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Two photos of students mirrored by colourful sillouettes

Participation and enrolment, Students, Tuition and student fees, Universities and the academic mission

Knowing Your Undergraduates

Ken Steele

With career-oriented students seeking variety in their university experiences, universities are diversifying their appeal. The downsides are often talked about, but this evolution could well help universities in regions of population decline survive, while offering students clearer choices among a broader range of educational options.

Students

Editorial Matters – Understanding University Students

Mark Rosenfeld

“Who are today’s university students?” The answer to that question is not so neatly encapsulated in a simple response. Ken Steele notes […]

Research and innovation

Humour Matters – Plagiarism: How about a Canada Research Chair in Surveillance?

Steve Penfold

By now, students probably think all my courses are about plagiarism. I seem to talk about it constantly: reviewing its definition, enumerating […]

Man with megaphone opposite to a twitter bird, both standing on towers

Teaching and learning, Technology

Bridging the Digital Divide

Joan Flaherty

A Non-Technical Approach to the Use of New Technology in Post-Secondary Teaching and Learning.

Governance

Editorial Matters – The Road Ahead

Mark Rosenfeld

A university cancels a public lecture by an outspoken academic due to political pressure. A job offer at a prestigious research institute is rescinded in response to the opposition of a large, corporate sponsor. Police arrest demonstrators at a debate on one the flashpoints of regional geo-politics. A decision with far-reaching academic implications is taken with only perfunctory reference to collegial governance. A university’s strategic plan uses the corporate sector as a model, with the aim of maximizing growth, marketability and profit.

Humour

Humour Matters – Sabbatical Time

Steve Penfold

In an odd and unpredictable way, the Olympics saved my first sabbatical. I mean, I had great plans for my first sabbatical. No lectures to churn out, no essays to mark, no exams to set, no emails to return – just time to think, read, and write. But it wasn’t going to be all work. No sir. I figured it would be long lunches, real coffee breaks (you know, where you actually take a break!), walks in the afternoon, and even the occasional nap. Sabbatical would be like an adult version of daycare and, if anything went wrong, I could just go to the quiet area for a time out.

Arts and culture, Politics

An academic life: Peter Dale Scott

David MacGregor

Scion of one of Canada’s most noted intellectual families — his father F.R. Scott: poet, founder of the CCF, McGill Dean of […]

Man holding up a photo of another man's face in front of his own face

Academic mentorship, Teaching and learning

Acting Out of Character in the Immortal Profession: Toward a Free Trait Agreement

Brian R. Little

Sometimes, the academic life demands that faculty deny their fundamental personality traits. But if collegial respect includes allowing colleagues the latitude to nurture their true characters, academics can survive and thrive amidst the challenges of academic life.

Equity and social justice, Teaching and learning

The Queer Agenda on Campus: Invisible? Stalled? Incomplete?

David Rayside

For universities to become truly inclusive, sexual orientation and gender identity have to be fully incorporated into the employment equity agenda, argues the University of Toronto’s David Rayside.