Daily News

Posted on Dec. 23: Honour awards bolster enrolment planning

McMaster has admitted a bright double cohort class. Of the 5,334 first-year students who came to McMaster this year, more than ever received an Honour Awards scholarship given to entering students who earn 80 per cent and over in their final year of secondary school. In fact, McMaster's entering student population is getting brighter every year. In 2000, when McMaster introduced the awards program, 52 per cent of its entering class received a scholarship. This year, 81 per cent were eligible and 3,944 awards were distributed. "The honour awards are a success story at McMaster," said vice-president academic Fred Hall. Under the program, high school graduates who earn 80 per cent and over in their final year of secondary school and who choose to attend McMaster will automatically receive an award.

Posted on Dec. 19: Enormous national reaction to $105-million gift

From coast to coast, the reaction to the announcement that McMaster is receiving a $105-million gift for its medical school, is almost as great as the donation itself. "A gift so huge has as much shock impact as it does the ability to understand it," says John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences. For him, the realization of it is still sinking in. "I still haven't realized it. It's historic." So what has the external reaction been to the "historic" $105-million gift from Canadian businessman and philanthropist Michael G. DeGroote? "Consistently enormous enthusiasm," sums up Kelton. "That would be it in a nutshell." And envy, he adds. "I have been hearing great enthusiasm and great envy from deans across the country. People are saying 'we can't believe it, we find it wonderfully exciting'." On Dec. 17, in the McMaster University Student Centre marketplace, approximately 1,000 people gathered to hear DeGroote announce he is giving McMaster the largest cash gift in Canadian history. The $105-million donation will be divided between a $64-million endowment fund, supporting education, health care and medical research in perpetuity and a $41-million capital fund directed to construction and outfitting of laboratories and hospital units. The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University will be the first Canadian medical school to bear the name of a benefactor. McMaster President Peter George has received letters from University presidents congratulating and thanking McMaster for raising the bar. "That is the message that resonates through virtually all of the universities in the country," he says. "It sends a very positive and encouraging signal to donors that their gifts are important."

Posted on Dec. 17: Furniture standardization program a first in Ontario

McMaster has once again assumed the role pioneer'. The University is the first in Ontario to administer a furniture standardization program, where all furniture purchased for McMaster will be dealt with through one central dealer. All furniture - such as seating, lab items, desks, but excluding classroom seating will be purchased through Lordly Jones, a local dealer that will purchase furniture from manufacturers in Canada and deliver items to McMaster at a reduced cost. "The University has grown significantly over the past number of years and will continue to grow," says Terry Galan, director of Purchasing Resources. One of the new buildings that will require furniture is the Centre for Learning and Discovery.