News
2 •queensjournal.ca
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Budget cuts create new options
Five new interdisciplinary degrees announced in the Faculty of Arts and Science
which is especially important given the recent budgeting situation, Pierce said. “The fine arts is critical to the This September the Faculty of Arts creative arts offerings at Queen’s and Science will introduce five new and linguistics is a growing interest for students,” he said. “Budget cuts interdisciplinary degree options. The new degree options are a BA are a new financial reality, and minor in world language studies, a until this levels off, these revised revised BAH major in linguistics, programs will be a good alternative and a BFA major ARTF or a BFA in the mean time.” While revisions to the linguistics major/minor or major general and fine arts departments aim at option for fine arts students. The changes are in response to improving efficiency and meeting both the recent budget cuts and student demand, a BA minor in increased student demand for more world language studies is an entirely flexible programs in the Faculty new degree option at Queen’s. Pierce said that there was a of Arts and Science, John Pierce, associate dean of studies in Arts and strong demand among students to diversify language options, and the Science said. new world language studies minor “After we did a three will be a step beyond the preexisting year review of programs, International Studies Certificate. Jill Scott, the undergraduate some departments chair of linguistics, said that the realized they wouldn’t minor option arose because of be able to sustain conversations about the potential themselves over the long amalgamation of language units term, and this really which the German, linguistics, motivated the change.” Japanese and Chinese department has agreed to pursue with the — John Pierce, Associate Dean Spanish and Italian department. of Studies in Arts and Science “There’s no doubt that students who are interested in languages will “After we did a three year review love this new option, it’s definitely of programs, some departments the direction that students want to realized they wouldn’t be able to go in,” Scott said. “Some students sustain themselves over the long want to have a grasp of several term, and this really motivated the change,” he said, adding that the major/minor degree option is now the most popular one in the Faculty. Since the revised linguistics and fine arts programs are a move away from the Special By Jessica Fishbein Field Concentration that required Assistant News Editor students to take 14 or more credits, more students will now be able to One in three Canadians will be take on a minor. diagnosed with cancer during With the new programs, the fine their lifetime. As the world races arts and linguistics departments are for a cure, Queen’s professors able to offer less courses because are leading the way with of the decreased requirements in three major grants. the major/minor option. This will Each year Cancer Care Ontario help reduce unnecessary costs, (CCO), a government advisory body that directs over $700 million in public health care dollars, selects around six researchers as chairs. This year, three out of the six positions were filled by Queen’s professors; Gabor
By Katherine Fernandez-Blance Assistant News Editor
Supplied
Jill Scott, Undergraduate Chair of Linguistics said that the world language studies minor is the direction students want to go in. languages because we live in a global world, and having exposure to multiple languages is important.” Language courses that previously only counted as electives and couldn’t be combined towards a language degree now can go towards the world language studies minor. These include Japanese,
Chinese and Arabic, Scott said, adding that the creation of the World Language Studies minor is a sign that collaboration and cooperation really can yield great results. There is of course, she said, the possibility that similar interdisciplinary projects might occur in the future.
“For the administration it’s an interdisciplinary program without any additional resources, which allows us to sustain the resources we have,” he said. “The university as a whole supports this, and students are increasingly interested in interdisciplinary and flexible programs.”
Cancer researchers recognized
Three Queen’s professors receive grants from Cancer Care Ontario Fichtinger, Penelope Bradbury and Michael Brundage. “The chair is a funding champion,” Fichtinger, a professor at the Queen’s School of Computing and Kingston General Hospital, said, adding that $1 million in chair funding will allow him to help bring image-guided surgery and cancer intervention technology go to trial without the usual five-year wait period.
“With this money, the research process is accelerated and the wheels are put into motion for finding new cures.” — Dr. Gabor Fichtinger, professsor of Queen’s Computing “Being named a Cancer Care Ontario Research Chair will allow the research to go to clinical trials in
a faster and more efficient manner,” Fichtinger said. “With this money, the research process is accelerated and the wheels are put into motion for finding new cures.” Cancer Care Ontario Research Chairs are divided into level one or two. Level one chairs are considered senior and level two chairs junior. Level one research chairs receive $1 million over five years, twice as much as level two and have different mandates meaning they are expected to have their normal teaching loads reduced and devote more time to research. Since it is an open competition, many of the most talented and hardworking doctors were eligible to be named Cancer Care Ontario Research Chairs, Fichtinger said. The Queen’s professors received chair grants for their research in fields ranging from oncology to computing. “Queen’s can be very proud … but never underestimate the
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power of luck.” Dr. Fichtinger, Dr. Bradbury and Dr. Brundage received a total of $2.5 million. The CCO program receives funding from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Brundage, a professor in Oncology, said that being appointed a level one CCO research chair and receiving the research funding will give him more time to devote to research endeavors.
“My research … concerns how quality of life is evaluated in clinical trials of cancer treatments.” — Dr. Michael Brundage professor of oncology “This money does not increase my salary but reduces my clinical time and allows me more research time,” he said, adding that he is currently researching care quality in partnership with the Provincial Program in Radiation Oncology. “My research … concerns how quality of life is evaluated in clinical trials of cancer treatments,” he said, adding that he is also funded by CIHR to evaluate quality measures and patterns of care for prostate cancer radiotherapy across Canada. “I was pleasantly surprised to be named a chair, as these are competitive and there are many deserving researchers in the province.”