Daily News

Posted on Oct. 30: Hamilton’s bid for 2010 Commonwealth Games includes McMaster

The City of Hamilton launched its bid today to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, naming McMaster University as one of its partners. Click here to visit the City of Hamilton's Commonwealth Games site. "This is an exciting chance not only to work closely with the City to bring the very best to Hamilton, but also to create a legacy for McMaster," says McMaster President Peter George. "The opportunity to transform our athletics facilities would greatly enhance our ability to attract the best students and faculty, and to provide world-class athletic centres for students, faculty, staff and the community." The University of Calgary and University of Manitoba are examples of other universities that have greatly benefited from hosting international sporting events, he says. "I firmly believe that a University that has ambitions to be a national and international leader must look beyond its own borders to find the opportunities that will help propel it to new heights of success. The Commonwealth Games are one such opportunity for McMaster." Hamilton is not alone in the race for the 2010 games. Halifax also plans to make a bid. The first step in the lengthy process is Hamilton's official entry, which happened today. Early in the new year the winner of the Canadian competition will be chosen, and that municipality will then proceed to the international round of competition.

Posted on Oct. 30: CPEC hosting Continuing Your Education Fair today

Eight out of every 10 students that visit a career counselor in the Career Planning and Employment Centre (CPEC) are looking to further their education beyond McMaster, according to CPEC stats. That's one reason Heather Hines, CPEC events and marketing co-ordinator, feels today's Continuing Your Education Fair is so valuable. "The Continuing Your Education Fair offers students the chance to speak with admissions and liaison personnel about the programs they have to offer," says Hines. "A great number of McMaster students are interested in further studies after their first degree, so the fair brings some of the possibilities right to their doorstep." More than 50 schools will participate in the fair on Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the atrium of the McMaster University Student Centre, including a school from the United Kingdom. For a list of the participating organizations visit http://careers.mcmaster.ca/cont_ed_fair_2002/students.htm CPEC's newest publication Staying in school a little longer... The Ultimate Ontario Guide to Continuing Your Education, is also being launched today. "The book is a comprehensive resource detailing more than 300 programs in Ontario that students can enroll in upon completion of a degree," says Hines. The book will be for sale at the fair and is available to students for $3.

Posted on Oct. 30: McMaster moves up to 7th place on $100M club research ranking

McMaster University has made a dramatic move up on two national top 10 lists that rank research income and intensity at Canadian universities. Sponsored research at the University grew significantly in 2001, moving from $106.9 million in 2000 to $184.4 million. The increase moved the University from tenth to seventh position in a national ranking of universities with more than $100 million in research income. The University also moved into third place from seventh position on the top 10 list ranking universities by research intensity, defined as research dollars per full-time faculty position. In 2001, McMaster averaged $197,000 per faculty position, up from $117,600 in the previous year. The rankings are part of the Top 50 Research Universities report that was published Tuesday by Research Infosource Inc. from data collected by Statistics Canada. Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research & international affairs, said that this significant increase in income is directly related to McMaster's outstanding faculty and their aggressive approach to research.

Posted on Oct. 30: State of the City address cites McMaster as a catalyst to the city’s future

Hamilton mayor Bob Wade delivered his second annual State of the City address at the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. In his address, he cites McMaster as a key element in the future growth of Hamilton and downtown. In biotechnology, he says, the City's economic development department, in conjunction with McMaster, has formed a steering committee to oversee plans for a biotechnology incubator and a biotech strategy for the city. "We want to greatly ramp up our partnership with McMaster. They will be a key catalyst to the future of this city," he says. "McMaster and our other academic institutions are as important as the airport and the harbour in the future direction of the city." Click here for the full address.

Posted on Oct. 28: Two McMaster teams first recipients of Learning Innovation Grants

Two outstanding teams of teachers are the inaugural recipients of the Imperial Oil Departmental Learning Innovation grants. Carolyn Eyles and Susan Vajoczki from the School of Geography & Geology and Margaret Denton, Christopher Justice and Anju Joshi from the Undergraduate Degree Studies in Gerontology Program were awarded the grants for projects that will change the way undergraduate education is delivered in their departments. The awards are for three years and are worth about $100,000. Dale Roy, executive director of the Centre for Leadership in Learning, said the projects that were chosen for the first awards clearly demonstrated how they would change the way students are taught their disciplines in their departments. "We tend to do course development individually," said Roy. "This is a different way of approaching courses, how they're designed, delivered, collaborated on within a department." One of the goals of the initiative is to "build a culture of collaboration," Roy added.