Daily News

posted on July 9: Support services for academic computing restructured

McMaster is restructuring its computing support services to provide increased support for and dedicated resources to the academic computing needs of the institution. McMaster's Board of Governors approved a plan for the Organization of Academic Computing at McMaster at its June 15 meeting. (The plan was approved by Senate earlier last month.) John Platt, special adviser to the provost and vice-president academic, developed the plan following a survey of the resources and activities involving academic computing at the University. (His Initial Report on Academic Computing came out in January 2001.) "While not being an extremely unique organization, implementation of (this) plan would be a giant step forward for academic computing and teaching support systems at McMaster," writes Platt in his final report. He outlines the many reasons why an increased focus on and reorganization of resources dedicated to academic computing is needed: there is no organized strategic planning for academic computing above the Faculty level; an impressive amount of activity is going on in several pockets of the University but these activities receive woefully inadequate institutional support; McMaster lags behind other institutions in its support for academic computing; McMaster will be unable to sustain its current level of academic computing without serious investment; faculty are not aware of the technological tools available to them. McMaster has fallen three to five years behind many institutions in applying technological tools to the pedagogical mission, Platt writes. With the university facing an increase in student numbers and recruiting new faculty, more support and resources for academic computing will be needed. The plan approved by Board calls for McMaster's Learning Technologies Resource Centre (LTRC), which operates out of the Centre for Leadership in Learning (CLL), to be expanded into a "one-stop shopping centre" to provide academic computing support to faculty. Platt would like it to become a spot where academics could go to get all the information they need about academic computing in addition to providing the necessary technical support. He also sees the resource centre as helping faculty to connect with other resources available through Computing & Information Services (CIS) and Media Production Services (MPS). As part of the new organization, an academic committee will be established to oversee and provide strategic planning for computing issues. The Advisory Committee for Academic Computing (ACAC) will consist of representatives from the various Faculty computing committees and will be chaired by Platt.

posted on July 5: MacShad 2001 students enjoy a taste of university life

Fifty-two outstanding senior high school students arrived at McMaster University this week -- some from as far away as Scotland -- for a month-long immersion into university life. The program, known as Shad Valley -- or lovingly by McMaster students and staff as "MacShad" -- provides senior high school students that have demonstrated excellence in academics, recreation, leadership, and community involvement with the opportunity to expand their minds in the disciplines of engineering, science and entrepreneurship at the university level. A typical day at MacShad starts at 8:30 a.m. with a university-style lecture and an intensive academic workshop followed by an afternoon of academic sessions and a recreational activity. Evening events feature guest speakers from the community, opportunities for artistic expression and time to work on a collaborative team business project. The goal for this year's teams will be to design, build, market and present a product or service that will assist individuals with disabilities. In October, the winning team from each campus will compete at the Royal Bank Shad Entrepreneurship Competition held in Toronto. On Saturday, July 14, MacShad will host a MiniShad day for about 140 local high school students that will give them a chance to learn more about the program and McMaster University. This event will feature team-building activities, workshops, and guest speakers simulating a typical day at Shad. Established in 1981, the Shad Valley program combines a university-based academic and recreational portion with a challenging August work term for about 60 per cent of participants. For the past three years, McMaster has served as one of the host universities for the Shad Valley program, organized through the Shad International central headquarters in Waterloo. Each year, about 800 students compete for about 450 spots available at campuses spanning the country. Shad Valley's primary goal is motivational, to give participants an appreciation of their true potential and to encourage them to strive for the highest levels of achievement. (End of story)