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At their February 2001 meeting, the Board of Regents approved the residence project to construct eight apartment-style modules on the Grenfell College campus. Five of the eight buildings opened in early January 2002.
In August 2000, the Board of Regents approved an institutional Policy on Providing Access to Alternative Communications for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Since then, the university's Blundon Centre has implemented a new service for students who are deaf, with the introduction of sign language interpreters in the classroom. This year the Blundon Centre also updated its Web site to comply with universal design principles for persons with print disabilities (see the "Bobb Approved" logo on its Web site). A variety of useful resources for designing accessible Web pages is available at the site.
On Dec. 21, 2000, President Axel Meisen and Edward Roberts, chair of the Board of Regents, announced that the new $16-million University Centre would be officially named the Smallwood Centre. Having a university in the province was one of the dreams of former Premier Joseph Smallwood. When he became premier in 1949, one of the first pieces of legislation that his newly-minted government enacted elevated Memorial University College to degree-granting status, creating the institution known as Memorial University of Newfoundland. He was subsequently a great supporter and promoter of the university, and much of the university's early growth - including the construction of the Elizabeth Avenue campus in St. John's, the opening of the Ocean Sciences Centre, and the creation of the medical school - had his direct support during his lengthy tenure as premier.
Major construction continued on the Field House, which officially opened and became operational on Jan. 10, 2002.
The LIFE (Leaders Involved in Further Education) Program attracted students from a record number of 22 schools across the province. LIFE received the Award for Excellence in Student Services from the Atlantic Association of College and University Student Services.
A review of the Office of Student Affairs and Services was conducted and recommendations on restructuring were implemented: General Student Services was re-named Student Support Programs; Student Development became Career Development and Experiential Learning; Student Housing and Food Services was re-named Housing, Food and Conference Services.
Dr. Khedair Saud Al-Khedair, vice-rector of Academic Affairs for King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, visited Memorial as part of the Oil and Gas Development Partnership in May 2001. The purpose of his visit was to identify opportunities for collaboration between Memorial and King Fahd University.
The Centre for International Business Studies facilitated 19 academic exchanges for Memorial students and welcomed 25 students from partner universities. The centre launched an international speaker series and hosted five guest speakers from the global business community.
In October, the Department of French and Spanish sponsored the annual conference of APLAQA (Association des professeurs de litterature acadienne et québécoise de l'Atlantique).
The School of Continuing Education was an active contributor of CurriculumNet Project, a joint venture with the National Curriculum Development Centre of the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports, the International Development Research Counsel, the Open Learning and Information Network and the School of Continuing Education. Staff worked with educators in Uganda to integrate technology into the Ugandan primary and secondary school system. During their three-week visit to Kampala in summer 2001, Gerry Porter and Albert Johnson provided workshops and advice for over 40 educators. Two of the project staff from Kampala spent three weeks visiting Memorial to enhance their capacity with media development software, network administration and technology integration. Gerry and Albert will be visiting Kampala early in 2002.
The nationally renowned QE II Library has big plans for the future: an innovative proposal to bring its services into step with the changing face of research and learning. The anticipated Information Commons, a concept already in use in several leading universities worldwide, will integrate traditional and digital resources into one centralized facility. The Commons will also feature a full complement of support staff. Students, faculty and staff will have access to a library information desk, a computing help desk, 100 wired workstations, a 40-seat classroom, a 10-seat multimedia room, an adaptive technology centre for clients with special needs, a Writing Centre study room and four group study rooms. Personnel will include current library and digital media centre staff, as well as a team of skilled students and three new full-time IT consultants.
© Copyright 2002 Memorial University of Newfoundland
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The annual Pratt Lecture, named for Newfoundland poet E.J. Pratt, was delivered by Stan Dragland on the subject of Wayne Johnston's The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.
The electrical engineering discipline in the Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science was awarded an additional three-year accreditation following a review by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board; the next review will be in June 2005.
Faculty within the School of Nursing and collaborating sites hosted the Atlantic Region Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing annual research conference and meeting in April 2001.
Students looking forward to graduation but not the soon-to-follow job hunt have a new ally on campus. Career Odyssey is a pilot project of the Centre for Career Development that helps new grads prepare resumes and refine job search skills, and hooks them up with potential employers to learn how to get a job straight from the source. Sarah Anthony and Denise Burke were the co-ordinators of the Career Odyssey 2001 program. They explained that the main focus of the project is to help students develop their job search skills. "The services have been here for students in the Centre for Career Development, but they're not always publicized enough," said Ms. Burke. "The resources needed to be focused specifically for new grads and their transition into the workforce."
As part of its mandate to ensure a safe and secure working and educational environment at Memorial, the Department of Facilities Management co-ordinated a series of tests on water quality throughout the St. John's campus, with particular emphasis on determining lead content. The tests were conducted by Pinchin LeBlanc Environmental Ltd., an independent firm contracted by the university. All the test results except one in Queen's College showed lead content below the standard set by Health Canada. The site in Queen's College indicated higher lead content, but subsequent tests after appropriate flushing of the system came in at acceptable levels and the consultant suggested that the initial test might have been anomalous.
A $1-million project to implement a new administrative finance system was started this year. Implementation will occur in April 2002.
Admissions personnel in the Office of the Registrar took great pride in the quality and record of response to approximately 11,000 applicants, expansion of the Student Web and introduction of on-line registration for all undergraduates, graduates and medical students. More than half of students choose this method of registration, complete with a visual display of class schedule and unparalleled search capability and the extended hours of service from 7 a.m. to midnight, Sundays to Fridays.
In September 2000, the Office of the Registrar introduced a new imaging system for all pre-1980 student records. This system replaces one that had been in use since 1990. It offers Windows-based access and is accessible through the campus-wide network, meaning that more staff can use it and it is accessible from the desktop. This has allowed further streamlining of our transcript processing capability, providing even faster service to students.
Seventy-seven university representatives interviewed over 2,485 high-school students from Newfoundland and Labrador who had applied or were considering applying to Memorial. The representatives were primarily faculty members and academic advisers from the St. John's and Corner Brook campuses. Over 95 per cent of those interviewed applied to Memorial, and 82 per cent of those registered for courses.
Management of Memorial's Web presence was formalized through the creation of two new committees and the allocation of additional resources for development and support. Dr. Evan Simpson, Memorial's vice-president (academic), chaired the Web Policy Committee and Dr. Dale Foster, Business, chairs the Web Implementation Committee.
More than 1,400 scholarships were awarded, totaling $2,230,650. Twenty-six new undergraduate scholarships were established.
The Student Innovation Fund was created and in the first year granted $25,811.16 in awards.
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