Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Institutional policies and structure • Creation and implementation of service standards designed to improve the quality of services offered to students • Creation and promulgation of an institutional policy on sexual violence and harassment • Creation of an Aboriginal Resource Centre that organizes social activities and support indigenous students coping with academic challenges • Creation of a standing institutional retention working group within the framework of the SEM plan • Increased offerings of spring/summer courses to offer more flexibility in course choice to students • Improvement of the teacher-student ratio by hiring 60 new tenured or tenure-track full-time faculty members • Merger of the Career Development Centre with the Co-operative Education Plan for better synergy in preparing students for the labour market • Co-op learning at international and domestic sites. Administrative support • The workflow within the undergraduate student advisory offices has been reviewed and a staff training program is currently in development to improve access to academic advisors and increase retention • The Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctorate studies has been dissolved; most transactional operations and student advising have been transferred under the responsibility of the academic faculties, thereby increasing the proximity of graduate students to faculty and programs as to improve cohort spirit and academic progression • A central Quality Assurance Office was created to harmonize undergraduate and graduate cyclical review processes and stimulate an institutional culture of continuous improvement of programs • The University of Ottawa provides regional student mentors to help their peers integrate into the university • uOttawa has implemented a new Student Information System to increase student autonomy (through better self-service) and to facilitate a wide variety of operations, from admission through progression toward graduation Infrastructure • New student spaces were created, including a dining room open round the clock, seven days a week and four new residences, which increased student housing space on campus by 33 per cent • A Learning Centre, to open in 2018, will provide significant additional innovative space for students to study and socialize; the Learning Centre will enable the offering of modern active learning classes and case-based approaches to enhance the student learning experience • A STEM building will be opened in 2018 with teaching a...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP): UROP provides undergraduate students with unique and exciting opportunities to explore cutting-edge research at the University of Ottawa while they define their professional goals. By participating in UROP, a student receives a $1,000 award and devotes, during one academic year, at least 50 hours to the research project conducted by the faculty sponsor they have chosen. Each faculty sponsor receives $500 in research funds to support their involvement in the program. Learning management system (LMS): The University of Ottawa is adopting a LMS. Created for the digital learner, the cloud-based platform runs on mobile devices and offers rich multimedia support to increase engagement and improve productivity and knowledge retention. The platform makes it easy to design courses, create content and grade assignments, giving instructors more time to focus on improved teaching and learning. At the same time, analytics enable tracking of outcomes and deliver insights into the performance levels of departments, courses, or individuals. Learning Outcome mapping: The uoSyllabus tool brings together the best practices in course design currently available in university teaching. The tool also offers a range of teaching strategies and evaluation methods that encourage professors to examine the learning activities best suited to the learning outcomes for their courses. Since uoSyllabus can include learning outcomes for program curriculum, coherence analyses can be conducted either for self-evaluation or accreditation purposes.
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Francophone students • Since 2015, international students who enroll in a program in French pay domestic tuition fees only. This measure helps to ensure a proper balance of courses offered in English and in French. . • The University of Ottawa is a founding institution and very active member of the Consortium francophone national en santé (CNFS). Funded by Health Canada, the CNFS supports the training of health practitioners who work with French-speaking minorities and the funding of research projects on health issues in language-minority settings. • The University of Ottawa is the only university in Canada that offers French immersion programs. This enables the many graduates of French immersion secondary schools from across Canada (and North America) to continue their studies in their second language, thereby leveraging provincial investments in kindergarten to grade 12 immersion programs. The University of Ottawa’s French immersion students generally enter with academic averages that are higher than the mean and have a second-year retention rate of over 90 per cent. Indigenous students • The University of Ottawa receives funding from the Ontario Postsecondary Fund for Aboriginal Learners, which supports the Aboriginal Education Council and the Aboriginal Resource Centre (ARC). ARC organizes social activities and supports Indigenous students who are coping with academic challenges. Its work helps to reduce attrition among Indigenous students. • Further to the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a new structure will be created for Indigenous affairs at the uOttawa. The structure will integrate the existing Aboriginal Education Council and a Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs. • Students from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities have access to the full suite of academic programs across all disciplines, including specific programs with indigenous components in the curriculum, such as: Honours with Major in Aboriginal Studies (Faculty of Arts); Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (Faculty of Education); the Mini Medical School Program (Faculty of Medicine); and Aboriginal Economics. Other underrepresented groups • The University of Ottawa is working to meet its commitments to accessibility, while facing significant increases in self-reported accessibility requirements. This includes accessibility supports for individuals with a sensory deficit (e.g., visual impairment). The University of Ottawa is also reviewing its policies on ac...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Addressing the continuum of brain health The University of Ottawa has over 150 leading researchers across several faculties and hospitals whose research directly addresses brain and mental health. The Brain and Mind Institute was created to xxxxxx multidisciplinary research and training in health areas of great clinical and societal needs. Anchored in the Faculty of Medicine, the Institute includes researchers from five faculties and five hospitals. With leadership in stroke, neuromuscular and movement disorders and degenerative diseases, the Institute galvanized the entire community, developed academic and public outreach programs and succeeded at attracting major operating and infrastructure funding. By bridging basic, clinical, behavioural and socio-ethic research, the Institute is already having an impact on health practice and the community. Over the past three years, uOttawa also recruited a dozen professors in this area, building an impressive xxxxxxxx xxxx and bringing further visibility and prestige. As a result, it attracted international attention and collaborations, culminating in the development of a joint neuromuscular centre with the Institut Myogene in Lyon, France. The science and applications of photonics and quantum optics The University of Ottawa is a leader in the field of photonics and quantum optics and their application. The university continues building on its excellence and substantial international and private sector connections in this area, attracting out-of-province resources and top talent. Its vision has been to bring all research in this area under one roof, develop interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs and facilitate knowledge exchange and translation. Several noteworthy developments occurred under SMA1: through Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Ontario Research Fund support, uOttawa successfully completed the building and moved all engineering and physics researchers and their groups into it. Interfaculty programs in engineering physics and photonics were developed. Applications areas ranging from solar energy to medical diagnostics, microscopy and sensors attracted significant private-sector investments, enabling students to work on real-world problems. Examples of significant partnerships with the private sector includes a first of its kind partnership with the optics giant Zeiss. As testimony to the outstanding stature of the Center, a prestigious joint uOttawa-Xxx Xxxxxx Center for Extreme and Qua...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Establish a research and innovation hub We are centralizing and strengthening our research support services and our innovation support activities. As part of the hub, the university is creating its first research office and is securing a Research Lead, a position filled by an experienced, tenured faculty researcher, who will assist other faculty identifying and making grant applications. In addition, a senior administrator has taken on the responsibility of leading private-sector presence and engagement in innovation at Algoma. For more than a decade, the university has enjoyed the presence of the Sault Ste. Xxxxx Innovation Centre (SSMIC) and its business, information technology and science incubators on its campus. They have recently moved to downtown locations, but Algoma University will maintain its partnership with the Innovation Centre. Algoma will re-purpose part of SSMIC’s former space in the Essar Convergence Centre to develop our own Innovation Hub, co-locating our new Research Office, some of our university-based research, and a few, select private-sector partners. We will also provide support services for students interested in entrepreneurial and research activities, for those students engaged in co-op and practicum activities and for students participating in community-based learning. Sault Ste. Xxxxx is home to three Information Technology, Science, and Business incubators, which provide opportunities for Algoma faculty and students to explore business, entrepreneurial and innovative projects and ideas. Over the next three years, we will develop partnerships and pathways for our faculty and students to link into community and regional resources. Our co-op program is being revamped in part to encourage opportunities related to entrepreneurship. Our Research and Innovation Hub will be home to partners who can assist with these linkages. As another example of this kind of partnership work to support innovation, research and community engagement, Algoma University will work with the medical community to develop supports and supporting activities for students preparing to enter a profession related to the medical field. The University and the Sault Ste. Xxxxx Academic Medical Association (SSMAMA) have signed an agreement to establish a local research program based out of the AU campus. The Research Coordinator for SSMAMA is housed in our Research and Innovation Hub, and we will work with the academic faculty members of the Northern Ontario School...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Maintain international and out-of-region recruitment The University will develop a plan to diversify international recruitment, based on the recommendations from a recent, expert review of Algoma’s international recruitment efforts. Our international recruitment strategy over the next three years aims to diversify the geographic origins of our students. We have been relying heavily on students from Saudi Arabia. As the Saudi program that sent so many youth abroad winds up, Algoma is intensifying our recruitment outreach in countries such as Ghana, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Mexico. We are also working diligently at diversifying the type of student coming to Algoma. At present, most international students chose to study Business, Economics, and Computer Science. We are now highlighting, for example, the quality opportunities available to study music and visual art on campus, hoping to attract talent from countries like China, where the creative arts are very popular university options. It is important that we invite students from well beyond the Algoma District to study with us. We will maintain active recruitment in southern Ontario over the next three years from our Brampton extension site, building north-south linkages not only through recruitment, but also through co-op and other partnered activities. Support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action Working with our partners, Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig and the Children of Shingwauk Alumni, the University will work to support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. During 2017-18, in collaboration with the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association, we will install a museum exhibition throughout the main floor of Shingwauk Hall to commemorate the history of Shingwauk Indian Residential School and the Survivors, as well as the stories of its current Aboriginal students (Call to Action: Museums and Archives). This will bolster our capacity to provide public education on the history of the Shingwauk site and the larger national Residential Schools and colonial contexts (Calls to Action: Commemoration). Algoma University will continue to develop programming using advisory committees with significant Anishinaabe membership and including significant Anishinaabe content, such as our Community Economic and Social Development degree and our Bachelor of Social Work. In 1986, a community committee, the Aboriginal Education Committee, started the development on campus of what is t...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Attendant Services Program: Carleton University’s Attendant Services Program provides 24-hour, year-round support — from light housekeeping to personal hygiene — to students with physical disabilities living in residence. The service expanded to include Algonquin College in 2001. Students comprise 90 percent of the attendants. • The Ontario Council of Universities and the Government of Ontario collaborate each year to hold the Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) competition for students. For the past five years, the brightest young minds from across Ontario have competed to resolve accessibility barriers in society. Carleton University students have won first place in every competition since the inception of the contest. • 2014 International Summit on Accessibility: Carleton University partnered with the City of Ottawa and the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment to develop and deliver the first International Summit on Accessibility. The conference brought leaders from around the world together with more than 500 professionals in the accessibility sector. • In November 2016, the day-long National Youth Forum was hosted at Carleton University. This event was a part of a series of consultations the government is holding between July 2016 and February 2017 with youth with disabilities and youth who have life, work or academic experience related to disability. • In collaboration with PMC, Career Services launched Accessible Career Transitions (ACT), a program that offers tailored career development assistance to students and alumni with disabilities. • Targeting undergraduate and graduate students, the From Intention to Action (FIT: Action) program was designed to prevent drop-out for students who are experiencing significant stress, as well as to promote mental health and prevent distress from escalating towards mental illness. • The Centre for Student Academic Support (CSAS) offers services online so that students who are taking courses online do not miss out on the tools and skills to help them succeed at Carleton. • The New Sun Xxx Xxxxxxxx Adaptive Technology Centre provides adaptive technology to Carleton students with reading and vision disabilities so that they can consult texts online in formats that are accessible to them. • Our Aboriginal Centre, Ojigkwanong, has expanded in size and is now located in the heart of campus. Designed by Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx and opened in fall 2013, it offers a truly welcoming space for our Aborigi...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Carleton University is working in partnership with the City of Ottawa, the municipalities of Eastern Ontario — in particular, Cornwall — and the high-tech sectors in Kanata and Orléans. • The Eastern Ontario Regional Economic Development Task Force is composed of representatives of the mayors, wardens, economic development officers, universities (Carleton, Ottawa, Queens and Trent) and colleges (Algonquin, La Cité, Xxxxxxx, Loyalist, and St. Xxxxxxxx). • The Task Force has identified workforce development, the improved use of vacant factories or factories used only for storage as part of a robust regional development plan, and the proposed Micro-Co-Op Emporium at Carleton University as priorities. The Micro-Co-Op Emporium will improve opportunities for co-op placements with small- to medium-sized high-tech companies. • The Task Force is planning a think-tank exercise on the municipal workplace of the future. The goal is to help identify the skills and competencies needed so that education and training initiatives can be designed accordingly and has identified possible funding sources and attracted the interest of municipalities in other regions of Ontario. • Pending approval of the Board of Governors, the development of the Dominion/Chalmers Church property will become a hub for cultural and social innovation and performance. This historic facility will provide a downtown location for concerts, engaged teaching and learning, research, outreach and partnerships with community groups and other institutions like Algonquin College. This centre will provide work experiences for students at both Carleton and Algonquin. • An innovation centre in Kanata would expand and extend current activities on campus and in the ARISE building, especially in the areas of communications, computer, mechanical and aerospace engineering and transportation, research on water and clean technologies in environmental engineering, science and policy. This centre would be developed on the initiative of businesses in Kanata and would include Algonquin College, the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. • Orléans is the site of the VENUS Cybersecurity Corporation, a partnership between Carleton, the City of Ottawa, the federal and provincial governments, and industry. Developed under the leadership of Xx. Xxxx Xxxxxxxx at the Sprott School of Business, VENUS is a not-for-profit organization designed to make Canada a leader in cybersecurity. • An example of Xxxxxxxx’x support of a c...
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. The Western Experience is academically rich while at the same time providing students with a wide range of opportunities to support their career and professional development and their overall well-being.
Examples of Institutional Initiatives. Western’s Research Clusters program targets world-leading research areas for significant institutional investment. The Research Clusters program builds on our platform of research supports, such as our commitment to interdisciplinary Research Centres and Institutes, our selective investments in interdisciplinarity, and our infrastructure supports for research excellence. These investments have a cumulative effect, generating further success in securing external funding. Our first two Research Clusters are described below. Novel, interdisciplinary graduate programs were a central, and early, feature of the two clusters. Reinforcing this interdisciplinary drive, Western’s School of Graduate and Postdoctoral studies is continuing to develop models enhancing support for innovative, flexible interdisciplinary graduate degrees, of which the most recent model provides our third example. Western Research Cluster-Cognitive Neuroscience Our first Research Cluster is the Cognitive Neuroscience Cluster, which has achieved international distinction. The excellence of Western’s Brain and Mind Institute facilitated the recruitment of Xxxxxx Xxxx, the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging. Investment from Western in a Cognitive Neuroscience cluster of research excellence propelled this group further forward to the point where it was able to successfully compete for a $66 million award from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). This careful stewardship is now a template for growing successful interdisciplinary research clusters at Western. Western Research Cluster – Musculoskeletal Health Musculoskeletal Health (MSK) research was identified as our second Research Cluster. This cluster investment follows directly from funding of a Bone and Joint Health interdisciplinary initiative through our IDI program. The Bone and Joint Health IDI had, as its key deliverable, an interdisciplinary graduate program in Musculoskelatal Health, which built on an earlier CIHR-funded Strategic Training Program. The MSK graduate program became a vehicle that brought together over 70 MSK researchers from across Western and became the nexus for the MSK cluster. External success is becoming evident through CIHR grants, Foundation Grants and CFI funds secured by the MSK cluster. Through the Western Research Chairs program, we are continuing to invest in recruitment of additional top scientists to this nascent cluster. Novel models for interdisciplinary ...
