A growing reputation for excellence and innovation
President’s report to the Board
At the December 10 Board meeting, President Alan Shepard provided a brief overview of key institutional projects, including the Webster Library Transformation Project that is being launched in January and the new student information system, which goes live at the end of January.
He also mentioned that Concordia continues to make inroads in national and international rankings. For example, the university’s MBA program was ranked 20th among international programs by Bloomberg Businessweek in the 2014 edition of its annual “Best Business Schools”. The program was ranked among the top 100 in the world in The Economist’s “Which MBA?” survey.
Concordia also advanced in the 2014 Maclean’s University Rankings, gaining two spots from last year to rank 11th in a field of 15 comprehensive universities. One of the strongest gains was in the “Medical/Science Grants” category, with Concordia moving to seventh place from 10th.
A recent major gift of $1 million from the National Bank will benefit students: the funding will support the creation of the National Bank Initiative in Entrepreneurship and Family Business at the John Molson School of Business.
Launch of a dialogue on Concordia’s future
Work is progressing on an initiative to identify future strategic directions for the university, including a spring conference on the future of higher education. President Shepard said a working group has been established to oversee the process, which will be officially launched in mid-January. This group includes members from the steering committees of Senate and the Academic Planning and Priorities Committee as well as elected student leaders and representatives from all four Faculties and the research community.
A brainstorming session held at the December 5 Senate meeting generated lively, small-group discussions, serving as a starting point for people to explore the question, “What should be the strategic directions for Concordia over the next five to 10 years?”
Celebrating the Success of Concordia’s Research Program
Graham Carr, the vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies, provided a broad overview of the university’s research activities, noting that Concordia has made great strides to enhance its reputation for excellence and innovation in research. This includes being recognized as a national leader in smart-building engineering, an international leader in the arts and research creation, and a leader in the fast emerging field of synthetic biology.
“In the last 10 years, the university has re-oriented its approach to the hiring of faculty, placing a greater emphasis on the importance of research productivity and graduate supervision,” he said. “This has led to a major cultural shift whereby the university is doing more to cultivate leaders and nurture a cohort of faculty members who, as principal investigators, dare to think big, aspire to lead, and engage in groundbreaking research that makes a difference for our society.”
Three leading Concordia researchers briefly spoke about their respective research projects that are, according to Carr, “cementing the university’s reputation as a research-intensive university that is making a difference in the lives of all Canadians.”
Kim Sawchuk, a Concordia University Research Chair (Tier 1), professor in Concordia’s Department of Communication Studies, and co-director of the Mobile Media Lab, spoke about her seven-year project, Ageing, Communication, Technologies (ACT): Experiencing a Digital World In Later Life. This is the first large-scale initiative of its kind to address the transformation of the experiences of aging in networked societies.
Christian Moreau, Canada Research Chair in Thermal Spray and Surface Engineering (Tier 1) and a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, provided highlights of his work in the development and industrial application of nano-structured coating materials and the building of a $1.8 million thermal spray facility at Concordia.
Adrian Tsang, a biology professor and director of the Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, shared highlights of his research to develop environmentally sustainable technologies to move from a fossil-fuel based economy to a bio-economy based on converting plant material into energy. Among other things, this involves isolating the proteins involved in the process that converts woody biomass into simple sugars. These sugars are the basic blocks required to build the advanced biofuels and biochemicals that can turn agricultural and urban waste into products and energy.
Re-appointment of committee member approved
The Board approved the re-appointment of Danièle Berthiaume to the Employee Benefits Committee for a term beginning on January 1, 2015 and ending on December 31, 2016.
Student club gets green light to use Concordia in its name
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Concordia received Board approval to use Concordia in its name. The society, whose members include undergraduate students in Engineering and Computer Science, designs and builds quadcopters, and plans to participate in conferences and competitions.
Fee levies for student clubs approved
Following the results of a CSU referendum in November 2014, the Board authorized the collection of an increased fee of $3 per credit (an increase of $0.65) from all undergraduate students in the John Molson School of Business (JMSB) for the school’s case competition program. The Board also authorized the collection a new fee levy of $0.07 from all undergraduate students for the Model United Nations Education and Leadership Centre.
Following a request from the CSU, the Board authorized the continuation of the suspension of the collection of a fee levy from all undergraduate students to support L’Organe.
Find out more about the leading research of Christian Moreau, Kim Sawchuck and Adrian Tsang on Explore Concordia.