> SFU gets environment faculty
SFU gets environment faculty
Contact:
John Waterhouse, V-P Academic, 778.782.3927
Don MacLachlan, PAMR, 778.782.3929
John Waterhouse, V-P Academic, 778.782.3927
Don MacLachlan, PAMR, 778.782.3929
May 30, 2008
A new Faculty of the Environment is to be established at Simon Fraser University. The move has been approved by the SFU Board of Governors.
Coming in April 2009, the new faculty will bring together SFU’s Department of Geography, the School of Resource and Environmental Management, the Centre for Sustainable Community Development, the SFU Environmental Science Program, and the Graduate Certificate Program in Development Studies.
New programming now will be developed and submitted to the SFU senate, the university’s academic governing body. The new faculty will begin accepting new students for the fall of 2009.
“The field of environment is clearly a high priority for the university and one of our key strengths,” says SFU President Michael Stevenson. “The new faculty will enable the collaborative engagement of faculty members in research and programs and will contribute to the community by active participation in policy debates, forums and other forms of community outreach.”
At the same time, the Board of Governors approved on Thursday:
All the moves come into effect in April 2009.
Students in existing programs in these areas will then receive their degrees in the new faculties. Searches for deans of the new faculties will begin this fall.
John Waterhouse, SFU's academic vice-president, said SFU is uniquely positioned to provide a significant contribution to the global environmental challenge by creating the new environment faculty.
“The creation of this faculty will clearly establish SFU as a leader in this crucial area and better position the university as a centre of research and teaching excellence in environmental issues.”
Some 23 departments at SFU offer at least one environmental course, more than 70 faculty members have identifiable environmental interests, and there are 11 SFU centres or institutes dedicated to an area of the environment.
Coming in April 2009, the new faculty will bring together SFU’s Department of Geography, the School of Resource and Environmental Management, the Centre for Sustainable Community Development, the SFU Environmental Science Program, and the Graduate Certificate Program in Development Studies.
New programming now will be developed and submitted to the SFU senate, the university’s academic governing body. The new faculty will begin accepting new students for the fall of 2009.
“The field of environment is clearly a high priority for the university and one of our key strengths,” says SFU President Michael Stevenson. “The new faculty will enable the collaborative engagement of faculty members in research and programs and will contribute to the community by active participation in policy debates, forums and other forms of community outreach.”
At the same time, the Board of Governors approved on Thursday:
- A new Faculty of Communication, Contemporary Arts, and Design (that’s an interim name), comprising SFU’s School of Communication, the School for the Contemporary Arts, the School of Interactive Arts and Technology, and the Master's of Publishing Program.
- A new structure for the Faculty of Applied Sciences, comprised of the School of Computing Science and the School of Engineering Science. This will focus on engineering and computing science and “elite high-technology and computational” teaching and research.
- Relocation of the School of Kinesiology to the Faculty of Science from the Faculty of Applied Sciences.
All the moves come into effect in April 2009.
Students in existing programs in these areas will then receive their degrees in the new faculties. Searches for deans of the new faculties will begin this fall.
John Waterhouse, SFU's academic vice-president, said SFU is uniquely positioned to provide a significant contribution to the global environmental challenge by creating the new environment faculty.
“The creation of this faculty will clearly establish SFU as a leader in this crucial area and better position the university as a centre of research and teaching excellence in environmental issues.”
Some 23 departments at SFU offer at least one environmental course, more than 70 faculty members have identifiable environmental interests, and there are 11 SFU centres or institutes dedicated to an area of the environment.