Keeping AU in Athabasca
The Advanced Education Minister of Alberta, Marlin Schmidt, wants to keep AU in Athabasca, Alberta. Dr. Layton Shaw, President of the Faculty Association, expressed concern about AU staff being gradually moved away from Athabasca. Professional jobs have been reduced in the Athabasca area while shorter-term/contract work in Edmonton has been increasing.
Athabasca’s town and county are interested in assisting because the university is the primary employer there, according to Shaw. And Minister Schmidt has said, “Keeping Athabasca University in Athabasca is very important to me and the Alberta government,” and has directed the university to develop and assess options to bring stability to AU.”
Our New Brand: EduCanada
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade, unveiled Canada’s new brand for education at the Annual Conference of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
It is called EduCanada. It will have a website to replace the present Education au/in Canada website. EduCanada is to be rolled out in full in the next few months by the Government of Canada, and provincial and territorial governments.
Its logo will appear in “Canadian universities, colleges, CEGEPs, language schools and by kindergarten to grade 12 schools”, and will be branded by “materials produced by the Government of Canada.”
Edmonton School Board Asks for Help Funding Syrian Students
CBC News reported on more than $2 million in financial assistance needed for 500 new students by the Edmonton public school board. They are requesting the funding from the federal government to help with the expense.
Board chair, Michael Janz, said, “We are committed to providing a high-quality education for each and every one of our students.” He continued to say that the integration of hundreds of new students is a challenge, and that the monetary support request from the federal government is reasonable.
Standard funding from the provincial government is partly from finalized student enrolment figures at the start of the academic year, however, since the students arrived later, no funds were given to the Edmonton public school board.
