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A sampling of stories from university press across Canada
Investing in research
MONTREAL - A new organization has been set up to shepherd
some of McGill’s most promising research discoveries into the marketplace,
according to the McGill Reporter. McGill has teamed up with Sherbrooke
and Bishop’s universities to launch an independent firm called MSBI
that will help commercialize research. An acronym for McGill, Sherbrooke
and Bishop’s Innovation, MSBI will manage a $26-million venture capital
fund that will be invested in research projects from each institution.
Jan Peeters and Ian Soutar, two members of McGill’s Board of Governors,
helped transform MSBI from concept to reality over the last 18 months.
Mr. Peeters, a two-time McGill graduate in mining and accounting, said
he immediately recognized the importance of creating MSBI as a new investment
source. “There’s a tremendous pool of researchers who are starving
for the necessary funding to bring their intellectual property into the
marketplace,” said Mr. Peeters, who will chair MSBI’s board
of directors. He is also the CEO of Montreal-based Olameter Inc. “MSBI
will be a catalyst that will give academic ideas a fiscal shot at commercialization.”
Students seek to give tuition input
VANCOUVER – UBC students are asking UBC President Martha Piper
to include them in making decisions about how tuition fee levels will
be implemented at UBC, reads UBC Reports. Post-secondary institutions
in B.C. have been given responsibility for determining their own tuition
fee levels, according to a recent provincial government announcement that
officially ended the province’s six-year tuition freeze. In a recent
letter to the president, the UBC Committee to Reduce Tuition requested
a public debate with students regarding any increases. Brian Sullivan,
vice-president, Students, advised the group that discussions are already
underway with student government and a number of public forums open to
all students are expected to be held within the next two weeks. B.C. has
the lowest tuition fees in Canada after Quebec. UBC is considering raising
tuitions to the national average and to levels comparable to peer institutions.
A portion – from 15 to 30 per cent – of increased tuition fee
revenues will be directed to student financial support, he added.
Guelph master plan
GUELPH – The University of Guelph Campus Master Plan
Steering Committee recently issued a working paper that suggests alternative
means to address the issues identified in the research phase of the campus
master plan review process, according to @Guelph. Consultants hired by
the university prepared 100-page working paper contains more than two
dozen explorations of how the campus may develop in the future. These
explorations are based on exhaustive campus consultations that began in
early 2001 with university administrators, including the Vice-President
(Academic)’s Council, as well as faculty, staff and students. “This
working paper begins to address key issues through a series of planning
strategies and alternative scenarios for the arrangement of buildings,
roads, walkways and landscapes,” the paper’s introduction states.
“Its intention is to explore ideas, generate discussion and obtain
feedback.”
Excitement builds around humanities congress
TORONTO - Each year, scholars from more
than 90 academic societies expecting to rekindle academic friendships
and hear first-hand about the latest research in their fields gather at
the Congress for Social Sciences and Humanities. This year more than 7,000
delegates will gather at U of T between May 25 and June 1 to do just that,
reports the University of Toronto Bulletin. The theme is “Boundaries”
and while the academic program is growing daily, workshops already scheduled
include such topics as the role of technology in the humanities, new directions
in American politics and issues in research ethics. In addition to the
traditional mainstays of academic symposia and workshops, U of T is making
a special effort to share the relevance, importance and excitement of
humanities and social sciences with the wider community through a number
of events that are open to the public.
