UNews - St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ

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

Horns rugby tops rankings

trevor.kenney — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:40:48 +0000

The best team in the country for the past three years has the respect of a nation as a new women's rugby season dawns later this month.

The three-time defending national champion ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns top the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women's rugby Top 10 rankings of the 2010 season.

The Pronghorns, who captured a third consecutive Monilex Trophy last fall thanks to a 20-3 gold-medal triumph over St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, received 69 points in the inaugural rugby coaches poll of 2010.

Guelph Gryphons (63 points), who have claimed CIS bronze each of the past three years, go into the new season ranked second, while StFX (62 points) is rated third.

Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 4 Concordia (44), No. 5 Laval (38), No. 6 Alberta (34), No. 7 Western (25), No. 8 UBC (24), No. 9 McMaster (20) and No. 10 Queen's (10).

The CIS women's rugby regular schedule kicks off this weekend with 10 games in Ontario, Quebec and the AUS, while conference play in Canada West starts on Sept. 24. Lethbridge opens the defence of its CIS title at Victoria on the Sept. 24.

Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will host the CIS championship in Peterborough, Ont., from Nov. 4 to 7.

Rizos recognized by Canada West

trevor.kenney — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:11:27 +0000

Mackenzie Rizos has become a well-known name around the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus by taking the term "student-athlete" to heart.

Rizos, the Pronghorns women's hockey team goaltender, earned a pair of honours this week and has been nominated for a national award thanks to her all-around ability. Named a second-team Canada West All-star for her on-ice performance this past season, the Calgary native is also the Canada West nominee for the Marion Hilliard student-athlete award.

"Mackenzie is a hard working student-athlete that strives to excel in her studies as well as in her sport," says Pronghorns head coach Chandy Kaip. "She is always asking questions and finding new ways to succeed on and off the ice. I look forward to her next three years, she will be a top contender each year for student-athlete as well as top goaltender in the Canada West."

Since her arrival at the U of L, Rizos, a second-year pre-management student, has been the consummate student-athlete. In three semesters she has a cumulative grade point average of 3.53 and was an Academic All-Canadian as a freshman. She was also the recipient of a Board of Governors Entrance Scholarship as well as a Jason Lang Scholarship Recipient, the post-secondary institute's nomination award for academic excellence.

She says her hard work in the classroom is matched by a willingness from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ professors to be flexible with an athletes' unique needs.

"The profs here are really supportive. They find out you're a student-athlete and they try and make any accommodations for you that they can," she says. "Whether you are missing classes or tests, they've all been very helpful."

On the ice, Mackenzie has been a stalwart between the pipes and despite the Pronghorns missing the playoffs, earned Canada West Second Team All-Star status. She made 21 appearances for the Pronghorns this season and had a save percentage of .891.

Rizos also organized Mackenzie's Bike Across Canada for Cancer, in which she biked the equivalent distance from Victoria, B.C. to St. John's, Nfld., raising awareness and donations. Rizos helps out at numerous hockey camps and participates in the youth hockey day in Coaldale for youth recreational hockey.

Rizos is now a finalist for the national student-athlete award. Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) will hand out the award at the 2009 national women's hockey championship, hosted by St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Antigonish, N.S., Mar. 19-22.

UNews - St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ

U of L leads way in establishing ACCRU

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