April 22, 2010
Should enrolment rise?
Should Western increase the number of undergraduate students?
Western President Amit Chakma is seeking input from Senate on whether to take advantage of new funding support from the provincial budget for increasing enrolment.
The province announced $310 million to create 20,000 additional spaces in colleges and universities. As committed to in its Strategic Plan, Western first-year undergraduate intake is locked at 4,350. The only modification, starting in 2010-11, is adding 100 first-year international students.
While the province wants to increase post-secondary enrolment, there was no talk of funds for hiring additional faculty and staff.
“Do we participate in this is the key question in my mind,” says Chakma. “If we do want to participate in it, to what extent and how. If we don’t, why do we wish to limit the number of students we have?”
Chakma says offers are currently being mailed and he will bring the issue back to Senate in May.
“There are some expectations that we should do something, but our response needs to be what is best for us. We have a moral obligation to open our doors to those who are qualified, if we are able to do so without compromising quality. We can lose quality by adding more students or we can also lose quality by losing more faculty and staff. So where is that balance.”
Computer compromise
A recent Globe and Mail story linking computers at The University of Western Ontario to a vast ‘shadow network’ of online espionage was “probably an overblown reaction” by the researchers.
Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies stated a small number of Western computers were connected to the ‘network,’ and potentially used to surrender files through seemingly harmless means such as e-mail and Twitter.
A Western investigation turned up one laptop that might have been connected to the ‘network’ at some point in the last 12 to 18 months.
“Our IT folks have determined there has been no recent activity in this computer,” says Chakma. “Knowing what we know now … we continue to remain vigilant about these sort of things.”
Diploma in Marketing
Effective this September, a Diploma in Marketing will be introduced by the Faculty of Information and Media Studies in partnership with Continuing Studies at Western.
The program will enable graduates from a number of disciplines to build on the theoretical grounding obtained in their degree programs by adding practical and applied skills required to work in the field of marketing. In addition, students in the program will obtain valuable work experience through the practicum component.
Applicants must have completed a bachelor degree.
New scholarships and awards
· Bruce McCallum Graduate Award in Aphasia – For a full-time graduate student enrolled in second year of the MClSc Program in Speech-Language Pathology in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Valued at $3,000, the award preference is for students whose primary residence is in Guelph or Wellington County. This award comes from a donation from Stroke Recovery Canada, Guelph/Wellington Chapter.
· Meds 2009 Dinh La Memorial Award – For a full-time undergraduate student in fourth year of the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Valued at $1,000. This award was made possible by contributions from the Meds Class of 2009 in memory of Dinh La, a classmate killed in a car accident in 2006.
· Zechner Family Bursary – For a full-time undergraduate student in any program who has financial need. Valued at $1,000. This award was established by John Zechner (BA ’79, MA ’80 Economics).