President's Message
Dr. Axel Meisen
Welcome to the 2004-2005 annual report of Memorial University of Newfoundland. This Web site portrays the key events and issues from the past year. Full stories, statistical information and financial results, together with video clips and photographs, are available on DVD and here on this site.
You will enjoy learning about Memorial University becoming an evermore innovative institution, one that strives to provide a rich environment for students, faculty and staff, and one that engages the wider community for the benefit of society.
I am pleased to report that enrolments continued their upward trend and have reached 17,800 students. Our students come from all regions of the province, Canada and from around the world to study and to experience the unique culture of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's easternmost province.
Our external support of research is rising sharply, and reached $81.6 million this past year; this compares with $35 million in 1999.
Three major, unique facilities were opened:
- The Inco Innovation Centre is an $18 million facility built with funding from Inco Ltd. and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. It houses state-of-the-art teaching facilities, including a 325 seat lecture theatre, research laboratories, project rooms and offices for graduate studies and research. It is dedicated not only to innovation in science and engineering, with a special focus on geo-science and hydrometallurgy related to the world-scale nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay, Labrador, but also innovation in the social sciences, aboriginal studies and business.
- The Petro-Canada Hall was opened thanks to a $1.2 million donation from Petro-Canada, a leading company in Newfoundland's offshore petroleum industry. The hall is a beautiful and sophisticated rehearsal and teaching facility for music. Its special Internet technology permits our students and professors to rehearse and perform, in real time, with musicians anywhere else in the world. The hall will also be widely used by community groups, thereby stimulating the development music locally.
- The Landmark Graphics Visualization Laboratory is the equivalent of a scientific IMAX theatre. It allows researchers and students to view complex data in four dimensions, three spatial dimensions plus time. Its first use is directed to the study of data from petroleum reservoirs, thereby leading to better drilling strategies and reservoir management. In the future, the laboratory will also be used for the study of complex chemical reactions, medical procedures and simulations. The $20-million facility was made possible by the support from Landmark Graphics, IBM Canada and Panoram Technologies Inc., along with the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) through the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).
Several new academic programs have been developed, including a Masters and Doctoral program in Ethnomusicology; a Master of Science in Kinesiology and a Master of Applied Science in Environmental Systems Engineering and Management. A new Bachelor of Arts in Tourism Studies was developed and will be offered at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University's campus in Corner Brook. It will provide students with a well-rounded education in tourism and prepare them for careers in knowledge-based tourism.
The Marine Institute developed Vision 2020, a set of guidelines and perspectives that will inform its development over the next 15 years. We are committed to making the Marine Institute a world leader in oceans education, training, innovation and research.
This past year also saw the release of the provincial government's White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education. In this document, the provincial government continued to endorse the directions Memorial University has taken and confirmed strong support for the public post-secondary education system consisting of Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic.
In the summer, Memorial University embarked on a strategic planning process, involving all members of the university, community groups and alumni. Building on the accomplishments made under the 1999 Strategic Framework, current planning will set the university's course over the next five to ten years. Guiding the planning are two key objectives: that Memorial continues to meet the needs of its students, especially students from this province, and that Memorial is competitive by international standards.
I invite you to join Memorial University in shaping its future.
Axel Meisen
President and Vice-Chancellor