All Posts Tagged With: "Dalhousie University"
Dalhousie loses accreditation appeal, medical school on two years’ probation
International committee reviewed school on 132 standards, was deemed “not-compliant”‘ on 17.
Dalhousie University says it has lost an appeal that places its undergraduate medical education program on two years’ probation.
The Halifax medical school had appealed a preliminary finding by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, an international accrediting body based in the United States. The school said Wednesday that the appeal was heard last Thursday in Chicago.
Despite its probationary status, which begins Thursday, Dalhousie said its undergraduate medical program remains accredited and it does not affect the ability of students to qualify as doctors or obtain residency training.
Dalhousie has said the board reviewed the school on 132 standards earlier this year, and it was deemed “not-compliant”‘ on 17.
The school says most of the issues identified by the committee following a routine review related to curriculum management, monitoring and evaluation.
The school’s dean, Tom Marrie, said the university has started to improve the areas where problems were found. “We’re continuing our remediation efforts,” he said in a news release. “We expect this task to be accomplished quickly.”
There are 17 accredited faculties of medicine across Canada.
Marrie said the probationary period has no impact on Dalhousie University’s plans for an accredited medical program that is slated to start next September in New Brunswick. “To achieve our goal of having North America’s best undergraduate medical education program, we have begun the task of renewing our present curriculum,” he said.
“Good progress is being made and I expect us to be in a position in September 2010 to implement, here and in New Brunswick, the first year of this innovative new curriculum. We expect we’ll exceed current LCME standards.”
- The Canadian Press
Dalhousie’s MD program threatened with two-year probation
Accreditation body flags “issues” with curriculum monitoring and evaluation
The accreditation of Dalhousie University’s undergraduate medical education program is being threatened with a two-year probation.
The Halifax medical school says it’s appealing a preliminary finding by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, an international accrediting body based in the United States.
In a news release, Dalhousie says the issues identified by the committee following a routine review of the school relate mostly to curriculum management, monitoring and evaluation.
The school says its MD program remains fully accredited in the meantime.
The accrediting body is expected to make its final ruling based on Dalhousie’s appeal in October or November.
Should Dalhousie be unsuccessful in its appeal, the medical school will have 24 months to make the changes outlined by the committee, which accredits MD programs in Canada in co-operation with the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools.
- The Canadian Press
Dalhousie stops accepting credit cards for tuition
Like other schools, Dal wants to trim transaction fees paid to financial institutions
Students who are accustomed to the swipe now, pay later approach to tuition payments may have to re-think their finances this fall as more Canadian universities eliminate the option of paying with credit cards.
Universities say they want to trim the transaction fees they pay to financial institutions and most schools are putting the money they save into their operating budgets, while others are directing the savings towards specific projects like bursaries for first-year students.
“This is the mark of a prudent university these days,” said Alan Shaver, vice-president academic and provost at Dalhousie University in Halifax, which will stop processing credit card payments in September.
About 40 per cent of Dalhousie students paid their tuition with a credit card last fall. That cost the school $1 million in processing fees.
Shaver said the decision was made because Dalhousie’s endowment isn’t as large as it used to be. To keep the same number of scholarships and bursaries, money had to be cut from other areas.
“We’re looking for ways where we can have the most bang for our buck,” he said.
Dalhousie joins St. Thomas University in Fredericton as the latest schools to make the shift away from plastic. The University of Prince Edward Island has announced plans to phase out credit cards next year, just as the universities of New Brunswick, British Columbia, Calgary and Alberta have done in recent years.
Taking away credit cards doesn’t mean students will have to line up with stacks of cash. Students can still pay online and through telephone banking, debit, cheques, money orders and wire transfers.
But student groups say these changes make a big difference to people who rely on credit to get to class. It’s not just the convenience factor, or the ability to cash in with Air Miles. They say the change will hurt those who don’t have any other options.
“A lot of students don’t get enough loans and scholarships to cover the entire cost of their education and, therefore, they have to cover it with other ways and they rely on credit card payments to do that,” said Shannon Zimmerman, president of Dalhousie’s student union.
Sask. student wins top prize in biotech competition for ‘designer wheat’
16-year-old worked with two mentors at USaskatchean department of plant sciences
Scott Adams never expected to take a prize in a competition for the best student biotech research projects in Canada – he was just happy to come to the nation’s capital as one of 14 finalists.
But on Wednesday, the 16-year-old from Saskatoon was awarded the $5,000 first prize in the Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge for his genetic research involving the bread-and-butter crop of his home province, wheat.
“I didn’t come to Ottawa expecting a prize,” said a surprised Adams. “I thought the trip to Ottawa was enough of a prize.”
The Grade 10 student’s project involved a novel process for turning off a gene in wheat to alter its starch elements. The discovery might one day make it possible for farmers to grow “designer wheat” with starch content aimed at different products, from textiles and packaging to flour-based foods and glues.
Adams worked with two mentors in the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan on the gene-silencing research.
While genetics is one of his areas of interest – he reads scientific journals on the subject – he doesn’t know if he will pursue science as a career.
“It’s certainly a possibility, but I’m still keeping my options open,” he said. “My parents have often said in the past (to become an) optometrist, but that’s not final at all.”
Adams and second-prize winner Joseph McNeil, an 18-year-old, Grade 12 student in Cape Breton, N.S., will compete for Canada at the International BioGENEius Challenge in Atlanta next month.
McNeil was awarded the $4,000 runner-up prize for using antioxidant compounds like those found in green tea to promote growth of nerve cells in a study related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He is hoping to attend Dalhousie University in Halifax next year, possibly in its biological engineering program.
Ottawa announces $7.9m for research at four Atlantic universities
Dalhousie University set to get $5.2 million for five renewed research chairs
Four universities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are getting $7.9 million from Ottawa to fund eight research chairs.
The money is part of a $5.1-billion spending package for science and technology announced in the federal budget.
Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear says $1.4 million will go toward one new chair at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
Professor Kevin Kelloway is studying effective workplace leadership and what can be done to predict and prevent workplace violence and aggression.
Meanwhile, Dalhousie University will get $5.2 million for five renewed research chairs, Acadia $500,000 for one new chair and Memorial University will get $500,000 for one new chair.
Goodyear says two chairs will also get more than $321,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
- The Canadian Press
Woman who defrauded Dalhousie given six-month conditional sentence
Woman wracked up over $34,000 on employee credit card
A former Dalhousie employee who defrauded the university out of more than $34,000 was given a six-month conditional sentence in an Ontario court Wednesday. Debbie Smajda, who pleaded guilty to the charge, must stay in her home between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. for six months and was ordered begin restitution payments.
“She’s clearly very remorseful,” said defence lawyer Alison Craig, who noted that Smajda, 53, won’t be bound to any specific repayment schedule.
While Crown prosecutor John Scott had asked for 50 hours of community service and a conditional sentence of two years less a day, Justice Peter Harris said that would be too harsh. Harris added that handing Smajda, who lives alone in a basement apartment and has a history of emotional problems, such a sentence could lead to tragic consequences.
“This case is very awkward,” Harris said before handing down the sentence. Still, Harris noted the serious breach of trust issues inherit in a fraud conviction.
The fraud occurred from September 2002 to October 2006 when Smajda worked as an administrator at the university’s medical school. During that time, the court heard that Smajda abused an employee charge card, buying personal items that amounted to $34,325.
On Oct. 3, 2006, Dalhousie accounting staff discovered some “questionable invoices” made out to Adjams Business Services, which was discovered to be Smajda’s husband’s business, court heard.
“At that time, she confessed,” said Scott, who added that Smajda told the university she would repay the funds by refinancing her Halifax home. However, he added that there’s been no restitution so far. “Ms. Smajda’s financial situation is not likely to allow her to make substantial restitution,” Scott said.
As the charges against her were read in court, an emotional-looking Smajda stood silently. Like a previous court appearance in March, Smajda was dressed in black and accompanied by her adult daughter.
Craig told the court that her client suffered through a traumatic childhood and that the fraud began after a relapse to this period. Court heard she “felt the need to buy things for people” in order to stay close to them.
According to the Dalhousie website, Smajda became an employee at the university’s medical school in 2002 and worked as an administrative assistant. The site also notes that Smajda worked for the Ontario government before moving to Halifax.
- with a report from CP
CRO’s take note
YouTube – it’s a site students go to? right?
The Dalhousie Student Union elections office went out and created short "intro commercials" for the election candidates.
Most of the candidate statements are pretty much the same as last year and what you hear at any campus. The elections office has no control over the candidates themselves, so I can’t fault them for that, I have to give them credit for a well designed website and the effort involved in creating the YouTube videos.
CROs across the country take note. It be nice to see someone take this idea to the next level in the coming year – the creation of videos that go viral.
UPDATE:
New Chancellor at Dalhousie
Graduate of Dal’s law school will serve as titular head of university
Fred Fountain will serve as the sixth chancellor of Dalhousie University.
Fountain, a 1974 graduate of Dalhousie’s law school, served has a member of the university’s board of governor from 1990 to 1999.
A founding partner of a Nova Scotia law firm, Fountain has been actively involved on community organization boards and chaired a $44 million capital campaign for the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre Foundation. Nationally, he served on the board of the National Gallery of Canada.
Fountain will be formally installed in the position during convocation on May 20.
