Provost, Prof Make Headlines
November 09, 2012 - In the News
A column by Maureen Mancuso, provost and vice-president (academic), appears in the latest issue of University Affairs.
Mancuso is a regular columnist for the publication this academic year, writing opinion pieces about issues affecting higher education. University Affairs is published by the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada.
This latest column looks at learning outcomes, specifically how learning outcomes assessment can satisfy calls for accountability while still acknowledging the pedagogical values of academia.
Mancuso was appointed provost in 2004 and reappointed in 2009. She served as chair of the Department of Political Science from 1996 to 2000 and was appointed associate vice-president (academic) in 2000. She holds a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, considered Canada’s top teaching honour.
Prof. Keith Warriner, was featured in a CBC Marketplace report on unsanitary hotel rooms. In the largest-ever survey of Canadian hotel cleanliness, the investigative journalism TV show tested thousands of individual spots inside hotel rooms at a wide spectrum of chains in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.
Warriner, a microbiologist and food science professor, was asked to test common "hot spots" in hotel rooms using an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) measuring device that determines microbial contamination on surfaces. He said he was surprised to find bacteria so prolific and by the lack of sanitation. The story was also picked up by various CBC radio stations and was distributed on the CBC news wire.
Warriner and his research team have developed decontamination methods to improve food safety, and have also tested the effectiveness of an all-purpose sanitizing system that is supposed to neutralize bacteria and pesticides on food and surfaces.
