July 18, 2023

Manitoba Court of Appeal has upheld Justice Joan McKelvey’s decision to order the Province of Manitoba to pay the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA) members $19.4M in damages for interfering in labour negotiations. The province appealed the decision, alleging that the trial judge had made errors in law and fact. “I am not convinced that the trial judge erred in law or made a palpable and overriding factual error,” wrote Justice Diana Cameron in her decision. MB is reportedly reviewing this decision and has 60 days to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Asian Cohort for Alzheimer’s Disease (ACAD) will be conducting a study of Alzheimer’s disease in Asian Americans and Asian Canadians, supported by $40.5M USD from the US National Institutes of Health. This study is led by investigators from the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with experts from 15 other academic institutions across the US and Canada, including the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. ACAD will collect data on the genetic and lifestyle factors that contribute to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Asian ancestry. “While Asians are the fastest growing minority in both the US and Canada, they are disproportionately underrepresented in Alzheimer’s disease research,” said University of Pennsylvania Professor Li-San Wang.

Technicians have wrapped up a ground-penetrating radar search in front of McGill University’s Hersey Pavillion. The data from the search will be used to help determine if historical unmarked graves of Indigenous children are located at the site. “You can’t just look at the ground penetrating radar data and say there are unmarked graves,” said Peter Takacs of Geoscan, the company completing the scans. “You need to know the local geology, the history of the site, so it’s a very complex sort of analysis.” Takacs said that it will take around a month for the analysis to become available.

With a student’s first interaction with an institution typically occurring online, digital marketing must be integrated into a postsecondary institution’s overall marketing and student experience strategies, argues Samantha Lehmond (University of Regina). Lehmond asserts that it is imperative that the institution’s online footprint positively informs its overall brand and is shaped by the needs of the prospective student. An institution’s digital marketing should speak to a “student’s why,” Lehmond explains, by answering questions about why the student is seeking out an education in the first place. She concludes that digital marketing should also be continuously monitored and improved upon to match the rapidly changing demands of the sector.

The University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business has received an extension of its Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International accreditation. AACSB commended the Edwards School of Business on its strategic plan, which is committed to collaborations with Indigenous Peoples and communities and to integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into all strategic areas. “This accomplishment signals the Edwards School’s commitment to enabling learners to become socially conscious professionals through transformative educational experiences and creating knowledge that positively impacts businesses and communities in Saskatchewan and beyond,” said USask Edwards School of Business Dean Dr Keith Willoughby.

The Government of Québec’s Ministry of Higher Education has approved four new programs to be hosted at Collège Universel’s Gatineau campus. With this approval, the college will launch an Information Technology Technical diploma program; an Operations and Logistics Chain Management diploma program; an Early Childhood Education Technical diploma program; and an Early Childhood Education Technical Attestation of College Studies. These programs will be offered in French and English through in-person and remote teaching.

The University of Winnipeg community recently celebrated the start of construction on a new outdoor play area for the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA) Day Care with a sod-turning and land acknowledgement ceremony. The Day Care serves UWinnipeg students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community. The completed outdoor project will feature several amenities, including a mud kitchen, a sun net climber, stilted balance logs, musical chimes, and a water play table. The play area was designed in Winnipeg by HTFC Planning & Design, which has placed Indigenous culture and knowledge at the root of the outdoor space’s development. “I’m so happy that children will soon be able to play and learn through an Indigenous lens at the UWSA Day Care,” said UWSA President Tomiris Kaliyeva.

In an age of artificial intelligence (AI), standard writing assignments–like the five-paragraph prompt–should be reconceptualized, argues Trent University Durham GTA Associate Professor Dr Karleen Pendleton Jiménez. Given ChatGPT’s ability to write essays and plagiarize undetected, Pendleton Jiménez recommends that educators design assignments that recognize the “depth and complexity of our students.” This could be conducted through oral communication exercises or by asking students to relate new concepts to real-world experiences. The writer concludes that educators can avoid the “blandness of AI answers” by asking students to go beyond basic “regurgitation of general facts.”

St Thomas University recently celebrated the service and retirement of Dawn Russell, STU’s first female President and Vice-Chancellor, by renaming the student lounge and unveiling a portrait of Russell. The student lounge in Sir James Dunn Hall has been renamed the Dawn Russell Student Lounge to honour Russell, and her portrait—painted by her husband, artist Bill Johnson—will hang in the university’s Great Hall. “Dawn was motivated by the chance to give back to STU, so her service to the university was the ultimate gift from an alumna,” said STU Vice-President (Academic and Research) Dr Kim Fenwick. “She wanted to create the most positive experience possible for students, faculty, and staff alike, and in that, she succeeded.”

The University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Northern British Columbia Faculty Association (UNBC-FA) have ratified a new collective agreement. Members voted 97.2% in favour of ratifying the agreement, which My Bulkley Lakes Now states will be in place until July 2025. “Not only did we reach an agreement through collaborative and respectful collective bargaining, but we did so before the current agreement had expired,” said UNBC President Geoff Payne. “I am appreciative of the efforts of both bargaining teams.”