March 28, 2007
University of New Brunswick in Fredericton MBA Students Compete in National Competition
A team made up of MBA students from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton will compete this month in the IBK Capital - Ivey Business Plan Competition at the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ont. The competition, taking place March 30 and 31, is Canada's largest MBA business plan competition. VerifyRx, was selected as one of the top 12 innovative business ideas from all across Canada. The two-year old New Brunswick company was founded by UNBF MBA students Rob Morrow, Karen Freeman, and Edgar Gallibois. They are looking to commercialize their technology which is designed to help pharmacists quickly verify prescriptions by determining the potential risk of abuse. "VerifyRx is proud to represent UNB, the faculty of business administration, and the province at this national event, and we are very thankful for all the support it has received," said Edgar Gallibois president and chief operating officer of VerifyRx. "Prescription drug abuse is a very large problem that affects not only New Brunswick, but all of North America. We believe that there is a significant opportunity to help people by reducing the problem of prescription drug abuse and creating a successful business." VerifyRx will also compete at the local New Brunswick Innovation Foundation Student Entrepreneurship competition later this month.
Source: University of New Brunswick
March 23, 2007
University of Alberta: Arts and Law Deans reappointed
The University of Alberta Board of Governors today announced the reappointments of Daniel Woolf and David Percy as Deans of Arts and Law respectively. Woolf has been reappointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts for another five-year term effective July 1, 2008. Dr. Woolf will take administrative leave July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Gurston Dacks will be acting dean during this time. Woolf joined the university as Dean of Arts in 2002. Prior to this he was the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and professor of history at McMaster University. He taught at Queen's University and Bishop's University before joining Dalhousie University's history department in 1987. While at Dalhousie, Woolf also served as associate dean and then acting dean of graduate studies. A specialist in early modern British cultural history and in the history of historical thought and writing in Britain and around the world, Woolf has been associate editor of and contributor to the mammoth Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. In 2006, Woolf was elected to the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Social Sciences) and in 2005 was inducted as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He received his Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. Percy has been reappointed Dean of the Faculty of Law for another five-year term effective July 1, 2007. Percy has been with the university since 1969 and was appointed Dean and the Wilbur Fee Bowker Professor in 2002. He has been Visiting Legal Research Scientist to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Wolfson College, Oxford University. Percy has also worked with the United Nations on water law issues in five African countries. He is a recipient of the university's Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the WPM Kennedy Award for superior ability, dedication and outstanding merit as a law teacher in Canada and the Tevie Miller Award for teaching excellence. Percy is Queen's Council and a member of the Law Society of Alberta. He received his MA in Jurisprudence from Oxford and LLM from the University of Virginia. The University of Alberta in Edmonton is one of the top 100 teaching and research universities in the world serving some 36,000 students with more than 11,000 faculty and staff. Founded almost a century ago, the university has an annual budget in excess of $1 billion and attracts more than $400 million in external research funding. The university offers close to 400 undergraduate and graduate programs in 18 faculties.
Source: University of Alberta
March 9, 2007
University of British Columbia: MBA Students Host Social Change Business Expo in Vancouver; Commemorates Inaugural Year of MBA Specialization in Sustainability and Business at Sauder School of Business
MBA students from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia are partnering with the Community Experience Initiative to present the 5th Annual Leadership & Social Change Career Fair on March 16 in Vancouver. The students, members of the Sauder chapter of the sustainability focused-organization Net Impact, have invited Bob Elton, CEO of BC Hydro, to give the keynote address. This year, the event coincides with the Sauder School of Business celebrating the launch of its new MBA specialization in sustainability & business. It will bring together over 100 MBA students from Sauder and other regional schools with organizations that are leaders in social and environmental practices for workshops, a career fair, and a networking reception. The career fair will feature approximately 20 prominent organizations, and will be followed by a cocktail reception. Organizations confirmed for the event include: B.C. Hydro, Real Living Solutions, The Vancouver Aquarium, Volunteer Vancouver, The Community Experience Initiative, Coast Foundation, The UBC Sustainability Office, The Canadian Mental Health Association, Starworks, Charity Village, and many others. Expo Celebrates First Year of Sustainability-focused MBA at Sauder School of Business: This year's launch of a MBA program with a specialization in Sustainability and Business by the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia underscores a fundamental change in today's business and government environment: Businesses of all kinds now find their corporate ethics and their environmental impact held up to scrutiny by governments, consumers, and shareholders. The inaugural program offers 2006-2007 MBA students a business education in the realms of environmental economics, sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility. "Given that UBC is an international leader in research and practice in sustainability, and that Vancouver features a world-class concentration of research and development centers on sustainable energy, we think we have some unique advantages," says Dale Griffin, Senior Associate Dean at the Sauder School of Business. "Students in this program benefit from the expertise within the Sauder School, across the university in related faculties such as engineering, forestry, and urban planning, and from local, national, and international partnerships". The specialization was created through an initial collaboration between the Sauder School of Business and the UBC Faculty of Forestry. Both faculties have seen increased demand from industry, alumni and prospective students for graduate education that recognizes the convergence of business management and leadership skills with environmentally and socially sustainable practices. "The goal of achieving sustainable development is arguably the greatest challenge mankind has ever faced," says Peter Nemetz, Sauder School of Business professor, coordinator for the MBA specialization in sustainability and business, and author of "Bringing Business On Board: Sustainable Development and the B-School Curriculum". "Only with the active engagement of the business community is there any realistic hope that our economic, social, and ecological systems can achieve sustainability." The specialization consists of nine required modules, ranging from cost-benefit analysis to business ethics to global environment issues. It also includes a number of elective modules, which allow the student to pursue selected issues such as nonprofit management, environmental marketing, and social entrepreneurship with greater depth. Industry presenters to the inaugural MBA specialization play a pivotal role in delivering real-world focus to the program. They will include sustainability leaders from organizations such as Shell Canada, The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), and Catalyst Paper Corporation - formerly NorskeCanada. The Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia is Canada's leading academic business school. Recognized globally for its contributions to management practice through innovative research and teaching, the school is dedicated to opening worlds of opportunities for its students, alumni and associated communities.
Source: The University of British Columbia
March 5, 2007
University of Alberta breaks ground on innovative science building
The Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta broke ground on the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) today, marking the beginning of construction of what will become the faculty's flagship building. The government of Alberta is contributing $285 million over the next three years to the project. Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology, said that this expansion of the province's post-secondary education system is essential to meet the needs of our growing knowledge-based industries. "Skilled and highly qualified people are key elements in a prosperous economy. The centre will provide an unprecedented learning experience to an increased number of science students, fulfilling career dreams and yielding far-reaching benefits to Albertans' quality of life," Horner said. The CCIS building will enable the faculty and the university to achieve several goals. It will increase the faculty's ability to meet the continued and unprecedented demand for access to science education. The faculty will be able to accommodate 1,100 more undergraduate students and 478 more graduate students. At the same time, 57 new faculty positions will be created. A unique feature of the facility is that it will house five interdisciplinary research teams, one of the few buildings in the world to do so, creating the infrastructure necessary to enhance and facilitate collaborative interdisciplinary research between departments. "We are building the most advanced centre for interdisciplinary science research in Canada. CCIS will be a key factor to driving innovation and remaining globally competitive. With world-class researchers and the facility to support their work, our strengths will elevate the University of Alberta and our province to a new level of ground breaking discoveries and recognition," said Indira Samarasekera, President of the University of Alberta. The Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Research is being built on a prominent site, on the north end of the campus' quadrangle. The building will be subject to the "LEED" Green Building Measurement System as administered by the Canadian Green Building Council. The centre will respect and complement the architecture of nearby historical buildings. "This building is the future of science education and research," said Dr. Gregory Taylor, dean of the Faculty of Science. "It will enable us to meet the teaching, research and technology transfer needs of the Faculty of Science for the next 10 years." In addition to housing the Faculty of Science's general offices, the new facility will be the home of the Department of Physics.
Source: University of Alberta
March, 2007
The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine: Naturopathic Student Wins Scholarship and Dreams of Helping Patients Become Healthy
Gillian Flower, a second-year student at The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), has earned some well-deserved support to help her reach her goal of becoming a naturopathic doctor and teaching people how to be healthier. Flower is one of only two naturopathic students to receive a $4,500 academic scholarship offered by American Specialty Health. The scholarship is open to students in all five of North America's accredited colleges of naturopathic medicine. With the extra money to help pay for her tuition, Flower can concentrate on learning how to be a naturopathic doctor (ND). And after graduating in another few years, she'll be ready to share her knowledge and enrich her patients' lives. Flower has always loved helping people by teaching them. "I went to university thinking that I'd be a teacher," says Flower," and now I will be, although outside of the conventional setting." But instead of attending teachers' college, Flower pursued her passion for teaching by working with environmental organizations. "It felt great to get paid to talk to people face-to-face about environmental issues," says Flower, recalling her part-time positions as a canvasser. "I was educating people, and doing something good for the world." In 1996, she started working part-time at Grassroots, an environmental retail store. She loved the sense of contributing to the world through environmental education, and began to recognize an overlap between health and the environment. "We had customers who couldn't use conventional fabrics or cleaning products. People would come in with rashes and breathing problems from perfumes." She accepted the position of general manager of Grassroots, excited by the prospect of having "personal contact with people, and knowing I was making a difference in their lives." But when Flower was promoted to acting president for a year, her workload intensified, and she found herself in a desk job with little public interaction. "My work had become more administrative, and I realized I wasn't happy," Flower recalls. "Seeing people and seeing the effects of my work is what feeds me and motivates me." In November of 2003, Flower took a break to travel and reflect on her future. After researching her options, she realized that being an ND would allow her to teach people about the link between their health and their personal environments. By October 2004 she had made the decision to become a naturopathic doctor. "Naturopathic medicine will allow me to teach, counsel, do bodywork and help people be well. That's how I ended up here at CCNM." Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are primary healthcare practitioners. The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine educates, develops and trains naturopathic doctors through excellence in health education, clinical services and research that integrate mind, body and spirit. Interns at CCNM's Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic improve their patients' health by identifying and treating the underlying causes of illness, integrating acupuncture/Asian medicine, botanical medicine, nutrition, homeopathic medicine, hydrotherapy/massage and lifestyle counselling.
Source: Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Ontario
