President’s Report to the Board of Governors (Sept. 2018)
Reputational and Community Highlights
Click here to view a PDF version of the report.
Minister McKenna visits Carleton three times
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna came to the university three times recently to announce new funding for sustainable transportation and autonomous vehicle initiatives, to visit a pair of summer STEM camps for youth, and to announce $350,000 in funding for a Carleton research project that aims to help the construction industry design and build more energy-efficient buildings.
Onley Initiative launched
At the end of August, Carleton hosted the launch of the David C. Onley Initiative for Employment and Enterprise Development, which is aimed at developing knowledge, resources and tools to help students with disabilities advance their careers. The two-year $5-million Onley Initiative is funded by the province and was created to increase employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for post-secondary students with disabilities. It is the first project contributing to the Education City initiative, a partnership between Carleton, Algonquin College, La Cité collégiale and the University of Ottawa to develop more integrated “stackable” academic programs and shared research shops to help find solutions to challenges faced by businesses, non-profits and governments.
Minister Cho highlights accessibility at Carleton
Ontario’s Minister of Seniors and Accessibility, Raymond Cho, toured Carleton for a firsthand look at how accessibility and inclusiveness are handled at the university. The August 22 tour was organized by Carleton’s Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities. It was designed to highlight, celebrate and cultivate Carleton’s expertise, leadership and collaboration with the community to create greater accessibility and a more inclusive world.
Welcome back and orientation week
A pair of full-capacity community breakfasts hosted by the President, another spirited residence move-in weekend, a full slate of orientation week activities and Throwback — which brought thousands of alumni to campus for a series of events from September 10 to 17 — welcomed students, faculty and staff back to Carleton for the new academic year. The annual President’s Golf Tournament on August 20 raised $140,000 for athletic scholarships.
Senior Appointments
Tim Lott was named Carleton’s Assistant Vice-President (Information Technology Services) and Chief Information Officer effective June 1, 2018.
Pauline Rankin began a five-year term on July 1, 2018, as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Charles L.B. Macdonald began a five-year term on August 1, 2018, as Dean of the Faculty of Science.
Gary Nower was appointed Assistant Vice-President Facilities Management Planning on September 4, 2018.
David Hornsby will start a five-year term as Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) on October 1, 2018.
Academics
New professors on campus
Carleton welcomed its new Canada 150 Research Chair, Shireen Hassim, at the official announcement last spring. Hassim, an internationally renowned expert in feminist theory, politics, social movements and collective action, will come to Carleton this winter for a seven-year term as the Canada 150 Research Chair in Gender and African Politics.
Fulbright Scholars Prof. Stephen Harris (University of Massachusetts Amherst) and Prof. Rodger Payne (University of Louisville) joined Carleton on September 1.
Forty-eight faculty, instructors and librarians were hired in the past year (as of July 1, 2018). In August, 38 new continuing full-time faculty and instructors and 56 new contract instructors participated in a three-day orientation session hosted by Teaching and Learning Services and the Office of the Vice-President (Research and International).
Teaching innovation and excellence
Carleton is coordinating the coding of all courses for experiential learning content, which will help the university link course and registration information to provide a complete picture of all students’ experiential learning activities.
Thanks to a teaching innovation fund to spur experimentation in teaching, since January almost 20 faculty have received internal grants to explore various aspects of teaching, experiment with new educational approaches and disseminate evidence-based knowledge about research related to teaching.
Conceived by Prof. Kahente Horn-Miller and extensively supported by Teaching and Learning Services, Collaborative Indigenous Learning Bundles are now available for use. Bundle topics address the recommendations for reconciliation specific to higher education by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
New and approved programs
Students started classes in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design as well as the Certificate and Post-Baccalaureate in Professional Writing this September.
The Master of Science in Management and the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Science and Practice were approved by the Quality Council in the past year and will be introduced to future students through recruitment efforts this year.
The Bachelor of Science is offering a new major in Interdisciplinary Science and Practice starting in 2019.
The Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) has a new concentration in Health Science starting in 2019.
Student Life and Community
Carleton launched a welcome postcard campaign designed to greet every student moving into residence with a message of support, letting them know that they are travelling the same path as so many before them. The 3,800 cards each featured welcome messages from over 100 Carleton alumni, faculty and staff. Each card also included a voucher for a free hot beverage at one of two Tim Hortons locations on campus.
Residence Life Services and the Department of University Safety collaborated on a pilot project to create an “Emergency Bag” for each student in residence. The bags include a magnet, a small kit with antiseptic wipes and bandages and a small cover for a laptop camera.
The CU Spirit Day program returned to campus on September 7. This initiative encourages faculty, staff and students to purchase a crew neck sweater (with proceeds going to Carleton’s “Here for Good” campaign). All members of the Carleton community are encouraged to wear this shirt every Friday to celebrate Ravens spirit. A student in the Bachelor of Industrial Design program provided this year’s design.
On September 13, Carleton launched a pilot Therapy Dogs Program, a unique program that integrates Carleton employees as therapy dog handlers in order to foster a supportive environment for students that can help address mild to moderate mental health needs and facilitate referrals.
There are now have three psychiatrists working part-time at Carleton and a fourth will be added part-time in November. Together, they will work the equivalent of nine days a week at Carleton. Access to counselling has also been streamlined.
A consultation process to review the Carleton Sexual Violence Policy has begun. A draft work plan has been published online and members of the Carleton community are encouraged to provide for feedback on this work plan.
In August, Carleton’s men’s basketball team took on an impressive slate of NCAA teams competing in the annual Can-Am Shootout. The Ravens held strong and were undefeated against all NCAA teams: Cincinnati Bearcats, Ole Miss Rebels, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, and Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks.
There is now a bus wrapped with the Ravens logo. This bus will be used throughout the 2018-19 season by Carleton’s varsity teams.
Research
Prof. James Milner (Political Science) received $3.6 million dollar in funding, including a SSHRC Partnership Grant, to study global refugee policy.
Prof. Jenny Bruin of the Department of Biology received about $750,000 from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) to support her innovative work on the factors that trigger diabetes onset and progression.
Prof. Steven Cooke, Canada Research Chair in the Department of Biology and the Institute of Environmental Science, along with six colleagues, were awarded an $649,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to support managing Parks Canada’s historic Rideau and Trent Severn waterways.
Profs. Doris Buss of the Department of Law and Legal Studies and Blair Rutherford of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology were awarded SSHRC Partnership Development Grants worth over $200,000 to ensure gender equality in artisanal and small-scale mining in Africa.
Eight Carleton University research projects received $504,780 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to conduct research on important areas such as water treatment, diabetes, 5G wireless connectivity and obesity.
Prof. Mike Hildebrand in the Department of Neuroscience received over $500,000 from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) to study and develop better solutions to deal with chronic pain, which can affect one in five Canadians.
Carleton researchers were awarded almost $2 million by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for 11 Insight Grant projects touching on topics such as tracking the trade of human remains, relationships between Mexico, Canada and the United States, and dialogues around victimization of Indigenous peoples.
Enrolments and Recruitment for the Next Year
| Ontario University Application Centre Systems Data – First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2017 | % +- | |
| Applicants | 156,736 | 151,318 | +3.6% |
| Confirmations (# students) | 60,491 | 60,454 | +0.6% |
| Applicants (H.S. – ‘OUAC 101s’) | 89,876 | 90,235 | -0.4% |
| Carleton University First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2017 | % +- | |
| Applicants | 25,121 | 24,523 | +2.4% |
| Approved | 18,826 | 18,603 | +1.2% |
| Confirmed | 6,716 | 6,980 | -3.8% |
| Carleton University Target (Full-time, Fall) Target (Projection using current data) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2017 | % +- | |
| First Year | 6,543 / (6,386) | 6,523 | 0.3% / (-2.1%) |
| First Year (New) | 5,498 / (5,329) | 5,498 | 0.0% / (-3.1%) |
| Undergraduate | 21,568 / (21,476) | 21,289 | 1.3% / (0.9%) |
| Total (FT + PT) Enrolment | 30,818 / (30,210) | 29,916 | 3.0% / (1.0%) |
| Carleton data as at August 27, 2018; OUAC data as at August 2, 2018 (with matched dates in 2017). Office of Institutional Research and Planning. | |||
The 2018-19 undergraduate recruitment season has begun. Carleton recruiters are planning to visit more than 600 high schools across the country. In addition, Carleton’s high school outreach initiatives are continuing to expand.
The international admissions team will visit more than 400 high schools and attend approximately 100 events in 45 countries across the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and Scandinavia.
The Ontario Universities’ Fair (OUF) will run from September 28 to 30, and more than 100 Carleton students, staff and faculty will attend to speak to prospective students. Over 130,000 students and parents are expected to attend this year’s OUF. In addition, Carleton’s Fall Open House Days will be held on campus on October 20 and 27.