ACCC Website Gets a New Look
The ACCC website has undergone a makeover, giving it a more contemporary look. Along with a redesigned homepage, the site features a new ‘skin’ allowing all of the Web navigation and content structure to stay the same, but laid out with more up-to-date styling.
ACCC in the Media
The February 15 issue of Embassy contained an Education Policy Briefing, including an article on the need for Federal leadership in funding study-abroad programs and an op-ed by James Knight entitled Creative thinking needed to boost student mobility.
A new report by TD Economics, the branch of TD Canada Trust that provides analysis of economic performance and implications for investors, describes ACCC’s Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP) as an invaluable asset in setting expectations and preparing immigrants for the challenges they will face in Canada. Knocking Down Barriers Faced By New Immigrants To Canada: Fitting the Pieces Together states that CIIP warrants additional funding for expansion of services and extension to more countries.
James Knight and Paul Brennan, Vice President, International Partnerships, were interviewed by the Globe and Mail for the Education: Canadian Colleges eight-page supplement, which will be published on Wednesday, February 29. The publication also contains an op-ed that Mr. Knight was invited to submit, and the stories and photos of a number of college-industry applied research partnerships that appear in our recently-published showcase: Increasing Productivity Through Incremental Innovation – Colleges, Institutes and Polytechnics: Applied Research for Economic and Social Development.
Campaign for Funding for Applied Research
We will mail a hard-copy of the Applied Research showcase on February 27, along with this letter to all MPs. We encourage members to reinforce this action by communicating the Common Message drafted below to local MPs:
Colleges provide the advanced skills to graduates who support incremental innovation, specifically improvements to existing technologies, products, processes and services, often delivered in small steps, resulting in significant changes. Their partnerships with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in applied research have flourished with modest support from the Government of Canada. Our SME partners have documented powerful success stories of productivity gains and new jobs. These achievements merit additional investment. Our goal is to attract 5% of the federal research investments that flow to post-secondary institutions for college-SME applied research partnerships, an increase from the current 1.25%. We advocate smarter spending, not more spending. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by SMEs.
World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) – World Congress 2012
ACCC, in collaboration with Nova Scotia Community College, will host the WFCP World Congress 2012: Driving the Global Economy. The Congress will stimulate dialogue on the profound influence of education on societies, economies and communities. Cross-cutting themes will include Local and Global Innovation, Indigenous Peoples, Access for the Disadvantaged, Sustainability, and Transformational Leadership.
President Vicente Fox, President of Mexico 2000-2006, will give the opening keynote address. David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Lieutenant General Roméo A. Dallaire, (Retired), Senator, have confirmed their participation, as has Stephen Lewis, Companion of the Order of Canada, Celebrated Humanitarian, and Former UN Special Envoy, for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Twelve hundred institutional leaders, senior government officials, international partners, faculty and students will gather in Halifax in May. The ACCC Annual Conference is integrated into the WFCP event. The World Congress site is: world.accc.ca.
The ACCC College and Institute Showcase provides an opportunity for member institutions to profile leading-edge programs and services to the World. Reserve early as space is limited.
2012 ACCC Applied Research Symposium
This year’s Applied Research Symposium, Colleges and Institutes in Canada’s Innovation EcoSystem: Making It Happen, will take place in Ottawa at the Château Laurier from February 28-March 1, 2012. Keynote speakers include Dr. Howard Alper, Chair, Science, Technology and Innovation Council, Bogdan Ciobanu, Director General, NRC-Industrial Research Assistance Program, and Denise Amyot, President and CEO, Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation. Senior representatives from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the International Development Research Centre will participate.
Update on Copyright Legislation
ACCC will appear before the House of Commons Committee that is considering Bill C-11, an Act to amend the Copyright Act (previously Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act). ACCC is a member of an Education Coalition that includes the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.
The Coalition supports Bill C-11 because it provides Canadian teachers and students with the ability, during their routine educational activities, to use material, publicly available on the Internet, without breaking the law. It sets the necessary legal framework for learning in the digital age and, in doing so, improves Canada’s competitive advantage with regard to on-line learning and skills development.
The Coalition has been a powerful advocate for copyright reform. It presents a common front to ensure the needs of the education community are met.
