Kenjgewin Teg has been approved to access Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council research grants. With this approval, Kenjgewin will be able to access every SSHRC program that is open to postsecondary institutions. “While there is much work ahead and time needed to map out what future SSHRC research projects and partnerships may look like, one of my first priorities is to engage and listen to the research ideas of not only our Anishinabek communities but also to reach out Mnidoo Mnising (Manitoulin Island) scholars who might be interested in creating research alliances as part of this exciting work,” said Kenjgewin President Beverley Roy.

Top Ten News
October 10, 2023
The École nationale d’administration publique will be establishing a new eNAP campus in Gatineau. The project will make higher education more accessible for those in the region and contribute to the region’s socio-economic development by training the workforce, making Gatineau a more attractive location for students, and providing mentorship to the region’s organizations. The project is supported by a $2.23M investment over five years from the Government of Québec and eNAP.
Several postsecondary institutions across Canada have taken a variety of steps towards sustainability. A biology student at Mount Allison University worked with Facilities Management and the Faculty of Science to install collision tape on windows across campus to prevent bird deaths. NSCAD University received a $500K donation from the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation that will be used to establish a centre of sustainable fashion, fund students in the textiles and fashion program, fund artists-in-residence, and expand programming and resources. The University of Ottawa has opened a Free Store that aims to reduce student move-out waste and help students who are struggling financially. Saskatchewan Polytechnic has implemented composting programs and a reusable food container program that gives students the opportunity to save money by bringing a reusable mug or eating on a ceramic plate.
Akshay Swaminathan and Lathan Liou explain how to use “retros””or retrospective meetings”to enhance collaboration and foster improvement on an academic team. Swaminathan and Liou explain that there is typically little-to-no training on project management in academia, though most teams have a faculty member or student working as a de facto project manager. Drawing on their years of working in academia and industry, they introduced retros into their own work in medical school to make collaborations smoother, improve and streamline record keeping practices, and ensure the centralization of project information. They offer a step-by-step explanation of how to run retros and conclude with a summary of the best practices they have learned for leading them.
Governor-General Mary Simon publicly apologized for the appointment to the Order of Canada of former University of Alberta chancellor Peter Savaryn, who served in the Nazi-led Waffen-SS division. Savaryn reportedly served as university chancellor from 1982 to 1986 and received the Order of Canada in 1987; he died in 2017 at the age of 90. The news reports that UAlberta recently returned a $30K gift to the family of Yaroslav Hunka, who reportedly served in the same division as Savaryn, and is reviewing other donations that it has received. UAlberta spokesperson Ross Neitz indicated that the process is ongoing and added that “these types of reviews take time and diligence.”
Durham College recently celebrated the grand opening of the Barrett Centre’s Ajax Urban Farm. The community-based living lab is managed by Durham’s Faculty of Hospitality and Horticultural Science and used for hands-on learning experiences for Durham students. The site includes gardens and orchards, an apiary, hoop houses, a Food Literacy Zone, and a hydroponic indoor farm. The centre also hosts an online community portal that will help the public learn about urban agriculture and develop their food literacy. “The Barrett Centre’s Ajax Urban Farm is truly leading the way by adding to Durham Region’s agricultural strategy in developing a strong locally sourced food supply for years to come,” said Durham President Don Lovisa. “Our community is directly benefiting from the resources developed here by our expert faculty and experiential learning student-led projects.”
The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled that a 1982 Canadian law that governs lawsuits against foreign states cannot be used retroactively. La Presse reports that this ruling means that the United States cannot be prosecuted in Canada for experiments conducted from the 1940s to 1960s at the Allan Memorial Institute, which is affiliated with McGill University. A class action lawsuit alleges that Allan Memorial Institute founding director Dr Donald Ewen Cameron conducted experiments between 1948 and 1964 as part of the CIA’s MK-ULTRA mind control program. The lawsuit asserts that the trial judge erred by granting the United States immunity.
St Clair College and the University of Windsor have signed a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will enable St Clair to offer a full Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program. A previous agreement between the two institutions allowed students to begin BScN studies at St Clair and complete them at UWindsor, but the new MOU will enable students to complete all four years at St Clair’s Chatham campus. “Historically, the vast majority of Chatham-based nursing students actually end up working in that community upon graduation,” said St Clair President Patti France. “To develop their familiarity with the various facets of the Chatham-Kent health-care system, it makes sense to keep them in that area throughout their educations – and especially in their clinical placements.”
Northlands College and Okanagan College have recently opened new hubs to support their students’ learning and career journeys. At Northlands, a new Learning Hub on the Canoe Campus will offer students a welcoming learning space that serves as a “one stop shop” for numeracy, literacy, writing, and digital skills supports and development. Faculty will also be able to use the learning hub for professional development opportunities. At Okanagan, a new, online Careers Hub will offer a place for students and local employers to connect with one another. Employers, organizations, and community associations from throughout the Okanagan Valley will be able to post co-op, part-time, and seasonal work opportunities on the platform.
In response to the rising costs of course materials, higher education stakeholders are increasingly adopting an acquisition model called inclusive access. Michael Moore (University of New Hampshire) and Brad Piazza (Waukesha County Technical College) explain that this model sees students automatically billed for and provided with a reduced-cost copy of the course materials as a part of their tuition and fees, ensuring they are equipped with the materials they need for the course. They examined the use of an inclusive access materials model in six courses at WCTC and found that the model generally had at least a slight positive impact on students’ grades. The authors noted that this model could be further explored for equity initiatives, as some student groups, such as women, older students, and Black students had a higher grade average than their counterparts after participating in this model.