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Because of time lost during the faculty strike, the fall 2000 semester was shortened by six days with make-up time decided by academic units in consultation with the students involved. Exams, tests and assignments were permitted up to Nov. 28, one week later than originally scheduled. Regulations for continuance and re-admission were not to be applied at the end of the fall semester to any students who would otherwise have an academic warning or be required to withdraw. The deadline for dropping courses was also modified, and students were permitted to drop courses or to withdraw from the university without academic prejudice up to and including the last day of lectures in the fall semester. Senate also requested instructors to modify the remaining course material so that students were not subjected to unreasonable material overload.
A $13.5 million Landmark Graphics 3-D software grant to Memorial is a boon for teaching and research at the university. The specialized petroleum exploration and geosciences computer software, together with additional support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, will enable Memorial to build an advanced visualization center, or Decisionarium, to host the software and facilitate more accurate interpretation than the 2-D projection on paper or computer screens currently in use. The software will augment student and professional training in the area, and mastery of advanced visualization techniques is expected to place Memorial graduates among the best-educated specialists in the world.
The former Chemistry building cafeteria is now home to two computer labs for arts and sciences students, a result of co-operation between the university and SONA Computer Inc. One lab is being used primarily for teaching and the other is being used as a general purpose open-access room. There are seven laptop ports and the labs are networked to other buildings.
Drama and Performance 2001 went ahead at Memorial's Harlow Campus in the UK during the summer. Students took English 3022 (Drama to 1642), English 4300 (Modern Drama) and 4302 (Contemporary British Drama). After six weeks of classes in St. John's the class visited Harlow for seven weeks. They saw performances of 12 plays they studied and spent a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon.
About 20 Grenfell College visual arts students got the chance to visit the American heart of culture and art in New York City during mid-term break in spring 2001. The students viewed Van Gogh's Starry Night, some of Vermeer's paintings, several Rembrandts, and Rodin's sculptures. They also had the chance to talk to working artists and visit some studios for a behind-closed-doors look at New York's art scene.
The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is working toward creating a doll that mimics sick newborns and their responses to resuscitation. The Anakin Project will make it easier for health professionals in remote locations to update their skills in neonatal resuscitation methods through mechatronics - the science of integrating electronic devices into mechanical ones. The idea is that health care professionals who typically travel to regional centres such as St. John's to participate in neonatal resuscitation courses would instead access a mannequin at a local health site. The doll will mimic the signs of a sick baby and then respond positively to appropriate resuscitative efforts. On the engineering side, the Instrumentation, Controls and Automation Centre (INCA) is developing a package of computerized sensors, actuators, and microcontrollers to render the mannequins more lifelike.
Memorial's language labs continue to prepare students for the international world. An informative video highlights the resources available through these language labs and focuses on the Multimedia Language Centre and the Audio Laboratory. These two centres serve all students who are studying French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and English as a second language, as well as those doing linguistics or classics courses.
The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science launched offshore oil and gas engineering options for undergraduates in fall 2001 - part of the Oil and Gas Development Partnership launched in September 2000 by President Axel Meisen. With the new oil and gas options, students can directly access work terms in the oil and gas industry, locally and nationally. The oil and gas options begin in Term 6 and continue throughout terms 7 and 8 for all disciplines. In addition to the core courses, students will also study areas such as subsea engineering, environmental aspects of offshore oil development, process control and instrumentation and downstream processing.
© Copyright 2002 Memorial University of Newfoundland
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One of Memorial's most significant accomplishments in 2000-2001 was the development of undergraduate business courses for delivery on the Web. Of the required courses for the B.Comm. and BBA degrees, all but one have been developed for Web delivery and the remaining course is in development. Many electives are also available.
The Co-operative Education Program in the Faculty of Business Administration witnessed 100 per cent placement for the spring and fall work terms: 505 work term positions, approximately one-third of which were new, with 194 organizations. Memorial was one of the early adopters of the work term concept and now offers 10 co-op programs to students.
Senate approved a PhD program in anthropology and a master's degree in music. An MBA by thesis route was also approved, as were non-thesis masters' programs in sociology, French and women's studies.
Graduate students receiving degrees: 398 (Four diplomas; 373 masters; 21 doctorates). Financial support awarded to graduate students: $6.9 million.
A new option was developed within the master of nursing program in response to requests from provincial employers for nurses with specialized skills in key practice areas. The nurse practitioners program will prepare nurses to be eligible for licensure as nurse practitioners and is being developed co-operatively with the schools of Nursing and Pharmacy and the Faculty of Medicine.
BN (Fast-Track) will provide a two-year degree completion option for nursing students who already have an undergraduate degree. This program was developed in response to a request from the Dept. of Health and Community Services for increased enrolment in the BN (Collaborative) program.
The School of Nursing and its collaborating sites (The Centre for Nursing Studies and Western Regional School of Nursing) received seven-year accreditation from Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing for the BN (Collaborative) Program, followed by seven-year approval of the same program from the Council of the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador. Seven years is the highest accreditation period that can be granted from either body. Similar approval was also received for the BN (Post-RN) Program, now being offered through distance education, all courses being Web-based.
Toastmasters International began providing a speechcraft program to first-year pharmacy students as part of their professional practice course. This will help students develop their abilities, self-confidence and presentation skills.
English 3816 (Television), a new special topics course, was conducted by Dr. Denyse Lynde in partnership with CBC Television, Memorial's Centre for Academic and Media Services and private sector producers.
A new diploma program first offered in 2001 in geographic information sciences (GISciences) consists of a series of courses in cartography, geographical information systems and remote sensing. Two instructional field placement courses allow students to use their skills and to apply their knowledge to industry-related problems. The program is of interest to people in many fields; it is a valuable complement to undergraduate studies in social and natural sciences programs such as anthropology, biology, computer sciences, earth sciences, economics, engineering, environmental studies, geography, health and medicine, history, physical oceanography, political sciences, and resource management.
The Department of Sociology introduced a one-year MA program in sociology and enrolled its first class of students.
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Distinguished Teachers
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