President Nears End of Term
After nearly a decade at the helm, Indira Samarasekera has announced she will end her term as the U of A's 12th president and vice-chancellor on June 30, 2015.
Samarasekera took on the role in July 2005. She led development of Dare to Discover: A Vision for a Great University, which has acted as a guiding force for the university.
In her March announcement, Samarasekera said there is still much work to be done. She reaffirmed her commitment to ongoing academic transformation, administrative efficiencies, culture change and the creation of sustainable financial models with an emphasis on fundraising.
"My focus remains on the vision articulated in Dare to Discover: to inspire the human spirit through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery and citizenship in a creative community, building one of the world's great universities for the public good."
New Trail Earns 11 Awards
New Trail magazine has earned 11 awards so far this year for excellence in writing, design and photography - 10 CASE VIII awards and one AMPA award.
The CASE VIII awards celebrate excellence in marketing and communications for professionals working in post-secondary environments. The group represents 130 member institutions in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. New Trail earned a gold for the Autumn 2013 dinosaur cover illustration (pictured above) by Julius Csotonyi, '98 BSc(Hons), '02 MSc, and a Grand Gold prize honouring contributing photographer John Ulan as Photographer of the Year for his body of work throughout 2013.
Communications professionals across the University of Alberta did well this year, with a total of 20 CASE VIII awards.
New Trail associate editor Sarah Ligon also earned writing recognition from her peers by taking home the silver for Profile Writing at the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association Showcase Awards, which took place in March. The award honoured Ligon's profile of Randy Marsden, '89 BSc(ElecEng), which ran in the Spring 2013 issue.
U of A Tops for Canada Research Chairs
Eleven U of A faculty members recently received Canada Research Chair appointments, renewals or tier advancements worth $12.7 million - the highest total of any university in Canada. The U of A is now home to nearly 100 chair holders across the humanities, social sciences, health and natural sciences and engineering.
U of A Gives Students a Break
Students can look forward to a fall reading week beginning in November 2015. Green and Gold Week, an idea originally put forward by the Students' Union, will be scheduled to coincide with the Remembrance Day holiday.
It is intended to improve students' mental wellness and academic success. Students gave the idea an overwhelming vote of approval in a 2011 plebiscite.
"We are giving the students a break at a time when, frankly, we start seeing students get stressed out and we see some of the highest numbers of visits to our mental health centre," said outgoing Students' Union president Petros Kusmu, '12 BA(Hons).
Bears and Pandas Rack Up Stellar Season
The U of A Golden Bears hockey team won a record-setting 14th Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championship, one of three CIS national championships - Pandas rugby and Bears volleyball also came out on top - and 10 Canada West or regional titles for the Green and Gold. It's the 21st straight year that the U of A has won at least one national championship.
- Matt Gutsch
Farewell Heifer in Your Tank
After 20 performances, 1,042 student participants and 257 agricultural trivia questions, the university has bid a fond adieu to its beloved experiential learning program There's a Heifer in Your Tank. Rooted in the teachings of Animal Science 200, the program challenged undergrad students to give "science answers to quirky questions you never knew you had about animal agriculture." In celebration of the program's 10th anniversary and final community performance on March 26 in Spruce Grove, Alta., here is just one of the many questions posed.
Q: How many sheep would it take to make a wool sweater for each student on the U of A campus?
A: Well … If it takes 818 grams of fleece to knit one sweater … and you can shear an average of 1,814 grams of fleece from one sheep … you could make roughly 2.2 sweaters from one sheep. So, it would take 17,273 sheep to knit a sweater for the U of A's 38,000 students. Not baaa-aaaad, right?
Are you a Heifer in Your Tank alumnus? Visit our Facebook page to share your favourite HIYT story or tell us about the professor that inspired you.
We at New Trail welcome your comments. Robust debate and criticism are encouraged, provided it is respectful. We reserve the right to reject comments, images or links that attack ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation; that include offensive language, threats, spam; are fraudulent or defamatory; infringe on copyright or trademarks; and that just generally aren’t very nice. Discussion is monitored and violation of these guidelines will result in comments being disabled.