Western’s School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) has won the 2012-13 Ontario University Registrars’ Association (OURA) Innovation Award for its electronic thesis project.
A collaborative effort between SGPS and Western Libraries, the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation project provides a technologically advanced medium for expressing graduate student research at Western.
Prior to implementation, Western theses were created by students electronically using some type of software and then printed to paper. These paper copies were difficult to access from outside of Western, and so to meet the ever increasing demand for access to Western research, this project was initiated for the purpose of developing an efficient model to make these works free and available to all interested parties while improving the methods by which the theses are collected, examined and eventually published.
Graduate students were spending a total of $60,000 a year across campus on producing throwaway copies of their thesis. Students immediately embraced the concept of having their thesis uploaded for review in place of producing draft copies of the work and having them distributed across campus or via the mail to examiners around the world. Faculty also have the option of receiving and evaluating the thesis in a digital form, saving approximately 350,000 printed pieces of paper annually.
“Winning this award is a tremendous way to cap off all the efforts we’ve made to facilitate thesis evaluation and distribution improvements,” said Linda Miller, vice-provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies). “What most stands out to me is the increased accessibility to the ground-breaking research our graduate students are conducting. The average circulation of a thesis archived in the library in its first year was 0.3 times per copy. Now, a thesis is circulated on average 195 times.
“That’s pretty remarkable, and it increases Western’s research footprint tremendously.”
The OURA Innovation Award recognizes university achievements in improving the quality and reducing the cost of academic administration in activities related to registrarial services. A certificate and $5,000 award were presented to SGPS at the OURA annual conference on Feb. 25 in Niagara Falls. The funds will be used to develop future services and bursaries for theses and research distribution.
NEWS AND NOTES
- From superconducting materials to life itself, simple physical laws give birth to complex systems. How is this possible? Renowned physicist Leo Kadanoff, Wolf Prize in Physics winner, will speak on this question as he delivers the 2013 Nerenberg Lecture, a free lecture dedicated to bringing science to a general audience.
His lecture, Making a splash; breaking a neck: The development of complexity in physical systems, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday March 19 in Somerville House, room 3345. It is open to the Western community. In addition to the main lecture, Kadanoff will deliver two more lectures. He will give a technical talk on theoretical physics, The Good, the bad and the awful: Scientific simulation and prediction, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 in Middlesex College, room 204, as well as a philosophy talk, Slippy waves: Brilliance brings blind spots, at 1 p.m. Friday, March 22 in Stevenson Hall, room 1145. - George Cope, HBA ’84, president/CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, has been named the 2013 Ivey Business Leader Award. He will receive the award and address Canadian business leaders at the annual gala dinner Oct. 29 in Toronto.
“George Cope is a force for change, who is always several steps ahead of everyone else in the room,” said Carol Stephenson, Richard Ivey School of Business dean. “Not only has he transformed the landscape of telecommunications in Canada, but he also uses his influence to bring attention to social issues within our broader community.”
Cope was a member of the Western Mustangs varsity basketball team. He received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws, honoris causa) during Ivey Convocation in 2012. - Faculty members from the Richard Ivey School of Business have been awarded top honours in three of 14 categories in a 2013 European Foundation of Management Development (EFMD) case-writing competition. Ivey authored cases won in more categories than any other business school in the world.
Ivey professor Oana Branzei, along with Kim Poldner, won the Latin American Business Cases category for their case, Veja: Sneakers With a Conscience. Branzei, along with Satyajeet Subramanian and Charles Dhanaraj, also won in the Indian Management Issues and Opportunities category for their case, Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor.
Ivey professor Paul W. Beamish, along with Bassam Farah, won in the MENA Business Cases category for their case, Chabros International Group: A World of Wood.
Three additional cases registered with the Ivey Publishing collection also took top prizes: Launch of Durra: Women in Islamic Banking by Alexandra Roth and David T.A. Wesley in the Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues category; Danfoss – Global Manufacturing Footprint by Torben Pedersen and Jacob Pyndt; and Novo Nordisk: Managing Sustainability at Home and Abroad by Jette Steen Knudsen and Dana Brown in the Corporate Social Responsibility category. - Western Biochemical Engineering professor Argyrios Margaritis has been appointed associate editor of the internationally renowned, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering. In his role, Margaritis will be responsible for submitted papers in the areas of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology.
- Western’s Great Hall will be transformed into a lively East African marketplace Wednesday, March 20 as Western Heads East hosts an evening of celebration and support for Western’s community response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.
In the Market for Western Heads East runs from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Guests will enjoy African-inspired food and wine/beer pairings, multimedia presentations from program participants, guest speakers and live musical entertainment.
A silent auction (4 p.m. previewing) will be featured, boasting hand-made art by African crafters and enticing packages from VIA Rail, the National Ballet of Canada, the London Knights, Labatt Brewery, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Canadian National Exhibition, the Fairmont Royal York and many more.
Tickets are $55 each ($20 for students) and are available by contacting contact Cheryl Briglia at 519-661-3548 or by email at whe.events@uwo.ca. - Western’s Commercial Aviation Management Student Council will have a lot of weight on their shoulders on March 23 – literally – as they host the first-ever Charity Jet Plane Pull at the London International Airport.
Raising funds for the London Anti-Bullying Coalition, the event, which gets underway at 11:30 a.m., will include music, BBQ lunch, tour of the retired Canadian fighter jet and, of course, the timed 100m Team Jet Plane Pull and the Solo Strongman Jet Plane Pull.
Teams of three-to-six individuals are recommended, with a minimum pledge of $10 per person. For questions or to register a team, contact Augustine Monteiro at augustinemonteiro@gmail.com.