Robert Hach茅

鈥淭his is our second annual event recognizing 91亚色鈥檚 Research Leaders and we plan to continue carrying forward this tradition,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, 91亚色 vice-president research & innovation.聽 鈥淚t is a great pleasure to celebrate the exceptional work of 91亚色鈥檚 researchers, students and post-doctoral fellows聽鈥� and important to us to recognize the valuable impact of their research on society.聽 We are pleased to invite all members of the 91亚色 community, including students, staff and faculty to join us for this very special occasion.鈥�

Hosted by the President鈥檚 Office and the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the event begins at 4:30pm in the McEwen Auditorium in the Seymour Schulich Building. A reception will follow. Many 91亚色 researchers who have earned prestigious awards, major grants and book prizes will be recognized, along with a presentation to the winner of the President鈥檚 Excellence Research Award, an announcement of the winners from 91亚色鈥檚 undergraduate research fair and recognition of graduate student research achievements.

Event highlights include, a greeting from the province by Monte Kwinter, MPP 91亚色 Centre, parliamentary assistant to the minister of economic development, trade and employment; a special video highlighting a cross-section of 91亚色鈥檚 researchers; and a slide presentation capturing some of the many research successes of the past year.

Organizers ask community members interested in attending the celebration to聽.

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Join President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and members of the senior executive team at the President鈥檚 Town Hall 鈥� an interactive dialogue bringing 91亚色 faculty, staff and students together.

91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

The town hall will take place Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 11am into the noon hour, in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building, Keele campus. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome.

The president will talk about the changes at 91亚色, its recent successes, and the opportunities and challenges moving forward. Then it is your turn to ask questions to the entire Executive team.

Joining Shoukri for the Q&A period will be Patrick Monahan, vice-president academic & provost; Gary Brewer, vice-president finance & administration; Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation; Jeff O鈥橦agan, vice-president advancement, and Janet Morrison, vice-provost students. The Q&A will be moderated by Brenda Spotton Visano, professor of economics and public policy in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies here at 91亚色.

Can鈥檛 attend in person? There is more than one way to participate. The town hall will be available to watch via webcast at The President鈥檚 Town Hall website. In addition, questions can be sent to the Town Hall website and via Twitter using the hashtag #YUTownHall.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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On Monday, June 11, from 2 to 3pm, 91亚色 Vice-President Academic Patrick Monahan and Lisa Philipps, associate vice-president research, are hosting an informative workshop that will cover how to prepare an effective nomination package. The session will take place in 626 91亚色 Research Tower.

Topics that will be covered include:

• Recognizing Success and Building Reputation Through Awards;
• Finding Awards, Identifying Candidates;
• Ingredients of Success: The Nomination Letter, the CV, Letters of Support; and
• Award Adjudication: The Inside Story.

The session is designed for staff work in faculty dean鈥檚 offices, department chairs, and directors of schools, associate deans of research, research officers and research directors. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Participants will have an opportunity to view precedent files to see what works and there will be a question-and-answer session following the presentation. While the focus is on research awards, the information presented will be relevant to teaching and other kinds of awards.

If you are interested in attending, to Lia Cavaliere or call 416-736-2100 ext. 33782.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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Every Wednesday throughout the month, Vari Hall Rotunda will play host to displays and demonstrations featuring the University鈥檚 faculty and graduate researchers. Drop by to learn what they are up to.

"Research Month provides an opportunity for the 91亚色 community to share knowledge and ideas as we celebrate excellence in research and scholarship at the University,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淲e invite students, staff and faculty to drop by Vari Hall on Wednesdays in February to explore the many research projects and to learn more about the range of research activities at 91亚色.鈥�

The Research Month index on 91亚色's Research website contains complete information about the researchers and research centres and institutes participating in the event.

Social sciences and humanities research 鈥� Feb. 1, from noon to 2pm.

Confirmed participants include:

• Assets Coming Together for Youth: Linking Research Policy and Action for Positive Youth Development
• Canadian Business Ethics Research Network
• The City Institute at 91亚色
• Professor , Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
• Professor 聽鈥� Children as Peacemakers
• The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
• The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migration of African Peoples
• , Department of Humanities, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
• The Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
• The 91亚色 Centre for Asian Research
• 91亚色 Centre for Education and Community

Science and engineering research 鈥� Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 10am to 2pm.

Confirmed participants include:

• 鈥� Professor , Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health
• The Faculty of Environmental Studies
• IRIS
• Four Grad students from Professor 's lab, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science聽& Engineering
• Professor , Department of Earth & Space Science聽& Engineering, Faculty of Science聽& Engineering
• Professor , Department of Computer Science聽& Engineering, Faculty of Science聽& Engineering
• Professor Gunho Sohn, Department of Earth & Space Science聽& Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering
• Professor , Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty聽of Science & Engineering

Health research displays will be showcased Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 10am to 2pm, and fine and performing arts research will be featured Wednesday, Feb. 29, from 10am to 2pm. Check back often for more information by clicking here.

Want to participate?

Do you have completed works, prototypes, technology or works in progress that you could demonstrate? Do you have graduate or undergraduate students working with you who could assist and help talk about the work? If you have other ideas, VPRI would love to hear them.

Interested faculty members or research centres should contact Arielle Zomer in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation at ext. 21069 or azomer@yorku.ca. Note that space is limited and allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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The fair showcases a diverse range of vendors selling fair and sustainable products, including arts and crafts, clothing, coffee and chocolate. The event also serves as a forum for faculty, staff and students who are interested in learning more about fair trade. 聽

What is fair trade?

On its website, describes fair trade as a 鈥渨ay for all of us to identify products that meet our values so we can make choices that have a positive impact on the world.鈥�

Over the years,聽the University has pursued a number of fair trade endeavours. 聽聽

91亚色's own Las Nubes coffee (fair trade, organic and shade grown) is served at聽nine locations on both campuses. To know more about the Las Nubes project, visit the 飞别产蝉颈迟别.听

Right:聽91亚色's Las Nubes coffee is聽shade grown in Costa Rica

Fair trade coffee and Rainforest Alliance tea is served at most coffee shops at 91亚色 and can be ordered for catering. A number of campus locations serve fair trade coffee. The locations are:聽the Central Square Cafeteria, TEL Building Caf茅, Winters Cafeteria, Stong Cafeteria, Freshii, the Osgoode Bistro, Glendon Caf茅, Glendon Eurobaguette, and the Graduate Student Lounge.

The 91亚色 Bookstore now sells fair trade 91亚色 t-shirts (which is a first for Canadian universities).聽The bookstore will be selling t-shirts at the fair.聽To learn more about the Bookstore's fair trade t-shirt initiative,聽see YFile, Oct. 11, 2011.

Left: The 91亚色 Bookstore sells fair trade t-shirts

91亚色 students have also demonstrated leadership in fair trade. The 91亚色 Federation of Students Is committed to the Canadian Federation of Students Students for Sustainability campaign and is an active participant in many social justice and sustainability events and campaigns. As well, the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) is a co-sponsor of聽Thursday's Fair Trade Fair and can be contacted by sending an e-mail to opirg@yorku.ca.

Coming in early 2012, 91亚色聽 University will also be launching its聽new Sustainability Ambassadors program. To learn more, visit the President's Sustainability Council website or e-mail sustainability@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Over the course of the next year, YFile聽will be profiling the projects through videos and stories. Today, the camera's spotlight is on Monahan and聽the story of his inspiration for AIF.聽

Patrick Monahan grins when he recalls his 鈥淎ha!鈥� moment, which聽led to the creation of the Academic Innovation Fund.聽

Several years ago, 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president academic & provost聽had just completed a series of consultations with 91亚色 community members regarding the , a document that would outline the future academic priorities of the University. What he discovered during that process energized him.聽

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鈥淎s we went through the White Paper a couple of years ago, what impressed me were the people who participated in that process,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e sat in focus groups and we talked about our ideas, dreams and aspirations for the University. What was so striking聽was that people had so many great ideas 鈥� there were literally hundreds!鈥�

He discovered the main obstacle preventing these ideas from becoming a reality centred on the lack of resources. Monahan had heard of projects in the United States that provided seed funding for academic initiatives. He thought the idea had merit and turned to his colleagues in the Provost鈥檚 Office to see if they could find funding that could be used to create a made-in-91亚色 solution to turn the ideas into working projects.

His聽inspiration led to the formation of the Academic Innovation Fund of $2.5 million that would provide an initial investment of resources to bring projects from the drawing board to reality.聽In the fall of 2010, applications were invited from the University community for funding (up to $200,000 each) to support new initiatives advancing 91亚色鈥檚 strategic priorities in relation to teaching and learning and the student experience.

The response, he discovered, was nothing short of amazing. 鈥淚t was just fantastic because of the tremendous energy and participation," he said. 鈥淭he committee was only able to fund 39 of those projects, but all the project submissions were very interesting and innovative, and showed a real commitment to the University and to our students."

The 39 projects funded include聽clusters of initiatives that support聽e-learning,聽experiential education and the student experience.聽From a project to enhance how first-year students move from high school to university, to a student-run sustainable business initiative, each of the AIF projects聽is as diverse as the University community. There is a project to create an online enrolment system for new students, a mentorship program for varsity athletes, a partnership between two faculties to develop a blended learning initiative, a community centred action plan for experiential education, and a project to bring public history into the classroom, to name just a few.

All of the projects, said Monahan, reflect 91亚色's DNA. "Each of the projects is about engaging people in these ideas," he said. "I hope that what this does is that it shows people what is possible and that we can build on this energy."

Monahan said that聽many people聽have told him聽how excited they are to see their ideas finally becoming a reality.聽"What I find so interesting is that there are ideas that would never have occurred to someone sitting in an office here in the 91亚色 Research Tower or even in a dean's office," he said. "Ideas like聽a project that we have with refugees in Thailand connecting them with researchers and students here in Toronto or a project聽to teach area youth how to swim."

The AIF projects provide a concrete example of the potential for innovation and engagement that resides in the 91亚色 community. "It is an example of the idea that the collective brain is always better then a single brain.聽If you get one hundred people in a room and get them thinking and talking 鈥� you are going to get more ideas than with 10 people, five or one. That is what makes this a really successful initiative so far."聽

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Come out and meet Robert Hach茅,聽the new vice-president research & innovation,聽and learn more about research services at 91亚色.

Staff聽from聽the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the Office of Research Services, the Office of Research Ethics, Research Accounting, Procurement Services, Innovation 91亚色聽and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will be at the open house to answer questions related to research services.

If you are interested in attending, organizers ask that you submit your 聽no later than Oct. 5.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Join President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and the rest of the senior executive team at the President鈥檚 Town Hall 鈥� an interactive dialogue bringing 91亚色 faculty, staff and students together.

The town hall will take place Wednesday, Sept. 21, from 11am into the noon hour, in the Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, Keele campus. All students, faculty, staff and parents are welcome.

Right: 91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

Shoukri will talk about the growth and evolution of 91亚色, its recent successes, and the opportunities and challenges moving forward. Then it鈥檚 your turn to ask questions to the entire executive team.

Joining Shoukri for the Q&A period will be Gary Brewer, vice-president finance & administration; Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation; Patrick Monahan, ;聽Jennifer Sloan, vice-president university relations; and Robert Tiffin, vice-president students. The Q&A will be moderated by 91亚色 law Professor , director of the 91亚色 Centre for Public Policy & Law.

Can鈥檛 attend in person? There is more than one way to participate. The town hall will be available to watch via webcast through the president's website.

In addition, questions can be sent in advance by e-mail to the president at mshoukri@yorku.ca and via Twitter using the hashtag #yutownhall.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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