UW adopts Grebel theology program

"An historic agreement on Graduate Theological Studies" makes UW the joint sponsor of a Mennonite program previously offered at Conrad Grebel University College, Grebel has announced. St. Jerome's University is also a partner to the agreement, formalizing UW's involvement in its Master of Catholic Thought program, as announced last fall.

The signing ceremony for the agreement, held December 18, is pictured at left: UW president David Johnston and Grebel president Henry Paetkau are at the desk, while St. Jerome's president Myroslaw Tataryn and UW provost Amit Chakma stand by.

"This new milestone in our GTS program is the happy result of the good reputation established by the program, a compelling vision for the future, and much goodwill among those who worked together to reach this agreement," says Jim Pankratz, academic dean at Grebel, in a news release. Since his arrival in January 2006, it says, one of his biggest tasks has been leading this discussion about graduate theological studies at the college.

More from the release: "Conrad Grebel's undergraduate academic program is fully integrated with UW's Faculty of Arts in which the College has over 3,600 course enrolments each year. A major component of the University's Sixth Decade Plan, announced in September 2006, is the expansion of its graduate program from 2,600 to 8,000 students. This focus on graduate education reflects the increased funding available from the provincial government in response to recent undergraduate growth.

"At its fall Strategic Planning sessions, the Board of Conrad Grebel University College along with other stakeholders highlighted the need to expand the Master of Theological Studies (MTS) program. This program has grown significantly in recent years and now has over 50 students enrolled. Many of them are preparing for leadership in the church, some are pastors who are continuing their education, and others are preparing for further graduate studies. Of the fifty-three graduates from this program to date, about one quarter have gone on to complete doctoral studies in Bible and theology, nearly half are in the pastorate, and the rest are in a variety of professions."

The release quotes Paetkau: "Part of the genius of Grebel is its ability to be a bridge between a public campus with its government funding, and the needs of the church. While this income will provide us with a partial source of stable funding for our graduate program, we will still depend on revenue from the Ralph and Eileen Lebold Endowment for Leadership Training and Annual Fund donations in order to be able to offer Biblical studies and pastoral training, including the important mentoring program led by Marianne Mellinger, Coordinator of Leadership Formation." The funding provided through this new agreement with UW is based on enrolment, Grebel says, "and could net $150,000 in annual revenue for the Master of Theological Studies program."

The MTS program was created in 1987, "and part of the reason for adding 'university' to Grebel's name was to reflect this graduate program", says the release. "This agreement with UW will mean that the degree will be conferred conjointly by both Grebel and the University of Waterloo. It will also offer graduate students additional support from UW's graduate student program for things like health insurance and allow students to qualify for Ontario Graduate Scholarships. Under the Agreement, Conrad Grebel retains control over admissions, curriculum, and faculty hiring. This development will also assist in the process of attaining accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) that monitors standards of excellence in theological education.

"This new relationship with the University will also involve program approval and regular program review by the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies. This will strengthen the relationship with the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) and the Toronto School of Theology (TST), making it easier for students to transfer credit between these schools."

The Master in Catholic Thought program at St. Jerome's, which is in its second year and is designed for leaders in Catholic schools, hospitals and other institutions, will have a similar relationship to UW.

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National funds for library materials

UW is one of 67 universities across Canada that will share in a massive grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to help pay for electronic library resources in the social sciences and humanities. UW’s share of the $19.1 million grant, announced last week, is $465,100 over the next three years, says Susan Routliffe, associate university librarian (information resources and services). This amount must be matched with a further $697,650 from other sources.

CFI says the money has been awarded to the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, a consortium of Canadian universities that provides its members with desktop access to a wide range of research content through agreements with Canadian and international publishers. UW provost Amit Chakma is a member of the CRKN board of directors.

The network was organized in 1999 under an earlier name, and in 2001 it received a major CFI grant to acquire publications in science, technology, health and environmental fields. Now it’s the turn of the arts.

The University of Ottawa will be the host institution for this new national infrastructure, a CFI news release says. “The acquisition of digital content from international sources will enable over 800,000 researchers and graduate students to draw upon a wealth of digital journals, databases and other scholarly content from social sciences and humanities disciplines. With 67 participating universities across the country, this initiative will significantly enhance the capacity of Canadian researchers to advance knowledge and remain at the forefront in rapidly changing areas of research.”

“CRKN staff will shortly begin working with members to identify resources for which the new funding will be used,” Routliffe says. “I understand that we will be invited to contribute to a wish list that will be used to determine which resources are of the widest interest nationally.”

Electronic library resources, including journals and other databases, are usually provided to libraries through a licence that allows access under certain conditions. In some cases the library, or a consortium of libraries, gets a copy of the actual material to keep on its own servers, while in other cases access is provided to the publisher’s server. CRKN will negotiate for licences that will be available to all the member libraries across the country.

“The new digital content infrastructure will profoundly change the way Canadians conduct research in the fields of social sciences and humanities,” says Ronald Bond, former provost at the University of Calgary and chair of CRKN’s advisory board.

And CFI points out that more than 50 per cent of researchers and students in Canada are engaged in the social sciences and humanities. “Research in areas such as aboriginal studies, communications, multiculturalism, economics, sustainable development, law, business, and education has an enormous impact on all aspects of Canadian society. At present, only the largest institutions in the world are able to supply their researchers with a comprehensive array of international content resources in the social sciences and humanities, and the rate of digital publication is increasing beyond the capacity of even the best-equipped universities.”

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And now, the rest of the story

The polls open today in the annual Federation of Students election, which will choose the 2007-08 Fed executive and several student representatives on UW's senate. It would be choosing members of students' council as well — that's the Federation governing body — except that, at last report, candidates had been acclaimed to all the open positions. Undergraduate students have two ways to vote: online or in person. The online polls are open continuously from 8 a.m. today to 8 p.m. Thursday. On-campus voting stations are open 9 to 4 all three days (except as noted) at these locations, according to the Fed office: "Arts Lecture Hall Main Foyer, BMH Main Foyer, CPH Main Foyer outside of POETS, DC outside of room 1301, ES1 Coffee Shop, MC 3rd floor outside C&D, Science B1 outside the C&D, SLC Volunteer Centre ('Paper Ballot station only for those who cannot cast online votes'), Optometry 3rd Floor Polaris Lab, St. Jerome's Community Centre (aka: the Cafeteria), Wednesday only, 10-4". Voters will, of course, have familiarized themselves thoroughly with the issues and the candidates. One source is the election supplement that appeared in Friday's issue of Imprint, with interviews and analysis. It also includes an interesting commentary by experienced analyst Neal Moogk-Soulis about the startling degree to which this year's campaign has been conducted through Web 2.0 media, specifically Facebook.

Membership in the "E-community" of UW alumni had reached 35,973 by the end of 2006, says a report on fall term activity in the office of alumni affairs. And that's just a fraction of the action, which also included events for "10,100 alumni and community members at venues from Waterloo to Asia", 180 people who kept individual appointments with the Alumni Career Advisor, and 44,000 alumni (out of about 110,000 possible) who received the monthly e-newsletter. The office has received 183 nominations for the 50th Anniversary Alumni Awards, the report says; a graduating student questionnaire was distributed, in partnership with the faculties and the career services office; and on it goes. One other note: Benefactor, the software used for some years now by the alumni and development staff to keep track of friends and prospects and funds, "will be replaced with Raiser's Edge over the next 18 months", the report says.

The winter issue of Sharc Bytes is at hand — that's the newsletter of the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network, of which UW is a member. "Sharcnet's AccessGrid rooms are now operational and open for use," one article says. "These rooms were used for the Sharcnet AGM on October 19. Our Scientific Director, Hugh Couchman, was able to give his presentation from the University of Waterloo at the conclusion of the Fall Workshop. It was broadcast to the other Sharcnet institutions over AccessGrid. . . . You can join in from your office or even from home on your desktop computer. All that is required is the AccessGrid software, a webcam and a headset. . . . Our existing rooms are being used many times every week. There are frequent staff and committee meetings, as well as researcher collaboration sessions. . . . Future plans for the AccessGrid rooms include offering graduate courses across sites. This should be starting in the fall of 2007."

A yellow-covered booklet arrived yesterday with the latest version of the Memorandum of Agreement, 37 pages long, between UW and the faculty association, including amendments that were made last summer. • Not sure what it is, but "Cheese Wraparatha" is the vegetarian dinner special at Mudie's cafeteria in Village I tonight. • Volunteers involved in 50th Anniversary planning and events have been invited to a thank-you reception this afternoon at the University Club.

Finally, a note from Glenda Rutledge in the human resources department: "There is another option available on campus in addition to Hildegard Marsden, Klemmer Farmhouse, Paintin' Place and Early Childhood Education Centre. Kids & Company, the new childcare centre opening in the TechTown building located on the North Campus, will now accept registrations from regular staff, faculty and students of the University. Registration for childcare can be done online. Representatives from Kids & Company will be available in the Student Life Centre on February 13 and 14 to answer questions, discuss their services and provide on-site registration."

CAR

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