February 13, 2023

Seneca College and Al-Ahly CIRA Company for Educational Services have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to bring two Seneca campuses to Greater Cairo. The campuses will be established in 6th of October City and Badr City and will host programming in areas such as business, engineering, information technology, and English language training. “We are delighted to be working with CIRA to offer more opportunities to Egyptian youth to further their education,” said Seneca President David Agnew. “We will bring to Cairo our decades of experience in high-quality polytechnic education that builds great careers for our graduates.”

New partnerships and agreements involving the Canadian Research Knowledge Network have created new publishing opportunities for scholars at its member institutions. CRKN recently announced a transformative open access publishing agreement with Canadian Science Publishing. The agreement will offer scholars unlimited open access publishing in five CSP journals and discounted article processing charges in additional CSP journals. The network also signed a two-year read-and-publish agreement with Wiley that removes article processing charges for CRKN member institution scholars publishing in Wiley hybrid journals. The agreement is expected to result in the publication of over 4,000 open access articles. In a note to scholars at the University of Manitoba, UM Libraries noted that these agreements will result in cost savings for researchers and more accessible, discoverable research. CRKN also recently added 34 student publications from the University of Regina to its Canadiana collection.

Skilled trades students in Ontario will now have access to more opportunities through the Schulich Builders program unveiled by the Schulich Foundation. Schulich Builders, which is reported to be the largest scholarship program of its kind in Canada, will provide over $3M in scholarships to students in eligible programs at ten colleges across ON. The funds will cover tuition, tools, and living expenses. Each college will annually award five $20K scholarships for students in one-year certificate programs and five $40K scholarships for those in two-year diploma programs. Participating institutions include Algonquin College, Centennial College, Conestoga College, Durham College, Fanshawe College, George Brown College, Humber College, Loyalist College, Mohawk College, and Sheridan College.

Postsecondary institutions across Canada took time to pay tribute to victims of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and offer support to students and staff who have been impacted by the events. Several institutions issued statements and releases acknowledging the events and expressing sympathy and compassion for those affected. Holland College held a silent vigil for victims of the earthquakes and directed its staff, faculty, and students to counselling resources. Niagara College encouraged those needing support to reach out to the college’s Health, Wellness & Accessibility Services. The University of Manitoba has extended support to students, staff, faculty, and alumni in the form of self-care resources, spiritual care, explanations of how to seek academic accommodations, and financial aid and emergency bursaries. The University of the Fraser Valley shared links and details on how community members can support emergency aid, as well as counselling and self-care resources for employees and students experiencing distress.

Postsecondary institutions need to rethink the future of the humanities as the challenges facing literary studies become more pronounced, writes Steven Mintz. Mintz writes that these challenges raise questions about humanities teaching and research and balancing the traditional role of humanities with its new focus on inclusion, power, discourse, and identity. Mintz discusses several approaches humanities departments can use to respond to these challenges, including restructuring, building firmer links between disciplines and themes, and rebalancing what is taught in humanities programs. The author concludes by encouraging departments to view change as an opportunity.

Concordia University recently opened the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation, where Concordia faculty, students, and staff and members of the community can co-work in downtown Montréal. The space includes workstations, rooms for individual or collaborative work sessions, a kitchen, and an open space area. “We have been thrilled to see that the space has been a catalyst for both intentional and non-intentional collaborations,” says Susan Edey, interim senior director of community engagement and social impact at Concordia. The space was originally supported by a $10M gift to the university’s fundraising campaign in 2019 from the Amelia & Lino Saputo Foundation and the Mirella & Lino Saputo Foundation.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s School of Business has launched a municipal administration speciality for its Business diploma program. The program was developed in partnership with a variety of organizations to ensure it graduates would be prepared to work in local government. Students will develop the knowledge and skills they need to oversee day-to-day operations in towns in Saskatchewan, such as human resources management, labour relations, municipal laws, and strategic communication development. The program includes 10 courses that are offered online to enable students to work while they gain their credential.

King’s University College and the Salvation Army London Centre of Hope have partnered to bring new counselling services to the Salvation Army’s clientele. Six students from King’s Master of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work programs will be at the centre on a weekly basis to provide support to individuals who have been impacted by traumas such as homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges. Students are able to gain counselling experience while providing a support that is not typically offered in a shelter. “They’re very excited to be able to contribute to being part of a solution for our community,” said King’s School of Social Work co-ordinator of field educationMK Arundel. “But they’re also very excited for the learning that they are going to have.”

The University of Prince Edward Island’s Atlantic Veterinary College has received a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The multimillion-dollar scanner is part of a multi-phased campaign to expand the Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s footprint and create a Diagnostic Imaging Centre with cutting edge technology. The machine will make it possible for AVC to scan people and animals alike in-house, including larger animals such as horses and cows. UPEI plans to make the MRI available for patients by spring.

In a recent editorial for the Chronicle of Higher Ed, Dana S Dunn provides advice on how to provide useful feedback that could “disturb the peace” of an academic department during a program review. Dunn writes that the first step is to write a persuasive report that focuses on observations and recommendations, touches on key concerns, and suggests solutions to uncomfortable realities. A variety of complications can arise during the review process, Dunn notes, such as feeling hamstrung by department demands, needing to work with a hostile or clueless member of a department, managing a generational divide, or uncovering a toxic department environment. Dunn offers recommendations on how to address these issues in a manner that effectively helps a department to refocus and improve itself.