All Posts Tagged With: "University of Western Ontario"
Western med school looks to expand
New office still in the ‘preliminary’ stages
According to an article from the Stratford Gazette, the University of Western Ontario’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry is interested in expanding into Stratford.
The new location- which would be an office, not a campus- is still in the “preliminary” stages. In an interview with the Gazette, Mayor Dan Mathieson said that although they hope to see it happen, “it is not something that is definite.”
-Photo courtesy of DGriebeling
Thriving in a class of 700
How large classrooms can work for you
Moving from the small, intimate, setting of a high school classroom to a university lecture hall with hundreds of students can be intimidating. At first you may feel lost and nameless in the mob, and perhaps a bit awkward when raising your hand. In fact, the size of class might not matter all that much and a large classroom might even be to your advantage.
Tom Haffie, who teaches a first-year biology course at the University of Western Ontario, that has two sections of 700 students each, disagrees that smaller is always better. “It’s easier to have a more in-depth experience in a small class,” he admits. “But that’s all it is, it’s easier.”
Haffie, who is a 3M Teaching Fellow and describes his student evaluations as “average to above average,” relies heavily on technology to assist his students in getting the most out of his lectures. Notes are posted online beforehand, and audio is posted after class.
Each student is provided with a clicker, so when he poses a question, everyone has the chance to answer. When they do, Haffie can get a better idea of what was understood, and where students are having trouble. “It’s a way to have a kind of conversation . . . It’s a cliché that technology shrinks the room, but it’s true,” he says.
Students are still exposed to a small classroom experience. Similar to large classes everywhere, a small army of teaching assistants run labs and tutorials to groups of 40 students.
What really makes or breaks a large class like Haffie’s may have less to do with room shrinking technology, and everything to do with the professor’s performance as a lecturer. Emily Rodriquez, one of Haffie’s students, says he is “intriguing” and entertaining. “I want to go to that class. He lectures in a way that makes you want to learn biology,” she said.
A survey of 5,886 students conducted by consulting firm Higher Education Strategy Associates, and released in August, supports the notion that who is in front of the class matters more than its size. Participants were asked to rank nine factors that contributed to their favourite class. At the top of the list was “Interesting subject matter,” followed by “Instructor’s engaging teaching style.” Near the bottom, in second last place, was “small class size.”
One common complaint about large classes is that students will get less face time with their professor, or even their TAs. The reality might be the same as it is for other classes: students simply don’t take advantage of a professor’s office hours. “For the most part, office hours are very underutilized,” Haffie says. He’s even tried holding court in the cafeteria and sending TAs to residences to hold their hours. Still, the students don’t come.
Rodriquez might have an explanation. “One-on-one with the professor is kind of intimidating,” she says, preferring to ask her questions by email.
Student faculty ratios remain one of the most common metrics when administrators and professors consider the quality of education. University “accountability” measures, often posted on an institution’s website, will usually prominently feature average class size.
A September study published by the Ontario Confederation of Faculty Associations (OCUFA) found that 57 per cent of academic staff in the province say education quality has been declining over the past year. Growing class sizes was seen as the main culprit, as 55 per cent of respondents reported larger class sizes and 38 per cent said retiring or departing faculty had not been renewed. As a result, 38 per cent said that out-of-class support for students had declined, and 39 per cent were using fewer essay-style exams to compensate for larger classes.
OCUFA advocates an investment from the Ontario government to bring student-faculty ratios down from 26 to 1 to the national average of 19 to 1.
James Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers says “anecdotes” from across the country suggest similar trends are occurring elsewhere. While Turk is not too concerned by class size in and of itself, noting that “it doesn’t make a difference” if classes have 100 or 1,000 students, he is worried about what he says is a decline of resources invested in the classroom. Professors are “reporting the number of TAs [per class] are getting worse,” he says.
While Turk is sceptical that technology and quality lecturers can mitigate the challenges of large classes, Meaghan Coker of the Ontario Undergraduate Students’ Alliance says that it would be more efficient for the government to invest in instructor training aimed at encouraging more active learning techniques. Reducing class sizes alone may not make much of a difference. “You could have the same horrible boring teachers, just teaching more classes,” she says.
Similarly, Jeffrey Niehaus, a psychology instructor at the University of Victoria isn’t so sure that more TAs is the answer. His first year psychology class has 300 students, and is coordinated along with two other sections of equal size. In total, there are only three TAs, plus a senior TA who oversees the others. That’s 225 students per TA, but Niehaus insists it hasn’t been an obstacle. “We work them pretty hard and we automate as much as we can,” he says. “If we had 30 students for every TA, I’m not sure we would have put the effort into getting things online.”
Each week Niehaus’ students complete small assignments online that the course website marks automatically. The students are also asked to do several short essay assignments throughout the term, also online, that the TAs are required to grade. Like Haffie at the University of Western Ontario, Niehaus employs clicker technology to pose questions to the class, but also to survey students to quickly illustrate psychology lessons with a live sample.
Krystal Dash, one of Niehaus students, cites his energy, use of pop culture references and humour, as factors that contribute to the success of the class. “You don’t feel that it is a huge class,” she says. Though Dash admits that large classrooms are not always ideal and more intimate settings allow professors to more easily have a back and forth conversation with students. “I do like the smaller classes,” she says.
Teachers like Niehaus represent a new brand of professor in Canadian universities, those dedicated predominately to teaching. While most universities have some sort of position for teaching-only professors, compensating them and putting them on tenure track, similar to traditional research oriented faculty is only starting to take form. Niehaus was recruited from the University of California-Santa Barbara last year, and is on tenure track to become a Teaching Professor, a tenure stream that didn’t even exist at the University of Victoria five years ago.
The growing trend of putting the best teachers—those who are engaging, tech savvy and up to date on the latest pedagogical techniques—in front of large lecture rooms may mean students in those classes, at least in first and second year, are actually at an advantage over their peers in smaller classrooms.
While small classes offer more opportunities for students to interact directly with their professor during class time, unless the instructor is capable of controlling the class, it can often degenerate into a situation where only a handful of students actually get the professor’s attention. “[Small classes] tend to be more easily monopolized by some students,” says Jennifer Marinucci, a third-year English student at the University of Guelph.
What is really needed says Haffie is more research into what classroom techniques actually work. “There’s a whole lot of teaching going on,” he says. “There’s not a lot of investigation into it.”
Where do I belong?
That mysterious substance guidance counsellors call ‘fit’ is not so mysterious anymore.
Deanna Jarvis, the 19-year-old first-year student on our cover, says she knows the University of Guelph is the right place for her. She’s just not sure why. Maybe it’s the gold and red leaves that litter the campus in the fall. She could never live in a concrete jungle, she says. Perhaps it’s that Guelph offers a rare major (adult development, families and wellbeing) that will teach her how to help people. “I just like to listen to friends and help them,” she says. Or maybe it’s that Guelph is a big enough school to keep famous playwrights like Judith Thompson on staff. Jarvis, a parttime actor, is a huge Thompson fan. Whatever the reason, Guelph just seems to fit.
Parents, students, university presidents and even education marketers are trying to nail down exactly what makes a school fit. Traditionally, school size and city size were the shorthand for determining where a particular student should go. Big schools offer more cultural opportunities; tiny schools offer more personal interaction, or so the theory goes. Those rules still apply, but sociologist James Côté, of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., has found another predictor for what he calls the “goodness of fit.” His research found students do best when their inner motivations match what the environment has to offer.
Tom Traves, president of Dalhousie University, agrees that students should look inward to determine the best school for them. “For some students it will be a small, intimate, collegial environment,” says Traves. “For other students, their personalities will be sufficiently expansive and their strength of purpose and needs will be such that going to a small environment will be too much like an extension of high school.”
Côté would agree, but says university officials are not the only people to ask. “You’ll have to do the digging yourself,” he says. Some “universities don’t want to alienate prospective students who aren’t the right fit,” he explains. “Because they’re funded by tuition and the number of bums in seats.”
Assuming they’re not going to university because of parental pressure, most students have one of three motivations, according to Côté: the “personal and intellectual” motivation, the “career and materialism” motivation, or the “humanitarian” motivation.
For the student whose goal is to develop personally and intellectually, a small liberalarts oriented school is best, he says. “A good liberal arts education really requires smaller class sizes, so you can have seminars and contact with faculty,” he explains. “You’ll also be required to do more public speaking and writing. A large school simply can’t do this.” St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, N.S., and Quest University in Squamish, B.C., are examples of schools where students seeking personal and intellectual growth will find it, he says.
Large, reputable schools like McGill and the University of Toronto fit students who are personally and intellectually motivated, says Côté, but be sure “you’re outgoing or able to work on your own.” Students who choose the school primarily for its reputation, says Côté, need to remember that “they may never see any of the profs that make those schools famous.”
The second type of student, the “careeristmaterialist,” is someone who wants a degree mainly for the job and prestige. “The careeristmaterialist might fit at schools that are vocationally oriented,” says Côté. “We’re going that direction at Western,” he says, giving the example of the increasing popularity of degrees like the bachelor of management and organizational studies over the traditional broad B.A.
The third (and more rare) motivation to study is altruism. Côté offers King’s University College (a Western affiliate) as a good fit for the “humanitarianism-motivated” student, because of its social justice focus.
Ken Steele, an education marketing expert, agrees with Côté that universities themselves are unlikely to help you determine fit. Most universities are still trying to be “everything to everyone,” he says. However, he has seen a few encouraging examples of schools that are marketing with “goodness of fit” in mind. “Acadia [in Wolfville, N.S.] actually says it’s not for everyone,” explains Steele. “They want students to know they’re coming to a small town and that’s going to be a shock for some of them.”
William Barker, president of the University of King’s College in Halifax (an even smaller school than Acadia), suggests visiting as many schools as possible, sitting in on lectures, and staying overnight with a friend.
That’s advice Côté wants parents to hear. He says more parents should encourage their offspring to explore far and wide; too often they encourage offspring to choose the closest school to home in order to save money. “You may save a lot financially in the short run, but you will have lost in the long run,” he says. If a person fails at university because it’s the wrong fit, they risk losing millions of dollars in lifetime earnings, he explains—and it’s not a cheap investment. “If parents were forking out this kind of money in the stock market or real estate, they’d look at it much more carefully,” says Côté.
Of course, not everyone can afford to fly around the country to research each school. That’s why Maclean’s asked successful students from four schools exactly what makes their university the right fit for them. Their answers prove just how important it is for future students to ask themselves who they are and why they want a degree. Why? Just ask Côté. “If you don’t develop goals of what you want to get out of university, you potentially squander the most transformative experience of your life.”
With Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze
Sexual violence still rampant
New UWO campaign calls ‘on men to be accountable for their behaviours’
More than 55 people were sexually assaulted every day in Canada last year. And while that number has decreased slightly from rates in 2008, the University Students’ Council at the University of Western Ontario is doing their part to decrease this number even more.
The USC is launching their I Know Someone campaign this week, with the aim of “challenging male and female students to increase their awareness and involvement in reducing incidents of sexual violence.”
They’re hoping to do this through social marketing and training seminars on campus. Posters around campus will depict a variety of realities around sexual assault. One reads: “I know someone who thinks it’s funny to call her friend a slut.”
The project is in collaboration with the Sexual Assault Centre London and Changing Ways, an organization that helps men overcome abusive and violent behaviours. They received $118,000 in funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation for two years to help promote their work.
“We are not telling women how to keep themselves safe, we are calling on men to be accountable for their behaviours, and we are telling them both men and women can experience sexual violence on campus, and we can all do something about it,” Louise Pitre, director of London’s sexual assault centre, told the London Free Press.
“Men and women can challenge their friends about unacceptable behaviour … the derogatory remarks that we make and that we think are funny,” she continued. “Speak up and hold people accountable to their language, because language is very powerful and is used to demean women and men.”
Western’s efforts are the latest in a number of attempts to protect people from sexual assault. Take Back The Night campaigns now appear on several campuses across the globe and marches have been occurring in Canada since 1980. The third Friday in September is now the annual day for the marches against sexual violence.
Likewise, the White Ribbon Campaign challenges men to end violence against women. Beginning in Canada in 1991, a group of young men decided wearing a white ribbon was their way of showing the world they didn’t condone violence and that they would never participate in it. The campaign is now also widely associated with the Montreal Massacre in 1989.
Slowly, sexual violence is decreasing, confidence is being restored and the streets and campuses of this country are becoming a safer place to be.
There’s still much work to be done, but it’s about changing attitudes and making people think about their words and actions. Western’s campaign is a good first step in breaking down the stigma, fear and victimization a lot of people feel around the subject. Even today, much sexual crime goes unreported.
Campaigns like Western’s are a constructive way to start a dialogue around all the factors that can contribute to violence, and it’s a great way to get people to think twice before they speak or act. More campaigns like theirs are needed.
No faculty strike at Western
Tentative deal reached at 3am after 18-hour bargaining session
A tentative agreement has been reached to avert a strike by professors at the University of Western Ontario. The deal comes after the 12:01 a.m. strike deadline was delayed to allow negotiations to continue. The school’s faculty association says a solution was struck around 3 a.m. — making the entire negotiation session 18-hours long.
No details of the agreement were announced and the association says the date for a ratification vote has not yet been determined. The 1,400 unionized part-time and full-time professors had threatened to walk off the job if a deal was not reached by Wednesday. Classes for Western’s 33,000 students would have been cancelled if a strike had occurred.
Negotiations began in May and the professors’ contract expired June 30. Faculty association president James Compton had said compensation and performance evaluations were key issues in the talks.
Meanwhile 1,100 administrative and technical staff, who are members of the University of Western Ontario Staff Association, are in a legal strike position on Thursday.
The Canadian Press
Motion sensors to prevent gay sex?
Newspaper questions UWO’s campus police motives
One of Canada’s most recognizable publications for gay and lesbian news has raised the question of whether new motion detectors at the University of Western Ontario have been installed to clamp down on gay sex.
Xtra! released a story last week probing the motive behind installing motion sensors in washrooms at Western’s Thames Hall. According to the article, Western’s campus police, who wouldn’t respond to Xtra!’s interview requests, had the motion detectors installed in Thames Hall washrooms, allegedly to curb gay sex. The article cites anecdotal evidence from an anonymous source at the university, who says he was questioned by campus police about gay sex happening in mens washrooms. “The man said he told officers there was plenty of sex happening in public spaces among the heterosexual students as well,” the article reads, but “the police did not seem interested in this fact.”
A case of bigoted campus police trying to snuff homosexual ongoings in public places on campus? It’s not entirely impossible. But other than our mystery UWO worker’s account of police prejudice, there’s little to suggest that police are trying to single out homosexual sex in public places on campus. As any university student can (unfortunately) attest, public washrooms are, for some reason, a curious hotspot for campus diddling. So, unless Thames Hall motion detectors are equipped with some sort of wicked-revolutionary ‘gaydar,’ these extra security measures are likely to curtail anyone and everyone thinking of getting naughty in the public stalls.
Perhaps cracking down on sex in public places could be conceived as a deliberate attempt to curb gay sex on campus if you consider the idea that a public washroom can be a relatively “safe space” for a closeted student. Since it’s hard to engage in any sort of dorm room romp without your floormates or roommate noticing, a public bathroom, therefore, can offer a discreet alternative. The option may be all the more appealing when considering the type of bullying to which gay students may be subject on campus, a problem which has gained media attention recently due to the string of suicides by gay youth in the U.S. The tragic case of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who was recorded having sex with a man by his roommate in the dorm they shared, is just one example. Why risk public ridicule in the dorm, some students may think, when you can opt for the relative privacy of a public bathroom?
Of course, it’s all but mere speculation, but the idea that UWO campus police are deliberately trying to curb gay sex in public places is still a far-fetched one. The bottom line is that the new security measures in Thames Hall washrooms effect everyone equally, regardless of police motives. Without any evidence, fishing for proof of a culture of intolerance only serves to create one.
Strike deadline at Western
Faculty could walk by Nov 3
Professors at the University of Western Ontario could be on strike as early as Nov 3. The faculty association announced the deadline late last week after the Ontario minister of labour filed a no-board report, meaning a settlement could not be reached with the university. Under Ontario labour laws, a 17 day cooling period is required before a union is in a legal position to strike. The report was filed on Oct 17, and the earliest faculty could strike would be Nov 3. There are five negotiating meetings between the university and the faculty association between now and then.
For background, please see our earlier coverage.
Mark Steyn headed to UWO
Will the controversial speaker be warmly received?
Who can forget the embarrassing debacle that occurred in March when Ann Coulter embarked on her Canadian university tour? And no, I’m not just talking about what she said. Students and community members gathered outside of the University of Ottawa to protest the right wing pundit’s planned address, and effectively had the event shut down. Coulter went on to speak at the University of Calgary, but the fiasco left a black eye on Canadian Universities’ reputation for tolerance of free speech.
Now, the University of Western Ontario, which was the first school to host Coulter back in March, is set to welcome another controversial speaker: Mark Steyn. Perhaps best known for his contentious views on the nature of Islam, Steyn was originally supposed to speak on Western’s campus as coordinated by the Campus Coalition for Democracy. However, due to capacity constraints, the venue had to be moved.
Then, yesterday, the new venue—the London Convention Centre—denied the Steyn camp its room rental request. StrictlyRight.com, one of the organizers of the event, called foul, saying that the denial amounts to censorship at a city-owned facility, adding that the centre was caving to pressure from local Islamic groups. The centre’s general manager countered the allegation, saying that the decision to deny the request was business-driven—not politically.
In any case, the venue has been moved yet again and it seems as thought Steyn will take to the podium as planned on November 1. And even though it’s to be held off campus, students are still talking about implications of the contentious speaker’s arrival. According to the Western Gazette, the Muslim Students’ Association has already expressed concern to UWO’s administration about Steyn promoting Islamophobia on campus, though president Selma Tobah said there are better ways to oppose Steyn’s beliefs than boycott or protest. And Ryan Ruppert, president of the Campus Coalition for Democracy, told the Gazette he is hoping for “backlash through intelligent questioning.”
Who knows–maybe this time, things will go off without a hitch?
Western profs build strike war chest
CAUT donates $1million to Western faculty union
University of Western Ontario faculty could be on strike as early as the first week of November, and they will have no shortage of funds to pay for it. The Canadian Association of University Teachers has donated $1million, in the form of an over-sized novelty cheque, to the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association. The donation comes from CAUT’s $22 million strike defence fund that was established in 1978.
On Oct 1 Western professors voted 87 per cent in favor of giving the faculty association a strike mandate. Last week, the union requested a government appointed conciliator file a no-board report, meaning that a negotiated settlement could not be reached with the university. Under Ontario labour laws, a cooling off period of 17 days is required before the union can legally strike. Unless a settlement is reached, classes could be canceled by the first week of November.
For background to this story, please click here.
Western profs closer to striking
Faculty union requests conciliator file a ‘no board’ report
Professors at the University of Western Ontario are one step closer to going on a strike that could cancel classes for students. The negotiating team for the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association has requested a provincially appointed conciliator file a no-board report with the province, meaning agreement between the two sides could not be reached.
The union would not be in a legal position strike until 17 days after the report is filed. On Oct 1, the faculty voted 87 per cent in favour of giving the union a strike mandate. UWOFA has said that university proposals to centralize tenure and tenure review processes threatens academic freedom. Negotiation meetings between the union and the university are still scheduled into November.
For background, please see our earlier coverage.
Western profs vote 87% for strike mandate
UPDATED: Both sides eager to get back to negotiating table
After three days of voting, University of Western Ontario professors voted 87 per cent in favour of giving the faculty association a strike mandate. The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) and the university administration are scheduled to go back to the bargaining table Oct 5. Meetings with a government appointed conciliator are set to take place Oct 12 and 13. Professors will not be able to legally strike until 17 days after the minister of labor files a no-board report, meaning no consensus can be reached between the two sides.
Related: Western profs ponder striking and Carleton profs vote for strike mandate
UWOFA president James Compton says the vote strengthens the union’s position. “This strong strike mandate demonstrates that our membership is firmly behind UWOFA’s Negotiating Team,” he said. “The administration knows when we say this what our members think, it is.” Compton was unable to tell Maclean’s what voter turnout was.
Helen Connell, Western’s associate vice-president communications, says that the administration is “not surprised” by the results, but emphasizes that bargaining is ongoing. “I think what’s really really important is that both sides are committed to negotiations,” she said.
At issue is a proposal from the university that the union says threatens academic freedom by weakening tenure. In an effort to improve “performance management,” Western, the union says, has proposed that several related clauses be linked together in their contract. They include the linking of academic responsibilities, conflict of interest and conflict of commitment, annual performance evaluation, sabbatical leave, and discipline.
Compton says the university wants to implement a centralized review committee for evaluating and reviewing faculty job performance. “It would be staffed by senior administrators and not peers in those fields, so that’s a problem,” he said. Compton added that the proposed language amounts to “a continual tenure review” for faculty, who, he says already have to go through a rigorous process to attain tenure, and who are already continually evaluated by their home department. He called the university’s proposal “a weakening of the tenure system.” He added that the university has yet to make any proposal regarding wages.
Connell would not comment on the faculty association’s specific objections. “We really do not think there is anything to be gained by negotiating in public,” she said. Connell did say that the university appreciates the “importance of academic freedom.”
The UWOFA represents 1,400 academic staff who have been without a contract since the end of June.
Photo of picket line at York University during the 2008-09 strike
Western profs ponder striking
Faculty at UWO to cast ballot on whether or not to strike Sept 30
Barely a month into the school year, and professors at the University of Western Ontario are already pondering a strike that could cancel classes for students. At a meeting of 200 members of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) last week, a motion was passed to give the union’s board authority to call a strike vote, which it will be doing. The ballot will take place between Sept 29 and Oct 1, it was announced today.
At issue is a proposal from the university that the union says threatens academic freedom by weakening tenure. In an effort to improve “performance management,” Western, the union says, has proposed that several related clauses be linked together in their contract. They include the linking of academic responsibilities, conflict of interest and conflict of commitment, annual performance evaluation, sabbatical leave, and discipline.
According to UWOFA president James Compton, the university wants to implement a centralized review committee for evaluating and reviewing faculty job performance. “It would be staffed by senior administrators and not peers in those fields, so that’s a problem,” he said. Compton added that the proposed language amounts to “a continual tenure review” for faculty, who, he says already have to go through a rigorous process to attain tenure, and who are already continually evaluated by their home department. He called the university’s proposal “a weakening of the tenure system.” He added that the university has yet to make any proposal regarding wages.
In a media release, Helen Connell, associate vice-president communications, did not address any of the faculty association’s specific concerns, but did note that even if the union is given a strike mandate after next week’s vote, that doesn’t mean professors will be heading to the picket line. “It is important to note that holding a strike vote is normal in the process of collective bargaining and does not necessarily mean there will be a strike,” she said.
A conciliator appointed by the province has met with both sides, and talks are set to resume Oct 5. The faculty association represents 1,400 academic staff who have been without a contract since the end of June.
A strike vote is also scheduled to be held at Carleton University.
It’s getting crowded in here
Campus residences are overflowing with crush of first-year students
Incoming students at Dalhousie University that were guaranteed a room in residence are out of luck as the school year starts. At least 75 students will have to sleep in common areas while the university finds a solution to an apparent overflow. It is a direct result of rising enrolment numbers, says Heather Sutherland, assistant vice-president ancillary services. “Dalhousie is thriving,” she said.
Many universities intentionally oversubscribe their residences, and temporary housing is common, as there are always a handful of students who change their minds, or simply don’t show up. What is notable at Dalhousie this year, is that the university is having difficulty accommodating first-year students who are guaranteed a room if they apply before August 1. It may take until Thanksgiving before the housing situation is sorted out. “Past practice has shown us they’re not sure where they want to live,” Sutherland said.
Dalhousie is just one of several universities across Canada that is experiencing a crush of first-year students wanting to live on campus. While final enrolment numbers are not yet available, universities are preparing for what could be a record year.
Similar to Dalhousie, the University of Western Ontario guarantees a room to all first-year students who apply, but has avoided having to resort to temporary housing, or a waiting list. With an extra 270 first-year students wanting a bed, a little over 100 will be housed in on campus apartments, normally reserved for upper-years students. The displaced older students are being moved to an apartment building just off campus that the university leased in anticipation of increased demand. “We know that first-year students want to be on campus,” Susan Grindrod, associate vice-president of housing, said.
At McGill University, the residence normally operates at 105 per cent capacity at the beginning of the year. This year they are running at 110 per cent. To accommodate for the overflow, and a general rise in demand in recent years, McGill has converted other areas, such as small study areas, into rooms. Additionally, the university has acquired three hotels, adding at least 800 rooms, to be converted to residences by September 2011.
Mike Porritt, executive director of student housing for McGill, says that while higher enrolment can partially explain the increase in demand for residence, it is the proximity to campus services that is attracting students. Students are closer to their classes and libraries, and can more easily form study groups. “We’re a part of the academic mission of the university,” he said. To back up that claim, he cites internal numbers that show first-year students living in residence boast grade point averages six per cent higher than their peers who live off campus. The retention rate, students who stay on for second year, is eight per cent higher for those who live on campus.
At the University of British Columbia, where demand has been straining the school’s resources for much of the past decade, a survey of 6,000 students last year revealed that 82 per cent recognize that it is profitable to live at school. “There seems to be a heightened understanding of the benefits of living on campus,” Andrew Parr, UBC’s managing director of student housing, said.
Across the city from UBC, Simon Fraser University takes a unique approach to campus housing. “We don’t oversubscribe,” says Chris Rogerson, associate director of residence. Instead, SFU only sends out as many offers as there are rooms available. Any offers that are declined are then sent to the next students on the list. In previous years, about 55 per cent accepted the first offer. This year the yield was closer to 65 per cent.
Not every university is experiencing rising demand for on campus living, however. York University has seen a steady decline, being unable to even fill existing rooms. In 2008, there were around 50 vacancies. Last year, there was approximately 150. This fall, Debbie Kee, director of housing, expects there to be 250 unfilled rooms. The decline is a combination of new housing developments around the campus, and the fact that York is a commuter school. Many students, who live in the Greater Toronto Area, who might have previously lived in residence, are choosing to stay home because of financial restraints. “Unfortunately it has left us a little shy,” Kee said.
Lawsuit filed over violent Western arrest
Student Irnes Zeljkovic is asking for $750,000 in damages
A man whose violent arrest at the University of Western Ontario was posted on YouTube is suing the London Police Services Board, the school and officers who made the arrest. The lawsuit filed by Irnes Zeljkovic, who was a student at the university, is asking for damages totalling $750,000.
In the 90-second video, a half-dozen campus and London police officers are shown violently arresting a suspect in October 2009. Police maintained at the time the level of force used was justified and cautioned the video didn’t tell the whole story, saying the suspect had earlier been combative and was resisting arrest. Mr. Zeljkovic was initially charged with multiple offences, including assaulting a peace officer, but all charges were later dropped on the condition he complete a mental health program.
Related: Violent arrest of Western student causes controversy
His lawyer, Phil Millar, says his client is doing better since the incident and has spent the past seven months volunteering at a local high school. The lawsuit comes nearly a month after the university released a report on the incident, prepared by former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Gwen Boniface. The report’s recommendations included having campus police officers take part in awareness training on de-escalation skills to assist in dealing with mental health issues.
The Canadian Press
Ann Coulter went home
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.
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.
Ann Coulter responds
And she still hasn’t been arrested.
Ann Coulter has responded to the University of Ottawa’s provost Francois Houle suggestion that she choose her words carefully, unless she wants to wind up with criminal charges. Coulter is scheduled to speak at the University of Ottawa this evening. In an email to the Ottawa Citizen, Coulter says that Houle is promoting “hatred” and “violence” against people with conservative views. She also told the newspaper that she would like to file a human rights complaint. Coulter spoke at the University of Western Ontario Monday evening, and will also be speaking at the University of Calgary this week.
As the Citizen reported:
“Now that the provost has instructed me on the criminal speech laws he apparently believes I have a proclivity (to break), despite knowing nothing about my speech, I see that he is guilty of promoting hatred against an identifiable group: conservatives,” Coulter wrote in an e-mail on Monday.
The Citizen had requested a telephone interview with Coulter. Instead, the newspaper received the e-mail from the author.
She questioned whether every speaker booked at the university received a similar warning or just the conservative ones.
“The provost simply believes and is publicizing his belief that conservatives are more likely to commit hate crimes in their speeches. Not only does this promote hatred against conservatives, but it promotes violence against conservatives,” Coulter wrote.
She added she would ask the human rights commission to investigate, but didn’t specify which one.
“I was hoping for a fruit basket upon my arrival in Canada, not a threat to criminally prosecute me,” Coulter said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Coulter notoriously wrote of Muslim countries, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” She has also suggested that Muslims use “flying carpets,” as opposed to airplanes.
At Coulter’s University of Western Ontario talk, a Muslim student challenged her on her previous comments. The student said, as reported by the Sun media chain, “As a 17-year-old student of this university, Muslim, should I be converted to Christianity? Second of all, since I don’t have a magic carpet, what other modes do you suggest.” To which Coulter responded, “take a camel.”
How to get into university
A video application for Canadian schools
Pen and paper for university applications is the way of the past–or so it’s starting to seem. This year, Tufts University in the U.S. started encouraging applicants to send in videos. Which led us to wonder: what would applications for Canadian universities look like if they picked up on the trend?
The students who cried swine flu
As universities urge sick students to stay away, some undergrads are faking H1N1
Thanks to H1N1, Section 16.8 of Dalhousie University’s Academic Regulations, regarding medical certificates in the case of illness (required to miss classes and assignments with no penalty incurred) has been modified. Since September, anyone with “flu-like symptoms” has been encouraged to stay far, far away from campus, no questions asked. It seems for now swine flu has killed the sick note at Dal. And other universities across the country have put similar policies into effect.
At first it seemed like a pure Godsend. Free to sign their own notes, students quickly expanded the definition of flu-like symptoms to include smoker’s cough, hangovers and an insatiable appetite for TLC’s Cake Boss. One Dal philosophy major has had the virus twice—once in Logic and once in Deduction—and is planning to contract it again before her Epistemology exam. “It’s supposed to come in waves,” she says.
Or not. Recently the University of Western Ontario started requiring infected students to enter their names into an online database, which could possibly red-flag multiple bouts of the flu. For students a new question loomed: how many times could they cry swine flu; and if they did malinger, what happened if they got the real thing?
Strangely, not much. John Doersken, vice provost in academic programs and students at UWO, maintains detecting fakes was never the reason for the database. “The system is in place so that we can provide our public health unit with data on how serious the pandemic is. We can tell on any given day how many students are away on influenza like illnesses.” Or at least, how many claim to be. There’s no telling, admits Doersken, how many students enter their names under false pretences.
And despite acknowledging that some students are likely using the pandemic for their own benefit, Susan Spence Wach, associate vice-president of academic programs at Dal, says their revised no-sick-note policy will remain in effect for now. “Our main concern is with flu prevention and the care of our student population.” In other words, having some people take advantage of the revised policy is better than what would occur if the policy were left unchanged. “People with flu-like symptoms,” says Spence Wach, “should not be going out to get sick notes. They should be at home.”
Though no official system is in place, data is also being collected at Dal, says Spence Wach: “On a weekly basis I get reports on student illness; only numbers, never names.”
So while it looks like students jumping on the H1N1 wagon won’t be facing any thorny disciplinary problems, they’re probably the contributing factors in some erroneous public health research—just another chapter in the swine flu fiasco. “For the most part, students aren’t abusing it,” says one Western undergrad, who prefers to remain anonymous. “However, I have heard of some students who are. Namely, myself and my roommates.”
Violent arrest of Western student causes controversy
School officials defend London, Ont. police and campus security after 22-year-old student punched numerous times
A video posted on the Internet showing the violent arrest of a student at the University of Western Ontario is stirring controversy at the school.
School officials are defending the actions of London police and campus security in the arrest of the 22-year-old student, who was punched by officers numerous times.
The video, posted on YouTube, shows the student being held down by at least five officers as he is punched repeatedly in the hallway of a campus building Wednesday.
Director of campus police Elgin Austen says the student led officers on a chase through the building and people viewing the video alone may get the wrong impression.
He says the student was violent and out of control and the use of force was justified.
The student, who Austen described as about 6 foot 2 and more than 200 pounds, was taken to hospital for observation and then released into police custody.
Irnes Zeljkovic has been charged with mischief under $5000, assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest and escaping custody.
- The Canadian Press
Want to be a lawyer? Go down under
If you don’t make the cut in Canada, Bond University wants you
It was 3 a.m. as Warren Beil tried to toss a garbage bag into a dumpster and it burst over his head. At that moment, the Vancouver kitchen manager decided that it was time to explore other career opportunities. “I don’t want to be a chef,” he said to himself. “I think I’m going to go to law school.” It was December 2003, and he had already missed application deadlines at every Canadian university. Yet just a week later Beil, then 23, was on his way to Bond University, a law school in Australia that actively targets and recruits Canadian students.
Five years later, Beil — now completing his articling at a Vancouver law firm — is one of a growing number of future lawyers who are going abroad for their legal education. In 2007, 562 foreign-trained graduates applied to the National Committee on Accreditation, requesting the right to practice in Canada, up from 225 in 1999. If current trends continue, that number could grow by 200 applicants in as few as three years, according to Vern Krishna, a University of Ottawa law professor and former Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Bond is, by far, Canada’s most popular overseas law program. Since its founding in 1987, Australia’s first private university has geared its law program to attract Canadians. More than 140 are currently enrolled—making Bond’s population of Canadian law students almost as large as that of the University of Calgary’s faculty of law. Students meet fellow Canadians through the Canadian Law Students Association and study with visiting profs from the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Western Ontario. They can even study Canadian constitutional law (Canadian corporate law courses are in the works, too) and get credit from the University of Manitoba. To top it off, it all takes place on a campus in the suburbs of Gold Coast, Queensland, a lush paradise that is a hybrid between Miami Beach and Waikiki.
Victoria Heron, a manager with student recruitment agency AustraLearn, says there are three primary reasons students choose Bond: to get through law school faster (a law degree at Bond takes only two years, not three), to gain international experience—and because they weren’t accepted at a Canadian law school. Eric Colvin, a Bond professor and former dean who used to teach at the University of Saskatchewan, says that two-thirds of graduates return to Canada to practice law and most have no problem finding jobs and articling positions. “The students say that they are able to get employment,” he says. “The fact that they have got their law degree from somewhere like Australia makes them somewhat exotic and interesting creatures and law firms are very willing to see what they’ve got to offer.”
Beil thinks his global outlook gave him an edge when applying for articling positions. “A lot of the Canadian law grads have never worked. They have never done anything,” he says. “In this market, employers just want to see something different. I got out there and saw the world and it makes me way more interesting.” But among his peers at the University of Toronto where he later completed a second law degree, Beil had to fight Bond’s stigma as Last Chance U. “The appearance of Bond to a lot of people in Canada is that the school will let anybody under the sun in,” he says. “People say, ‘You went to Bond because you couldn’t get in anywhere else. You’re not as smart as the rest of us.’ It’s simply not true.”
