Another First For UNBC
l-r Advanced Education Minister, Amrik Virk, UNBC President, George Iwama, Minister of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training, Shirley Bond, and Prince George-Mackenzie MLA, Mike Morris
Prince George, BC – There was a rousing reception from students, faculty, and industry representatives at UNBC’s Winter Garden to word of two new Masters programs in engineering at the university.
Building on the government’s priority to utilize wood, Minister of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training, Shirley Bond, says the programs’ specialties are a first for BC and Canada. The Masters of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design will be a one year course designed to focus on technical specializations like wood structure engineering, engineering for sustainable energy, and forest product engineering. The Master of Applied Science in Engineering will be a thesis-based program researching wood-related engineering.
Advanced Education Minister, Amrik Virk, grew up in Williams Lake and worked in lumber mills to go to university. Virk says he grew up ‘touching wood’ and is proud to be in the city to make his first official announcement. "Universities are major economic drivers – they are drivers of innovation, they are drivers of jobs, you know, they are at the cultural centre of a region, too, as well, and this is, indeed, what UNBC is."
Virk says the funding models are in place to develop the programs and provide long-term funding – $466-thousand dollars will fund start-up costs this year. The first installment, $237-thousand, will be used to assist with faculty and student recruitment and curriculum development. Once established, there will be 36 full-time student spaces.
UNBC President, George Iwama, says the funding will enable UNBC to hire world class faculty to expand the existing environmental engineering program. Iwama says industry leaders have discussed at-length what’s needed to expand ‘capacity’ in Northern BC, and these Masters programs look to address that need. He thanked local MLA, Shirley Bond, and former MLA, Pat Bell, who was in attendance at the Winter Garden, for their years of hard work leading up to today’s announcement.
The programs will be based in the new Wood Innovation and Design Centre taking shape in the city’s downtown core. Once built, the $25-million dollar, six-and-a-half storey building will be the tallest wood-built structure in North America. "We are very excited about this expansion in capacity," says Iwama. "And we look forward to the graduates joining our communities in various jobs in the near future."
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA, Mike Morris, calls the programs "another brick in the foundation for Prince George." Morris says by the end of 2014, what was an empty hole in downtown Prince George will be an icon and landmark in the form of the Wood Innovation Centre that will house industry tenants and these students.
Comments
What ever happened to the 10 Story $167 Million dollar building that was originally announced??
I believe it 25 million , 6 story now
It shrunk during the “spin” cycle.
Another brick in the foundation??? Shouldn’t he have said another preserved wood 2×6 in a wood basement foundation!!!!!
It is “under construction 1 block from my work.
First they demolished the building.
Then thy filled the basement retaining walls.
hen they dug that out.
Then thy filled that.
This week they dug across fifth, and refilled and paved that patch.
No apparent activity today.
Come on folks. This is a great thing. Let’s just for once be proud of the accomplishments that UNBC has brought to Prince George. I know that when we have guests UNBC is the first place we show off.
PG PROUD!!!!!!
Congrats middle finger, the best one line summery I have read in a long time.
Right on the mark
I don’t think this will help the low moral of the UNBC faculty and the growing problems. According to a presentation this April in the UNBC senate:
* Morale of UNBC faculty & staff is low.
* There is reduction in the level of
student services.
* Some programs were unable to hire
faculty where it is needed the most.
* Positions remained unfilled for the
last many years.
* In some programs, more than 60 percent
of the teaching load has to be given to
the non-tenured faculty.
* There is a dramatic increase in the
class sizes in some programs.
* Increased failure rate of students in
some classes which leads to organizing
additional sections (added cost).
* Well trained and established
researchers and teachers in UNBC
looking for jobs elsewhere.
UNBC’s neglect and mismanagement of its human resources has become a chronic problem in this institution.
three hours for univ to come bash UNBC as with every UNBC article. I definitely should have taken the under. lol
Congrats on the new Masters programs
I am just reporting on the morale of UNBC faculty and staff according to recent public documents by UNBC. It should be cause for concern and not cause for LOL?!
A smart manager knows the important value of people and team spirit. A concept alien to UNBC management.
You obviously think it is cause for concern, univ, and some people on here may agree with you.
So, since you are concerned, what are you doing about it?
Why do you not at least make a sign and stand in front of one of the more popular entrances to the building and explain yourself? At least that would be a start.
Perhaps the faculty association would give you support.
I think you didn’t read the digital sign above (based on Apr 2013 report):
* Morale of UNBC faculty & staff is low.
* There is reduction in the level of student services.
* Some programs were unable to hire faculty where it is needed the most.
….
* Increased failure rate of students in some classes … ,
* Well trained and established researchers and teachers in UNBC looking for jobs elsewhere.
The management in UNBC, (or gus and interceptor on behalf of UNBC) should come forward and explain what has been done since the 2003 collegiality report to raise the morale of faculty and staff? It is now 10 years since the report.
If you are asking me why the morale of faculty is low, I have already explained it in numerous posts over the past few years, referring to the 2003 report. But the UNBC management seems to be deaf/blind and cannot hear/read.
-Why should the former dean of CSAM who reduced the FTE in his collage dramatically be put in the position of dean again? UNBC has a unique way in lowering the morale of its faculty members.
-Why should the former Dean of CASHS who insulted an Asian/Canadian faculty member in public be an emeritus professor in UNBC? There is nothing honorable (i.e. emeritus) about using insults. Or it is an honorable act to use insults in UNBC?
– We shouldn’t expect students from Asia to rush to UNBC when the Asian faculty members are mistreated, insulted and discriminated in UNBC. Should we?
When we see an end to discriminatory practices in UNBC?
As usual a lot of people in Prince George continue to think that UNBC is a growing concern.
In actual fact it hasn’t grown much in the past 10 years. In fact enrolments for Undergraduate students has been in a steady decline, or at best holding for a minimum of the past five years.
This BS with the Wood Innovation Building and the new Master Program, is a result of an overwhelming dose of stupidity. Nothing more/nothing less.
If people in this town would EVER tell the truth, then you would know that it took a lot of arm twisting to get UNBC to agree to any of this WIDC crap.
Perhaps someone could tell us how many Master of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design we need. With 36 to a class, we could have as many as 360 in 10 years.
I’m betting that we will at best have 2 jobs.
Wood for the most p
If they hire 2 faculty members for the wood MSC, there would be between 2-4 MSC students per faculty and we are talking of an additional 4-8 FTE to UNBC enrollments. This will not even compensate for percentage of an expected decline in the UNBC enrollments and all this hoopla and hurra for what?
UNBC for the past several years has been getting an additional 500 FTE for students that has not hired. 500 FTE in 2013 is around 15% of its BC funding. Without it, UNBC is in the red by $7Million each year.
Instead of talking about 7 MSc students we should be discussing this 7 million $ deficit. Dr Iwama, please lecture us.
We are all ears.
univ, by now it should be abundantly clear to everyone that you have some sort of personal issue with UNBC. I do not bring personal issues to this board, nor does anyone other than maybe one post to get it off their chests.
I would kindly ask you to park the personal issue in a forum where people are as passionate about it as you are and are able to do something about it. It looks to me that those people are not here.
So they have financial challenges and morale challenges. That is nothing all that new in large organizations. It certainly is nothing new at City Hall with all the shifting that has gone on there.
gus don’t try to change the channel from the issues in UNBC to personal attacks agin. By now it should be abundantly clear to everyone that you have some sort of personal connection to the UNBC mismanagement and every-time someone comes here and criticizes UNBC you defend it and attack the person.
Didn’t you defend plagiarism in UNBC when a former program chair in UNBC and his student were punished by IEEE for copying the articles of another? Why you defend plagiarism and attack IEEE and defend mus-management in UNBC when a public senate report acknowledges these problems? What UNBC wants to do about these problems.
UNBC is a public institution and receives around $50 Million of our tax money annually. So I kindly ask you not to give us this crap and instead let UNBC to come and answer these public concerns about chronic mismanagement there.
“So they have financial challenges and morale challenges. “
UNBC “Management is simply cutting resources across programs/
departments without looking at the strategic choices of the
departments/programs (For example, a 3% cut across all
programs/departments large or small with minimal or no input from
programs and departments )”
[page 101/221 UNBC senate P U B L I C meeting 24 Apr 2013]
Can someone please translate P U B L I C for gus?
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