UNews - Colleges of Canada

Open Mike - November 2011, Looking ahead with the AUCC

trevor.kenney — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:20:48 +0000

I have just returned from the annual meeting of the Association for Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Held in Montreal, this get-together was not only productive but symbolic, as 100 years ago this year the first gathering of the AUCC took place at McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

The discussions this year focused on the future of higher education in Canada and included presidential colleagues, faculty members, students and community members. AUCC Board Chair Stephen Toope outlined a series of commitments by AUCC and its member universities designed to benefit all Canadians over the next 100 years. The highlights of those commitments are as follows.

Broadening the view of education

This will be accomplished by leading a Canada-wide conversation about the entire educational system.

Innovating how we learn

The world is increasingly complex and it is critical that students are afforded the opportunity to enhance their learning experience by drawing on a full range of educational, research-based and community-focused opportunities enriched with global engagement and new technologies.

A commitment to excellence

It is essential that we ensure our students are fully equipped to play their role in a new Canada, and a much larger world. This will be accomplished by reaffirming our commitment to high-quality research and enriched learning. It also involves enhancing efforts to engage under-represented students in post-secondary education.

Concentrating the world's best minds on the world's toughest problems

The continued growth of graduate studies and a robust research agenda are critical in the development of new knowledge that addresses key problems in our increasingly complex world.

Cultivating engagement and partnerships

The fifth and final commitment will ensure that universities continue to reach beyond our own institutions to create alliances, partnerships and initiatives of shared purpose to address the challenges facing our communities, our nation and the world in which we live.

These commitments by the AUCC serve as the basis for a new narrative on higher education across the country. This narrative is designed to support the evolution of universities within the context of an evolving Canada, and is meant to guide universities towards a common purpose of addressing the broad needs of society as well as the very personal aspirations of our students, faculty, staff and our communities.

AUCC's new narrative provides all of us at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge a useful context for considering our future. As we begin the process of reviewing and extending our Strategic Plan, these five commitments can provide useful questions for our community to consider.

For example, how can we contribute to a broadened view of education on our campus? Today we imagine our university as an inclusive campus that is welcoming of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people. This is certainly one element of a broadened view but what else might we consider?

Similarly, our vision of growing as a comprehensive university can be aided by considering how some of our best minds can address some of our world's toughest challenges. Today we are tackling such critical issues as Alzheimer's Disease, food security and population health, but what is next?

These are just two examples of how the AUCC›s new narrative can help us consider our future.

Finally, I want to thank everyone on campus for their contribution over the past year as reflected in the recent Globe and Mail and Maclean's rankings. While we do not judge ourselves solely through these methods, I am proud to see that they reflect our institutional goals and that we are clearly providing the services, atmosphere and level of student engagement that our students and their families value.

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

Copyright changes create framework for transition

trevor.kenney — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:23:41 +0000

When Access Copyright, the collective that administers creator and publisher rights, changed the model by which it would charge users for the use of copyrighted materials, it set off shockwaves across the Canadian university landscape.

Where previously universities faced a licensed model that charged libraries a little more than $3 per student and set the price of course packs at 10 cents per page, Access Copyright introduced a combined tariff that grouped charges together into one $45 per student price. Needless to say, universities across the country cried foul.

In stepped the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), who took up negotiations for Canadian post-secondary institutions with Access Copyright. Before long, the two sides were at the foot of the Copyright Board of Canada. AUCC is working closely with Canadian universities and colleges, including the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, providing information and recommending strategies and next steps.

With no agreement signed with Access Copyright, U of L faculty will not be able to create course packs as usual. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Librarian Alison Nussbaumer says it necessitated the creation of a project team to lead and manage the transition. They have since created a website loaded with information to assist faculty and instructors with the process, including suggestions on where to find course materials and a feedback forum where faculty can submit questions.

"What we've done is try to think of all the questions people might ask, and then provided those answers under the FAQ tabs in the website," says Nussbaumer. "The most important thing about the site is the feedback area. If people look through the website and can't find what they're searching for, please post a question and somebody on the project team will do their best to find the answer."

As of now, there is no end in sight to the legal proceedings and even if Access Copyright and the AUCC were to come to an agreement, Nussbaumer says it could all become moot by copyright legislation currently being debated in the House of Commons. That debate is trying to address the emergence of the digital age and how it affects copyright.

"There's a transition in the publishing world, it is increasingly graduating towards electronic content," says Nussbaumer. "Even though we're being forced right now, in terms of timing, to respond because of an external situation, internally I think there will eventually be a shift away from print course packs anyway, based on student preference and blended learning."

She says it's a natural move into the digital age.

"Students are going after content in different ways. I see a lot of things now that are being born digital, there is no print equivalent," she says.
Presently, Nussbaumer advises faculty that the simplest route for next term may be to put items on library reserve for use. By the middle of December, the library will introduce a new search interface that will, where available in the license, inform the user if there is permission for a full text article to be used in course packs and learning management systems such as the U of L's new Moodle system.

"If faculty members want to know if an article is approved for Moodle or a course pack, they can search for it by journal title and a box will pop up and tell them whether it is approved for use," says Nussbaumer.

"Working without a collective license is a work in progress. It's new to every institution across the country, and here at the U of L we're trying to make it as easy for faculty as possible. Quite frankly, those who are most impacted are faculty who use a lot of course packs."

She urges those with questions to visit the website (www.uleth.ca/access-copyright/), and if they can't find the information they are looking for, to please contact project team members through the feedback option. If there is a demand for workshops on specific areas of copyright legislation, that too could be a consideration. In the end, Nussbaumer says it might be time for the addition of a copyright officer on campus to help wade through this new territory.

"It really is a shift for everyone and we're working through this the best we can," she says. "We haven't planned any workshops as of yet but if there is a need for them or any additional information, let us know through the website and we could put a workshop together to address specific needs."

Major scholarships available

trevor.kenney — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:15:06 +0000

Interested in a scholarship that could cover your tuition and living costs for next year?

A pair of major scholarship awards are currently taking applications through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Scholarships and Student Finance Office.

The ConocoPhillips Canada Centennial Scholarship provides up to $10,000 per year for university studies, while the Fessenden-Trott Scholarship offers up to $9,000 per year for university studies.

These awards are administered by The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). More details can be found on the AUCC website: www.aucc.ca. Applications can be requested through the AUCC or can be provided via e-mail from the UofL Scholarships and Student Finance Office. Contact Sue Kovach (gergs0@uleth.ca) to request an application and further details.

As students must be nominated from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, all applications and documentation (contrary to the actual application directions) must be handed into the Scholarships and Student Finance Office SU065 by May 15, 2010. Late and incomplete applications will not be accepted.

The application is very detailed, requiring a one-page description of extracurricular activities and community/volunteer involvement, two reference letters and official transcripts.

UNews - Colleges of Canada

Open Mike - November 2011, Looking ahead with the AUCC

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Copyright changes create framework for transition

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Major scholarships available

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