The Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE) has announced the winners of its annual Prix d’Excellence, which recognizes Canada’s postsecondary institutions for excellence across 24 categories, including marketing, development, and student recruitment. This year, uAlberta led the group with seven awards, followed by uCalgary and MUN with five awards each. uToronto, uSask, UBC, and Trent each received four nods, with uWaterloo, UoGuelph, Sheridan, Queen’s, McMaster, and McGill each garnering three. 15 other PSE institutions across Canada received one or two awards.
Memorial University
MUN Releases 5-year Strategic Internationalization Plan
Source: MUN News Release via Academica | February 11, 2015
Memorial University has released its Strategic Internationalization Plan 2020, which the institution says will guide a series of ambitious initiatives over the next 5 years. The plan, approved by MUN’s board of governors on February 5, is designed to support Newfoundland and Labrador’s forthcoming population growth strategy as well as enhance the local and international experience of MUN students, faculty, researchers, and staff. The plan includes 7 specific recommendations, including that MUN develop intercultural competencies in all its students; strengthen its structures and processes to attract and retain international students, faculty, and personnel; better articulate and market its value proposition; transition the International Centre to a Internationalization Office, which will oversee the implementation of the plan; position itself to attract international research collaborations; and pursue the internationalization of all of its programs. A draft plan had been circulated in September.
MUN Releases Draft of Strategic Internationalization Plan
Source: Memorial University News Release via Academica | Sept. 19, 2014
Memorial University has released a draft of its strategic internationalization plan. The plan issues 8 recommendations intended to support MUN’s international and intercultural initiatives. The plan recommends developing further intercultural competencies among students, faculty, and personnel. In addition, the plan calls on the university to aggressively strengthen structures for attracting and retaining international students, faculty members, and other personnel. The report further recommends transitioning MUN’s International Centre into an Internationalization Office with a mandate to facilitate, coordinate, promote, and monitor international activities and to implement the strategic plan. The plan also recommends that MUN better articulate, communicate, and market MUN’s value proposition, that the university design and implement centralized data collection and tracking for international initiatives, and that all academic programs support international learning outcomes. The document also calls for the creation of full-degree academic programming anchored at MUN’s Harlow campus in England.
MUN Receives $1.98 million for Geophysics Education and Research
Source: MUN News Release | January 31, 2014
Memorial University has received a $1.98-million donation from Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd (HMDC), and will use the money to create a new fund to enhance geophysics education and research. The endowment will also allow MUN to purchase specialized equipment for geophysical exploration and its geophysics laboratories, and create a new guest-speaker series that will host up to 3 geophysical experts annually for the next 3 years. Earlier this year, HMDC provided an additional $420,000 in funding to support the university’s development of a new environmental geology and geophysics field school.
TCS Insights: Aspiring geophysics students are being afforded new opportunities at Memorial University as this field of study is expanding with new labs and equipment. Students will now also be able to conduct field research; an experience that will prove valuable to both domestic and international students looking to spend time in real-life work environments.