Graduate Programs of a Different Kind

When one thinks of graduate programs, one tends to think of research studies in areas that contribute to the advancement of human knowledge in some way. Research that focuses primarily on the betterment of animals is not heavily profiled. The University of Guelph offers graduate programs through the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in the areas of biomedical sciences, clinical studies, pathobiology, and population medicine. The program is widely known for its equine (horse) science programs. According to Canadian Thoroughbred, there are more than one million horses in Canada; the equine industry generates $3.5 billion a year. The University of Guelph recently received $2 million from the E.P. Taylor Equine Research Fund to support clinical research in the health and performance of racehorses; plans for a new Equine Sports Medicine and Reproduction Centre are in the works. E.P. Taylor was a visionary in Canadian Thoroughbred breeding. The fund has been supporting graduate student and faculty research at the university through the OVC and Equine Guelph, which offers continuing education programs in equine science and business management. I am currently completing the Equine Science Certificate, and plan to go on to enrol in the Equine Science Studies Diploma. The courses are unique in that they are offered entirely online, making them appealing to horse owners ordinarily unable to access a university and to students without access to horses. Kemptville College, which partners with Equine Guelph, also has onsite degree, diploma and certificate programs specific to various aspects of the equine industry.

So You Want to Get A Ph.D. in the Humanities?

This video, mocking those in pursuit of a humanities doctorate, has been circulating on a number of sites (Inside Higher Ed; The Valve) this week.

Graduate Education Happenings at Memorial

The most recent edition of The Gazette, Memorial University's newspaper, reports on a number of important achievements in graduate education this semester. Graduate enrollment has increased by 10.3% over last year, with a total of 2,954 registrations, of which 1,677 students are studying full-time, and 1,277 on a part-time basis. Dr. Noreen Golfman, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, says that rising enrollment can be attributed to a number of factors, such as ..."the excellent graduate programming Memorial has to offer, the superior research carried out by faculty at this institution, the competitive funding and tuition made possible by support of the provincial government and our more aggressive approach to recruiting the best and the brightest graduate students."

Memorial has created the first online Masters in Physical Education (MPE) degree to be offered in Canada. The program was created and is delivered by the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation (HKR), Distance Education and Learning Technologies (DELT), and the provincial government's Department of Education. The new program received the Innovative and Creative Programming award this year at the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) international conference in San Francisco, CA. DELT also received an award for its social media marketing via Facebook. Memorial's distance education offerings are the largest among Canadian comprehensive universities.

E-Learning: The Horizon and Beyond

This week I attended and presented at Edge Conference 2010, an international conference on the use of technologies in K-12 and Post-Secondary Education. The event was hosted by Memorial University. My presentation focused on the impact of high school distance e‐learning experience on post‐secondary participation and perception of distance education. I presented on behalf of our research team which also included lead researchers Dr. Dale Kirby and Dr. Dennis Sharpe; fellow Ph.D. student, Monique Bourgeois.

Heard it through the grapevine? Not with CCR

A new initiative from Memorial University's office of Student Affairs and Services is in the works. The Co-Curricular Record(CCR)reads like an academic transcript and documents a student’s involvement on campus throughout the year, accounting for various kinds of out-of-class learning. The service will be available to both undergraduate and graduate students, and will be extremely useful when applying for jobs, scholarships and awards, and building professional portfolios. Memorial is one of the first Canadian universities to implement the CCR; as Noreen Golfman, the Dean of Graduate Studies notes, it is an invaluable resource for grad students, many of whom participate in such activities as organizing conferences and running departmental societies, and until now, have not received 'credit' for these contributions to their university community. CCR is a formal method for communicating with potential employers and a launchpad for networking; it will be launched in fall 2010.