Report2008

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE

| 07/08 REPORT

rethink about it

Why rethink?

University of Lethbridge | Board of Governors | May 2008 1

CHAIR: Robert Turner, Q.C.

SENATE: Kim Kultgen

NON-ACADEMIC STAFF: Jeremiah Merkl

CHANCELLOR: Richard Davidson, Q.C.

ACADEMIC STAFF: Leah Fowler Claudia Malacrida

PUBLIC: Karen Bartsch, Art Bonertz, Myles Bourke, Gordon Jong, Susan Lea, Doug McArthur, Guy McNab (Vice-Chair), Grant Pisko, Dean Setoguchi

PRESIDENT & VICE-CHANCELLOR: William Cade ALUMNI: Sheila McHugh Kevin Nugent

STUDENTS: Jeremy Girard Adam Vossepoel GRADUATE STUDENT: Shannon Digweed

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

SECRETARY: Rita Law

Welcome to the University of Lethbridge 2007/2008 Community Report Wow – what a year this has been! Our 40th anniversary year was filled with plenty of excitement, but I can honestly say our 41st year is proving to be truly transformational.

We continue to build a comprehensive institution by expanding our horizons into the world of graduate studies while maintaining our tradition in undergraduate education. This year, 8,000 students from around the world call our campuses in Lethbridge, Calgary and Edmonton home.

Our student body has grown by 50 per cent in the last 10 years, phenomenal growth among postsecondary institutions in Canada. Despite this growth, we have remained true to who we are – ­­ student-focused, research-intensive and grounded in liberal education. Our graduates face the world with confidence – not only in their educations, but in their abilities to succeed in their careers.

The University of Lethbridge is built on a commitment to the individual student and to providing each student with the most vital and engaging learning environment in the country. We are a university that sees teaching as a core activity and a university that has developed a reputation as a major research institution. In what is being called the biggest research hire for a university in Canada, this fall, Dr. Bruce McNaughton joined our Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience team as the inaugural Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Polaris Award recipient. The award is a 10-year, $10 million research grant that will ultimately result in $20 million through matching funding.

Our centres of research excellence provide opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students that are second to none. New facilities, such as the Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building and the future Markin Hall, will create additional research space and accommodate future student needs. Over the last two years, we have had $147 million worth of new construction on campus. To date, five projects are complete and two more are under construction and set to open in 2009/2010. A key part of the U of L’s campus infrastructure, our signature Arthur Erickson building, University Hall, is also being preserved through an $18.5 million renovation investment.

I am also pleased to report that we set out to raise $20 million from the community through our Legacy of Leadership Campaign and we actually raised $35 million, an achievement made possible in part through the support of the Government of Alberta’s Access to the Future Fund.

The largest percentage of the money raised went directly to establishing scholarships and bursaries for our students. I want to thank alumnus Dan Laplante (BMgt ’88) for serving as Chair of the campaign – he did an outstanding job of motivating support and we sincerely appreciate the enthusiasm he brought to the campaign.

And last, but definitely not least, I would like to highlight two U of L students who shone brightly on national and international stages this year. Theo Tams, a music and psychology student, won the Canadian Idol competition, and hammer thrower Jim Steacy competed for Canada at the Beijing Olympics.

So why rethink? Because we want you to “rethink” what you thought you knew about the University of Lethbridge.

William H. Cade, PhD President and Vice-Chancellor Professor of Biological Sciences

rethink

ABOUT IT

2

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

Rethinking “brain gain” What can $20 million do for brain research in Alberta?

This fall, Dr. Bruce McNaughton, one of the world’s foremost experts in neurophysiology, proudly joined the University of Lethbridge’s Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN). It’s a “brain gain” made possible through the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Polaris Award – a 10-year, $10 million grant that will ultimately result in $20 million through matching funding.

Lured from the University of Arizona, McNaughton says it’s the worldclass expertise of the researchers at the CCBN that attracted him to the U of L. “Drs. Bryan Kolb, Ian Whishaw, Robert Sutherland and many others at the CCBN are pioneers in the behavioural neuroscience field,” says McNaughton.

“There is nothing in North America that is like what we’re building here.”

His addition is a major coup for the University.

“This is the most significant hire in Canadian universities this year,” says Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick, vicepresident (research). “The AHFMR Polaris Award is used to recruit internationally-significant scholars, and Dr. McNaughton is in that class.”

Neuropsychology looks at how the brain works by figuring out what

rethink

it can or cannot do when pieces of the mechanism are broken. McNaughton, a neurophysiologist, studies the healthy brain, gaining an understanding of the basis of knowledge. Alzheimer’s patients, stroke victims and those with spinal injury all benefit from technology he has developed for measuring the activity of groups of healthy brain cells and how they interact with one another.

“There is nothing in North America that is like what we’re building here.” Dr. Bruce McNaughton “The brain is what we call a dynamical system, and it is constantly active, processing information even while we sleep,” says McNaughton.

By unlocking the keys to how the brain generates knowledge, it opens the door to bypassing the broken connections in a damaged brain.

“The brain creates its own reality, and we’re finding out how that works.”

The CCBN has already established an unequaled reputation of innovative research; McNaughton’s addition primes the U of L neuroscience team for unprecedented breakthroughs in discovery.

ABOUT IT

4

Rethinking evolution

5

Each summer, U of L PhD candidate Shannon Digweed ventures deep into the woods where she looks and listens for clues that will help her uncover the origins of language.

Digweed is one of many graduate students seamlessly blending lab and fieldwork in the University’s prestigious Behaviour and Evolution Research Group.

She conducts her research in Alberta’s Sheep River Provincial Park, where she is

| What’s ahead?

exploring the vocal calls of the red squirrel.

“What we learn about squirrel communication can be extrapolated to many other animals – including humans – to learn more about how and why language is created,” says Digweed.

Digweed is part of vibrant and everincreasing community of graduate students at the University of Lethbridge, which is undergoing an institutional evolution.

While continuing to maintain its tradition

“The faculty at the U of L are extremely invested in the success of each and every graduate student.”

Shannon Digweed

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

in undergraduate liberal education, the U of L is emerging as a leading comprehensive academic and research institution.

This means that the U of L – like the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Athabasca – has a mandate to conduct research in every area it teaches and to increase its graduate programs.

Over the next 10 years, the number of graduate students at the U of L is expected to double – growth that will be

made possible by new facilities, additional research space, expanded programming and increased funding opportunities combined with a steadfast commitment to providing all students with a personal, supportive learning environment.

As the U of L grows as a comprehensive academic and research institution, so will opportunities for graduate students like Digweed. She chose the U of L to pursue her doctorate based on the reputation, experience and excellence of

rethink

ABOUT IT

her supervisor, Dr. Drew Rendall, as well as that of the Department of Psychology.

“The faculty at the U of L are extremely invested in the success of each and every graduate student,” she says. “One only has to look at the successes of our graduate students who are publishing their research and winning national awards to see compelling evidence of this.”

As the U of L continues to look ahead, the institution will keep its focus set on one sight – its students.

6

Rethinking history

How can we begin to heal century-old scars that have become generational pain?

7

On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a long-awaited formal apology to the Canadian Aboriginal community for the abuse suffered in the government-funded church-run residential schools that were phased out in the 1970s after more than a century of operation.

It also proved to be a day of personal significance for U of L education professor Dr. Brian Titley, who has spent the last three decades researching and writing about Aboriginal history.

“I was very moved when I watched the national apology on residential schools because I realized that 30 years ago a government apology could not have happened because nobody had written a thing about it. History needed to be rewritten and reinterpreted,” says Titley.

His book, A Narrow Vision: Duncan Campbell Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada (1986), was among the first to be written in Canada about Indian policy.

“Up until the 1970s, our history in Canada had been very much about nation building, great men, railways and Vimy Ridge,” says Titley. “Historians then began writing about the history of women, the working class, minority groups and Aboriginal people. These writings played an important role in

educating the public.”

A critical historian, Titley has devoted his career to challenging conventional wisdom. His list of published books and articles reads like an epic story that journeys through time, exploring the cultural fabric, political climate and religious circumstances of numerous countries at different points in history.

In addition to the administration of Indian Affairs in Canada, he has covered many controversial topics, including the role of the Catholic Church in the Irish education system and that of France in its former African colonies.

“History needed to be rewritten and reinterpreted.” Dr. Brian Titley As a newly appointed University Scholar, Titley has chosen the history of Magdalen asylums in North America as the subject for his next line of research.

First and foremost, however, Titley considers himself an educator – a teacher of teachers who aims to inspire his students so that one day they’ll inspire their own.

“I’ve always tried to explain to my students that as historians we must go back and understand origins to realize why the present is the way it is.”

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

rethink

ABOUT IT

Rethinking the future

9

It’s a story that never should have been forgotten. This fall, U of L alumna Ramona Big Head (BEd ’96) will take 23 students from the Blackfoot Confederacy with her all the way to New York City to perform “Strike them Hard!” The Baker Massacre – a play that speaks to a long-lost tragedy that many have never heard about.

Big Head wrote the script as her final project while pursuing her master of education at the U of L. It brings to life a piece of history that dates back more than 135 years to a cold day in January.

| How do past scenes set the stage for tomorrow?

It was 1870 and U.S. Major Eugene Baker and his troops had been given orders to find a group of troublemakers in the area and “strike them hard.” When they came across a Blackfeet camp set up along the Marias River in northern Montana, they mistook it as their target.

Despite a signed declaration from the superintendent of Indian Affairs stating that the peaceful camp was not to be attacked, 217 Blackfeet people – mostly women, children and the elderly – were killed.

When Big Head first learned about

“I can talk about the Baker Massacre and not be angry about it. Why? Because I am doing something about it.” Ramona Big Head

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

the massacre through an Aboriginal Elder mentor program she helped develop, she was shocked to discover that her great-great grandmother, who although only a child at the time, was among a small group who survived.

“I was really angry when I first heard about the massacre, especially when I realized that there was a direct connection to my ancestry,” says Big Head.

“But today I can talk about the Baker Massacre and not be angry about it. Why? Because I am doing something about it.

I wrote the play to remind my people of what our ancestors endured. We’re a testimony to their strength.”

Following a recommendation from her master’s supervisor, Big Head submitted a proposal for the play to be included in Performing the World ’08 – a New York festival that brings together more than 400 activists, scholars and researchers from around the world who share a common goal to use performance to foster growth and development.

Exceeding Big Head’s greatest

rethink

ABOUT IT

expectations, the play was the first submission to ever be accepted from a First Nations group. Big Head and a cast of students ranging in ages from six to 18 are preparing for a performance of a lifetime on a stage off Broadway.

“While there are many ways to tell a story, for me this is the best way – to have children learn the story, perform it and share it with others. These kids are learning and teaching others about the strength and resiliency of our people. It is something they will never forget.”

10

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

Rethinking the role of a professor

How can you teach students to think differently?

The answer to that question, according to Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, a Canada Research Chair in Physical Biochemistry and an Alberta Ingenuitysupported New Faculty Award recipient working on drug-resistance in bacteria, is simple: Don’t keep them in a classroom.

Make students “build” bacteria that work for a specific purpose and then send them to a huge international competition to present it.

Wieden put that challenge to a team of University of Lethbridge students, who recently participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, Mass.

“This is the Olympics for biochemistry students.”

Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden

Instead of learning about the process through lectures alone, Wieden pushed the 12-member group to work in the lab to engineer their biological “machine” to perform a specific function. The outcome means specialized bacteria that could have medical or environmental applications.

The team met students from more than 50 universities and was also exposed to new ideas, that in turn challenge Wieden both in his classroom and his lab.

rethink

“It’s extremely rewarding, but extremely difficult,” Wieden says, with no hint of understatement as he explains how the process forces him and his students to rethink the basic concepts of science, research and collaboration. “This is the Olympics for biochemistry students. They are under pressure to work on the project, with limited time. They have to be wellprepared, flexible and work well as a team, and we have to learn together.”

Wieden says a big part of the valueadded education U of L chemistry and biochemistry students receive is in the opportunity to participate in activities like iGEM. The process of moving students from the classroom to the work world with reallife projects is paying off.

“Our undergraduate students already work at an international level,” says Wieden. “They are crucial to our research programming because they help lay the groundwork for further research, collaborations and, ultimately, employment.”

Students are also able to present their research and receive funding at professional development events such as the Chinook Symposium, a competition made possible through contributions from 100 per cent of the faculty members in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department.

ABOUT IT

12

Rethinking religion |

13

History has been plagued with religious strife. In an age when tension between religions has reached a critical point, the need for dialogue, understanding and tolerance has never been more important.

This fall, recent U of L graduate and religious studies major Erika Jahn (BA ’08) confidently headed out into the world, ready to begin her life’s work in the scholarly pursuit of a more peaceful tomorrow.

What are we fighting for?

Her first stop – Harvard University, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in theological studies. It’s a renowned academic program that accepts only a select group of the world’s most stellar students.

“I cried with excitement when I received my acceptance letter from Harvard,” Jahn recalls. “I hadn’t told very many people I applied there, including my parents, so when I was accepted, it was a really big deal.”

Jahn says her U of L professors and

real-world experience played important roles in her acceptance to the Harvard Divinity School.

“I had the most astounding professors at the U of L who have been personal mentors to me,” she says. “My professors instilled in me an appreciation for academic rigour and the desire to engage with my community and the world around me.”

During her second year at the U of L, Jahn went to Thailand to study Buddhism

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

U OF L STUDENTS GO FAR U of L students and recent graduates have gone on to study at prestigious Ivy League schools. Philip Ney (BA ’07) is currently pursuing graduate studies at Princeton University. Jamie Huckabay (BA ’08), who was accepted into the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, received an esteemed Fulbright Scholarship and additional funding from the Donner

as part of an independent study – an experience she says not only deepened her understanding of the field, but also strengthened her appreciation for cultural diversity.

Now as a graduate student, Jahn is continuing her research of religious conflict, peace studies and ethnic violence, and is focusing on religion and politics. And as she takes in all that Harvard has to offer, she has her eyes set on the road ahead.

“I hope to complete my PhD

Foundation to start his graduate studies. Current student Kyle Hambrook was the U of L’s first winner of the prestigious Math in Moscow Scholarship, which offers foreign undergraduate students specializing in mathematics or computer science the opportunity to spend a semester in Moscow studying at the Independent University of Moscow. He was one of three Canadians selected to receive the award.

after this and find a great university to work at,” she says. “I’m also interested in working abroad with a nongovernmental organization to establish better systems of conflict resolution between different religious and ethnic communities.”

It’s a promising future – one that will hopefully bring peace thanks to the efforts of Jahn and individuals like her.

rethink

ABOUT IT

14 “My professors instilled in me an appreciation for academic rigour and the desire to engage with my community and the world around me.”

Erika Jahn

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

Rethinking stress

Four in 10 people suffer from burnout. Are you one?

Stress. There’s a good chance you are experiencing it in your life right now or know someone who is. It’s a buzzword that’s become so pervasive in our culture that we hardly give it a second thought.

However, U of L management professor Dr. Bob Boudreau’s research is raising a new awareness of the topic by showing how stress can lead to severe burnout – a serious epidemic sweeping across the nation.

Through a recent survey, Boudreau found that an alarmingly high rate of four in 10 Canadians suffer from burnout, a long-term debilitating condition marked by emotional exhaustion, lack of accomplishment and depersonalization. In taking his research further, Boudreau discovered an even more startling find.

“We found that one out of two doctors experiences burnout,” says Boudreau. “In all other occupations there is no evidence of differences in burnout rates – it doesn’t matter whether you are a policeman, nurse, fireman, lawyer or farmer – the rates are more or less the same. But relative to other professions, physicians are by far the highest at risk.”

We tend to think of doctors as healers, those we turn to in times of sickness. So it’s a troubling realization to find that they may be the one group needing urgent care the most.

rethink

Boudreau attributes the high rate of physician burnout to many factors, not the least of which is the pressure that comes from being responsible for the well-being of hundreds of patients. Tie that to an overtaxed health-care system rife with shortages, plus the day-to-day pressures of running a busy practice, and it’s the perfect prescription for professional exhaustion.

“We found that one out of two doctors experiences burnout.”

Dr. Bob Boudreau

With plans to continue and expand his work on professional burnout, Boudreau hopes to better the working environments of not only physicians, but professionals across the board.

“Once we understand burnout, we will be in a better position to manage many of its related workplace issues such as increased job conflict, poor performance, absenteeism, lateness and poor health,” says Boudreau.

“The strategy is to find cracks in each occupation we study and develop the tools people need to cope with their own professional situations. Hopefully, as we progress, we will create more positive work and life spaces.”

ABOUT IT

16

Rethinking health |

17

Although Canada’s health-care system ranks among the world’s best, we face an aging population, increasing rates of chronic disease and a dire shortage of health professionals. It’s a host of problems that aren’t going away – by 2011, a mere three years away, the demand for nurses and public health practitioners in Alberta and across Canada is expected to peak.

One thing is certain: the need for highly educated, well-trained health professionals has never been greater.

This fall, the U of L’s School

Where does the future of your health rest?

of Health Sciences launched a new Public Health degree program. As the only baccalaureate degree of its kind in Alberta, it gives students a new perspective on health.

“There is an evolution in our thinking about health. We’re now looking at broader social determinants of health like income, working conditions, employment, transportation, education and housing,” says U of L public health degree coordinator Sharon Yanicki.

The program will prepare graduates

to be life-long learners capable of integrating new approaches with proven methods and will provide them with skills to work in a variety of roles in health promotion, policy and information analysis, as well as community development and project management.

In addition, the University is increasing resources for those pursuing greater levels of education in health sciences. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Ed McNally, every nursing student

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

Inspiring nurses In honour of his mother, who was on the front lines of nursing during the First World War, Big Rock Brewery founder Dr. Ed McNally (LLD ’05) strongly supports the next generation of health professionals. This fall, his generosity provided a scholarship for every graduate nursing student at the U of L.

“I wanted to support promising young students pursuing advanced nursing studies. I’m amazed at how bright the students are and how diverse their thinking is. With so many new directions in medicine and health care, they have such a wide, diverse future ahead of them,” says McNally.

(l-r) Tara Vande Griend, Eva McLennan (BN ’07), Karen Leskosek (BN ’02) and Billy McKay (BN ’06) are some of the graduate nursing students to benefit from the scholarship established by Dr. Ed McNally.

in the graduate program received a scholarship of $4,000 this September.

For U of L student Eva McLennan (BN ’07), a busy mother of two as well as part-time employee at both Chinook Health and Lethbridge College, the scholarship confirms her goals.

“Of course receiving monetary assistance is beneficial and greatly appreciated – there are very real costs associated with education. But it’s more than that. Receiving a scholarship also recognizes that you have something to

contribute that makes you worthy of investment,” says McLennan.

McLennan believes that having her master’s degree will open doors on many levels.

“Today health consumers are better educated and expect more of the health system,” she explains. “My graduate degree will give me greater understanding of the ways in which research influences current nursing practices.”

Fellow student Karen Leskosek (BN ’02) agrees. “The health-care

rethink

ABOUT IT

system is constantly changing.

Having my master’s will enable me to approach client care, nursing education and research with innovation and determination,” says Leskosek.

Looking ahead, the U of L takes confidence in knowing that a health plan centred on educating innovative leaders is firmly in place – it’s one of the ways the University is helping ensure that the future of our health will remain in good hands.

18

Rethinking stereotypes

How does cultural change shape a prairie town?

19

unfair and unsafe labour practices and went on strike.

The film tells the stories of these workers – people like Peter Jany Khwai, who proudly wears a cowboy hat as well as an African shirt, and Edil Hassan, born in Somalia, who considers the time she picketed as one of her greatest accomplishments.

“You can’t understand people just by looking at them.” Dana Inkster By honouring their stories through the film, Inkster hopes to establish understanding and break down traditional stereotypes.

“The individuals in the documentary are unique and show that race isn’t a good way to characterize somebody. While race can be something we have in common, you can’t understand people just by looking at them,” explains Inkster.

“I hope audiences think twice about how they see the world and how they relate to their neighbours, friends, family and strangers. Above all else, if the film gets people to talk about things they haven’t talked about before, then my work is done.”

24 Days in Brooks recently won the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Award for the Rogers Media Best Production Reflecting Cultural Diversity and has been nominated for a Gemini for the Canada Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

Photo Credit: Brad Wrobleski / National Film Board of Canada

On a map, the small town of Brooks, Alta., appears no different than any other rural location. But with only 13,000 people speaking approximately 90 different languages, Brooks has an uncharacteristically diverse population for a prairie town. When U of L new media researcher Dana Inkster decided to direct a documentary about Alberta’s changing cultural landscape, Brooks was a natural choice. What she never anticipated finding was the angry voices and raw emotions of displaced workers fighting for basic rights.

“I had plans to tell this tiny poetic story and talk about people’s experiences of travelling from war-torn countries and what life was like for them in Canada. It wasn’t my intention to tell a labour story, but as soon as we started shooting, the strike broke out,” recalls Inkster.

From that, 24 Days in Brooks emerged, a documentary centred around the 2005 labour strike at Lakeside Packers, one of the largest slaughterhouses in North America. At the time, more than half of Lakeside employees were immigrants or refugees with limited English, experience and skills. Although grateful for the opportunity to build a new life, employees were accusing Lakeside of

rethink

ABOUT IT

Rethinking the environment |

21

Dr. Christopher Hugenholtz and his research team are discovering that wind erosion is essential to preserving a balanced ecosystem.

Thoughts of wind erosion bring to mind vivid imagery of the 1930s dust bowl – wind ripping away valuable topsoil as it blackens prairie skies

What’s good about wind erosion?

and paints a picture of agricultural devastation.

Dr. Christopher Hugenholtz, a University of Lethbridge geography professor, is creating a new portrait of wind erosion by examining its positive role in sustaining the biodiversity of prairie grassland ecosystems.

“Wind erosion has been given a bad rap, and rightfully so because it removes and relocates valuable soil constituents for agriculture and degrades air quality with

fine particulate matter,” says Hugenholtz.

What he and his research team are discovering, however, is that wind erosion is also essential to preserving a balanced ecosystem. Sand dune areas serve as a habitat for a variety of sensitive and endangered plant and animal species that need bare, sandy surfaces and a level of wind erosion to survive.

Through the innovative use of satellite imaging, Hugenholtz has observed a dramatic decrease in the number of active

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

sand dunes across the southern prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“We’re seeing a step-by-step reduction in the number of species in a particular area, and we don’t know what that’s going to do in the long term to other species,” says Hugenholtz.

Years of managing the dune areas by reducing stresses such as fire, the roaming of bison and the grazing of cattle have encouraged the growth of vegetation. Reduced wind erosion levels are a direct result.

“We need these disturbances to maintain biodiversity and keep the ecosystem functioning,” says Hugenholtz.

His work aims to develop unique strategies for conserving habitat through a better understanding of wind erosion controls and processes.

“We want to provide land users with some adaptive strategies to manage the land with a goal of maintaining biodiversity,” says Hugenholtz.

rethink

ABOUT IT

22 Dr. Hugenholtz introduced a new course at the U of L this fall that offers students a broad perspective on wind in the environment.

Students gain hands-on experience measuring wind and how it interacts with the surface (using instruments like those pictured above).

Students are also involved in a new research project that explores the question of wind drought in the Prairies.

Rethinking childhood

How can we take what we learn globally and apply it locally?

Pick up any parenting magazine today and you’ll find pages filled with stories about early childhood development. The psycho-social development of children has become a global issue that has captured the attention of parents, governments and NGOs worldwide.

But how do you define “childhood,” is there more than one definition and what constitutes a “good” childhood?

These are questions that University of Lethbridge anthropologist Dr. Jan Newberry is seeking to answer as she investigates the global politics of childhood.

“There has been a resurgence of interest in development,” says Newberry. “The recent global attention to early childhood education, care and development is a re-thinking of the category of childhood and how we can intervene appropriately.”

Newberry’s work takes her to Java, a small island in Indonesia, where recent democratization and natural disasters

23

have put early childhood education high on the national agenda.

In Indonesia, she explains, programs are promoted by a global movement for the healthy psycho-social development of young children and use Western standards of development.

Local patterns of child rearing, however, emphasize strikingly different markers of development. For example, does the child eat spices with rice? Can he/ she correctly use the different levels of Javanese language? Is he/she properly polite and deferential?

“By learning about another culture, we learn about possibilities.” Dr. Jan Newberry “The question then becomes what is the match between local markers of childhood and those generated by governmental and nongovernmental agencies,” Newberry says. “We need to acknowledge the universals while

understanding the cultural specifics.”

Although Newberry’s research takes place in Southeast Asia, the answers she finds can be applied locally.

“It’s worthwhile for us to look at other ways to manage families and communities because it can help us better manage our own,” she says.

Newberry’s fieldwork also enables her to bring the world into the classroom and provides important lessons in tolerance.

“When I go to Indonesia, I bring back stories about other people’s ways of life to first of all enable my students to better understand Indonesia, and secondly, to turn the mirror around and help them understand that there are infinite ways of doing things,” says Newberry.

“Anthropology teaches us that understanding another culture means more than enjoying their food; it means understanding a whole way of life. By learning about another culture, we learn about possibilities.”

Dr. Newberry is the author of Back Door Java: State Formation and the Domestic in Working Class Java (2006). Her work has earned her a prestigious Visiting Research Fellowship at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

rethink

ABOUT IT

A Year In Review This year, U of L faculty and students shone on national and international stages. Here are just a few of the highlights that took place from September ’07 to September ’08.

Pronghorn Women Are National Rugby Champions The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s rugby team captured the program’s first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship in November 2007.

The Horns beat the host Western Mustangs 15-10 in the title game, giving Pronghorn Athletics its first national championship since the men’s hockey team captured the 1994 CIAU title. The women’s rugby team had previously won a silver medal at the 2003 tournament and a bronze at the 2006 event.

Award Winners

25

Dr. Stewart Rood, a U of L professor of biological sciences and Board of Governors Research Chair in Environmental Science, was a 2008 recipient of the Killam Research Fellowship – one of Canada’s most distinguished research awards.

University judo coach Yosh Senda (LLD ’89) was invested into the Order of Canada in April for his longtime commitment to the sport of judo.

The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program awarded U of L political scientist Dr. Chris Kukucha the 2007 Fulbright Scholarship.

The Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations presented Lisa Doolittle (Theatre and Dramatic Arts) and Emily Luce (New Media) with the organization’s 2007 Distinguished Academic Award and Distinguished Academic Early Career Award, respectively.

U of L Welcomes New Dean of Fine Arts and University Librarian Zimbabwe-born muralist Dr. Desmond Rochfort assumed the position of dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts in July, taking over for Dr. Ches Skinner, who had presided over the Faculty for the previous 10 years. Rochfort, who was president of the Alberta College of Art & Design in 1999, was most recently head of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. One of Britain’s leading public mural artists, Rochfort was trained initially as a painter at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London before graduating with a master’s in fine arts from the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He earned his PhD in art history from the Royal College of Art in London.

Also this summer, Edmonton-native Alison Nussbaumer began her term as the new university librarian. This is the fourth educational stop for Nussbaumer, who previously worked at Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) campus, as well as the University of Saskatchewan and most recently, Prince George’s University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Nussbaumer is president of the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries, as well as a past-president of both the Library Association of Alberta and the British Columbia Library Association. She achieved her undergraduate and library degrees from the University of Alberta and her master of arts degree from Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C.

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

U of L Students Shine With Confidence

U of L student Theo Tams first grabbed the attention of the judges, then stole the hearts of a nation.

The psychology/music student captured CTVs 2008 Canadian Idol competition in September, capping a summer-long series of performances that demonstrated his well-rounded, powerful stage presence.

The 23-year-old turned the Idol program into a personal showcase, displaying his penchant for taking some of music’s most-known ballads and interpreting them with his unique style.

His victory, on a live national

broadcast that attracted more than 1,000 supporters to the University’s 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness, produced a hit single, “Sing”, and netted Tams a recording contract with Sony BMG Canada.

In athletics, a nine-year quest became reality for U of L Pronghorn athlete Jim Steacy when, on a hot summer night in Beijing, he competed for Canada in the finals of the Olympic hammer throw competition.

Just 24, the Canadian record holder and five-time national champion was the youngest of 12 competitors to qualify,

rethink

ABOUT IT

Photo Credit: Claus Andersen/Athletics Canada

(l-r) Canadian Olympian Jim Steacy was accompanied at the Beijing Olympics by U of L track coach Larry Steinke, who served as a member of the Canadian Olympic coaching staff.

serving notice for what’s to come at the London 2012 Games.

“Until you’re in that final, you’re just another young kid. I’ll be on their radar now,” Steacy says.

He now focuses on his final season of CIS eligibility and maintaining his unbeaten weight throw record as a Pronghorn.

26

Construction on Campus

Markin Hall

The University continued to expand in 2007/2008 with four major projects highlighting campus activities.

Ground was broken Feb. 15, 2007, on the $65-million Markin Hall project, a four-level complex that will house the School of Health Sciences and Faculty of Management. It is expected to open during the summer of 2010.

Oct. 17, 2008, marked the official opening of Turcotte Hall. The building houses the Faculty of Education and provides cutting-edge math/science and computer laboratories, improved office and classroom space and allows room for further expansion.

Turcotte Hall

Sports Field Complex

27

Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building

The $24-million Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building will open this fall. This new state-of-the-art facility increases the University’s applied research capacity in areas such as watersheds, water ecology, water quality and public health, environmental monitoring, hydrologic forecasting and water resource management. The Aquatic Research Facility is slated to open in early 2009.

The University’s Sports Field Complex, an $11-million project, is to be completed in the summer of 2009.

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

Legacy of Leadership Campaign Far Exceeds Goals Jamie Huckabay (BA ’08) is one of the 8,611 students who received more than $9.3 million in scholarships and bursaries during the campaign.

In November 2005, the University of Lethbridge publicly launched the Legacy of Leadership Campaign – the most ambitious campaign in the University’s history.

This past year, friends of the University celebrated the conclusion and astounding success made possible by the nearly 5,000 individuals and corporations that collectively contributed more than $35 million. When combined with the $78 million in contributions from the Government of Alberta, the campaign resulted in a $113 million investment in the University of Lethbridge The generosity demonstrated during the campaign enabled the U of L to far exceed initial campaign goals and achieve the objectives to increase support for students and provide resources

for state-of-the-art facilities, including the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness and Markin Hall, a building to house the School of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Management.

The campaign truly stands as a testament to the commitment that the U of L community, volunteers and donors have towards growing and prospering together.

Through their support, students and professors alike will continue to be given new opportunities to engage in creativity, inquiry and discovery.

Today, the U of L is just beginning to see the extraordinary effects that will result from this great legacy of leadership.

rethink

ABOUT IT

C elebrating the C ampaign

By the Numbers Campaign Goal

$20,000,000

Dollars Raised

$35,435,169

Total Participants

4,930

First-time U of L Donors

3,186 136

New Scholarships Established Total Gifts

12,758

Areas Supported

377

Areas Supported for the First Time

189

28

statement of financial position AS AT march 31 (thousands of dollars)

07/08 University of Lethbridge

Financial Information

2008

2007

ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS Cash and short-term investments (Note 4) Accounts receivable Inventories Prepaid expenses

$

26,035 16,675 518 1,025 44,253

DEPOSITS ON CAPITAL ASSETS

$

34,978 8,245 447 787 44,457

1,104

INVESTMENTS (Note 3, 5, 6)

-

116,705

PLEDGES RECEIVABLE - Long-term portion (Note 7) CAPITAL ASSETS AND COLLECTIONS (Note 8)

70,180

3,178

3,358

231,320

206,855

$

396,560

$

324,850

$

8,724 4,499 4,373 13,824 818 32,238

$

9,946 4,107 4,441 11,001 430 29,925

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS CURRENT LIABILITIES Accounts payable and accrued liabilities Employee benefit liabilities (Note 9, 10) Deferred revenue Deferred contributions, research and other (Note 11) Current portion of long-term obligations (Note 12)

LONG-TERM LIABILITIES Long-term obligations (Note 12) Employee benefit liabilities (Note 9) Deferred contributions, research capital (Note 11) Deferred contributions, capital (Note 11)

UNAMORTIZED DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS (Note 13)

The University of Lethbridge is accountable to many stakeholders: students, the government, granting agencies, donors and the community. Through sound budgeting and planning processes, the University maintains exemplary financial management of public and private funds, satisfies stakeholder expectations and achieves the U of L’s goals.

4,571 7,018 1,761 44,662 58,012

4,309 6,343 573 20,626 31,851

119,515

99,616

106,416 32,174 13,335 34,870 186,795

102,499 24,537 17,758 18,664 163,458

NET ASSETS Investment in capital assets and collections Endowments (Note 14) Internally restricted (Note 15) Unrestricted

Commitments and Contingencies (Note 21) $

396,560

$

324,850

The accompanying notes are part of these financial statements.

DRAFT

statement of operations For the year ended march 31 (thousands of dollars)

2007

2008

Original Budget

REVENUE Grants Tuition and related fees Sales of services and products Miscellaneous Investment income (loss) (Note 16) Gifts and donations Amortization of unamortized deferred capital contributions (Note 13)

29

$

93,438 35,155 13,279 964 12,662 460 7,000

$

96,482 35,427 12,655 1,211 (1,212) 701 6,284

162,958

151,548

93,187 15,108 1,896 7,429 1,646 3,213 3,631 3,167 2,400 3,119 549 1,050 984 254 12,142

85,448 13,560 2,707 8,202 1,159 3,122 4,270 4,046 3,196 3,063 1,651 570 458 196 254 12,832

149,775

144,734

$

86,517 34,442 13,152 1,358 6,265 728 6,271 148,733

EXPENSE Salaries Employee benefits Scholarships, fellowships and bursaries Supplies and services Repairs and maintenance Cost of goods sold Equipment Travel External contracted services Utilities Professional fees Interest on long term obligations Insurance Property taxes Loss (gain) on disposal of capital assets Amortization of capital assets

EXCESS OF REVENUE OVER EXPENSE

$

13,183

$

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE | 07/08 REPORT

6,814

77,452 12,813 2,252 8,424 1,478 3,113 3,327 3,540 3,194 2,645 1,369 497 432 111 (49) 12,305 132,903 $

15,830

DRAFT statement of changes in net assets For the year ended march 31

2008

(thousands of dollars)

Investment in Capital Assets BALANCE, beginning of year Adoption of new financial instruments accounting standards (Note 3) As restated

$

102,499 $ 102,499

Excess of revenue over expense Non-amortizable collection and acquisition donations Endowment contributions Investment gain (loss) on endowments Transfers (Note 14) Capital asset additions Net book value of capital asset disposals Amortization Repayment of long term debt

$

24,537 $ 5,260 29,797

Internally Restricted

Unrestricted

17,758 $ 17,758

TOTAL

18,664 $ 9,785 28,449

163,458 15,045 178,503

TOTAL $

136,756 136,756

-

-

-

6,814

6,814

15,830

130 10,433 (269) (6,548) 171

1,614 (266) 1,029 -

(7,260) -

(1,029) (3,173) 269 6,548 (171)

130 1,614 (266) -

51 8,825 1,996 -

-

-

7,606 (4,769)

(7,606) 4,769

-

-

13,335 $

34,870 $

Allocation to internally restricted net assets Expenditure of internally restricted net assets BALANCE, end of year

Endowments

2007

106,416 $

32,174 $

186,795

$

163,458

statement of cash flows For the year ended march 31 (thousands of dollars)

DRAFT 2008

CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES: Excess of revenue over expense Non-cash transactions Amortization of unamortized deferred capital contributions Amortization of capital assets Loss (gain) on disposal of capital assets Increase in long term employee benefit liabilities

$

2007

6,814

$

Auditor’s Report

15,830

(6,284) 12,832 254 674 14,290 (5,068) 9,222

(6,271) 12,305 (49) 175 21,990 2,580 24,570

(31,482)

(16,076)

(10,957) (26,479) (1,104) (4) 15 (70,011)

(17,651) (15,869) (38) 185 (49,449)

51,412 1,614 (266) (1,744) 524 552 180 (426) 51,846

22,857 8,825 477 1,564 1,085 (3,358) (122) 31,328

INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH

(8,943)

6,449

CASH AND SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS, beginning of year

34,978

28,529

Increase (decrease) in non-cash working capital (Note 18)

CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Purchase of investments (net) Capital asset additions Internally funded Externally funded Deposit on capital assets Collection additions Proceeds on disposal of capital assets

CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Capital contributions Endowment contributions Capitalized investment earnings (loss) Increase (decrease) in capital construction holdbacks Capital lease Increase in asset retirement obligation Decrease (increase) in long-term receivable Long-term obligations repayment

CASH AND SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS, end of year

$

26,035

$

To the Board of Governors of the University of Lethbridge I have audited the statement of financial position of the University of Lethbridge as at March 31, 2008 and the statement of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for the year then ended. The financial statements are the responsibility of the management of the University. My responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements based on my audit.

I conducted my audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that I plan and perform an audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.

In my opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the University as at March 31, 2008 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.

I draw your attention to Note 10 to the financial statements that describes the unfunded liability of the Universities Academic Pension Plan which may affect the University’s future financial statements. Our opinion is not qualified in respect of this matter.

Original Signed by Fred J. Dunn, FCA Auditor General Edmonton, Alberta May 23, 2008

The official version of this Report of the Auditor General, and the information the Report covers, is in printed form.

34,978

The financial information presented cannot be expected to provide as comprehensive an understanding as the information provided in the University’s audited financial statements. For complete financial statements and accompanying notes, please refer to www.ulethbridge.ca/fsr.

rethink

ABOUT IT

30

University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE CAMPUS 4401 University Drive W Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 Ph: 403-329-2582 E-mail: advancement@uleth.ca www.ulethbridge.ca

University of Lethbridge CALGARY CAMPUS Room N104 Senator Burns Building 1301 - 16 Ave. NW Calgary, AB T2M 0L4 Ph: 403-284-8596

University of Lethbridge EDMONTON CAMPUS U of L Tower 1100, 10707 - 100 Ave. Edmonton, AB T5J 3M1 Ph: 780-424-0425

Produced by:

PHOTOGRAPHY:

CONTRIBUTORS:

University Advancement at the University of Lethbridge

Jones Foto

Betsy Greenlees

Glenda Moulton

Ruth Hummel

Bernie Wirzba

Carrie Takeyasu

University of Lethbridge Board of Governors

WRITERS:

PRINTING:

Bob Cooney

Transcontinental Printing

EDITOR:

Caitlin Crawshaw

Tanya Jacobson-Gundlock

Natasha Evdokimoff

COVER PHOTO:

Alesha Farfus-Shukaliak

Dr. Christopher Hugenholtz, U of L geography professor

PUBLISHER:

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Alesha Farfus-Shukaliak DESIGNER: Stephenie Chester

Trevor Kenney Jana McFarland Darcy Novakowski