UNews - chief information officer

Recruitment and retention initiative will see graduate applications move online

trevor.kenney — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:20:22 +0000

Earning a master's degree presents enough challenges in itself.

Applying for graduate studies shouldn't unnecessarily complicate matters before that quest even begins.

Through the Recruitment and Retention Integrated Planning (RRIP) project, an online graduate studies application process is being developed with the aim of making that task faster and more user-friendly.

"Most of the graduate students are employed and they don't have the time to work through a cumbersome paper-driven process," says Alice Miller, the assistant registrar and team leader of the online graduate application review.

Working online, graduate students are able to get an immediate response to their efforts, such as the ability to upload essential documents.

"They know exactly where they are as they go through the process," says Miller. "That isn't possible now and that's a high source of frustration for them."

Miller says the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ recognized it was lagging behind other comprehensive universities in Canada by not providing an electronic graduate application process. While some universities are at differing stages in the level of service or options they provide online, "everyone is moving forward to the next level of electronic capability."

The current paper-driven application process involves massive amounts of data entry, which is not only time consuming, but makes it subject to the possibility of input errors. Looking at the experiences of other universities that have moved to an online system, Miller believes the electronic method could cut two to six weeks from the time a student applies until they receive a notice of acceptance.

That is a significant benefit for students, and in the case of international student applicants, the quicker response could prove to be a deciding factor on whether to apply or not. A current graduate student application from an international student can take upwards of three to six months to move through the system (plus an additional three months if a student visa is required). By reducing that turnaround time and streamlining the process, the U of L becomes that much more accessible.

Undergraduate students have had the benefit of an electronic application process for the past three years and Miller says the feedback from all involved has been fantastic. The biggest plus has been the ability to request transcripts electronically, vastly improving the time it takes to move applications through the system.

"As a result, we're able to make earlier offers of admission," says Miller.

The need to introduce technology into the graduate student application process had long been a priority for the Registrar's Office. With the launch of RRIP, that need quickly became a priority for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ as the team recognized it was essential to remove barriers for its graduate students.

Miller says the increase in graduate student applications as a result of a move to an electronic application process could be substantial. When another Canadian institution went electronic, its graduate studies applications ballooned from 2,300 one year to 4,100 the next.

With 373 graduate studies applications in 2010-11, Miller says they estimate the introduction of the electronic process could result in 600 to 700 applications.
The project has now become operational through the dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Dr. Robert Wood, registrar Don Hunt, and chief information officer Clark Ferguson.

This story appears in the May issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

United Way a key part of community

trevor.kenney — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:32:22 +0000

The month of December is noted as a time of giving and recognizing the challenges of people in need. Supporting the United Way is one such way to make a difference.

This year, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's United Way campaign is taking on a different look. A new website (www.uleth.ca/unitedway) speaks to the benefit of the community organization and how its impact is felt by virtually everyone in southern Alberta.

Clark Ferguson, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's chief information officer, has taken up the charge as campaign Chair, and he's eager to share his reasons for supporting the United Way.

"As a relative newcomer to the city, I've been looking for opportunities to connect with people in the community and share my skills and experience," says Ferguson. "I am so impressed with the United Way's impact and I think it's important to understand just how far they reach into the community and how valuable it is we support the agencies and programs they provide."

Clark Ferguson is the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's 2011 United Way campaign Chair.

The United Way of Lethbridge & South Western Alberta supports a total of 21 different agencies and 25 programs, things that impact our families, friends, neighbours and co-workers. From the Big Brothers Big Sisters to Boys & Girls Clubs, the Canadian Red Cross and the St. John's Ambulance, the United Way is an essential element of a supportive community.

"Their Give, Volunteer, Act slogan speaks to the United Way mission and allows the opportunity for everyone to support the campaign in their own way," says Ferguson.

He urges ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ staff and faculty to either give a small donation through a regular payroll deduction plan, volunteer their time to any one of the many programs and services provided by the United Way, or to act and become a catalyst for positive change in the community.

"I'm particularly impressed by our students' contributions. JDC West, a student group that competes annually in a business case competition, raises money every year through its Chillin' 4 Charity event. This year the group raised a record $20,000. That's a substantial injection of funds. In addition, they donate their time to a variety of local charities. We are definitely proud of their commitment."

Ferguson says the United Way in some manner has influenced us all.

"I think it's important to recognize the value the United Way provides to this community and to give back; even if it is in a small way, every donation adds up to powerful change."

GET THE FACTS

· In the past year, the United Way handed out Baby Bundles filled with nutritional food and safety products to 1,468 new and expecting parents

· In the past year, a total of 519 women and children received shelter from a violent spouse

· In the past year, 88 youth in need of a role model were matched with a mentor

· In the past year, 5,135 pieces of medical equipment were loaned out to 3,145 individuals

This story first appeared in the December 2011 issue of the Legend. If you'd like to see the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Internet speeds get Cybera boost

trevor.kenney — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:12:03 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students and staff are enjoying a faster delivery of Internet content on campus, thanks to Cybera's transit exchange service.

The transit exchange provides a connection to the Seattle Internet Exchange (SIX), which links to major Internet sites like Google, Microsoft and YouTube.

"This new connection to the SIX gives the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ better route diversity, so if a disruption occurs with its regular Internet connection, traffic will continue to be directed to our transit exchange service for connection to major sites like Google," says Jean-Francois Amiot, Technical Operations Manager at Cybera. "This ensures a more consistent level of service for all students, staff and faculty."

Jeff Oliver, senior network analyst and member of the Communications and Infrastructure team at the U of L, manages the addition of the new Cybera transit exchange service.

When the service is operating normally, the Cybera transit exchange connection will also allow ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ users to bypass the regular queues en route to the SIX-connected sites.

This has already been demonstrated at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, which has been using Cybera to connect to the SIX since early January and, as a result, has seen a balance of its network traffic loads, as well as cost savings.

"This service is greatly enhancing the performance and delivery of classroom content and activities, as now we are able to offload a significant amount of traffic to Cybera," says Clark Ferguson, chief information officer at the U of L. "Teaching and learning are the biggest beneficiaries. Professors can quickly link to speeches and lectures offered on sites such as YouTube with virtually no delay."

"Cybera is now carrying approximately 35 to 40 per cent of Internet traffic, which will have a long-term impact on reducing our costs," adds Ferguson. "This is a substantial improvement to our service and a huge step forward."

Looking ahead, Cybera is preparing to partner with CANARIE (a consortium of universities participating in Internet delivery) to establish a peering connection with the Toronto Internet Exchange.

Cybera's connection to the SIX is enabled by a partnership with BCNET – the advanced network in British Columbia. To use Cybera's transit exchange service, a connection to CyberaNet – the advanced network operated by Cybera – or to the Alberta SuperNet is required.

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

Campus Kudos - June

trevor.kenney — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:54:51 +0000

Dr. Heidi MacDonald (History) received an award for the best English-language academic article deemed to make an original and scholarly contribution to the field of women's and gender history by the Canadian Committee on Women's History. Her article, Who Counts? Nuns, Work and the Census of Canada, was published in a recent issue of Histoire Sociale/Social History. Reviewers indicated that MacDonald produced "…an impressive and insightful piece of work on the various ways in which women religious (nuns) have been excluded or significantly undercounted in the Canadian census."

Taras Polataiko's (Art) painting was on view at the National Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv. The work was part of an international exhibition curated by Kateryna Botanova.

Annie Martin's (Art) installation Untitled (horizon) was exhibited in the PAVED Arts main gallery in Saskatoon. A critical text was also commissioned to accompany this exhibition.

Dana Cooley (New Media) has a video work in the group show, A Century of Artists' Films, at the Theatr Mwldan in Wales. Curated by Mike Cousin in partnership with Oriel Mwldan, the show runs until July 2.

Three ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge teams recently walked to raise money to End MS, totalling an impressive $6,762.05 that was donated to the fight against Multiple Sclerosis. The team from the Faculty of Education, captained by
Dr. Cathy Campbell, and consisting of Dr. Robin Bright, Dr. Noella Piquette-Tomei and Dr. Cynthia Chambers raised $2,935. The team from Administration, captained by Dr. Mike Mahon, and consisting of Maureen Mahon, Laurel Corbiere, Trish Jackson, Virginia Wishart and Robin Hopkins raised $2,725. The team from the Faculty of Management, captained by Dr. Lori Kopp, and consisting of Dr. Robert Ellis, Dr. Sameer Deshpande, Dr. Brian Dobing, Dr. Pam Loewen, Joan Kendall, Diane Boyle and Steve Craig raised $1,102.05.

Pictured left to right are iGEM team members Harland Brandon, (fourth-year Biochemistry), Justin Vigar, ( fifth-year Biochemistry) and MSc candidate Lisza Bruder, BSc ’11.

Clark Ferguson, the U of L's chief information officer, presented the keynote address at the Futures in it – Collaboration Western Canada Academy Conference in Calgary recently. Ferguson's address was titled Business Experience – Applied to Post Secondary at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Dr. Austin Mardon (BA'85) received an honorary doctor of laws from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta at its Spring Convocation ceremonies. Mardon, an inspiring advocate for the mentally ill, is a member of the Order of Canada and a past recipient of the CM Hincks Award, the highest award given by the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Three members of the U of L iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) team are travelling to Stanford ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in California to attend the 5th International Meeting on Synthetic biology. The sold-out conference attracts researchers from around the world who are working in the growing field of synthetic biology.

Dr. David Clearwater's (New Media) essay, What Defines Video Game Genre? Thinking about Genre Study after the Great Divide, was published in the Spring 2011 issue of Loading... (a Canadian journal covering videogames and interactive entertainment).

Dr. Josephine Mills (director/curator U of L Art Gallery) has recently been named president of the Canadian Art Museum Directors' Organization.

Dagmar Dahle's (Art) work was included in the exhibition ANIMAL, appearing at Museum London in Ontario.

Loralee Sand Edwards' (BFA '05) exhibition iGallery: curated auto-paparazzi (Self-Portraiture in a Digital Age) is in the Main Gallery of the Bowman Arts Centre until July 10.

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

Round table discussion supports FNMI tech future

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:25:06 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge (through the office of the Chief Information Officer) hosted an information-sharing round table discussion recently with the First Nations Technology Council (FNTC) of B.C., representatives of Red Crow College, and the Information & Communications Technology Council.

"Part of our focus," says CIO Clark Ferguson, "was to support our First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) program by bringing Alberta and B.C. information technology leaders together in an effort to identify strengths and to support each other."

Ferguson adds that by partnering on initiatives, participants can become more effective and introduce more programs and new services to First Nations groups in our area. The meeting was the first of a series of planned get-togethers to further that goal.

"We hope that Alberta's First Nations groups will participate in FNTC's First Nations Summit next spring where they will be exposed to potentially hundreds of colleagues," says Ferguson. "A broader network of contacts will support their objective of improving educational services in local communities."

The group met on campus for a morning session, then took tours of Red Crow College and Kainai High School in the afternoon.

"With each step through the institutions, our group's commitment to supporting the community through dialogue and action was strengthened," says Ferguson.

For further information on this meeting, or to participate in future sessions, contact Ferguson at 403-332-4109 or via e-mail at clark.ferguson@uleth.ca.

Cybera deal gives U of L Internet service a boost

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:36:48 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students and staff are enjoying a faster delivery of Internet content on campus, thanks to a new connection to Cybera's transit exchange service.

The transit exchange provides a connection to the Seattle Internet Exchange (SIX), which links to major Internet sites like Google, Microsoft and YouTube.

"This new connection to the SIX gives the university better route diversity, so if a disruption occurs with its regular Internet connection, traffic will continue to be directed to our transit exchange service for connection to major sites like Google," says Jean-Francois Amiot, Technical Operations Manager at Cybera. "This ensures a more consistent level of service for all students, staff and faculty."

When the service is operating normally, the Cybera transit exchange connection will also allow ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ users to bypass the regular queues en route to the SIX-connected sites.

This has already been demonstrated at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, which has been using Cybera to connect to the SIX since early January and, as a result, has seen a balance of its network traffic loads, as well as cost savings.

"This service is greatly enhancing the performance and delivery of classroom content and activities, as now we are able to offload a significant amount of traffic to Cybera," says Clark Ferguson, chief information officer at the U of L.

"Teaching and learning are the biggest beneficiaries. Professors can quickly link to speeches and lectures offered on sites such as YouTube with virtually no delay."

"Cybera is now carrying approximately 35-40 per cent of Internet traffic, which will have a long-term impact on reducing our costs," adds Ferguson. "This is a substantial improvement to our service and a huge step forward."

Looking ahead, Cybera is preparing to partner with CANARIE to establish a peering connection with the Toronto Internet Exchange.

Cybera's connection to the SIX is enabled by a partnership with BCNET - the advanced network in British Columbia. To use Cybera's transit exchange service, a connection to CyberaNet - the advanced network operated by Cybera - or to the Alberta SuperNet is required.

Campus Kudos - January 2011

trevor.kenney — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:03:06 +0000

Dr. Helen Kelley (Management) collaborated in publishing, The Clinical Impact of eHealth on the Self-Management of Diabetes: A Double Adoption Perspective, in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems.

Dr. Gordon Hunter (Management) had two articles published recently. His study, The Duality of IT Roles: A Case Study, was published in the International Journal of Strategic Information Technology and Applications. The Chief Information Officer: A Review of the Role, was also published in the Journal of Information, Information Technology and Organizations.

Laurel Corbiere, previously the director of the International Centre for Students, assumed the role of senior advisor to the president, effective Jan. 17, 2011. Corbiere will play a central role in the oversight and stewardship of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Strategic Plan.

Salvador Barragan (Management) collaborated on the article, The Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management on Productivity and Turnover in the Maquiladora Industry: A Conceptual Framework that was published in Advances in Management.

Dr. Robert Wood (Sociology) was appointed as dean of the School of Graduate Studies after having recently served the role as interim dean and has been a faculty member since 2000. He began a renewable term from Jan. 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016.

Jodie Black has been named the university secretariat, effective Jan. 17, 2011. Black was most recently the student retention co-ordinator in the Recruitment and Student Life office. She will be responsible for providing governance direction, advice and support to the Board of Governors, General Faculties Council (GFC) and Senate of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Dr. Luis Escobar (Management) was recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics. He co-authored the article, Multinational Oil Companies and the Adoption of Sustainable Development: A resource-based and institutional theory interpretation of adoption heterogeneity.

Dr. Chris Hosgood (History) was reappointed dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, effective July 1, 2011. Hosgood begins his second term as dean and has been a faculty member since 1988.

Dr. Rossitsa Yalamova (Management) co-authored, Explaining What Leads Up to Stock Market Crashes: A Phase Transition Model and Scalability Dynamics, which appeared in the Journal of Behavioral Finance.

Dr. Debra Basil (Management) was published in three recent publications. She collaborated with three others to produce, The impact of pre-existing attitude, conflict management style, and service outcome on customer satisfaction: an empirical investigation, which was published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. She then worked with Dr. Mary Runté (Management) on, Personal and Corporate Volunteerism: Employee Motivations, which was published in the International Journal of Business Environment, as well as, Corporate Support for Employee Volunteerism Within Canada: a cross-cultural perspective, which was published in the Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing.

Dr. Bernie Williams (Management) was recently published in the International Academy of Business and Economics. His co-authored article was titled, Anticipatory Socialization and the Influence of Media on Perceptions of International Job Assignments. He also authored, Incident Command as a Participative-Management Practice: Dispelling the Myth of Authoritarian Command, which has been accepted for publication in the International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management.

New CIO Ferguson appointed

trevor.kenney — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:55:58 +0000

A. Clark Ferguson has been appointed the new Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Ferguson, whose appointment is effective Aug. 1, comes to the U of L with years of experience in information systems management at public, private and not-for-profit organizations. Most recently, Clark was employed at BC Hydro, responsible for infrastructure service delivery and IT security.

He holds a master's degree in business administration from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Ottawa and is a professional engineer from the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario.

"I am very pleased to have Clark join the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge community," says Vice-President (Finance & Administration) Nancy Walker. "I know that his experience in IT governance and service delivery will be a great asset to the U of L.
"I would also like to thank Nicole Conboy, associate CIO, and all the managers and staff in IT over the past few months for the management of IT services while the position of CIO was vacant."

UNews - chief information officer

Recruitment and retention initiative will see graduate applications move online

Related Topics

United Way a key part of community

Related Topics

Internet speeds get Cybera boost

Related Topics

Campus Kudos - June

Related Topics

Round table discussion supports FNMI tech future

Related Topics

Cybera deal gives U of L Internet service a boost

Related Topics

Campus Kudos - January 2011

Related Topics

New CIO Ferguson appointed

Related Topics