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An innovative strengthened collaboration among Laurentian University, Collège Boréal and La Cité

An innovative strengthened collaboration among Laurentian University, Collège Boréal and La Cité

Creating an accessible and unprecedented pathway for Francophone college graduates in business administration

Sudbury (ON), January 26, 2016 – Laurentian University, Collège Boréal and La Cité signed an articulation agreement today to accelerate the process of obtaining a Bachelor of Business Administration for graduates of Ontario’s two francophone colleges.

 

As of September 2016, graduates of the two-year Business Administration programs at Collège Boréal and La Cité will benefit from a practical 2+2 model allowing them to earn a Baccalauréat en administration des affaires (B.A.A.) from Laurentian University. According to the agreement, college graduates will need to complete the equivalent of two years of university studies as well as a statistics course to earn the degree. This prior learning recognition in business is without precedent in the Francophone community and among the most beneficial in Ontario.

 

Students of Collège Boréal and La Cité who wish to pursue their studies in Laurentian University’s Faculty of Management will also have the option to take their courses in French on campus or through a hybrid model. This added flexibility may allow them to enter the job market while completing their studies and pursuing their professional activities. Furthermore, by combining a college diploma and a bachelor’s degree, these students will have a competitive edge on the job market as well as access to several professional designations.

 

The agreement was made possible with a grant from the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT).

 

Quotes:

 

“This agreement was implemented by Laurentian University, Collège Boréal and La Cité and fits within their willingness to further progress the postsecondary education continuum in French on a provincial scale. As the first bilingual university designated under the French-Language Services Act, Laurentian also aims to recognize the quality of French-language training programs offered by the colleges and increase the Francophone gateways to university studies for the benefit of students.”

            Dominic Giroux, President and Vice-Chancelor of Laurentian University

 

 

“Thanks to this new articulation agreement, Collège Boréal and its partners will continue to collaborate closely at the provincial level to offer more flexibility to Francophone students throughout Ontario striving to reach their career goals. For Collège Boréal, La Cité and Laurentian University, this initiative reflects a joint desire to work together within a concerted strategy that puts their students first.”

Pierre Riopel, President of Collège Boréal

 

“This new agreement stems from an innovative and strengthened collaboration and reflects a willingness shared by our three institutions to offer the very best training options to our students while further responding to the current and future realities of the job market.”

Lise Bourgeois, President of La Cité

 

“ONCAT is proud to support our college and university partners like Laurentian University, Collège Boréal and La Cité for their commitment to building an education system that is responsive to students’ needs. With a focus on student mobility, this agreement will help to produce graduates that are highly skilled, diverse and adaptive to Ontario’s economic demands.”

Glenn Craney, Executive Director of the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer

Laurentian University signs Paris Pledge for Action

Laurentian University signs Paris Pledge for Action

More than 1,000 signatories worldwide vow to support Paris Agreement

DEC 22, 2015 – Laurentian University has joined the growing number of signatories to the Paris Pledge for Action, released December 16, 2015. The pledge is a commitment to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately, to meet or surpass the goals of the Paris Agreement adopted at the recent COP21 conference. Laurentian University is among the first Canadian universities to sign the pledge.

 

According to the Paris Pledge for Action organization, the pledge represents “a unique opportunity for non-state actors to have their climate leadership recognized in the context of COP21.”  Signatories “welcome the adoption of a new, universal climate agreement at COP21 in Paris, which is a critical step on the path to solving climate change. We pledge our support to ensuring that the level of ambition set by the agreement is met or exceeded. We will do this by taking concrete steps now, and without waiting for the entry into force of the agreement in 2020, both individually and cooperatively, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a safe level and build resilience against those changes already occurring.”

 

Laurentian University joins more than 1,000 cities, municipal and regional councils, companies, investors, civil society groups, labour organizations and other signatories from around the world to promote a low-carbon, stable, sustainable future, with the goal of limiting the global temperature rise to less than two degrees Celsius.

 

“Our institution is proud of the many sustainability-driven accomplishments achieved to date, through research innovation to develop technologies the world needs, or simply in our daily operations to continuously reduce our carbon footprint,” said Laurentian University’s Manager, Energy and Sustainability, Kati McCartney. “Signing this pledge is another sign of that commitment. We hope to inspire and motivate others to sign as well.”

 

“From research in lakes ecology and climate change monitoring to the globally-recognized re-greening project, Laurentian University has established itself as a leader in environmental sciences and sustainability,” said Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux. “We remain committed to accelerating the transformative measures required to meet the challenges of climate change.”

 

In 2014 Laurentian University signed the Talloires Declaration, a ten-point action plan for incorporating sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach along with over 400 colleges and universities in more than 40 countries.

Laurentian University Hires Next Vice-President, Academic and Provost

Laurentian University Hires Next Vice-President, Academic and Provost

Board of Governors appoints Dr. Pierre Zundel

December 18, 2015 – The Laurentian University Board of Governors today approved the appointment of Dr. Pierre Zundel as its next Vice-President, Academic and Provost, effective July 1, 2016. 

After 16 years of experience as Professor and Department Head at the Université de Moncton and at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Dr. Zundel has accumulated 12 years of senior academic administrative experience as Dean of Renaissance College at UNB from 2004 to 2009 and as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sudbury since 2009. Under his leadership, the University of Sudbury created satellite programs on the James Bay coast and on Manitoulin Island, efforts which were highlighted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce as a model for distributed education in Indigenous communities. Enrolment increased despite provincial declines in the Arts and in Journalism and the budget was balanced for five consecutive years. His appointment as President of the University of Sudbury was renewed in 2014. 

Dr. Zundel was recognized as a 2001 UNB University Teaching Scholar. He received the 2002 Atlantic Association of Universities Instructional Leadership Award and the prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2003. Renaissance College was awarded under his leadership in 2006 the Alan K. Blizzard Award for Collaborative Teaching from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

He chairs the 21-member Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities of Canada. From 2010 to 2014, he chaired the seven-member Consortium of Francophone Universities of Ontario and was recognized in 2014 as the Franco-Ontarian Personality of the Year in Sudbury. Dr. Zundel serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation and chairs its Community Economic Development Committee. He also chairs Shared Space Sudbury, served on the board of Eat Local Sudbury, and was previously advisor to the New Brunswick Business Council.

He completed a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. at the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Forest Harvesting and Economics at Université Laval and served as Managing Editor of the International Journal of Forest Engineering from 2000 to 2005. He conducted research on forest land access policy and biomass energy, research missions and international field studies courses in over 14 countries. He authored or co-authored over 40 publications and delivered over 40 presentations on teaching and learning in higher education and on forestry, and delivered many faculty development workshops and seminars.


“We are delighted to have Pierre in this leadership position.  He is an award-winning educator and experienced administrator who is passionate about innovation in teaching and learning. He has an intimate knowledge of the operations at Laurentian, of the communities we serve including Franco-Ontarian, First Nation and Métis partners,” said Laurentian President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux. 

“I am excited by the opportunity to build strategically at Laurentian,” said Dr. Zundel.  “This university has created real momentum and I look forward to working with my colleagues and community partners to serve our students and have a broader impact on their university experience,” said Dr. Zundel.  “I believe Laurentian will continue to differentiate itself favourably from other universities.” 

Dr. Zundel’s appointment was recommended after a national search by a 10-member committee composed of faculty, students, administrators and Governors, and was endorsed by the University’s Senate. He will be the successor to Dr. Robert Kerr, whose 6.5 year non-renewable term ends on June 30, 2016. 

Laurentian University congratulates Dr. Khaled Taktek, 2014-2015 Fulbright Scholar

Laurentian University congratulates Dr. Khaled Taktek, 2014-2015 Fulbright Scholar

At the conclusion of his scholarship, Dr. Taktek was honoured with the Medallion of Excellence.

Laurentian University is pleased to congratulate Dr. Khaled Taktek, Associate Professor in the École des sciences de l’éducation upon the completion of his term as a Canadian Fulbright Scholar at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.  

 

At the conclusion of his scholarship, Dr. Taktek was honoured with the Medallion of Excellence, awarded by Brigadier General Timothy Trainor, Dean of the Academic Board at USMA West Point. 

 

Dr. Taktek’s research project at West Point was entitled “Mental Imagery Training for Peak Performance: An Efficient Strategy for Motor Skills and Performance Enhancement as well as Cognitive Functioning Development.”

 

The Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States of America, known as Fulbright Canada, is a binational not-for-profit organization with a mandate to identify the best and brightest minds in Canada and the United States, to engage them in residential academic exchange, and to mutual understanding between the people of Canada and the people of the United States of America by providing support to outstanding individuals.

 

For more information on Dr. Taktek’s Fulbright Scholarship, please consult the following link:  

http://issuu.com/fulbrightcanada/docs/2014-15_biographies_and_photos/15?e=1636925/9081748  

Laurentian University to welcome Syrian student refugees

Laurentian University to welcome Syrian student refugees

Student-led initiative will bring two refugees to Sudbury in 2016

November 13, 2015 – Two young Syrian refugees will be sponsored as students at Laurentian University next year in a student-led initiative through World University Service Canada (WUSC).  

 

Under the Student Refugee Program, Laurentian University’s WUSC local committee has already sponsored more than twenty refugees since the launch of the initiative in 1978.  Some of those students have stayed on to pursue graduate studies after completing their degrees. With the worsening of the Syrian war and the international refugee crisis, WUSC has expanded the scope of its Student Refugee Program and is now working in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), to interview and document candidates for sponsorship.

 

“We are happy to be stepping up our efforts as a committee to bring two Syrian refugees to Laurentian as sponsored students,” said Willow Mullin-Semeniuk of the WUSC-Laurentian committee.  “Like so many other people in Canada and around the world, we want to help by giving some young Syrians a chance for a secure future.”

 

Laurentian University supports WUSC and the Student Refugee Program by providing tuition,  accommodation and meals for the first year of studies. Laurentian students also contribute funds through a levy collected with student association fees.  After completing their first year, the sponsored students are eligible to apply for student assistance through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).  Laurentian’s WUSC committee intends to lead fund-raising efforts across campus and within the broader community of Greater Sudbury to help with the significant resettlement costs associated with the Student Refugee Program.  Details as to how groups and individuals can contribute to the local WUSC campaign will be circulated in the weeks ahead.

 

“This is an excellent program and a superb initiative to bring student living in refugee camps to Canada for post-secondary education,” said Dr. Jorge Virchez, a professor in the Department of Geography and the faculty representative on Laurentian’s WUSC committee.  “Our students have shown a strong commitment to global outreach through WUSC, and we are proud of their decision to redouble their efforts in the year ahead.”

 

The number of Syrian refugees worldwide is projected to reach 4.27 million by the end of 2015.

For more information on WUSC and the Student Refugee Program, go to http://wusc.ca/en/srp

Laurentian University to offer 10 new French-language or bilingual programs in engineering and management as of 2016

Laurentian University to offer 10 new French-language or bilingual programs in engineering and management as of 2016

These 10 programs in engineering and management will help us meet the expectations of future Francophone and Francophile students.

November 13, 2015 – Starting in September 2016, Laurentian University will expand its French-language programming. The Bharti School of Engineering will launch three bilingual bachelor’s degree programs – in Chemical, Mechanical and Mining Engineering – with at least 50% of courses to be offered in French. In addition, the Faculty of Management will initiate a Bachelor of Business Administration offered entirely in French, along with seven specializations also offered in French in the areas of accounting, business, entrepreneurship, finance, international management, marketing and human resources.

“No Canadian university has won the Canadian Mining Games more often than Laurentian University. Last year, our students in the Bharti School of Engineering took first place at both the provincial and national engineering competitions; in 2011, they won NASA’s Lunabotics competition,” said president and vice-chancellor Dominic Giroux. “As for our Faculty of Management, it is working towards several international accreditations. It was an obvious choice to include these disciplines in the expansion of our French-language programming at Laurentian University.”

“More than 80 Francophone students are already enrolled in the Bharti School of Engineering and at least as many are registered in the Faculty of Management,” added associate vice-president, Academic and Francophone Affairs, Denis Hurtubise. “These 10 programs in engineering and management will help us meet the expectations of future Francophone and Francophile students from Canada and abroad in these high demand academic disciplines.”

Highlights of Laurentian University

  • The Bharti School of Engineering is ranked first in Ontario and is among the top four Canadian universities in terms of mining engineering research. It will be the first in Canada outside of Quebec to offer French-language courses in mining engineering. 

  • A feasibility study revealed that Francophone students in the City of Greater Sudbury who are interested in engineering recognize the importance of completing their undergraduate degree in both official languages, giving them an added competitive advantage when entering the job market. 

  • Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering serves 695 students from the bachelor’s degree to the Ph.D., and its Faculty of Management serves more than 1,400 students in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. 

  • Year after year, Laurentian University earns the highest post-graduation employment rates among Ontario universities. 

  • Laurentian University received more than 100 million dollars in research funding over the last five years. 

  • Each year, Laurentian University offers more than 700 French-language courses from the undergraduate to the doctoral level. Since 2013, it has launched two full French-language master’s programs in speech-language pathology and nursing. It was also the first bilingual university to be designated under Ontario’s French-Language Services Act. 

  • Laurentian University is investing 63 million dollars in the modernization of its Sudbury campus, which is expected to be completed in late 2016. Projects include significant improvements to 60 classrooms and laboratories, student residences and food services, new student gathering spaces, a one-stop area for student services, a dynamic welcome centre, an executive learning centre and the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre. 

Laurentian Scientists Celebrate $3-Million ‘Breakthrough Prize’ Awarded To Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Project

Laurentian Scientists Celebrate $3-Million ‘Breakthrough Prize’ Awarded To Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Project

November 8, 2015 – The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) Collaboration, represented by Queen’s University professor emeritus Arthur McDonald, have shared the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.

 

In particular, Laurentian wants to acknowledge Professor Doug Hallman.  With the steady expansion of Laurentian’s research in particle astrophysics, he and a total of 22 Laurentian faculty members, past graduate students and post-doctoral researchers are all among the recipients of this honour.

 

The Prize was presented by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation “for the fundamental discovery of neutrino oscillations, revealing a new frontier beyond, and possibly far beyond, the standard model of particle physics”. The $3-million prize is shared with four other international experimental collaborations studying neutrino oscillations: the Superkamiokande, Kamland, T2K/K2K and Daya Bay scientific collaborations.

 

The research at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, two kilometers underground in Vale’s Creighton mine near Sudbury, Ontario Canada demonstrated that neutrinos change their type – or flavour – as they travel to Earth from the Sun.  The finding proves that neutrinos have a mass greater than zero. The results also confirmed the theories of energy generation in the Sun with great accuracy.

 

Professor McDonald, SNO Project Director, stated: “Our collaboration members are very pleased to receive this testimony to the scientific significance of their work. Our findings are a result of many years of hard work starting in 1984 when our collaboration began with 16 members, led by co-spokesmen Professor George Ewan of Queen’s University and Professor Herb Chen of the University of California, Irvine who were joined in 1985 by Professor David Sinclair of Oxford University. Our international collaboration grew substantially and provided an exciting education for many young scientists over more than 20 years. Our full author list includes over 270 scientists sharing this prize.”

 

The award was presented at a ceremony at the NASA Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California. The ceremony, hosted by comedian Seth Macfarlane, was broadcast live in the U.S. on Sunday, November 8 on the National Geographic Channel, with a one-hour version of the broadcast scheduled for Fox on November 29, at 7 p.m. For more information see breakthroughprize.org.

 

Founded by Russian entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist Yuri Milner, The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics recognizes individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. It is open to all physicists — theoretical, mathematical and experimental — working on the deepest mysteries of the Universe. The prize is one of three awarded by the Breakthrough Foundation for “Outstanding contributions in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics.”

 

Along with Dr. Hallman, Professors Jacques Farine, Rizwan Haq, Christine Kraus and Clarence Virtue are the Laurentian faculty who have contributed to the SNO research.  “The good fortune to have worked on a project of fundamental importance, that we believed in passionately, with a terrific group of dedicated and talented physicists was its own reward.  This honour is really icing on the cake,” said Professor Virtue.  

 

“We are delighted to congratulate the Particle Astrophysics Research group at Laurentian on this latest honour,” said Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux. “Our SNOLAB scientists are truly expanding the boundaries of knowledge about our universe and its building blocks.”

 

Laurentian University was a founding institution in the SNO Collaboration. With the completion of SNO’s measurements in 2006, and analyses in the near future, the members of Laurentian’s Particle Astrophysics Group (numbering 37 researchers in 2015) continue their work in frontier physics at SNOLAB, with major responsibilities and leading roles in the SNO+, HALO, DEAP, PICO and EXO collaborations. The work of the SNO collaboration was also recognized recently with the awarding of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics to Professor McDonald.

 

Backgrounder

Laurentian University celebrates Nobel Prize in Physics

Laurentian University celebrates Nobel Prize in Physics

Colleagues of Dr. Arthur McDonald toast “the ultimate prize in science”

October 9, 2015 – Colleagues and associates of Dr. Arthur McDonald at Laurentian University and at the SNOLAB research facility are applauding the news that Dr. McDonald is a co-winner of the  2015 Nobel Prize in Physics.  Dr. McDonald, emeritus professor at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario was jointly named this year’s Nobel Laureate with Dr. Takaaki Kajita of the University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan. Dr. McDonald was honoured for his work in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, a collaboration between Laurentian University and five other Canadian universities.

 

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the prize was awarded to Doctors McDonald and Kajita for their “key contributions to the experiments which demonstrated that neutrinos change identities. This metamorphosis requires that neutrinos have mass. The discovery has changed our understanding of the innermost workings of matter and can prove crucial to our view of the universe.” (Full release: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2015/press.html)

 

Word of the Nobel award spread through the Laurentian community “at the speed of a neutrino,” said Dr. Doug Hallman, professor emeritus of Physics at Laurentian University and an early collaborator in the SNOLAB work with Dr. McDonald.  “This is terrific news for all of us who have been engaged in the SNO neutrino research,” said Dr. Hallman.  “This is the ultimate prize in science, and we are thrilled to see the work recognized at this level.”

 

Laurentian University is a founding member of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Institute. Over a 20-year period, Laurentian’s SNO group  has been a major contributor to the design, construction and operations of the SNO laboratory, a unique facility built two kilometers below surface at the Vale Creighton Mine in Sudbury, Ontario. The underground  environment enabled SNO researchers to make their groundbreaking neutrino measurements  with minimal background interference.   More than 150 researchers from universities and research institutions in Canada, the United States and Europe participated in the SNO project.

 

The SNO laboratory ended its data taking in 2006 but analyses and publications of results are  continuing.  The SNO detector is now in the final stages of conversion to a new SNO+ experiment, which will measure lower energy neutrinos from the sun and the earth and search for a rare nuclear decay process to find out more about the nature of neutrinos.

 

Building on the success of the SNO experiment, an expanded underground facility, SNOLAB  has been constructed adjacent to the SNO laboratory and now houses a group of new  experiments. The underground cleanroom facility, the deepest in the world, has the lowest background radiation environment, allowing researchers to take highly sensitive measurements with minimal interference. 

 

“We are thrilled with the awarding of this prize and congratulate Dr. McDonald and all of our faculty and collaborating researchers for their contributions to this exciting area of science over the years,” said Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor, Dominic Giroux.  “We welcome the new groups of scientists who will be doing their work at the facility, and are excited by the additional collaborations and research initiatives at SNOLAB as the next generation of underground experiments gets underway.”

 

Laurentian University is working with SNOLAB to organize a national media tour of the SNOLAB facility in the near future.

Laurentian University Names New Research Director for CRSJP

Laurentian University Names New Research Director for CRSJP

Dr. Carol Kauppi to lead research at Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 – Dean of the Faculty of Health and Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education at Laurentian University, Dr. Roger Couture today announced that Dr. Carol Kauppi has been appointed Director of Research at the Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy (CRSJP).

 

“We are pleased that Dr. Kauppi has been appointed to this position, in recognition of her major contribution to the advancement of social work research here at Laurentian University,” said Dr. Couture. “This full-time research position will enable Carol to fully devote her time to research, to pursue her many current projects across Northern Ontario, and to present her research to groups both within and outside the University.”

 

CRSJP is a Laurentian University research centre committed to the study of social justice and policy, with particular emphasis on rural and northern communities. Its mandate is to conduct interdisciplinary research on population health, social justice and healthcare issues, including homelessness and poverty. The Centre currently manages the six-year research project “Poverty Homelessness and Migration,” led by Dr. Kauppi and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).  Established in 2009, CRSJP was one of the first university research institutes in Canada to focus on these fields.

 

“I am looking forward to the challenge of advancing and expanding the scope of research conducted through CRSJP, and building on the important work we have accomplished through the Poverty, Homelessness and Migration project,” said Dr. Kauppi.  “We’ve established an excellent foundation, and I am eager to extend our research into the areas of urban renewal, housing and food security.”

 

With its own research staff, CRSJP collaborates with investigators from various academic units at Laurentian University, from the community, with other research centres in Ontario, and with other universities. 

 “The appointment of Dr. Kauppi as Research Director is in line with the University’s Strategic Plan 2012-2017, as the University aspires to research excellence,” said Dr. Rui Wang, Vice-President, Research, Laurentian University. “We look forward to the continuing results of the work being done through CRSJP.”                                           

                                                     

 

Laurentian University Celebrates Franco-Ontario Day 2015

Laurentian University Celebrates Franco-Ontario Day 2015

Provincial day of recognition celebrates contributions of Ontario's Francophone community

Sudbury, ON (September 23, 2015) – As francophones and francophiles across the province prepare to celebrate Franco-Ontarian Day, Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux today offered congratulations, on behalf of all members of the Laurentian community, to those who have contributed to the many accomplishments of the francophone community in its 400 years in Ontario.

 

The first bilingual university in Ontario with a partial designation under the French Language Services Act, Laurentian University will partner in a number of events in support of Franco-Ontarian Day, including:

 

  • Gala event, Association of Francophones of Ontario of Greater Sudbury, Sept 24
  • Raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag, University of Sudbury, Sept 25
  • Le French Fest, La Slague, Sept 25
  • The 5th Francophone Symposium, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sept 24-26

 

“I am proud to be a member of the francophone community in this province, and I congratulate all of those people, both French- and English-speaking, who celebrate this event,” said President Giroux.  “I am equally proud of Laurentian University’s long history of leadership in the francophone community.”

 

In 1975, the iconic green and white Franco-Ontarian flag was created at Laurentian University.  Members of the Laurentian community were also central to the development of several important French-language cultural institutions in the Sudbury region, including the publishing house les Éditions Prise de parole, the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario, and the annual music festival La Nuit sur l’Étang. 

 

Through its Office of Francophone Affairs, Laurentian University will partner this year with more than fifty organizations and community groups to support the continuing growth and vigour of the French language and culture.  

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