campus news
A Hub for entrepreneurship
Laurier program gets dedicated space
A space at the Kitchener-based Communitech Hub, affectionately nicknamed “the sandbox,” will soon become Laurier’s playground for innovation and entrepreneurship. Laurier’s long-standing Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (EAP) gives students the opportunity to launch new ventures while earning academic credit. Now the program has a dedicated space at the Hub. “Students will be able to easily connect with other entrepreneurs, community
partners, corporate partners, investors and the alumni mentors they are assigned,” said Steve Farlow, executive director of the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship. Laurier is one of the founding academic partners at the Communitech Hub, located in Kitchener’s historic Tannery building. Laurier’s Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship runs the program in partnership with the School of Business & Economics and the Faculty of Science. Undergraduate students from other
Building bridges
Dalton McGuinty visits Laurier
Program opens the doors to higher education
Ontario Premier officially launches tuition grant rebate program
The Ontario government ushered in the New Year by making clear the details of a new annual tuition grant rebate program, with Premier Dalton McGuinty choosing Wilfrid Laurier University as the official launching ground. McGuinty discussed the details of the 30-per-cent tuition reduction program — which officially came into effect Jan. 5 — during a visit to a first-year business class at
Laurier’s School of Business & Economics. “This is the single most expensive commitment we’ve made as a government and it’s for you,” McGuinty told the packed classroom. “The bottom line is if you do well, we do well. The equation is as simple as that.” Grants of $800 for university students and $365 for college students are now available to eligible students. Starting in September 2012, grant amounts will rise to $1,600 and $730 for university and college students respectively. “This is a great opportunity,” said firstyear business student Gracjan Oleksinki. “This means a lot less stress for my family. And it’s their loss if students don’t apply. This government program benefits us, but it’s also on us to use it.”
Toyota donates RAV4 to Laurier’s Special Constable Service Rod Curran, director of Laurier’s Special Constable Service, left, and Special Constable Jeff Hunt stand with the university’s new RAV4. It is one of 10 Toyota gave away to mark 25 years of manufacturing in the region.
Photo: Tomasz Adamski
In December 2011, the first 12 high school students in Laurier’s new Building Bridges to Success program completed their first university credit after attending lectures on Laurier’s Waterloo campus. Building Bridges to Success: Creating Links to Post-Secondary Education is a transition program for students facing financial and other barriers to postsecondary education. It offers senior high school students an opportunity to discover what it takes to be successful at university. Laurier launched the program in September 2011 with a gift of $425,000 from the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation in partnership with Pathways to Education. There are two components to Building Bridges: a four-month university credit course and a two-month program focused on study skills, which is also taught on Laurier’s Waterloo campus. Both programs are free. Over the next five years, more than 200 students will benefit from Building Bridges. Students chosen for the university credit course attend three hours of classes each week on Laurier’s Waterloo campus. They also participate in course tutorials on good study habits.
academic disciplines may also apply to be part of the program. Laurier has also partnered with Conestoga College to ensure Laurier students have access to Conestoga student volunteers who can build websites and design logos and marketing materials for start-ups using the space. As Laurier students complete the EAP, they will have the opportunity to graduate directly into Communitech programs offered at the Hub that will help them take their venture to the next level.
LAURIER CAMPUS Spring 2012
9