Board of Governors

This is the first attempt at a monthly report that will be sent to the Board of Governors, the members of Senate and the members of the Senior Management Team. The report will highlight Lakehead University’s activities and key milestones, celebrate the successes of the Lakehead community, and inform those involved in Senate, the Board and senior management processes on significant common issues and concerns. The report will be organized around the four Strategic Directions (Sustainability, Comprehensiveness, Research and Diversity).

It is our expectation that the existence of this written report will change the basis for the President’s oral reports to all three groups.  His comments can now be more topical and more in depth on some issues. Issues discussed at these meetings that are not mentioned in the written reports prior to the meeting can then be added to subsequent written reports to ensure all parties are informed.

The enrolment report as of November 1 is now history.  Lakehead had an enrolment increase on both campuses.  Overall enrolment was up by almost 3%.   Although the overall increase was substantial, and the increase at the Thunder Bay campus was a very good sign, there were still two disappointments. Both graduate and international enrolments declined. Both of these areas have been identified for growth in the Strategic Plan implementation. September 2011 will be the first real test of our success. The initial application data for 2011-12 is now in and Lakehead’s applications are down 3% from last year.   If this were to continue, first year enrolment would be down 3% next September and overall enrolment a little less than 1%. 

The major initiatives in graduate studies and international recruitment would not show up in this report and this early indicator underlines their importance. Lakehead will be monitoring this carefully. 

One of Canada’s best-known multi-nationals has just become one of Lakehead’s newest partners.  Barrick Gold will be sponsoring a scholarship fund for Lakehead geology student s.  Barrick will also be making funds available to help connect Marathon to NOSM.

As of the end of November, the Lakehead University Office of University Advancement has raised a total of $2.1M (including matched revenues) or 63% of the goal for $3.3M goal for the year.  This achievement represents a 73% over the total monies raised/receipted in fiscal 2009/10. 

Lakehead University is pleased to announce a new Manager of Advancement and Campaigns for Central Ontario was successfully recruited in December. Susan Barnes, formerly of the United Way of Greater Simcoe County starts February 7, 2011.

The new Learning Commons at Chancellor Patterson Library has been open for most of the fall term. All indications are that students love this new approach to their relationship with the Library.  The official opening will be January 27, 2011.

 

The fire in the Braun Building and the opening of Orillia campus were the catalysts for an initiative to ensure that all the university’s data is safe and accessible. A major project to provide data centres in both Thunder Bay and Orillia is nearly finished.  When completed, Lakehead will be able to ensure the security of its data even with the impact of a major disaster.

Graduate enrolment at Lakehead University peaked in 2008 and has been down for two years. Growth in this area is one of the priorities articulated in the Strategic Plan and continued low enrolments threaten the level of funding Lakehead receives from the province.  As a result, the Provost led the Deans in a review to establish the best method of both stimulating and supporting graduate enrolment growth. The target is an increase of 100 graduate students over the next two years. Strategic funding has been allocated to assist with supporting initiatives to help achieve this target.  

Fall Preview Day

On December 7, 2010, Lakehead University welcomed hundreds of prospective students from around the city and region, alongside their families and friends, to its Fall Preview Day. The annual recruitment-based event took place across various campus areas.

Fall Preview Day  encourages prospective students interact with Lakehead University faculty and staff, explore the campus, and gain an intimate understanding of Lakehead’s programs and student service offerings. Students, family, and friends chose from a wide variety of activities, hands-on interactive sessions hosted by various departments, and information sessions categorized by academic major.  Attendees sat in on select lectures; learned about international exchange opportunities, career planning, and how to prepare for NOSM or graduate studies; took a campus tour; visited the Faculty Information Fair and Student Life Expo; or enjoyed lunch in the University’s residence cafeteria.  A group of sessions is also catered specifically to family and friends to offer guidance and tips for use when dealing with completing/submitting university applications.

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada has not yet responded to the Lakehead University Law School proposal submission completed at the end of August 2010.  The President meet with the Chancellor, senior administrators, and external advocates on January 19th to discuss the creation of the Chancellor's Task Force for a Lakehead University Law School and to plan the steps needed to make the Law School a reality. 

Lakehead University will be hosting the 1^st annual Teaching and Learning Week January 24-28^th. There will be a full week of activities culminating with the Teaching and Learning Symposium “Engaging Learning in Diverse Environments.  Dr. Frank Robinson, Vice‐Provost and Dean of Students at the University of Alberta will be providing the keynote presentation.  Frank is an avid champion of inquiry‐based learning and is particularly interested in improving the freshman experience for students. Other highlights of the week include the Distinguished Instructor’s presentation by Dr. Mary Louise Hill, and the official opening of the Learning Commons.

Lakehead University recently signed its first technology License Agreement. The technology, developed by Dr. Lionel Catalan (Chemical Engineering) and Dr. Stephen Kinrade (Chemistry), can potentially increase concrete strength by up to forty percent and reduce the amount of Portland cement needed to make concrete.

The recent appointment of Dr. Rui Wang as the Vice-president for Research, Economic Development and Innovation highlights the new importance of developing connections between Lakehead researchers, North-west Ontario and Orillia county.  Dr. Wang is currently planning a number of sessions in which Lakehead faculty and staff will meet with community representatives to talk about the ways in which Lakehead University can contribute to local economic development.

The existence of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine is providing the catalyst for a change in the way Lakehead and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Centre are working together.   The recent joint announcement of Barrick Gold’s support for academic programs and NOSM is one more example of this burgeoning relationship.   TBRHSC is including Lakehead in its strategic planning exercise, both Lakehead and TBRHSC are looking at ways in which they can combine to engage the Aboriginal community, and they are jointly exploring a new teleconferencing technology developed by CISCO Systems to see the benefits it may have for both distance learning and telemedicine.  

The University is currently recruiting a senior person to lead the University’s drive to recruit international students.  Plans for first ESL program are underway and we believe this program will be accepting students as early as this summer.

I have made it major commitment to go out to and meet as many communities as I can over my first year.  In January I met with the Couchiching First Nation Chief and Council, the Seven Generations Educational Institution and the Mitaanjigamiing First Nation Chief and Council. I am also leading a joint planning/visioning session between Lakehead and NAN in early February and I am working with the Metis Nation of Ontario on developing new partnerships with the Metis people.  Wherever I go the one issue that strikes a theme is the one of bringing university-level courses to the community so that more can share in the knowledge.  Lakehead already has a department for continuing Education and Distributed Learning, we are active participants in Contact North, we have developed some innovative ways for co-operative programs between Thunder Bay and Orillia, and through our distance programs like the Masters in Public Health program we have learned how to have rigorous academic discipline within a distance framework.  I am confident that with new teleconferencing models like CISCO’s Telepresence and better ways to recognize prior learning we can be part of the solution for these communities.