September 6, 2024

The Government of Alberta has introduced seven collegiate programs that will offer dual credit courses in schools across the province for the 2024-25 school year. Operated in partnership with AB postsecondary institutions, these collegiate schools will enable high school students to earn postsecondary credits in areas such as engineering, agriculture, and the trades. The postsecondary institutions involved in these partnerships include Bow Valley College, Lethbridge College, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Northern Lakes College, Olds College of Agriculture and Technology, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and the University of Calgary.

With the start of term now underway, several institutions are seeing the impact of government policy changes on their international student bodies. Bishop’s University, Brandon University, Red River College Polytechnic, Université Laval, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Winnipeg are among those reporting a decline in the number of international students on their campuses. Contacts from ULaval and Bishop’s attributed their decline to the confusion created by recent policy changes at both the federal and provincial levels. Assiniboine College, Canadian Mennonite University, and the Université de Sainte-Boniface have experienced slight increases in their international student numbers this Fall.

Several members of the university sector have announced new generative AI resources and tools. U15 has released a “Navigating AI in Teaching and Learning” guidance paper that highlights considerations, values, and principles for working with AI, as well as five leading practices for using it. McMaster University has developed and shared multiple open resources focused on generative AI, including a guidebook; a free learning module for instructors; and the Assessment Partner tool, which helps instructors develop assessments for their courses. York University launched an in-house AI-powered platform called YU AURA, which is designed to support the university’s researchers, administrators, procurement staff, and more.

The University of Calgary has announced that it will be the first Alberta postsecondary institution to sign the Recovery-Friendly Campus (RFC) pledge, an initiative that focuses on creating a campus environment that prioritizes and celebrates recovery pathways for students, faculty, and staff. The pledge has eight criteria, including raising awareness to reduce stigma, normalizing and valuing recovery, and creating on-campus recovery-friendly events and activities. “People are terrified of reaching out for help,” said UCalgary Associate Professor Dr Victoria Burns. “They’re terrified of being found out, and we’re here to challenge that. We’re here to recover out loud, so that we can normalize the idea that you can be in an academic setting, you can be in recovery, you can thrive.”

Université de Moncton, Vanier College, and the University of Manitoba have each celebrated the opening of new spaces on campus. In New Brunswick, UMoncton has opened a new e-sports room in its Student Centre, which will support the e-sports team with gaming equipment such as high-performance computers and ergonomic chairs. In Québec, Vanier has inaugurated the A’nó:wara O’nó:wa, a new Indigenous outdoor learning space whose name means “turtle shell.” The space is a turtle-shaped amphitheatre that can be used for Indigenous ceremonies, gatherings, teachings, and academic classes. Further west, UManitoba opened the Desautels Concert Hall performance venue, which has been equipped with professional-grade sound recording equipment, an orchestra pit, and staging areas for orchestras and choirs.

Approximately 600 Concordia University employees represented by the Concordia University Professional Employees Union (CUPEU) are on a two-week strike after nearly a year of negotiations. The union—which represents employees such as accountants, counsellors, information technology specialists, and coordinators—made the decision to go on strike after the university reportedly refused to discuss the ratio of hybrid work. CUPEU President Shoshana Kalfon stated that the union would like to see an arrangement wherein staff have the option to come work on campus three days a week, but that the institution is pushing for more on-campus time. Concordia stated that negotiations are ongoing and expressed hope that an agreement could be reached.

The emergence of generative AI tools has prompted faculty to either treat all AI use as cheating or seek ways to transform their teaching methods to accommodate the technology, writes Nature reporter Monique Brouillette. As the transformation approach gains traction on campus, Brouillette highlights several examples of how instructors are actively using AI to “transform” learning in higher education. Brouillette discusses use cases that include setting generative AI as a conversation partner for students in beginner-level language courses, guiding students to use AI for crafting interview questions for real-world client situations, and encouraging students to use AI tools to save time transforming their notes into prose.

The University of Saskatchewan has received over $500K from the Spencer Foundation to support a multinational education project based in South Africa. The project’s first initiative will train youth in rural regions to become entrepreneurs in the green economy. The second initiative focuses on land-based education in South Africa as well as in Canada. Researchers and practitioners from Canada and South Africa will embark on learning exchanges to share the lessons they have learned about land-based education with each other. USask says that this is the first time that it has received grant funding from the Spencer Foundation.

The University of Windsor has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NEO Battery Materials that focused on advancing battery and energy storage technologies in Canada’s electric vehicle ecosystem. Under this partnership, NEO and UWindsor Faculty of Engineering researchers will collaborate on various projects related to energy storage and create commercialization pathways for their innovations; UWindsor students will also gain access to new work opportunities where they can develop their practical skills. The partners also shared their intent to pursue provincial and federal funding opportunities to support industry-academia joint development.

In an article for La Presse, former Government of Québec Minister of Higher Education Hélène David details the role that Québec’s higher education system plays in bolstering the broader wellbeing of the province. David discusses how the cégep and university systems each contribute to attracting, educating, and training learners for a future in different parts of the province. However, David asserts that these systems must be valued and adequately supported if they are to continue to support the province’s momentum, prosperity, and recognizability.