Teaching Highlights

Vic Young appointed executive in residence
The Faculty of Business Administration invited one of the province's most distinguished business leaders to join them in shaping the business leaders of tomorrow. Dean Bill Blake announced that Vic Young had accepted the faculty's invitation to spend the fall term as executive-in-residence effective Oct. 1, 2001. "Mr. Young's extensive experience in government; as chairman and CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro; and more recently as chairman and CEO of Fishery Products International, has given him a wealth of business expertise and knowledge that can be shared with both faculty and students," said Dr. Blake, on behalf of the management group.

Movin' on up
Memorial University has moved up one notch in the Maclean's magazine annual ranking of universities. In the 2001 version of Maclean's Guide to Canadian Universities, MUN sits at fifth place in the comprehensive universities list. For the first time ever, Memorial has a presence on the reputational rankings - the results of Maclean's surveying high school guidance counsellors, university officials, heads of organizations, CEOs and recruiters at corporations across Canada. Of the 11 comprehensive universities included, Memorial ranks fifth in the Highest Quality and Best Overall categories, and fourth in the Leaders of Tomorrow list, for an overall Reputational Survey ranking of five.

Engineering prof top teacher
Dr. Hesham Marzouk of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has received the annual teaching award from his professional association. The APEGN (Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland) Teaching Award recognizes an exemplary contribution by an individual in the areas of engineering and/or geoscience education. A professor in civil engineering, Dr. Marzouk joined Memorial in 1986 after 10 years in industry.

Business Students win gold
MBA students competed at the 21st Concordia MBA International Case Competition held in Montreal, Que., from Jan. 7-12. Memorial's team consisting of Carol King, Jennifer Lee, Jordan Walsh, Anne Whelan, Natalie Slawinski (alternate) and coaches Brad Suter, Peggy Coady and Dr. Alex Faseruk, competed against 29 universities from around the world and finished fourth in the competition. At the same time, five teams of undergraduate students struck gold at a national competition held at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ont. The students were participating in the Intercollegiate Business Competition. Memorial's teams brought home first-place finishes in accounting (Troy Stanley, Christine Thomson), debating (Tom Dunne, John Whelan), and management of information systems (Linda Cole, Jason Greenland) and a second-place finish in labour arbitration (Janice Finlay, Rose Marie Fulford). Wendy Fewer and Beth Howlett also competed in final round of the marketing category.

Family medicine is tops
The Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) judged Memorial University the overall winner for family medicine training in the country. This is the second time the society has awarded its prestigious Keith Award to Memorial - the inaugural awards in 2000 also went to Memorial, and last year Memorial placed second.

Business professor receives national award
Dr. Robert Sexty was one of three Canadian professors to receive this year's Leaders in Management Education awards. The awards honour outstanding business and management professors and are sponsored by the National Post and Pricewaterhouse Coopers. "Being recognized for my efforts in management education is appreciated," said Dr. Sexty. "I enjoy the classroom teaching and the challenges of developing new content and integrating innovative teaching approaches in management education." Dr. Sexty's award makes Memorial the first business school in Canada to have three of its faculty members receive these awards since the program started in 1996. The other two winners from Memorial were Dr. Jim Barnes and Dr. Alex Faseruk in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

Linking with IBM
IBM Canada's ThinkPad University Program will be introduced into Memorial's post-baccalaureate diploma in information technology in the fall 2002 semester. Under the program, full-time IT students will be provided with an IBM ThinkPad notebook computer for the duration of their program, including the work term. The ThinkPad program will offer students a standardized platform, a library of IBM software and 24-hour access to the learning resources of the IT program.

Tuition reduction for fall semester
The Board of Regents announced a reduction of 10 per cent in tuition fees for Canadian graduate and undergraduate students, starting in September 2002. Tuition fees for students in the Faculty of Medicine and the Marine Institute, as well as fees for international students, will be frozen for another year. The tuition reductions were made possible by the provincial government's allotment of $3.5 million in this year's budget specifically to enhance the affordability of university education.

Breaking a leg
The Faculty of Arts is introducing a new program to its calendar. Passed by Senate in May, the diploma program in performance and communications media welcomed its first students in September. The program is a collaboration and partnership between the Department of English, the Centre for Academic and Media Services and CBC Television. This diploma program is based on experiential learning, with students completing courses in acting, directing, stage/video craft and production.

New scholarships for Grenfell
In a move to support international recruitment efforts at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University has announced 20 new scholarships for international students.

"This initiative is part of Memorial University's objective to attract international students to Grenfell and gradually increase the college's total enrolment to 1500," explained President Meisen.

The 20 scholarships will each be valued at $3,600 and are specific to students from outside Canada who are attending Grenfell College for the first time. These students can only qualify for the scholarships during that initial year of study at the college. The scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic achievement and are for select areas of study. Amongst these are environmental science and environmental studies, programs Memorial University is highlighting in its promotion of Grenfell College.