Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Maureen Mancuso. It’s all about learning. In past columns, I’ve tried to focus on some larger issues, or at least issues that loom large from the perspective of the administrator’s chair. But administration is not all about grand gestures and transformative changes; most of the job consists of the small stuff – the sort that people often say not to sweat, except that if no one took on that duty to perspire, some important aspects of the university experience might start to expire. So in this, my last column, I plan to give a sense of what the administrative life is really like, in all its routine glory and drudgery. More...

By Janice Allen. Grad-student parents need better institutional support. Support for Canadian graduate student parents is variable across both universities and funding agencies. While some institutions offer considerable support for graduate-student parents, in many cases these students face unique challenges in completing their studies. As the image of the Canadian graduate student evolves, a more serious consideration of the role of family is in order. More...

By Peggy Berkowitz. The centre’s focus will be research about pre-Confederation treaties from BC and across the country. Vancouver Island University sits on territory where a treaty was signed between the Crown and First Nations people in the decade before Canada became a country. So it is fitting that the university will now become home to a Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation. More...

By Natalie Samson. “Food history is exploding right now as an area of academic inquiry.” Associate professor Robert Nelson has been resident foodie in the University of Windsor’s history department since he joined the school almost 10 years ago. He speaks as passionately about last night’s family meal as he does of his latest research on Modern European cultural history. When it’s time to wine and dine a departmental guest, Dr. Nelson can be relied on to push for the best Windsor has to offer. And at a recent staff potluck, his mélange of greens and lavender transcended the staple bean and potato salads. More...

By Sparrow McGowan. A registrar who helps school leavers qualify for university understands their mindset. The University of Toronto welcomes some 14,000 first-year students every September, but for many individuals the prospect of a university education appears out of reach. Yet, some of them will graduate, with the help of a little-known program for people who lack the formal education to qualify for university admission. The eight-month Transitional Year Program is for “somebody who may have dropped out of high school, somebody who may have been in prison, homeless, a sole-support parent, LGBTQ,” says Lauriann (“L.A.”) Wade, the program’s registrar. Yet, these factors don’t “necessarily determine that they wouldn’t be successful in university.” More...

By Diane Peters. Years of work by medical schools has changed students’ perception of family medicine, and that could make it easier for Canadians to find a family doctor. Last march, the University of Calgary issued a press release with some big news from its medical school: 45 percent of graduating students had chosen family medicine as their first choice for a residency program. It’s a dramatic turnaround for a school that saw just 18 percent choosing the profession in 2008. More...

By Rosanna Tamburri. Programs based on independent study are cheaper and allow students to progress at their own rate. When Shelly Redman, a 41-year-old nurse practitioner and clinical manager at the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, decided to pursue an MBA to further her career, she found that most programs required her to take a year off work. Even many online programs required some in-class instruction, which would have made it difficult for her to juggle work and home responsibilities. Then she discovered Western Governors University, a private, online institution based in Salt Lake City, Utah. More...