91亚色鈥檚 Glendon College will officially open the Centre of Excellence for French-language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education in a ceremony on May 15 at 9am.
鈥淚 am proud that we are able to provide opportunities for the growing Francophone population right here at 91亚色鈥檚 Glendon Campus,鈥 said Mamdouh Shoukri, president & vice-chancellor of 91亚色. 鈥淭he Centre of Excellence for French-language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education will help to accommodate an increased student base, will attract more international students and allow 91亚色 to offer a broad international curriculum so that we can continue to educate Canada鈥檚 future leaders.鈥
A concept drawing of the new Glendon College Centre of Excellence
The centre will enable Glendon to broaden its range of programs and courses in response to the urgent need for increased postsecondary offerings in French in southern Ontario. Supported by a $20-million investment by the Government of Ontario, the expansion project builds on Glendon鈥檚 existing facilities to include more than a dozen new classrooms and lecture spaces, state-of-the art language labs, open study spaces and a 250-seat amphitheatre.
These improvements will allow Glendon to provide better access to French-language higher education for francophone learners in southern Ontario, as well as anglophone students wishing to study in French. It will strengthen the delivery of collaborative French-language university and college programming, including:
- Bilingual and trilingual international Bachelor of Arts (iBA) degrees available across 18 disciplines.
- New doctoral program in 脡tudes francophones.
- Enhanced bilingual activities outside the classroom.
- A master鈥檚 program in conference interpretation.
- A unique, direct-entry for future French teachers available at the primary-junior, junior-intermediate, and intermediate-senior levels, offered through 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Education.
- Collaboration with Coll猫ge Bor茅al and la Cit茅 coll茅giale.
鈥淲e are pleased that the Government of Ontario has invested these funds to make Glendon College a Centre of Excellence for French-language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education, and excited to officially open this new facility,鈥 said Glendon Principal Kenneth McRoberts. 鈥淪outhern Ontario is seeing significant growth in terms of the Francophone population and we are now better-equipped to meet this demand.鈥
The ceremony will feature remarks by Shoukri; Ottawa Vanier MPP Madeleine Meilleur, minister of community safety & correctional services and minister responsible for Francophone affairs; Kathleen Wynne, MPP for Don Valley West, and McRoberts.
"By investing in this Centre of Excellence, our government is helping to provide more learners with new opportunities to further their French-language studies in southern Ontario,鈥 said Glen Murray, MPP for Toronto Centre and minister of training, colleges and universities. 鈥淲e congratulate Glendon on their plans to provide a wide range of exciting and innovative programs to their students.鈥
鈥淭he McGuinty government is proud to support Glendon College鈥檚 Centre of Excellence, which helps Francophones and Francophiles to have full access to French-language postsecondary education while encouraging their participation in an inclusive and open Ontario,鈥 said Meilleur.
鈥淚 am pleased with our $20-million investment in the Centre of Excellence for French-language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education at 91亚色鈥檚 Glendon College. This new facility will enable Glendon to provide a broader range of programs and courses in French in southern Ontario," said Wynne.
The Glendon Campus of 91亚色 is the only institution in southern Ontario that offers a range of university programs in French. Glendon has established a bilingual Graduate Program in Public & International Affairs 鈥 the centerpiece of the Glendon School of Public & International Affairs, Canada鈥檚 first fully bilingual graduate school of this type. Along with the Graduate Program in Public & International Affairs, Glendon also offers a double master鈥檚 degree with the University of Strasbourg.
Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.