News
UWO makes room for more grad students
Date Posted: Nov. 09, 2006
More than 800 more students will be able to enroll in graduate programs at the University of Western Ontario next year
By DEBORA VAN BRENK, LONDON FREE PRESS REPORTER
More than 800 more students will be able to enroll in graduate programs at the University of Western Ontario next year.
That, in turn, will help drive the regional economy, UWO president Paul Davenport said this morning.
The university has often pushed for provincial funding for more grad spaces - that is, for students who have earned one degree and are working on an advanced degree, Davenport said: �We�ve waited a long time at Western for this day.�
Davenport said the perception may be that grad students remain in the academic world. But �they�re out there in the general economy, like EK3, making a difference.�
The annonucement took place at EK3, a London narrowcast business founded by UWO engineering grad students.
One-quarter of its 42 employees have masters� or doctorate degrees from UWO, said co-founder Ken Stuart.
�It�s very exciting. We get to work with graduate students and they work with us,� he said.
And when he makes presentations across the country and continent, �We always talk about Western . . . We�re very proud of that fact,� he said.
MPP Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and University, made the announcement in a room studded with some of the city�s economic and education lights.
Bentley said economic growth and development are sparked by knowledge and creativity and, �that�s why graduate education is a driver of the economy.�
He said the provincial Liberals have funded 86,000 more undergraduate spaces since taking office.
This morning�s announcment was part of a pledge to increase graduate spaces in the province by 12,000 by next year and by another 14,000 in 2009-20010.
That, he said, represents a 155-per-cent increase and an investment of $240 million.
The money is to pay universities to provide more lab resources, research opportunities and to hire professors.
Western has 4,000 grad students right now.
MPP Deb Matthews (L � London West), herself a freshly minted PhD from Western, joked that EK3 are �the people to blame for (my) coming through a drive-thru for coffee and leaving with a maple dip (donut).�
Among EK3�s innovations is the video-display technology at Tim Hortons retaurants.
Shannon Dea, president of UWO�s Society of Graduate Students, welcomed the announcement as a �great first step� that will help keep grad students here, instead of leaving to do grad work in other countries.
She said the grad students look forward to a next step that, she hopes, would include more teaching, research and bursary opportunities and for grad students.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/11/09/2289810.html