Beyond the ring

This new column presents news capsules on post-secondary education issues across Canada and around the world. To suggest items or topics for this column, email ringedit@uvic.ca

Canadians concerned about research funding
A Harris Decima poll conducted in April indicated that 67 per cent of Canadians are somewhat concerned (34 per cent) or very concerned (33 per cent) about research funding cuts, and 66 per cent felt that research priorities should be set by the scientific community, while 34 per cent said they should be set by the federal government. Online source »

2005 grads working, working off debt
A new Statistics Canada survey of 2005 college and university graduates shows that 90 per cent of those who did not pursue further studies had secured employment within two years, about 85 per cent in full-time positions. Approximately half of all grads at all levels had completed their post-secondary studies free of debt. And among grads with student-related debt, more than 25 per cent of had paid it off within two years of graduating. Online source »

Combatting academic dishonesty
Simon Fraser University has introduced a new grade: FD (failed for academic dishonesty), which is available to department chairs when a student’s behaviour warrants a severe penalty. A centralized record keeping mechanism will help in identifying multiple offenders across departments. The measures are part of a three-year initiative to toughen SFUs policies on academic dishonesty and student misconduct. Online source