Jennifer Pagliaro

Quebec education minister stands firm on threat to reduce university’s operating grant

Business leaders are backing McGill in its decision to move its MBA program onto a completely self-funded model, and hike tuition to nearly $30,000, despite threats from the Quebec government to cut the university’s operating grant, the Globe and Mail reported.

In an open letter to Quebec education minister Michelle Courchesne, 45 of the province’s top CEOs write that the minister’s uncompromising position to cut funding to the program lest the school reconsider, is “encouraging mediocrity,” the Globe reported.

“We won’t build the future of Quebec by asking universities to choose between excellence and access,” the letter reads.

The controversy over the tuition hike hit in January when Le Devoir broke a story about a letter the minister sent to McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum. In it, Courchesne expressed her disappointment in McGill’s decision to increase tuition for the MBA program to $29,500, writing the increase “contravenes the very principle of accessibility.”

Since then the minister has vowed to cut provincial funding to the program by $28,000 per student enrolled if the school refuses to abide by the province’s tuition rules. Tuition fees for Quebec students are currently less than $1,700, among the lowest in the country.

While Minister Courchesne is not backing down, and her aide Tamara Davis told the Globe that “no exception” can be made for McGill, Quebec’s powerhouse CEOs are standing up for the school. Their argument? Universities can’t be expected to exist on an equal playing field if they intend to attract and compete for talent.

The McGill Daily reported in September that McGill’s MBA students were informed of the tuition increase via e-mail by MBA director and professor Don Melville. Tuition would jump to $29,500 for September 2010 — more than a 1,663 per cent increase for Quebec residents, 531 per cent for out-of-province students, and 48 per cent for international students

Understanding academic probation, what it means and what to do about it

As exams wrap up across the country, most students are looking forward to patio nights and a stress-free summer. But some students are dreading their final grades after a not-so-perfect year.

A failed class, a flunked exam, or a mediocre grade-point average are outcomes no student wants to have come May. But what are the actual consequences of an ‘F’ on your transcript? Or missing required credits to move on to your next year or to graduate?

While most students may have heard of “academic probation,” not everyone knows what it entails. The first thing to remember is failing a class doesn’t mean you need to pack up your textbooks and join the circus, and getting put on academic probation won’t necessarily cripple you academically, if you seek help.

“The whole point of academic standings is to identify students who are at risk and then make them aware of the services that are available in obtaining better academic grades,” University of Calgary’s associate vice-provost (enrolment) and registrar David Johnston said. “When we admit a student, we want them to graduate.”

Academic probation is just one of many possible academic standings a full-time student can be assigned at the end of the year. In many cases the bad outweighs the good. At most schools, the only desired outcome is “In Good Standing,” which means you’re in the clear. There are varying degrees of unsatisfactory standings that come with conditions for the following school year, ranging from meeting benchmark grade-point averages, to withdrawing for a year.

In addition to “In Good Standing,” most universities include “Academic Probation” and “Failed” as the three possible standings. And the conditions of these standings are typically outlined in the university’s academic rules and regulations. Students receive notice of their standing in the summer, after grades are calculated through a mailed letter or an online transcript.

At a school like Calgary’s, when a student’s grade-point average is less than 1.70, the equivalent of a C-, students are put on a probationary period. This is typical of most schools, though the grade-point average threshold varies.

“The purpose, of course, of the first warning is to get them on track academically,” Johnston said. He said it’s normal for first-year students to come into university unprepared for the heavy course-load and higher academic standards than they are accustomed. First-year students, he said, are the largest group his school sees placed on academic probation.

Since grades are dealt with at the faculty level, it’s not clear exactly how many students each year are put on academic probation at each school.

It’s often just a matter of showing students their current learning styles aren’t working, associate dean of the faculty of science at the University of British Columbia Paul Harrison said. “Universities are pretty selective of who they invite in,” he said. “Students deep down have the skills if they apply themselves. Unfortunately some of them don’t.”

He said students also usually come out of high school with limited exposure to their chosen program or knowledge of the university’s expectations for them.

Manager of the Student Academic Success Centre at Carleton University, Kathleen Semanyk said besides academics, there could be any number of circumstances that prevent students from meeting program requirements. “We hear everything from ‘We’ve had a serious illness in my family,’ ‘I’ve lost a loved one,’ ‘I had to find a second job,’” Semanyk said. “It’s really common for students to think they’ve hit the end of the academic road.”

Johnston said, what also tends to happen is students may find their chosen program is not as well suited for them as they had hoped. “It’s aptitude and interest,” Johnston said. “If you don’t have an interest it’s hard to apply yourself.” Just the same, students may find their skill set doesn’t match what their program asks of them.

Admin wants a more academic-oriented experience for new students

Despite a firm stance by administration over controversy surrounding control over Carleton’s frosh week, student groups vow to keep the annual event controlled by students.

Amid exam writing, Carleton students have gathered twice on the Ottawa campus in past weeks to protest the recent decision by administration to assume control of frosh week, starting next year. The administration informed student organizers of their decision via an e-mail sent by director of student affairs Ryan Flannagan.

The e-mail, addressed to the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA), who have historically run frosh, commented on the “limited accountability for volunteers,” and a “lack of academic focus,” RRRA president Chris Infantry told the Charlatan.

Though he wouldn’t give a specific example, Flannagan told Maclean’s concern was raised over conduct by orientation volunteers at last year’s frosh.

“Leadership from orientation last year wasn’t exercising appropriate leadership and appropriate accountability with respect to how the orientation program was delivered last year,” he said. “We want our program to be aligned with other universities.”  He said that most Canadian universities typically have control over frosh week. “The university has liability for the program so it’s appropriate the university has the accountability for it,” he said.

While they will have control over the planning, the administration is looking at ways to partner with current orientation planners to bring more accountability and academic-focused activities to the week, Flannagan said.

While student leaders have argued the point of frosh week is to meet peers through ice-breaking activities, such as the canal group games and beach day, a press release issued by the school stated new events proposed by the administration include “a student success panel, a theatre play put on ‘surviving university,’ key note speakers, workshops on campus engagement and volunteering, and information on academic integrity.”

The release also makes special note that Shinerama, the nationwide frosh week fundraiser to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research will still be a key element of the week.

But incoming CUSA president Alex Sirois said student’s will have plenty of time to participate in academics during the four years they are students at Carleton. What’s more important is for new students to adjust to their new surroundings. “Carleton residence is your new home and Carleton is your new home and to be able to meet your new family is something that is very important,” he said.

Sirois said the decision was unexpected after administration participated in frosh week preparation, including the hiring of orientation volunteer leaders, something Flannagan said has been true of the past two years. “It’s pretty disgusting of them to do,” Sirois said.

Sirois says CUSA is looking to run an independent orientation for incoming students. He said their biggest obstacle to running frosh without administration approval would be the events normally held on campus, like the end-of-week concert would have to find a new venue. Typically, 50 per cent of frosh events are held on campus, he said. He said ideally the student leaders would like to see the frosh take place as normal, even with admin overseeing and finalizing all decisions. But, where the two groups differ, Sirois said, is over the types of activities they will introduce to new students.

The press release indicates the approximately 400 frosh volunteers who had already signed up to participate in running next year’s frosh are still welcome to continue that role.

As for funding, Sirois said the administration would still be looking to CUSA and RRRA to fund the week, but Flannagan said it’s a choice they’ll have to make. “We’re not going to ask CUSA to do anything financially or volunteer-wise unless they want to do it,” Flannagan said. He explained that 90 per cent of the money for frosh comes from voluntary student registration for the events, and he said the administration would use the same funding model for next year’s frosh.

Last year’s frosh week cost $135,000, RRRA president Chris Infantry told the Charlatan.

Flannagan’s e-mail also said the university’s decision is partly based on poor student participation in events. A survey released by Carleton’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning shows 61.8 per cent of first year undergraduates sampled participated in last year’s frosh week.

Of those who participated, just over 60 per cent said their overall satisfaction was “high,” 25.2 per cent said it was “medium” and 14.4 per cent said it was “low.”

Flannagan said increasing numbers over time is one of the administration’s goals. But for next year, if CUSA and RRRA decided to run a separate frosh off campus, numbers may be lower than they hope for, he said.

UOttawa talk cancelled after protesters raise safety concerns

A controversial event at the University of Ottawa featuring right-wing U.S. pundit Ann Coulter was cancelled due to apparent safety concerns, after 200 students gathered in protest outside.

Lawyer and political activist Ezra Levant, who was slated to speak before Coulter, broke the news to the half-filled auditorium in Marion Hall, after chaos at the registration table and a pulled fire alarm caused delays. “The police and the security have advised that it would be physically dangerous for Ann Coulter to proceed with this event and for others to come in,” Levant said.

Related: Coulter: the she-devil in her own words

Controversy has stemmed from Coulter’s writing, which some critics say promotes hate.

In one prominent column she wrote for the nationalreview.com after September 11, Coulter said: “We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

Coulter was scheduled to speak at the Ottawa campus as part of a three-stop Canadian tour that started at the University of Western Ontario on Monday and ends at the University of Calgary on Thursday. The events were organized by the International Free Press Society in partnership with student Conservative groups on each campus.

Students in Ottawa lined up more than an hour before the event was set to start and the entrance to the auditorium quickly filled as the crowd attempted to push and bargain their way past the volunteers who were trying to verify who had registered in advance.

According to volunteers, only those on their lists who had confirmed registration would be let into the auditorium.

Inside, Levant cited the letter sent to Coulter by the University of Ottawa vice-president academic and provost Francois Houle, that he said concealed a “veiled threat” and was the source of controversy leading up to Coulter’s arrival in Canada.

In his letter, of which a copy was obtained by the National Post, Houle urged Coulter to act with “restraint” and warned her Canadian laws for freedom of speech differ from those in the United States. He advised that before arriving at the University of Ottawa campus Coulter should “educate [her]self as to what is acceptable in Canada” and to “weigh [her] words with respect and civility in mind.”

That message was echoed by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, who Levant said, took their cue from the administration. The SFUO opposed Coulter’s arrival on campus, and Levant said ripped down posters advertising the event.

“Francois Houle got his wish,” Levant said. “He telegraphed to the community that the University of Ottawa is not a place for free debate like Western Ontario.” Levant’s speech was met by shouts of “Shame!” and “We want Ann!” from the raucous crowd.

Bjorn Larsen, the president of the International Free Press Society, the group who organized Coulter’s speaking tour, expressed his disappointment at having to cancel the event. “I promise you that we will try to bring Ann Coulter back,” Larsen said, which received loud applause from the audience, but was drowned out by protesters in the back who chanted “Ann go home!”

“It is an embarrassing day for the University of Ottawa and their student body,” Levant said. But protesters outside were happy to see the event cancelled. Levant said there were “2,000 intimidating protesters pressing against police,” but officers confirmed there was closer to 200 demonstrators.

Those who had gathered broke out in chants of: “Whose campus? Our campus!” after the event was cancelled, as police barred the way to the front doors of the building. A few pro-Coulter supporters came around to the front of the building and engaged in impromptu and heated debate with the protesters.

One student held a sign that read: “Free speech stops at hate speech.”

“We came together because we’re angry about the fact that Ann Coulter’s views risked being exposed on our campus,” said University of Ottawa student Mike Fancie. “The precedent that Ann Coulter set by publicly . . . insulting a Muslim student at the University of Western last night shows that she had no intention of being civil and no intention of avoiding attacks on minorities last night.”

During her speech to a crowd of 800 at the University of Western Ontario Monday night, Coulter told Muslim student Fatima Al-Dhaher to “take a camel” as an alternative to flying, the National Post reported. Coulter has said previously that Muslims should be banned from airplanes and instead use “flying carpets.” Al-Dhaher had asked Coulter how she was expected to travel, since she didn’t own a flying carpet.

Coulter also told the UWO crowd that the University of Ottawa provost’s letter has made her a victim of “hate crime” and that she would be taking it up with the Human Rights Commission.

SFUO president Seamus Wolfe said earlier in the day that he thought the provost’s letter to Coulter was “reasonable.” Wolfe said he had heard from a number of students over the past few days who were outraged about Coulter’s arrival at the university.

“Anyone that consistently promotes hatred of violence towards any individual or group of people should not be permitted to use a public institution, like a university, as a soapbox for that hatred and promotion of violence,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe was outside the building after the announcement that the event was cancelled. “I’m very happy that the students have spoken loud and clear, and that hate speech is not allowed at the University of Ottawa,” he said.

Coulter has appeared as a political and legal commentator on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.

This story has been updated.

Recession and “racialisation” roadblocks for Canadian post-secondary students

Two student groups have released studies highlighting the difficulties that face post-secondary students in funding their education.

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations study, “Summer Work and Paying for Post Secondary Education,” surveyed more than 18,000 full-time undergraduate students. It found that of the 84 per cent of participants who reported working last summer, one-third only found part-time employment, working less than 20 hours per week.

The overall seasonal earning median was $3,200 and students indicated they were only able to save less than half that amount. Of those surveyed, 62 per cent reported personal savings as a source of funding, which includes the previous year’s summer job as well as other personal savings. The study concludes that the the recession has been difficult on students who are increasingly working to fund their own education, but have fewer opportunities to earn money.

A Canadian Federation of Students study also highlights difficulties in funding post-secondary education. Their survey, “The Racialised Impact of Tuition Fees,” argues that rising tuition fees marginalizes “racialised students.” The study’s findings are based on socio-economic indicators, such as lower average wages, experienced by students who identify themselves as a visible minority.

It cites data on tuition fees that have more than tripled in the past two decades and tuition fees as a higher percentage of average income for racialised students to call upon “increased public investment in higher education.” The CFS’ study focuses mostly on Ontario students, who currently pay the highest average tuition fees, according to Statistics Canada.

College faculty union braces for vote on final offer before strike deadline

With the strike deadline pushed back to Feb. 17 from Feb. 11, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says they are looking for binding arbitration in negotiations with Ontario’s colleges that broke down in December. Faculty gave the union strike mandate in a Jan 13 vote.

The union, which represents 9,00 0 faculty members from 24 Ontario colleges, has urged its members to reject the college’s final offer that is being brought to vote by management on Feb 10, under the auspices of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. OPSEU’s bargaining team had refused to bring the proposal to faculty itself.

For background and more coverage of this story, please click here

While representatives on either side post new fact sheets and updates almost daily, it clouds the facts and arguments debated at the bargaining table.

As it stands, the union’s most recent proposal for settlement asks for the following:

- 7.5 per cent salary increase over three years for all faculty

- increased job security by limiting external contracts

- workload considerations and protections for full-time faculty, including additional paid time for preparation, special circumstances and out-of-class assistance for students

- increases in health and insurance plans

Most of these provisions follow quoted recommendations from the workload task force, that assessed workload concerns following the 2006 Ontario colleges strike. As part of their new contract, OPSEU is asking that these recommendations come into fruition, as they argue they have yet to be addressed.

A week after the union proposed this contract proposal, the colleges tabled their final offer, which includes:

- 5.75 per cent salary increase over three years

- Additional time allotments for out-of-class assistance for teachers with an excess of 260 students

- Maintains previous workload agreements, with some adjustments

The colleges bargaining team maintains that many of the recommendations made by the task force have been implemented to date, but the colleges final offer does address and accept several of the proposed updates and changes to workload, health, safety and grievances.

Meanwhile, as faculty wait to vote on this final offer for settlement, OPSEU has posted several new fact sheets outlining reasons faculty should vote “no” on the most recent offer. These reasons include a salary increase they say is “less than what high school teachers and other Ontario post-secondary teachers were given,” and that the offer “ignores the Task Force’s key recommendations.”

Ultimately, the fact sheets read as propaganda, and while the union leaders have the right to spread whatever message they want to their members, in order to achieve a settlement, avoid a strike, and have a fair and informed vote on the most recent offer allowing faculty to decide if the deal works for them, they need all the facts. And not the ones that make OPSEU look like warriors and the colleges look like bloodsuckers.

Queen’s University students propose added fee to boost operating budget

While most students are usually screaming and protesting about exorbitant tuition fees across the province in the annual Drop Fees campaign, two students at Queen’s University are trying the opposite approach.

Students Morgan Campbell and James Simpson a proposing a new $70 opt-outable fee to be paid by students to support services  like TAs, maintenance and teaching materials, the Queen’s Journal reported. The fee would have to be adopted via student referendum.

Campbell told the Journal: “The amount our tuition can increase each year does not keep up with the rising costs.” This may be true, as it is not just Queen’s University that is experiencing a shortage in funds projected for this year and next year’s  budget. According to the article Queen’s is looking at a projected $8.3 million deficit for their 2009-2010 operating budget.

But while the Drop Fees campaign has never really made any sense in light of these continuing deficits, this new plan to give the university money instead of trying to convince them to stop taking so much from students doesn’t seem to solve the problem either. By Campbell’s own admission, student response to their idea hasn’t been great, as is to be expected when asking students — who already scrape for laundry and beer money — for some extra cash. Though the $70 may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of tuition dollars, it’s extra money Campbell is proposing students aren’t obligated to give, so why would they?

It’s not that they aren’t “aware” of the issues as Campbell argues. It’s that they don’t want to.

The article quotes Campbell as saying their talks with the school’s administration have been more positive. No kidding. You’re telling the university you want to round up some extra cash for them instead of protesting fees on their doorstep. In that favourable turnaround the administration could be nothing but supportive.

While Campbell’s argument is correct in that a boost in the operating budget would go towards improving services that directly or indirectly benefit students, it is flawed in that the money should be coming from students’ pockets.

Even if every Queen’s student contributed $70, which they won’t, the point is that you’re paying into an institution and you’re expecting to receive a certain level of education and services you payed for. Its not a selfish argument, but if students take the approach the university does, that ultimately a university is a business and as students you are its customers, the logic fails. If you pay $1.99 for McDonald’s to make you a cheeseburger without cheese, you wouldn’t throw $5 at them so that they can improve the quality of the burger and make it right next time.

You’d send the burger back. While it’s hard to assess the quality of the deal Queen’s students are getting, paying more for services they already deserve isn’t the answer.

Student groups, faculty urge bargaining teams back to the table

After a strike mandate vote found the majority of college faculty represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union in favour of striking, the union and dissenting faculty are at odds with the significance of the vote.

Yesterday unofficial results showed 75 per cent of full-time academic staff voted 57 per cent in favour of a strike and 43 per cent against. The majority at Six of the 24 Ontario colleges included in the collective bargaining unit voted against a strike. These schools were Algonquin, Conestoga, Fanshawe, Georgian, Humber, and St. Lawrence.

OPSEU represents 9,000 college teachers, counselors and librarians at all of Ontario’s 24 community colleges.

Following these results, OPSEU posted a press release on their website quoting president Warren Thomas. “Our members have delivered a clear statement,” Thomas is quoted as saying of the vote, which the release calls a “show of province-wide support.”

But St. Lawrence business professor William Tennant, who created the website stopthestrike.net to urge faculty to vote “no” to the Jan. 13 vote, said the strike does not reflect the unified voice Thomas says it does. “We are somewhat disappointed with the provincial results,” Tennant said via e-mail. “Yet at the same time the results do indicate there is a serious split in the ranks.” Despite Thomas’ optimism, Tennant cited the 43 per cent vote against the strike mandate, which created just a small majority in favour.

Of the valid votes tallied, the six college faculties who voted in majority “no” account for a third of all valid votes (“yes” and no”) of the 24 colleges. While these colleges may now be mandated to strike, if a strike does occur, it is by no means “clear” that Ontario’s colleges are completely onboard.

Meanwhile, among the rhetoric, Tyler Charlebois, director of advocacy for the College Students Alliance, said the CSA is concerned about making sure students have all the facts. He said they are moving forward with “very pointed communications to students” to inform them about the results of the vote and what that means for them.

He said the CSA also wants to ensure learning in the classroom continues as normal. “Its really important to be respectful, not only of the faculty but of the other students in your classroom,” he said. The CSA wants to encourage students to leave talk of a strike out of the classroom so as not to disrupt learning.

As the meager turnout of a student-planned walkout showed, perhaps students are serious about business-as-usual and continuing the classes they fear may be cancelled come mid-February. Both the Charlebois and Tennant said students and faculty are pushing for now is to get both bargaining teams back to the negotiation table to find an agreement and avoid a work stoppage.

“What we are trying to do in this early stage in the aftermath of the vote is to emphasize the need to get back to the table and settle now, so we don’t have to deal with the many challenges in exercising future options during a strike,” Tennant said.

These “future options” Tennant is referring to include the possibility that individual colleges may still provide work for faculty who chose to cross the picket line. After a 2008 amendment to the Collective Colleges Bargaining Act, faculty are now allowed to cross the picket line to work if a college chooses to maintain operations. If enough faculty expressed they were willing to work throughout a strike, the college may be able to keep some programs running. But, Charlebois said, students and the Alliance hope a strike can be avoided entirely.

500,000 full and part-time students would be affected by a strike. The last time Ontario college faculty went on strike was 2006, where schools saw 21 days of work stoppage.

What’s the buzz around your school concerning the strike? E-mail me at jenniferpagliaro[at]gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Students, faculty urge ‘no’ vote to strike

With next week’s strike vote deadline approaching for Ontario college faculty, hundreds of thousands of the province’s college students prepare for what could be an unwelcome extended holiday.

Full-time professors, counselors and librarians, roughly 9,000, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, will vote Jan. 13 on giving their bargaining team a strike mandate if a deal cannot be reached.

The results of a strike for 500,000 college students (350,000 full time students and 150,000 part time students) would mean canceled classes, and could mean the extension of classes into summer, or a canceled term if the strike continues well into the four-month semester.

As most students pack their bags to go back to class next week, many are left holding their breath, while some plan demonstrations of their own.

Graeme McNaughton is the creator of the Facebook group ‘Ontario College Students Against A Strike,’ which has over 18,000 members. The petition linked to the group has been signed by more than 3,000 students.

McNaughton started an event called the ‘All-Ontario Student Walkout‘ set for Jan. 12, the day before the strike vote, and student groups have begun to sign-up to participate.

The last major academic strike happened at York University in Toronto where the union for the school’s contract faculty, teaching, graduate and research assistants participated in a 12-week standoff, affecting 50,000 students.

Metro Ottawa spoke to a professor at Algonquin College, one of 24 colleges involved in the collective bargaining, about the possibility of a college-wide strike.

“It doesn’t mean there will be a strike, but it does mean that one is possible,” Rod Bain told Metro. “Unfortunately, it is something that we pretty much need to do in order to move management toward a settlement.”

In a document on why professors should vote ‘yes’ to a strike mandate next Wednesday, the OPSEU said in 15 rounds of bargaining since 1972, there have been 12 strike votes but only three strikes — in 1984, 1989 and 2006.

In 2006 the strike fell just a month before the end of the second term and lasted 21 days, leaving those slated to graduate or to start jobs or work placements scrambling to catch up.

The OPSEU said that in the past when faculty have given the union a strike mandate and subsequently gone on strike, results of bargaining were “significant.”

They also said in another note that students benefit from the union’s conditions, which have included “changing learning environment of students, as well as looking for ways to deal with the increasing number of students attending college.”

Bain told Metro, this time around, professors are asking for a 20 per cent increase in paid time to prepare for classes or to meet with students outside of class time.

However, not all college faculty are on board for a strike. A website authored by William Tenant, a business professor at St. Lawrence College, has cropped up, dedicated to encouraging faculty to vote ‘no’ to a strike mandate next Wednesday.

The College Student Alliance, which represents over 70 per cent of Ontario college students wrote an open letter entitled ‘College students are NOT bargaining chips.’ In it CSA president Justin Fox said: “Students are concerned with the fact that, yet again, there is a threat of a province-wide faculty strike looming over their education.”

- photo by Gamma-Ray Productions

CBC News The National anchor named new Mount Allison chancellor

My roommate joked with her friend today about how they wished they were back graduating at Mount Allison University this school year. While I’m sure the small Sackville, N.B. school has its fair share of nostalgic charm, I wasn’t sure what would cause two professionals to want to return to their alma mater.

The answer? Peter Mansbridge.

Graduating students at Mt. A will bow before Mansbridge to receive their diplomas next May, CBC News and Mount Allison reported Nov. 9.

According to a press release from the university, Mansbridge’s appointment was endorsed by the school’s Board of Regents.

Mansbridge’s duties as chancellor, as with at most Canadian universities, is to preside over convocations and act as the public face of the school.

Mt. Allison president Robert Campbell said in the release: “It will be wonderful to have a national figure with his public stature help take the University’s message of excellence to an even wider audience.”

Though Mansbridge is in the homes of Canadians across the country, it is left to be seen how he will fulfill his role of public outreach.

Mansbridge will serve as chancellor until December 2013.

Canadian universities have historically chosen established or famous chancellors. Other selections of celebrity status have included former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson who served at Carleton University from 1969 to 1972 and Robert Borden at Queen’s University from 1924 to 1930.

- photo by gorbould