December 14, 2005 Source: Memorial University of Newfoundland:
http://www.mun.ca/marcomm/news/index.php?includefile=showitem.php&id=1007 Memorial University's 2004-2005 President's Report released on DVD and Web SUBJECT: Memorial University's 2004-2005 President's Report released on DVD and Web
DATE: Dec. 14, 2005 Memorial University President Dr. Axel Meisen has formally presented the university's annual report to Joan Burke, the minister of Education. Issued under the theme What We Have Become, the 2004-2005 President's Report was again issued primarily as a Web site which features stories about innovative research, profiles of amazing students and faculty together with the university's complete financial statements and an array of statistics on the province's only university. This year's report is available at www.mun.ca/2005report, and includes information about Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial's campus in Corner Brook, and the Marine Institute in St. John's. The university also produced an accompanying highlights booklet and a DVD. The latter contains video segments drawn from the year's news, together with the complete information found on the Web site. The report can be played and the information viewed in a standard DVDplayer or on a PC equipped with DVD capability. This year's report theme echoes how the Memorial University has become one of Canada's top post-secondary institutions and Atlantic Canada's largest university. "I hope you will enjoy learning about Memorial University becoming an evermore innovative institution, one that strives to provide a rich intellectual environment for students, faculty and staff, and one that engages the wider community for the benefit of society," Dr. Meisen said. "We are pleased that our format allows us to present information on Memorial University in the form or photos, video clips, text and data. "The report contains something on practically every facet of what the university accomplished in the last year." "I am extremely pleased to see the progress Memorial University continues to make in providing innovative, quality programming to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and indeed, students from around the world," said Minister Burke. "Through its actions, Memorial is playing a critical role in ensuring our young people and adult learners have access to educational programs which will benefit the future growth of our province." The report provides information on Memorial's increase in enrolment, noting that Memorial now has 17,800 students. External support for research activities continues to rise sharply, and reached $81.6 million this past year; this compares with $35 million in 1999. Three major facilities opened on the St. John's campus this past year, including: The $18-million Inco Innovation Centre, built with funding from Inco Ltd. and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. The building houses state-of-the-art teaching facilities, including a 325-seat lecture theatre, research laboratories, project rooms and offices for graduate studies and research. The Petro-Canada Hall was opened thanks to a $1.2 million donation from Petro-Canada, a leading company in Newfoundland's offshore petroleum industry. The hall is a beautiful and sophisticated rehearsal and teaching facility for music. Its special Internet technology permits our students and professors to rehearse and perform, in real time, with musicians anywhere else in the world. The hall will also be widely used by community groups, thereby stimulating the development music locally. The Landmark Graphics Visualization Laboratory is the equivalent of a scientific IMAXtheatre. It allows researchers and students to view complex data in four dimensions, three spatial dimensions plus time. The $20-million facility was made possible by the support from Landmark Graphics, IBMCanada and Panoram Technologies Inc., along with the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) through the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).Dr. Meisen also said that several new academic programs were developed this past year, including a master's and doctoral program in ethnomusicology; a master of science in kinesiology and a master of applied science in environmental systems engineering and management. "A new bachelor of arts in tourism studies was created and will be offered at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University's campus in Corner Brook," Dr. Meisen said in his report. "It will provide students with a well-rounded education in tourism and prepare them for careers in knowledge-based tourism." The Marine Institute developed Vision 2020, a set of guidelines and perspectives that will shape its development over the next 15 years. "We are committed to making the Marine Institute a world leader in oceans education, training, innovation and research," added Dr. Meisen. This year's report is being issued in the wake of a series of strategic planning meetings Memorial organized earlier this summer and fall. "Building on the accomplishments made under the 1999 Strategic Framework, current planning will set the university's course over the next five to 10 years," Dr. Meisen wrote in this year's report. "Guiding the planning are two key objectives: that Memorial continues to meet the needs of its students, especially students from this province, and that Memorial is competitive by international standards." In addition to formally presenting the report to Minister Burke, the report will also be distributed to community, business and educational leaders, as well as to major donors, granting councils and other university supporters. Copies of the report's highlights brochure/DVDcan be requested by calling 709-737-8663. The report was produced in-house at Memorial by staff in the Division of Marketing and Communications (formerly University Relations), the Department of Computing and Communications and video segments included on the DVD were originally produced by Distance Education and Learning Technologies. About Memorial University of Newfoundland Founded in 1925 as a memorial to Newfoundland's war dead, Memorial University Collegewas elevated to degree-granting status in 1949 as Memorial University of Newfoundland. Today, the university is the largest in Atlantic Canada, with almost 18,000 students. Memorial provides excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in virtually all disciplines. With locations in St. John'sand Corner Brook in Newfoundland, Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, the French-owned island of Saint-Pierre, and Harlow in England, Memorial is committed to experiential learning. The university's many interdisciplinary programs abound with opportunities for experiential learning, ranging from on-campus employment to work terms around the world. Outstanding research and scholarship, extraordinary teaching and a focus on community service are the University's hallmarks. Many teaching and research activities reflect our mid-North Atlantic locations; these unique settings and our cultural heritage have led to the creation of highly-regarded academic programs and specialized facilities in areas such as music, linguistics, folklore and human genetics, as well as earth sciences, cold-ocean engineering, rural health care and archaeology. - 30 - For further information, please contact Ivan Muzychka, manager, Memorial University News Service, 737-8665, 687-9433 or ivanm@mun.ca.
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