Manitoba Post-Secondary News Roundup

Across the province, Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions have reached or are reaching ‘post-secondary summer.’ But, as usual, that doesn’t mean things have slowed down any at our partner institutions. We’ve got the latest and greatest in this month’s Roundup. Did you miss last month? Check it out here.

Mary Jane McCallum Named BU’s First-Ever Indigenous, Female Chancellor

The new formal head of Brandon University is a dentist, passionate health care and social justice advocate, and Canadian Senator. And, she has been officially installed as Brandon University’s first Indigenous and female Chancellor.

Mary Jane McCallum, of Cree heritage and a citizen of the Barren Lands First Nation, is the formal head of BU, lending guidance and wisdom to the University’s Board of Governors and Senate.

“The honour I am receiving is not through individual effort but represents a culmination of all the people who have been involved in my life and the profound impact they have had on me,” said Chancellor McCallum.

New ACC Program Offers Training in Home Inspection

Assiniboine Community College has teamed with Carson Dunlop to provide an online Home Inspection program, commencing next month.

The unique, fully-online program trains participants with the technical expertise and skills required to conduct visual exams of residential building areas to a high standard.

“Graduates have the option to become professional consultants as an independent business owner or join larger inspection companies,” said Tannis James, ACC’s Director of Continuing Studies.

Book Written by UCN Alumna to be Shared Across Manitoba

A book written by Brie Phillips, UCN Alumna, Teacher, and Author, will soon be found on library shelves across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Phillips graduated from UCN’s Kenanow Bachelor of Education program in The Pas. Her book is aimed at students in the middle years (grades 5-8) and was written to represent Kenanow (Cree for “all of us”), and as an assignment in her UCN program.

“[It] eloquently and beautifully reminds the reader of importance of connections – connections to each other, connections to our ancestors, and our connections to the land.” said Ann Barbour‐Stevenson, the UCN Kenanow faculty member who assigned the book project.

USB Offers Up Summer Learning Opportunity for French Language Skills

A summer (and virtual) campaign at Universite de Saint-Boniface is available for learners to explore French from a distance.

Rolling out through July, the program offers nine different levels of theme-based, interactive classes. The sessions cover vocabulary, sentence structure, and pronunciation, communication strategies, and Francophone culture.

Registration takes place online.

RRC Tapped for Exchange-Based Pilot Program

Red River College has been selected by the Government of Canada to take part in an innovative pilot project aimed at getting more students involved in international exchange opportunities.

The Outbound Student Mobility Program, designed and administered by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CiCan), was launched last year, but quickly had to shift focus when the world went virtual because of COVID-19. Raeanne Hebert, Business Information Technology (BIT) instructor at RRC, was instrumental in pivoting the geographic exchange into a virtual one. Through the program, RRC’s BIT students have collaborated virtually with learners in Brazil, on a wide range of technical projects.

“When it comes to the future of IT, innovation is 1,000 percent important. Exchanges like these help our students learn how other countries do things. They teach us innovative solutions to the problems we all face,” said Hebert.

UM Recognized for Adaptability and Creativity

The University of Manitoba has won a Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE) Prix d’Excellence Gold Award for Best Public Relations/Marketing/Communications Initiative, for their offering of last year’s Spring Convocation.  

One of four such awards given to UM, this one takes on a particular resonance, given how rapidly all post-secondary institutions had to shift to online offerings last spring. Most unfortunately, the shift deprived graduates of the important moment of crossing the stage as grads.

“The pandemic has challenged us to do nearly everything differently, and these national awards demonstrate that the UM community has stepped up to create meaningful, engaging, world-class work and opportunities despite the obstacles,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Michael Benarroch.

UW Charging Ahead with Support for Work-Integrated Learning in the Arts

Eleven University of Winnipeg Faculty of Arts students from underrepresented and underserved communities were recipients of the new Bursary for Curricular Work-Integrated Learning in Arts this academic year.

This past winter, Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) Canada introduced a new initiative to enable and promote curricular work-integrated learning opportunities at universities during the 2020-21 academic year. Nyala Ali, Experiential Learning and Internship Coordinator with the Faculty of Arts, prepared an application and received $10,000 in funding to support students.

“This initiative is meant to support low-income, working, or otherwise economically marginalized students for whom hands-on professional experience and networking would be especially helpful,” said Ali.

Campus Manitoba is a consortium of Manitoba’s public universities and colleges. Through collaborative projects and shared services, we facilitate student mobility and expand access to post-secondary programs for students in Manitoba. In addition to campusmanitoba.ca, our websites include ecoursesmb.ca, setyourcourse.ca, and openedmb.ca.