decision on the closure will be made before the end of the year.
New train of thought for Israeli commuters:
(http://chronicle.com/article/Lecturing-Aboard-the-9-04-to/49146/) Israeli commuters travelling from Modiin to Tel Aviv last week were treated to an academic lecture on Einstein's love letters. It was the first in a series of railway lectures titled Scientists on Trains. The half-hour lecture was given by Hanoch Gutfreund, a professor emeritus of physics and a former president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He warned passengers that love letters such as Einstein's, written to his two wives and various mistresses, are dying out in the age of Twitter and text messaging.
Punjab to be developed as educational hub:
( Indian express) India intends to develop Punjab state as an educational hub with a new world-class university being set up in Amritsar. It has already opened a central university in Bathinda and is planning two other universities of technology and business in other districts. The government says these new institutions will help India revamp its entire education system and help the poor get a postsecondary education.
Australian students to get trade training:
(The Gov Monitor) The Australian Technical College is about to integrate programs into secondary schools in the state of Victoria. The integration aims to give more students the opportunity to have a head-start on an Australian school-based apprenticeship or traineeship, which is needed to work in trades in Australia. This is the first step in a $2.4-billion government program to integrate Trade Training Centres, previously the sole domain of technical colleges, into secondary schools across the country.
Strike imminent at University of Leeds:
(Times Higher Education) Staff at the University of Leeds are preparing to strike if the university goes ahead with massive job cuts. The university is planning on cutting 10 per cent of its faculty, which would give it the highest ratio of students to staff of any institution among the country’s large research-intensive universities, according to the country’s largest trade and professional union for academics. The job losses have not yet been announced, but the university acknowledges that it needs to make drastic budget cuts.