August 28, 2024

The University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) will be working on new therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics to fight against infectious diseases of high concern, thanks to a new research contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract will support VIDO’s work against infectious diseases and help increase VIDO’s global presence. “This award further demonstrates the impact VIDO has on the world and helps to ensure we are prepared for the next pandemic,” said VIDO Director Dr Volker Gerdts. VIDO was the only Canadian organization out of four awardees selected.

The University of Prince Edward Island has received a $6M donation from Saint Dunstan’s University alumnus Allan Curran. The funds will be divided between the Robertson Library’s “Love Our Library” revitalization campaign and the Faculty of Medicine’s fundraising campaign. The library’s Archives and Special Collections area and adjacent student learning commons will be named the “Curran Family Special Collections and Student Learning Commons” to recognize the gift; a space in the library will also be dedicated to Curran’s late friend and former classmate Roger Labonte. Curran’s donation to the Faculty of Medicine will be recognized with the naming of a networking space in the new medicine building after Curran’s mother, Catherine Bernadette MacDonald.

Postsecondary institutions are seeing a sharp increase in demand for their food support programs as they prepare for the Fall semester. University of Calgary students’ union vice-president internal Naomie Bakana told CBC that students are struggling with the costs of necessities and the student union’s food bank has already seen a 40% rise in demand. The food bank also reached a record high in the 2023-24 academic year. While Mount Royal University does not have a traditional food bank service, its food security programs have also seen more demand, with some programs seeing double the demand compared to last year. Georgian College’s FoodLocker program has seen demand double this year compared to 2023, and the school is expecting to help feed over 400 people in September.

In an article for The Conversation, Shelley Stagg Peterson (University of Toronto Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) has shared insights into a professional development model for K-12 teachers. Stagg Peterson shares her experiences with the “collaborative action research” professional development model, which gives teachers greater autonomy over their learning and development. Teachers in remote rural and Indigenous communities created an open-ended research question and collected data to discuss with Stagg Peterson and other teachers. This process helped teachers reflect on their teaching approaches and renewed their interest in teaching and staying in the profession.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic has officially broken ground on the new Joseph A Remai Saskatoon Campus, which will be located on the University of Saskatchewan’s campus at Innovation Place. The first building to be constructed will be the Skilled Trades and Technology building. Initial site preparation—which will include earth works and utilities upgrades—will begin this week. The new campus will transform and connect several buildings into a modern learning environment for students. “Almost certainty nowhere in North America will you have an entire polytechnic co-located with an entire university and a research park in the middle,” said Sask Polytech President Larry Rosia. Rosia said that programs will be moved over to the campus once the first building is complete.

Université TÉLUQ and Université de Sherbrooke are introducing and adjusting their programming to help address the need for more qualified teaching staff in Québec. TÉLUQ has launched multiple 30-credit programs—which are each focused on a different area of teaching—in order to help uncertified employed teaching staff attain their teaching certificate. The Government of Québec will reimburse course costs for participants, according to a memorandum of understanding signed between QC, TÉLUQ, and 63 school service centres and private schools. USherbrooke has shortened its qualifying master’s degree in secondary education from 60 to 45 credits to help staff attain their teaching certificate more quickly. The university also updated its curriculum to meet the current needs of the teaching position.

The University of Calgary reportedly experienced a record-high number of first year students moving into residence, with 1,300 moving in over the weekend. The university reportedly has residence space for a total of 3,100 students; with these spaces filled, City News states that 89 students are still on a waitlist to get into residence. UCalgary Senior Director of Ancillary Services Shane Royal explained that the university has had to “get creative” to house its students, such as by leasing several rooms at the local Aloft Hotel and transforming single bed rooms into doubles..

With Québec’s updated language laws coming into full force this school year, two cégeps spoke to CTV News about how they have adapted for the change. Vanier College has been adapting each of its programs to offer core courses in both French and English. Vanier also made space for additional French courses, though this has come at the cost of some existing classes. At Dawson College, the student union has launched a petition calling for Indigenous students to be exempt from the language requirements. Dawson Director General Diane Gauvin said that some students feel that they have not had enough time to prepare for the change. CTV News reports that though both institutions have found the changes difficult, neither has experienced an enrolment drop.

College of the Rockies has introduced an environmental water monitoring micro-credential that will help students develop skills in water collection and sample storage. The program covers training certifications such as Basic First Aid, WHMIS, and WildSafeBC Wildlife Awareness and Safety. COTR Fernie Campus Manager Tim Schoahs explained that this micro-credential is being piloted at the Fernie campus. While the program is particularly relevant to the campus’s local industry, Schoahs added that the program “prepares students for the Environmental Water Monitoring field work anywhere in the region, the province, and across Canada.” Graduates of the four-week program will receive a certificate of achievement.

HEC Montréal and the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management faculty have signed a dual degree program agreement. Under this agreement, HEC students will be able to earn a HEC Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a ULB bachelor’s degree in economics in three years; ULB students will be able to earn a ULB bachelor’s degree in economics or business engineering as well as a HEC BBA degree in four years. This Fall, some ULB students will start their studies at HEC, while HEC BBA students can complete their studies in Brussels in Fall 2025.