Weekly News Roundup

UNIONS | INSTITUTIONS | GOVERNMENT

Join CUFA BC each week for a roundup of news in BC’s post-secondary sector

Six unions from the University of Victoria presented a letter Monday urging the province to put an end to years of budget cuts. The letter, handed to Post-Secondary Education Minister Lisa Beare when she visited the university to speak with student and faculty representatives, voiced concern about an estimated $13-million operating budget cut in the upcoming fiscal year that could see more than 100 positions eliminated across the university. UVic Faculty Association president Monica Prendergast said the minister made no commitments during their meeting, but the two parties were able to talk through some of the issues listed in the letter.

BC | Times Colonist | Joint Letter

Simon Fraser University is continuing to trim its athletic department nearly one year after axing the school’s football program. In February, the school dismissed its entire sports and information department, a team of three people responsible for fielding media requests and promoting the athletic department on social media, among other duties. The job losses come as the school is expected to slash all department budgets by five to eight per cent this year due to a lack of revenue, higher costs and a lower than expected international student enrolment.

BC | University Affairs

British Columbia’s three interior universities have strengthened their commitment to research and innovation by extending their partnership with the Interior Universities Research Coalition (IURC). The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Thompson Rivers University (TRU) and the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO) announced on Thursday they’ve renewed their Memorandum of Understanding for an additional five years. Since its inception in 2017, the IURC has boosted research initiatives throughout the BC interior. The coalition has secured nearly $8 million in funding for joint research projects and fostered collaboration between the universities.

BC | Castanet | UBC | UNBC | TRU

A first-of-its-kind in Canada ultradeep geothermal (UDG) research facility at Royal Roads University (RRU) was given three donations totalling over $3 million on April 23. The Cascade Institute program at RRU program focuses on geothermal systems hidden in dry, hot rocks five to 10 kilometres beneath the earth’s surface. “There’s enough energy beneath us to power the entire world thousands of times over indefinitely into the future, enabling any kind of society humanity may want to build. This energy is close by but hard to get to. The Cascade Institute is working to tap that power,” said Thomas Homer-Dixon, Cascade Institute executive director.

BC | Goldstream Gazette

UVic has become one of only 14 post-secondary institutions in the world to reach a STARS Platinum sustainability rating. The ranking celebrates UVic’s holistic approach to sustainability and how it’s integrated in everything we do. STARS is a global framework for reporting, comparing and incentivizing sustainability in all sectors of higher education. The university’s new STARS platinum rating is one of our three key Campus Sustainability Action Plan targets, reached 3 years early. The Plan sets out three key targets for the university: reduce campus operations greenhouse gas emissions; achieve Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) Platinum rating certification; and, each year, advance our UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

BC | UVic

It’s been 17 years since the Northern Medical Program at UNBC began churning out medical doctors. This week, 35 graduates from the class of 2024 gathered on the steps of the UNBC campus to show off their white coats and name shingles that signify the start of their medical careers. Twenty of this year’s class are about to enter family medicine residency programs and many of those will be focused on training in rural medicine working in smaller cities.

BC | PG Citizen

A group of environmental science students at Royal Roads University are on a mission. They’re taking a closer look at Hatley and Colwood creeks as part of their eight-month hands-on environmental consulting project that runs through August this year. Checking water flow and quality is one way of assessing the health of the aquatic habitat and fish are a good sign that a creek’s ecosystem is intact and healthy. This water monitoring project builds upon previous research efforts from 2019 which will provide them valuable historical data to better understand the state of the ecosystems amidst the environmental changes brought about by climate change.

BC | Chek News

DeDe DeRose was formally installed as Thompson Rivers University’s fourth chancellor in a ceremony on April 23. DeRose was born in Williams Lake to a Secwépemc family and is a member of the Esk’etemc First Nation. She has long been an advocate for Indigenous education with a distinguished career that includes serving as an educator and principal within Kamloops-Thompson School District 73 and tenure as B.C.’s first superintendent of Aboriginal Achievement.

BC | TRU

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was at the University of Victoria on Friday highlighting $4.6 billion earmarked in the federal budget for research as well as supports for millennials and GenZs. Trudeau toured the university’s CanAssist wing of the CARSA building to hear from science and engineering students and faculty about their latest research, before giving a brief budget address.

BC | UVic | Times Colonist

How is generative artificial intelligence (AI) impacting teaching and learning? Though instructors at SFU are responding in different ways, one thing they agree on is that the impacts of this technology need to be addressed head-on. Faculty are building AI into assignments, using it as a tool for marking, and teaching generative AI literacy. To discuss these and other issues related to generative AI,  join the next offering of SFU’s AI Community of Practice (AI COP) for the SFU Teaching Community on May 15. The AI COP is a monthly online discussion for instructors hosted by the Centre for Educational Excellence on how generative AI is changing the way we think about teaching and learning.

BC | SFU

Learner preferences and characteristics in B.C. higher education have undergone significant changes in recent years. In this spring workshop commemorating ETUG’s 30th anniversary, we will explore the interaction between our educational ecosystem and the various technologies driving change. The focus will be on practical issues, solutions, and real technology-related challenges facing post-secondary education. The workshop takes place on May 9-10.

BC | BCcampus

The BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) cover different immigration pathways enabling foreign nationals to become Canadian Permanent Residents in BC. The PNP is strategically designed to attract immigrants to work in industries that will benefit the province, with different profiles like skilled workers, workers in sectors with labour shortages, entrepreneurs, and investors. BC held draws for skills immigration invitations in targeted sectors.

BC | Canadim

Aftab Erfan (Simon Fraser University) has penned an article for The Conversation about the importance and limitations of campus dialogues. Reflecting on his experiences negotiating deep conflicts on campus such as between student groups during the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, Erfan describes how he brought students with opposing viewpoints together in dialogue. The author describes using a group agreement that outlined how groups of students with opposing viewpoints would acknowledge each other, what labels and language they would or would not use, and even the pizza that they would order if the conversation went past a certain point of time. Erfan concludes by noting that while these conversations are not always appropriate nor a cure-all, “the capacity to be together is important to pick up while we are students.”

BC | The Conversation

The federal government tabled its budget on April 16, 2024, promising increased spending on research funding that will benefit academic staff and strengthen the post-secondary education community. Budget 2024 focuses on making student life and housing more affordable and provides funds for research and innovation. Graduate student scholarships and post-doctoral fellowships will receive a much-needed increase. The other landmark research announcement had to do with the creation of a new advisory council on science and innovation. It will be tasked with developing a national science and innovation strategy to help set priorities and increase the impact of federal investments in the sector. More student housing has been promised as well as greater student loan flexibility.

National | University Affairs | CAUT

Marie Woolf of the Globe and Mail reports that asylum claims from international students have increased by nearly 650% in the past five years. Many colleges have witnessed a particularly steep rise in asylum claims numbers since 2018, reports Woolf, with major universities showing fewer claims. In conversations with various immigration experts and critics, Woolf highlights concerns about the exploitation of the study permit program as a way to enter Canada and the use of refugee claims as a last effort to stay in Canada. Migrant Workers Alliance for Change Executive Director Syed Hussan pointed out that many students have claimed asylum due to changing political circumstances in their home countries.

National | The Globe and Mail

New pageview data from StudyPortals shows that more restrictive immigration policies in Canada, the UK and Australia have dampened interest from internationally-mobile prospective undergraduate and graduate students around the world. Interest in CdnPSE appears to have declined almost 30% since its peak in 2022. Notably, while interest in Canadian bachelors’ and masters’ programs has been declining, interst in PhD programs has been increasing steadily for the past year.

National | Eduvation Circles

Most faculty union contracts make no mention of artificial intelligence, but rising concerns about faculty autonomy and job security are starting to shape discussions about labor protections.

International | Inside Higher Ed