Dalton McGuinty Archives | Research & Innovation

91��ɫ signs research and exchange agreement with China's Beihang University with emphasis on science and engineering

fmaquito — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s on Friday. The agreement allows for the exchange of students and faculty across disciplines and offers collaborative opportunities for better research, teaching and faculty development.

Above: Standing, from left, Professor Tang Wenzhong, director, Institute for Science & Technology, Beihang University; Professor Wang Huiwen, dean, School of Economics & Management, Beihang University; Dr. Ma Jinxi, director international division, Beihang University; Professor Huai Jinpeng, president, Beihang University; MPP Michael Chan, Ontario minister of tourism & culture; Professor Bernie Frolic, director, Asian Business Management Program, 91��ɫ; Ivy Lerner-Frank, trade commissioner & manager InfoCentre China, Canadian Embassy. Sitting, from left, Professor Lorna Wright, associate vice-president international, 91��ɫ, and Professor Tang Xiaoqing, vice-president, international relations, Beihang University.

“91��ɫ recognizes that we now live in a global village and to remain on the forefront of knowledge we – and our students – must be global in our scope. Such exchange agreements are key to providing our students with opportunities to add an international component to their academic program,” said Lorna Wright, 91��ɫ’s associate vice-president international.

In particular, 91��ɫ aims to expand its expertise in the areas of life science, space science, and engineering, said Janusz Kozinski, dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Science & Engineering.

“91��ɫ, and in particular the Faculty of Science & Engineering, is delighted to initiate this partnership with Beihang University, which is one of the most prestigious universities in China,” Kozinski said. “We will collaborate on specific research projects, aligned with mutual strategic research priorities. We will also exchange students and researchers across disciplines. These activities will strengthen 91��ɫ’s character as one of the most interdisciplinary and international universities in Canada.”

Kozinski noted that in the next decade, there will be a significant increase in opportunities for 91��ɫ students to participate in experiential education activity, both domestically and internationally, as a component of their degree program.

The signing took place in the run-up to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s . His team will meet with Chinese officials and business leaders to highlight Ontario’s expertise in clean water technology, financial services, international education and other areas, part of the Open Ontario Plan.

91��ɫ’s relationship with China and Chinese universities has a long history, dating from the University’s beginnings.

For more information, see the .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

The post 91��ɫ signs research and exchange agreement with China's Beihang University with emphasis on science and engineering appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Premier marks Nursing Week with a visit to 91��ɫ

fmaquito — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was at 91��ɫ on Monday to mark the start of National Nursing Week, and chaired a round-table discussion that included undergraduate nursing students and graduate students in the nurse practitioner program.

McGuinty, accompanied by 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and 91��ɫ West MPP Mario Sergio, began his visit with a tour of the University’s state-of-the-art Nursing Resource Centre and watched as nursing students practised inserting intravenous lines into patient mannequins. Dressed casually, the premier was openly animated as he chatted with students and spoke about his own undergraduate degree in biology and his youthful dream of entering medicine.

Left: McGuinty (left) is greeted by 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and 91��ɫ West MPP Mario Sergio

As he toured the facility, McGuinty met and spoke with students enrolled in 91��ɫ’s bachelor of science in nursing (BScN), the second entry BScN program, the BScN for internationally educated nurses and the master of science in nursing program for nurse practitioners.

The premier’s visit coincided with this week’s announcement by the provincial government that it was seeking applications to create 14 more nurse practitioner-led clinics, with a goal of having 25 nurse practitioner-led clinics by 2012. (The first cluster of 11 nurse practitioner-led clinics is set to open later this month.) In Ontario, nurse practitioners are able to treat common illnesses and injuries, and order X-rays, lab tests and other diagnostic tests. They can also refer patients to specialists.

Right: The premier chats with nursing students as they practise on a mannequin

Sitting down to begin the round table, McGuinty was greeted by Lesley Beagrie, associate dean of professional & global programs in the School of Nursing in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Health. Beagrie thanked the premier for the funding that has made both the Nursing Resource Centre and programs such as the second-year entry and internationally educated BScN programs possible.

Following Beagrie's welcoming remarks, the premier opened the round-table discussion. “I want to take this opportunity to thank the students for pursuing, with passion, a career in nursing as it is a calling,” he said. He described nursing as a profession that cares just not for patients but for mothers, fathers, children, siblings, neighbours and friends. "These aren't just any people, they are really important to all of us," he said.

McGuinty spoke with reverence of the knowledge and skill required by nursing professionals and how far nursing has come since 1949, when his mother was a nurse, eliciting a laugh as he recounted a story about a colleague of his mother's who forgot to cut up a patient's grapefruit and was required, as punishment, to write out 500 times how she would not forget to cut up a grapefruit in the future.

The Ontario premier then talked about his government's vision for health care and the important role nursing professionals would play in bringing that vision to reality. "The first thing our government did was to make sure that there are more of you. As of today, we are up to 10,700 more nursing positions in Ontario," he said.

The government, said McGuinty, through a program based on best practices, is now allowing nursing professionals to conduct tests, including those to detect colorectal cancer. Nurses will also be able to work as surgical first assistants and in long-term care emergency mobile teams. He reiterated his enthusiasm for nurse practitioner-led clinics: “Ontario has the first nurse practitioner-led clinics in North America,” said McGuinty, “with 11 at various stages in terms of being phased in and today the government issued an announcement for the next 14 clinics. So there will be a total of 25 such clinics in Ontario.”

Above: McGuinty, centre, addresses nursing students gathered for a round-table discussion

"Nurse practitioners in Ontario will now be able to communicate a diagnosis, order diagnostic tests such as an MRI or CT scan, cast a fracture and prescribe medications," he said. "We are also talking about permitting our nurse practitioners to admit and discharge patients into and from a hospital, and introduced a new package of reforms that will be important to nurse practitioners. Up to now, hospitals have been required to seek advice on health issues exclusively from an all-physician advisory committee. Now we are going to ensure that nurses and other health professionals can provide that advice on health as well."

The innovations are required, said the premier, to help combat the rising cost of health care in Ontario. The cost has moved from a figure of 32 cents for every program dollar spent by the government 20 years ago, to a current cost of 46 cents per dollar, and is estimated to reach 70 cents of every program dollar spent in 12 years if action is not taken, diverting money from other critically needed areas including infrastructure, schools, environmental protection and services. The nurse practitioner-led clinics and reforms to reduce costs of prescription drugs in the province are two such measures aimed at reducing exploding health-care costs. "Such clinics and nursing education programs form an integral part of the province’s Open Ontario Plan created to strengthen public health care," said the premier.

Left: Student Thomas McCormick talks about why he decided to become a nurse and of his plan to travel to a remote community in northern Ontario to work in a community clinic

Following his comments, McGuinty opened the discussion to students, hearing more about why they had chosen the profession. For master's student Deana Ruddell-Thomson, the experience of watching family and friends cope with illness caused by tainted water during the Walkerton tragedy more than 10 years ago solidified her desire to study nursing.

Fourth-year BScN student Crystal Van Leeuwen said, "Nursing chose me. The moment when I knew when I was going to enrol in nursing came when I was volunteering in northeastern Thailand working with children with HIV and I held an eight-year-old girl who was the size of an average three-year-old Canadian child. She was going to die because she did not have equal access to affordable medications and I knew I needed to join a profession that would advocate for patient rights as well as health."

Another student, Thomas McCormick, spoke about his plans to travel to a remote community in northern Ontario to work in a clinic, while another talked about coming to Canada from Russia where she had worked as a nurse and how she was delighted to be able to continue her profession through her enrolment in the BScN for internationally educated nurses.

At the end of the round-table discussion, Shoukri thanked McGuinty for visiting 91��ɫ and presented him with a copy of 91��ɫ: The Way Must be Tried by 91��ɫ Professor Emeritus and University historian Michiel Horn. "Thank you very much for choosing 91��ɫ to kick-start Nursing Week," said Shoukri. "We see you as the champion of postsecondary education and the champion of health care. We thank you for being that champion and we are committed to working with you to improve both postsecondary education and health care in Ontario."

Right: The premier is presented with a commemorative copy of 91��ɫ: The Way Must be Tried by 91��ɫ President Mamdouh Shoukri

The premier responded that while he had spoken to everyone, "there is one group I would like to give special thanks to and that group is the teachers who are here today. It is not just the substantive subject matter that you transmit to your students, it is also how you do it and how you conduct yourselves. Your patience, understanding and commitment transcends time. Thank you all."

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Premier marks Nursing Week with a visit to 91��ɫ appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Premier's visit to 91��ɫ attracts media coverage

fmaquito — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Premier was covered in the North 91��ɫ Mirror May 11:

To kick-start National Nursing Week and highlight the province’s announcement to introduce another 14 nurse practitioner-led clinics in Ontario, Premier Dalton McGuinty dropped in on a group of nursing students at 91��ɫ Monday, May 10.

In a room set up like a hospital or clinic, McGuinty went from bed to bed chatting with students practising different medical procedures before sitting down for a round-table discussion with undergraduate nursing students and graduate students in the nurse practitioner program.

The government announced Monday it is accepting applications to create 14 more nurse practitioner-led clinics, with a goal of having 25 such clinics by 2012. The first 11 clinics are scheduled to begin opening this month.

Meanwhile, students shared their stories about why they are studying nursing.

“Nursing chose me,” said Crystal Van Leeuwen, who decided on her career while holding a girl infected with HIV during a trip to a Thailand clinic.

Deana Ruddell-Thomson said she was a retail manager in Walkerton when the tainted water tragedy struck a decade ago. “I felt helpless watching friends and family becoming ill and I didn’t have any power,” she said.

Thomas McCormick said he will be working on a placement in Toronto before heading to northern Ontario to help more remote communities.

Several international students told McGuinty how thrilled they were to be able to study nursing in Ontario. The premier told the students that they have chosen an important career.

The complete article is .

The School of Nursing’s faculty members are involved in innovative and leading-edge research, and have established national and international reputations in their areas of expertise. Faculty members’ programs of research and scholarly activities contribute to better understanding of current and challenging health and nursing phenomena.

Faculty members’ scholarly activities encompass a range of areas (including, but not limited to, community health, environmental health, global health, health policy, homeless populations, immigrant health, mental health, women’s health) and cross the life span (children, youth, adults, and older adults), using diverse theoretical and methodological approaches.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Premier's visit to 91��ɫ attracts media coverage appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Ron Westray appointed as Oscar Peterson Chair

fmaquito — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Performer, composer and educator Ron Westray has been appointed as the Oscar Peterson Chair in Jazz Performance at 91��ɫ.

“We’re excited and honoured to have an artist of Ron Westray’s calibre as the Chair,” said 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “This Chair will enable us to further advance the quality of education for our fine arts students and carry on the legacy of Oscar Peterson at 91��ɫ.”

Left: Ron Westray

Westray is best known for his work as lead trombonist with the legendary Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), and his collaborations with Wycliffe Gordon. He has appeared in concert with such luminaries as Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Benny Carter, Dewey Redman, Roy Haynes, Randy Brecker and a host of other pre-eminent artists.

A regular on the New 91��ɫ City club circuit, he has played premier jazz venues such as the Village Vanguard, Blue Note, Sweet Basil, Iridium, Jazz Standard and Smalls, and is a standing member of the acclaimed Mingus Band. In addition to his concerts and recordings with the JLCO, Westray has recorded as a sideman on such major labels as Columbia Records, Sony Classical and RCA Novus. His latest CD as leader, Medical Cures for the Chromatic Commands of the Inner City (Blue Canoe Records, 2008), garnered a No. 1 listening rating on eMusic.com.

As a composer, Westray’s personal catalogue comprises dozens of original compositions and arrangements for big band and mixed ensembles. Among his numerous commissions for the JLCO is his monumental score, Chivalrous Misdemeanors – Select Tales from Don Quixote (2005), as well as arrangements of the works of Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman. His charts were recently published by Walrus Music. His bibliography includes reviews and citations in DownBeat, JazzTimes, The New 91��ɫ Times and The New 91��ɫer.

The Oscar Peterson Chair in Jazz Performance was made possible by a $4-million endowment announced by the Ontario government in January 2008, along with $1 million to establish music scholarships for talented students from underprivileged backgrounds.

“I want to congratulate Ron Westray on this new appointment. He brings a wealth of talent and experience to the jazz performance program at 91��ɫ and its students. Our government is happy to do its part to honour the memory of Oscar Peterson by helping gifted music students pursue their own dreams,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Barbara Sellers-Young, dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Fine Arts, said the Chair, under Westray, will expand and strengthen the program Peterson championed throughout his tenure at 91��ɫ.

“We’re delighted to launch this important new academic initiative with Professor Westray,” said Sellers-Young. “As the Oscar Peterson Chair, he will be working with the jazz faculty in our music department to develop a special student outreach and support program named for Peterson, to encourage talented aspiring jazz artists who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue university studies.”

An adjunct professor in 91��ɫ's Department of Music from 1984 to the late 1990s, Peterson was among Canada's most celebrated jazz artists. He was committed to teaching young people and established several student awards in the jazz program. Recipient of an honorary doctor of letters from 91��ɫ in 1982, Peterson was installed as 91��ɫ's eighth chancellor in September 1991 and served the University with distinction until February 1994. He was made an honorary governor of 91��ɫ in 1995 and was a Fellow of McLaughlin College. He died in Mississauga on Dec. 23, 2007.

“The appointment of Ron Westray as the Oscar Peterson Chair in Jazz Performance will give students and faculty in 91��ɫ’s outstanding jazz program the opportunity to learn from an extremely talented and prolific artist. It will also help to ensure that Oscar Peterson’s tremendous legacy lives on through the development of a new generation of jazz artists,” said John Milloy, minister of training, colleges & universities and minister of research & innovation.

91��ɫ offers jazz at all levels of undergraduate and graduate study, including a master and PhD in the field. The curriculum includes instrumental and vocal performance, history, theory, composition and arranging. Performance studies centre on small ensembles, plus jazz choirs and the 91��ɫ Jazz Orchestra. Repertoire spans jazz standards, big band, improvisation and contemporary jazz, enriched by world music traditions including Brazilian samba, Cuban jazz, gospel, West African drums, steel-pan and Afro-American music.

Westray joins colleagues at 91��ɫ who are among Canada’s pre-eminent jazz artists. Almost 40 full- and part-time faculty teach in the jazz program, including percussionist and music department chair Barry Elmes; bassist Al Henderson; saxophonists David Mott, Mike Murley and Kelly Jefferson; pianist Mark Eisenman; guitarist Lorne Lofsky; trumpeter Kevin Turcotte; multi-instrumentalist Sundar Viswanathan; and vocalists Bonnie Brett and Sacha Williamson.

Westray holds a BA in music from South Carolina State University and an MA from Eastern Illinois University. He comes to 91��ɫ from the University of Texas at Austin's Butler School of Music, where he was assistant professor in the Jazz Studies Program.

The post Ron Westray appointed as Oscar Peterson Chair appeared first on Research & Innovation.