UNews - associate VP

U of L leads way in establishing ACCRU

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:44:35 +0000

This story by Léo Charbonneau appeared in the Sept. 12 edition of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Affairs. It is re-posted here with their permission.

There is a new university group in Canada: the Alliance of Canadian Comprehensive Research Universities.

Created at a meeting in Ottawa in June, ACCRU brings together the vice-presidents, research, of the smaller comprehensive universities in Canada that have "a strong commitment to research," said Dan Weeks, vice-president, research, at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The creation of the alliance is in part a reaction to the group known as the U15, which advocates on behalf of what it calls "Canada's 15 leading research universities."

A graphical representation of ACCRU.

That group, previously called the G10 and then the G13 before it expanded to its current 15 members, has given those institutions "a strong unified voice for consultation and lobbying activities on their behalf," said Dr. Weeks.

However, ACCRU is not meant to be a lobbying group, he stressed. Rather, the aim of the new alliance is to discuss the challenges and issues that these smaller universities face, and to pool resources and best practices with like-minded colleagues.

"If we do have advice and things that have policy implications, the route would be through either AUCC [Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada] or our individual presidents," he said.

Dr. Weeks set the ball rolling for the new group with a letter he sent to colleagues this past January.

The letter reads in part: "There are a number of unique challenges associated with conducting world-class research at Canada's small institutions. Effectively meeting these challenges and ensuring that research investments made in our institutions are of maximal benefit to all Canadians prompts me to suggest that Canada's 'small' research universities might benefit by informal discussion of the merits of forming a group or forum. This would give us the opportunity to discuss and react collectively to issues we face now or that will arise."

The response was "absolutely fantastic," said Dr. Weeks. "Everybody was excited about getting together." The respondents agreed on a date and venue for the event, and of the 25 universities initially contacted, 19 sent representatives to the Ottawa gathering – in most cases, either the vice-president or associate VP research.

While stressing that membership in ACCRU is "meant to be inclusive," Dr. Weeks acknowledged he had to come up with "some sort of algorithm" to choose who to invite.

He and William Bridger, a former vice-president at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Western Ontario, devised a plan. First, they said the university had to describe itself as a comprehensive university.

Second, they did a rough calculation of the percentage of tri-council funding that each university receives, and "there was a pretty obvious breakpoint, and so we invited everybody below that line," said Dr. Weeks.

But he added, "I really wouldn't put too much stock in this 'who's in, who's out' type of thing. It's really more about the scope of your operations and would you benefit from being at these discussions."

The attendees to the Ottawa meeting "talked a lot about faculty recruitment and, related to that, the general perception of small universities by the public and by other institutions," said Dr. Weeks.

They also discussed research ethics, infrastructure, animal care, research centres and institutes, contracts, "and all the things that we have to fulfill in terms of policies and regulations" but often with far fewer resources than the larger universities, "so we have to be more clever about how we get some of these accomplished."

Katherine Schultz, vice-president research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Prince Edward Island, attended the meeting and said the conversations "were frank and open." She noted that, unlike vice-presidents, academic, there is no national meeting for VPs research, so this group "fills a gap that many of us perceived. … It's a forum for information exchange that didn't exist."

André Manseau, dean of research at Université du Quebec en Outaouais, said it was "very enriching" for him to have his colleagues share their experiences. "We face many similar issues," he said. "Our offices are of relatively modest size and we don't have a lot of specialized personnel."

The ACCRU members agreed to meet again in Ottawa in early December, before the annual Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's leaders meeting (of senior university administrators who serve as points of contact with the council).

The alliance also created three working groups that will report at the December meeting: one looking at best practices, one on governance of the group itself, and a third tasked to craft a mission statement.

Universities represented at the ACCRU meeting in June:

* Acadia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Bishop's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Brandon ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Brock ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Cape Breton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Lakehead ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Nipissing ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Saint Mary's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Thompson Rivers ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Université de Moncton
* Université du Québec en Outaouais
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Northern British Columbia
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Prince Edward Island
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor
* Wilfrid Laurier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ

Brown named associate VP

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:03:43 +0000

Dr. Lesley Brown (Kinesiology and Physical Education) is the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's new associate vice-president, research, a role she assumed officially on May 1 after having served in the role of assistant vice-president, research since January 2010.

An accomplished researcher, she joined the U of L in 1997 following her post-doctoral studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Oregon, and focuses her research on the aging process, balance, falling, fear of falling and Parkinson's Disease.

Dr. Lesley Brown brings a wealth of experience to her new role as associate vice-president, research.

Most recently, she and her team have been studying the effect of music on walking abilities in patients with Parkinson's Disease, and exploring fear of falling as a risk factor for falls in the elderly. She continues to supervise masters and doctoral candidates.

"I am very pleased that Dr. Brown has accepted this position," says
Dr. Dan Weeks, the U of L's vice-president, research. "Her experience with provincial and federal funding will be a key asset to the U of L. The extent of accountability and compliance required by governments and funders has increased significantly and Dr. Brown will lead the internal responses to these challenges."

Weeks says that Brown's familiarity with the campus community, and with cross-departmental collaborations, will be of significant value to the U of L as the institution moves forward. "Many funding opportunities involve working on projects that might bring very different research disciplines together," says Weeks. "Lesley has a great ability to connect with people and help move ideas forward."

Brown says that her main priorities are to finalize the Strategic Research Plan, in addition to being a point of contact for faculty members.

"I am very pleased to have been selected for this position, and I am looking forward to continuing planning and implementing the new research initiatives that I have been working on. I will also be looking forward to sharing our Strategic Research Plan with faculty in the near future."

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Spoulos to take over associate VP role

trevor.kenney — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:52:51 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors recently approved the appointment of alumnus Douglas (Doug) Spoulos, CA, (BMgt '87) as the new Associate Vice-President (Finance).

Spoulos follows Karen Clearwater, CA, who is retiring as the Associate Vice-President (Financial Planning) after a 24-year career at the U of L.

"We are very pleased to have Doug back at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and in the community," says Nancy Walker, the U of L's Vice-President, Finance and Administration.

"As a former Lethbridge resident, a U of L graduate and also as a former employee, he knows our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ environment well, and also brings a wealth of knowledge from his public and private sector experiences."

Spoulos, a Charted Accountant since 1992, was most recently the Vice-President, Finance and Administration at Sigma Explorations Inc., a Calgary-based geophysical data service provider with five business divisions.

He has significant additional experience working with national and international publicly–traded manufacturing firms, previous experience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as the Manager, Research and Trust funds, and with the local KPMG office as a Chartered Accountant, Auditor and Manager.

Spoulos says he is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge for a variety of reasons, in addition to the position at the U of L.

"I was born and raised in Lethbridge and all my family still lives there. My wife, Bev, is also from Lethbridge. Our son is currently attending the
U of L, and our two daughters are just entering junior high. I really enjoyed my first time at the U of L - it has a great atmosphere and great people."

Spoulos begins his new position on April 11, 2011. Clearwater will be retiring from her position on June 30, 2011 but will remain at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ until the end of the year as the project manager of the Student Recruitment and Retention Project.

UNews - associate VP

U of L leads way in establishing ACCRU

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Brown named associate VP

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Spoulos to take over associate VP role

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