Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • National

Several postsecondary institutions are celebrating Halloween by sharing seasonal information and putting up themed displays. Brock University, MacEwan University, and the University of Saskatchewan released articles where researchers commented on Halloween-themed topics such as myths about bats, monsters, and hauntings. The University of New Brunswick shared the story of the spirit of Memorial Hall. Camosun College released a Halloween library guide featuring resources on history, hauntings, and scary films. Emily Carr University students and alumni created macabre and mysterious artworks highlighting the season.

Brock, Camosun, ECU, MacEwan, UNB, USask

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • YK

Yukon University has officially joined Universities Canada, becoming the 97th member of the national association. Universities Canada states that membership requires universities to meet rigorous criteria and uphold principles of institutional quality assurance, which must be reaffirmed every five years. “Joining Universities Canada will allow us to be a part of transforming postsecondary education across Canada by ensuring education reflects the diversity of voices from the North and upholds a commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous people,” said YukonU President Lesley Brown. “Beyond this, membership helps us better serve the Yukon as we develop new degree offerings.”

Universities Canada

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • International

Andy Viano of EdTech Magazine has written an article about the phenomenon of ghost students, which are aliases or stolen identities used by scammers and bots in order to gain access to institutional data. These “ghosts” go through the process of enrolling at a college or university for the fraudulent purposes such as accessing and abusing institutional cloud storage, using college-provided VPNs and emails to perpetuate other scams, or applying for financial aid. These ghost students disrupt operations by taking seats and opportunities from real students while opening up cybersecurity risks; pursuing them also takes up valuable IT staff time. EdTech identifies several ways that institutions can protect themselves from ghost students, including by adding in cybersecurity tools like multifactor authentication or by requiring students to physically verify their identity before they can access institutional networks.

EdTech

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • AB, ON

Humber Polytechnic’s Broadcast-Broadband Convergence B²C Lab and the City of Calgary have entered a multi-year collaboration to launch Canada’s first ATSC 3.0 municipal-use project. ATSC 3.0 technology enables data to be broadcast over long distances, making it suitable for delivering emergency alerts and expanding educational and healthcare access in underserved areas. Humber’s staff and students will lead the project, designing, building, and testing over-the-air casting solutions. Humber President Ann Marie Vaughan explained that the collaboration demonstrates “the importance of collaborating with like-minded partners who are excited to push boundaries and explore innovative solutions that can be applied across various industries, from emergency response to digital education, all while providing hands-on opportunities for our students to engage in research and development.”

Newswire

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • ON, QC

Several institutions recently unveiled new program offerings that will launch in the 2025 school year. Cégep de Sainte-Foy will offer Collège Ahuntsic’s nuclear medicine technology program, with Ahuntsic providing teaching expertise and Hôpital Saint-François d’Assise offering its facilities and equipment. Toronto Metropolitan University is introducing an Executive Program in Child Sex Trafficking and Online Child Exploitation aimed at equipping leaders with skills to enhance their support for victims and survivors. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières will launch its bachelor’s program in psychology at the new Terrebonne campus to meet the demand for health and social services training in the region. The University of Guelph-Humber is introducing a new Early Childhood Studies specialization in Children’s Futures, which the university says is the first of its kind in the world.

Collège Ahuntsic, TMU, UQTR, UoGuelph-Humber

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • AB

The Government of Alberta has announced nearly $4.9M in dual-credit grants to help youth pursue educational pathways. The grants will support 55 new programs and enhance 22 existing programs throughout the 2024-25 school year. “We are committed to providing students with every opportunity to pursue and explore career pathways throughout their education,” said AB Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides. “This new funding for dual-credit programming will help students discover and pursue their passions, all while helping them get a head start on their future by gaining valuable skills and post-secondary credit.”

AB

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • International

In a recent Times Higher Education article, David Watkins discusses the concerns surrounding excessive self-citations, arguing that not all self-citations are created equal. While some authors may exploit self-citations for personal gain, Watkins contends that an outright ban of these types of citations is not the solution. He highlights that widely published, influential scholars—including Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Niels Bohr—often have higher self-citation rates due to their groundbreaking work. To address misuse, Watkins explains how Times Higher Education employs a “Research Influence” metric that evaluates the broader impact of a paper’s citations, identifies influential research, and filters out papers that lack influence in their fields to help maintain integrity in academic publishing.

Times Higher Education (Acct Req)

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • AB

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has completed its investigation into claims of serious injury during the removal of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Calgary. A release from Calgary Police Services (CPS) stated that “[u]sing the definition of ‘serious’ that is regularly employed by ASIRT when conducting investigations into harm caused by police, […] the allegation of ‘serious’ injuries cannot be verified.”City News reports that the University of Calgary’s Student Union requested the independent review, claiming that multiple students had been injured during the police response.

Calgary, CBC, City News

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • QC

Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles, Cégep de la Pocatière, Cégep de Saint-Félicien, and Cégep Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu have renewed their cooperation agreement with réseau CTPN. This five-year renewal agreement aims to bolster the internationalization of education across the partners’ respective networks. The partners will collaborate to develop student exchanges and promote international mobility, enabling students to gain intercultural skills and boost their employability on the global stage.

Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles, Cégep Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Radio-Canada

Top Ten News

Oct 31, 2024 • AB, ON

St Lawrence College and the University of Alberta are implementing changes to address financial challenges. SLC has reportedly cut at least 30 positions due to a decline in international student enrolment. SLC President Glenn Vollebregt said the college has had to adjust its organizational structure and processes due to federal changes. The University of Alberta has announced that it will end its varsity swim program after the 2024-25 season. UAlberta Deputy Provost of Students and Enrolment Melissa Padfield added that the swim team is no longer viable “due to the ongoing financial challenges and complications of not having a competitive swim facility on campus.”

UAlberta, Global News (UAlberta), The Whig (SLC)