THINK: 08-09 Annual Report

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

UBC FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES08-09 ANNUAL REPORT

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4 MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

5 MISSION AND MANDATE: THINKING ABOUT PURPOSE

6 YEAR IN REVIEW: THINKING ABOUT ACHIEVEMENT

10 GRADUATE STUDENTS: THINKING ABOUT THE UNIVERSEAboriginal Graduate Initiative: Thinking about the Future 10Alumni: Thinking about the Planet 12Research: Thinking about Interdisciplinarity 16Award Winners: Thinking about Success 18

38 UNIT REPORTS: THINKING ABOUT COMMUNITY Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (ISGP) 38St. John’s College 40Green College 42

44 THE DEAN’S OFFICE: THINKING ABOUT SERVICE AND SUPPORTGraduate Pathways to Success Report 44Standing Committees’ Reports 48Student Academic Services (SAS) Report 50Graduate Supervision and Advising 52Awards and Scholarships Report 54Financial Report 56

58 STATISTICS: THINKING ABOUT TRENDSGraduate Education—Analysis and Research (GEAR) 58

60 GRADUATE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT: THINKING ABOUT ACCOMPLISHMENT Graduate Pathways to Success (GPS) 60

62 LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE: THINKING ABOUT FACULTYDr. Hillel Goelman 62Dr. Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe 63

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The 2008/2009 academic year has been one of challenge, achievement and great change across the spectrum of activities at UBC in which the Faculty of Graduate studies is involved. From the macrocosmic events of the global economic downturn challenging us to manage endowments and resources for graduate students with increasing effectiveness and transparency to microscopic concerns, such as where to plug in the teakettle during the Faculty’s office renovations, it has been an exciting year for our faculty, staff and graduate students.

This annual report documents progress across many of these activities. It is also an opportunity for us individually and collectively to review the changes and reflect on our achievements. Even more, it is an opportunity to focus our thinking forward— on tasks yet undone, action plans yet to be implemented and promises yet to be fulfilled. Among the facts, figures and unit reports herein you will also meet some of our amazing graduate students and have an opportunity to learn about what they have been studying, what they have discovered and the potential wider impact of their work. I think that you will agree with me that the breadth and depth of their accomplishments are truly inspiring. As our most preeminent graduates, our graduate students are destined to become the leaders of tomorrow locally, across Canada and around the world. It is a privilege to have been able to contribute to their development.

Dr. Barbara Evans, Dean

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

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MISSION AND MANDATE: THINKING ABOUT PURPOSEThe Office of the DeanIn support of the University of British Columbia’s mission to be one of the world’s very best universities, the Faculty of Graduate Studies strives to elevate achievement and enhance the education of graduate students in a global context, providing:

• superior service with activities and support programs for graduate students, faculty and staff

• responsive and responsible administration that is transparent, consistent and equitable

• an intellectual and social environment that enhances the quality of graduate education, based on the values of excellence and mutual respect

• outstanding opportunities for professional development that enhance career options and encourage graduates to contribute positively to a civil and sustainable society

Graduate Communities The Faculty is home to two internationally recognized residential graduate colleges, Green College and St. John’s College, and to the equally renowned Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (ISGP).

Killam EndowmentThe Faculty also administers the Advanced Studies portion of the Isaac Walton Killam Memorial Endowment on behalf of the University, including oversight of the committees, the Fellowship programs and reporting to the Killam Trustees.

Established in 1949, The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FoGS) is home to over 1,892 renowned faculty supervising more than 9,200 master’s and doctoral students in over 130 graduate programs.

Facts and Figures: Thinking about the Numbers

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YEAR IN REVIEW: THINKING ABOUT ACHIEVEMENTStable PhD Funding—UBC Four Year Doctoral Fellowships (4YF)Developing the new UBC Four Year Doctoral Fellowship program for implementation for the 2009 intake was undoubtedly a major achievement for Graduate Studies this past academic year. With almost triple the funding for graduate student support, the 4YF has dramatically improved the level of financial support for incoming and current PhD students. This significantly enhances our ability to recruit the best students across Canada and internationally and to grow our graduate student cohort. Planning and implementation included equitable transitioning from the old funding regime to the new, maximizing fairness to all students.

Reviewing and Improving the Graduate Student Experience Several data analyses were undertaken with an eye to reviewing and improving the graduate student experience at UBC. These analyses are part of the Faculty’s long-term strategy to inform our graduate student policies and procedures with real data. They also contribute facts that assist in the development, prioritization and implementation of action plans designed to elevate the quality of graduate education, decrease attrition rates and improve times to completion.

Graduate Student Culture and Climate Report Resulting from a detailed analysis of the 2007 G13 Graduate and Professional Student Survey, this report was presented to the Committee of Deans and Faculty associate deans. Further analysis of the data by discipline was undertaken and provided to Faculties across the University. Note: “G13” refers to the organization of Canada’s top 13 graduate schools that cooperate in the sharing of data.

Anthropology William Angelbeck

Dr. Angelbeck examined the archaeology and oral history of Coast Salish warfare. He found that, during the last sixteen hundred years, conflict intensified after periods of heightened social inequality. His research suggested that warfare among the Coast Salish served to resist concentrations of wealth and power among networks of powerful chiefs.

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UBC Student Information System (SIS) Graduate Outcomes DataThis data was analyzed for quality assurance purposes, the resulting reports were shared by Dean Evans with Programs and Faculties during her annual Dean2Dean meetings with Faculty deans. Where possible these will be further analyzed at the department level.

Graduate Student Exit Surveys The surveys were developed for all UBC graduate students, with separate instruments for completers and non-completers. They were implemented in January 2009. Analysis commenced in the latter half of 2009.

Aboriginal Graduate Student Initiative Assistant Dean Jenny Phelps has been appointed to represent the Faculty as Aboriginal Coordinator for liaison with the First Nations House of Learning. She will work alongside members of the community and the University to develop more effective ways of recruiting, supporting and working with Aboriginal graduate students.

Faculty Supervisors’ ProgramA new Supervisors’ Program for faculty was launched in the fall semester. It was developed in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth (TAG) and is a series of four training modules intended to enhance the supervisory skill set. It is especially relevant to new faculty and is intended to lead to the award of a certificate.

Strategic Recruitment InitiativeThe Strategic Graduate Recruitment and Enrolment Committee was established this year and is working well. Guiding principles have been developed and programs have provided valuable information for effective planning of graduate recruitment goals and targets.

Rising Stars of ResearchThe Rising Stars of Research event was extremely successful again this year. The undergraduate poster competition built on the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural event.

With expansion to include more participants overall, and participants from partner universities in Hong Kong, the competition brings together accomplished undergraduate researchers from across Canada. This affords students who may be seriously considering graduate school an opportunity to share their research with the larger academic community as well as introducing them to facilities, researchers and opportunities at UBC.

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YEAR IN REVIEW: THINKING ABOUT ACHIEVEMENT

Graduate Student DevelopmentThe graduate student development program has been significantly expanded, providing double the number of workshops over last year and including 12 new topics for approximately 1,200 participants. It has also undergone a name change to “Graduate Pathways for Success” (GPS).

Joint PhD DegreeA Joint PhD Degree offers top students the ability to pursue an integrated PhD program that is designed, supervised and examined by two different universities. Increasingly seen at many leading research-intensive universities around the world, these joint degrees are an effective way of advancing international research collaboration between institutions and attracting the very best students. In accordance with the Faculty’s goal of elevating the graduate educational experience and championing one of the University’s most important goals— an enhanced global profile—we are pleased to report that Joint PhD policy is moving through the process of ratification. It has been endorsed by the Committee of Deans and Senior Executives, Graduate Council, and the Senate Academic Policy Committee and will go to the next Joint Senate meeting. Approval here is the final step in the process and we could look forward to welcoming our first Joint PhD students in 2010.

Website ImprovementsAs the Faculty’s most accessible and far-reaching interface to the world our website is being re-imagined and re-engineered to improve the visitor experience and provide the staff with new tools for communication with our diverse audience. New sections of information for prospective international and Aboriginal students have been added. A completely new site with improved functionality and a design in synch with UBC’s new brand is currently in production and testing; launch is scheduled for early 2010.

Astronomy Tyron Tsui

Dr. Tsui studied high-energy cosmic rays penetrating deep underground at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. This work yielded powerful independent evidence that neutrinos have mass, thus shedding light on the fundamental interactions of these elementary particles.


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Graduate Studies Office RenovationAs valuable resource for our graduate students, faculty, and staff, the Office of the Dean underwent a major physical renovation resulting in a larger, more comfortable Welcome Centre with easy access directly from Crescent Road.

Streamlining the Thesis Registration ProcessIn the past, at the start of each term, graduate research students were required to re-register for their thesis or dissertation topic. Given delays in reporting this had a negative effect on our ability to accurately report the actual numbers of graduate students at any point in time. This year “rolling thesis registration” was implemented to allow for more accurate counting of graduate research students, and to decrease the amount of administrative work required by students and staff. From now on, once a student registers in a thesis or dissertation course, the registration will roll on each term until the thesis or dissertation is completed.

Faculty AppointmentsDr. Rhodri Windsor-LiscombeDr. Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe has had excellent experience in the awarding of scholarships at UBC. He took up the position of Associate Dean, Scholarships and Awards with the Faculty in July 2009. Dr. Windsor-Liscombe is a full professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory.

Dr. Hillel GoelmanDr. Hillel Goelman was appointed as the new Chair of the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program in August 2009. Dr. Goelman is a full professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education (ECPS) and an Associate Member of the Department of Paediatrics. He is currently Senior Scholar with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), a research centre within the College for Interdisciplinary Studies.

Gender Distribution of Ubc Graduate Students

OVERALL:

FEMALE

GPOF=General Purpose Operating Fund

MALE

MASTER’S: DOCTORAL:

511654.9%

419245%

GPOF-University

Funded Awards, $14,499,108

Endowed Awards,$4,305,882

Externally Funded Awards, $35,290,892

346459.9%

232140.1%

185153.1%

163746.9%

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GRADUATE STUDENTS: THINKING ABOUT THE UNIVERSEAboriginal Graduate Initiative: Thinking about the FutureWhen the UBC Aboriginal Strategic Plan (ASP) Development Working Group submitted the first version of the plan to the President’s office in January of 2009, the group hoped that they had achieved a comprehensive framework to assist the University in pursuing its goal of expanding educational opportunities for Aboriginal people and widening opportunities for all students to learn about Aboriginal issues and perspectives. One of the key specific aims of the ASP is to attract more Aboriginal students to our graduate programs and support their academic success.

For the Faculty of Graduate Studies, one of the first steps toward realizing the strategic plan was the appointment of Assistant Dean Jenny Phelps as the Faculty’s Aboriginal Coordinator and as a member of the ASP Implementation Committee. This committee is tasked with engaging with the campus and the Aboriginal community in bringing the words off the ASP’s pages and into the lives of the faculty, staff, students and community.

The intention behind appointing Ms. Phelps to the position of Aboriginal Coordinator was to provide a visible point of contact for prospective and current Aboriginal graduate students, and an active Faculty liaison to the wide range of initiatives on campus that support Aboriginal student success. The Aboriginal Coordinator acts as an information hub, and connects individual students to people in the University best positioned to offer support, thus making a large institution seem more friendly and manageable.

In addition to the creation of the Aboriginal Coordinator role FoGS has taken a number of other steps to implement the priorities set out in the Aboriginal Strategic Plan. One is to communicate more widely the broad-based criteria which form the basis of graduate admissions at UBC; these encompass not only excellence along traditional academic pathways, but also honour and value the accumulation of knowledge and achievement through personal and professional accomplishment and community service. The Faculty has also established a section of the FoGS website which contains information targeted toward potential Aboriginal graduate students, and presented a workshop at the graduate school.

Working within the community to identify new sources of funding for Aboriginal graduate students is another key component to realizing the goals of this initiative.

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GRADUATE STUDENTS: THINKING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE

Alumni: Thinking about the PlanetDr. Natalie Ban, PhD, UBC November 2008The ability to think globally may have been an attribute that Natalie Ban developed while still very young. She considers Vancouver to be her hometown, but as she was born in Winnipeg, spent her childhood years in Germany, attended high school in the United States, and studied for several years in Montreal at McGill University (where she completed a BA in geography and environmental studies, and an MA in geography), she certainly came to her graduate work at UBC with more stamps on her passport than many collect in a lifetime.

Since receiving her PhD at UBC in November of 2008 in Resource Management and Environmental Studies, she has furthered her research interests working as a postdoctoral research fellow at James Cook University (Queensland, Australia) at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Resource Management and Environmental Studies (RMES) at UBC is the interdisciplinary graduate program at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) that offers Master of Arts, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.

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We recently had the opportunity to ask UBC graduate alum Dr. Natalie Ban a few questions about her time as a graduate student at UBC, the focus of her research and where she has gone from here.

Q: What motivated you to pursue graduate work at UBC?A: The world class Fisheries Centre and practical marine conservation focus of Project Seahorse drew me to UBC, but its location in Vancouver also played a role.

Q: Who was your supervisor and with whom did you work with most closely in your time here at UBC?A: My PhD supervisor was Amanda Vincent, Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation at the UBC Fisheries Centre and Director of Project Seahorse. My committee members were Jacqueline Alder (Fisheries Centre), Steve Martell (Fisheries Centre) and John Robinson (Institute for Resource, Environment and Sustainability). I also collaborated closely with Kai Chan on research outside of the scope of my PhD.

Q: What did you enjoy the most about your PhD work at UBC?A: My PhD work involved collaborative projects with two First Nation bands in BC, and compared natural and social science approaches to marine conservation.

Botany Minako Kaneda

Dr. Kaneda studied how trees produce wood in order to understand mechanisms of cell-wall precursor flows at the sub-cellular level. Her work made a significant contribution to our understanding of how trees export lignin, one of the most abundant biopolymers on earth.

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The most enjoyable aspect of my work at UBC was engagement with community members in these First Nations. Intellectually, I thrived on the challenge of comparing and integrating disparate approaches to an issue, marine conservation. I also appreciated and benefited from the supportive and collaborative environment of my research group, Project Seahorse.

Q: Could you share a brief summary of your PhD research?A: My thesis provided the first direct comparison between and integration of community-based and science-based approaches to the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs are one potentially effective conservation tool, but are being established very slowly. My research shows that community involvement in placing MPAs can help meet many ecological goals, although biophysical data improve the conservation value of sitings.

Q: How does your current work as a postdoctoral research fellow at James Cook University (Queensland, Australia) at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies relate to your graduate work at UBC?A: My job is very closely related to the research I did during my PhD, in the same field of marine conservation and conservation planning. The location is different; I now focus primarily on the Great Barrier Reef, while still seeking to stay engaged in BC.

Q: What are your favourite aspects of your current job?A: My favourite part of my job is the freedom to explore solutions to the challenges currently facing the marine environment, and interacting with the players involved in researching and managing the Great Barrier Reef. I also love collaborating with graduate students. As a postdoctoral fellow in Australia, I serve as co-supervisor of four PhD students. While I found myself surprised at my quick role reversal from student to supervisor, helping students advance their research—and knowing exactly what they are going through—is an honour I very much enjoy.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your current work?A: I hope that in some small way I can contribute to finding solutions to our marine conservation challenges through my research. Climate change is foremost on the agenda as a key threat to coral reef ecosystems, and I was recently honoured with an award for my ideas about addressing climate change in the Great Barrier Reef (the Bommies Award by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation).


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Q: What happens in a great day at the office?A: A great day in the office is when someone has found that their research has contributed to on-ground or in-water conservation. Small accomplishments are also cause for celebration—submission of the first paper by students, acceptance of manuscripts, etc.

Q: What are your plans for the near future?A: I have a busy year ahead in my job. Most of all, I hope to advance my research in marine conservation planning, but will also be engaging in service to the scientific community. I’ve been nominated as one of the Australian representatives on the organizing committee of the Frontiers in Marine Sciences meeting that is being organized by the Royal Society (UK) and Australian Academy of Science, and serve on the scientific sub-committee of the 2012 International Coral Reef Symposium, the largest coral reef conference in the world. I will also be chairing a session at the International Conservation Biology Conference, to be held in Edmonton in July, enabling a visit to Canada. Furthermore, I am staying engaged in marine conservation activities in BC by continuing to serve on the BC Marine Conservation Analysis project team (www.bcmca.ca).

Q: What is your best piece of advice for grad students? A: Pick a thesis project you love, and tackle manageable pieces. Your thesis will be your life for the next years, and if you aren’t passionate about your project, it will be a challenge to keep going. Rather than picturing the mountain of work that is embedded in your thesis, break it down into manageable smaller projects and tasks. That way it will be much easier to see your progress and not be too overwhelmed.

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Research: Thinking about InterdisciplinarityExplore the fascinating research questions tackled by two of the graduate students of the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (ISGP) that successfully completed their programs in the 2008/09 academic year and learn about where they have gone to from here.

Czesia Fuks Geddes, PhD “How Do Adolescents Define Depression? Links with Depressive Symptoms, Self-recognition of Depression, and Social and Emotional Competence”

Doctoral Citation: Czesia Fuks Geddes developed themes of adolescent depression generated by adolescents’ definitions of depression. Adolescents’ self-recognition of depression and social and emotional competence were also examined in association with dimensions of depressive symptoms. This research provides new insights regarding the concept of adolescent depression and its early detection and intervention.

During her PhD work at UBC, Czesia worked most closely with faculty at the Institute of Health Promotion Research, Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, and Medicine (Psychiatry).

Immediately after completing her doctoral studies on June 1, 2008, she traveled to several countries until April 2009 to gather research for her work. She has since taken a post as sessional faculty at UBC, and is based at the Centre for Population Health Promotion Research (as part of Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP)).

Her work continues to focus on mental health in adolescents in schools and the community where she hopes to successfully contribute to the development and implementation of mental health programs for young people.

Business Administration Brent John McFerran

Dr. McFerran examined how the body type and food choices of others impact our food consumption. He showed that when subjects observe thin consumers selecting a large quantity of food, they are likely to consume more than if the other is obese. When subjects observe thin consumers select small portions, they are likely to consume less than if the other is obese.

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Eric Macnaughton, PhD “Understanding Insight Development in Early Psychosis: A Narrative Approach”

Doctoral Citation: Dr. Macnaughton studied how young people with psychotic illnesses gain insight into their conditions. He showed the instrumental role of narrative in helping individuals find an understanding that is resonant with their experience and adaptive to their lives. The research will help clinicians engage people into care, and promote meaningful recovery.

During his UBC graduate program through ISGP, Eric studied with faculty at the Institute for Health Promotion Research, but he also had supervisors from the Department of Psychiatry. Dave Irwin was the head psychiatrist at Early Psychosis Day Program at Detweiller Pavillion where Eric’s research was conducted. Sam Sheps, director of the Western Regional Training Centre for Health Services Research, and Judy Segal is from the Department of English, and she studies illness narratives.

Upon completing his PhD Eric began a postdoctoral fellowship with the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home project, an initiative to develop housing and support for people with mental illness and addictions who have been homeless. While the postdoc is based at UBC, the work involves sites at five different cities across Canada (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton).

His current work involves using qualitative research to better understand the effectiveness of the Pathways model, which is an approach developed in New York City to house previously homeless people with mental illness and addictions. Through this work he hopes to be able to contribute to the success of the project, to become part of a network of researchers and service providers with similar interests, and to build his credentials and experience as a researcher with connections to both academia and the community. His aspirations also extend to developing his skills as a teacher to help train the next generation of community-based researchers.

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Award Winners: Thinking about SuccessMeet some of our Award Winners

Vanier ScholarsThe Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program is designed to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by offering them a significant financial award to assist them during their studies at Canadian universities. Vanier Scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health-related fields. Canadian and international students are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier Scholarship, which is valued at $50,000 per year for up to three years.

The Vanier CGS program reaffirms Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and education.

Georges Philias VanierThe Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program honours distinguished Canadian soldier and diplomat Major-General the Right Honourable Georges Philias Vanier (1888-1967), who served as Governor General of Canada from 1959 to 1967.

Chemical and Biological Engineering Siamak Elyasi

Dr. Elyasi developed a comprehensive method for the simulation and performance evaluation of UV photoreactors used in water treatment. His work can directly be applied to enhance the performance of industrial UV reactors and reduce the production cost, making this technology more affordable around the world.


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Danya Fast: Vanier ScholarHometown: Vancouver, BC Degree and Program: PhD, Interdisciplinary Studies Research Topic: Place and experiences of risk among young drug users in downtown Vancouver Research Supervisor and Location: Drs. Thomas Kerr and Jean Shoveller, Vancouver, BC

What has winning the Vanier Scholarship meant to you?Winning the Vanier Scholarship has allowed me to devote more time to research activities and collaborations with other local and international researchers. It is my hope that this support will continue to assist me in establishing myself as a research scientist, with the skills to work independently as both an urban ethnographer and as a valued member of an interdisciplinary research team.

Research description My research explores young people’s understandings of the social-structural and physical landscape of the downtown Vancouver drug scene, and how this locale shapes experiences and understandings of safety and risk among drug-using youth. Such an approach emphasizes the influence of place on health, where place is understood to encompass both physical and social spaces. The primary objectives of this study are: 1) to examine how young drug users are initiated into and come to understand the drug scene in Vancouver’s downtown south area; 2) to examine how this landscape shapes experiences of risk (including drug-related harms and physical violence), and alternatively, how it facilitates situations of safety; and 3) to examine the effects of spatial exclusion as a result of urban revitalization and gentrification on experiences and understandings of safety and risk among young people.

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What do you hope to accomplish with your research?An important aim of this research will be the identification of elements in the physical and social landscape of downtown Vancouver that shape risk, as well as structural interventions that may alter context and in consequence facilitate safer spaces of work, rest and recreation for young drug users. In addition, the use of photography and other visual media as a primary methodology represents an opportunity to engage young people in the research process and to generate rich dialogue with participants regarding the topics under consideration. It is my hope that visual data will be used during research dissemination to powerfully communicate youth perspectives on safety, risk and place, to both academic and public audiences.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? At this point in my academic development, I feel it is essential that I broaden my approach to incorporate other theoretical and methodological perspectives. I chose to pursue a graduate degree in interdisciplinary studies in order to build on my knowledge of anthropological theory and methodology through training in other disciplines, including human geography, social epidemiology and visual arts. The Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at UBC has allowed me to pursue a tailored training program that fits with my specific research interests and objectives; it also allows me to continue my research activities with youth at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

Comparative Literature Paul Patrick Papin

Dr. Papin sought the grounds of the character judgment that, along with aesthetic judgment, defines artistic mediocrity in modern literature. He found fictionalized mediocre artists held to an unrealizable ideal of justice in their art, and concluded that ascribing their failure to bad character masks an irreducible injustice in the art of genius.

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Alicia McMurchy: Vanier ScholarHometown: Abbotsford, BC Degree and Program: PhD, Experimental Medicine Research Topic: T regulatory cells Research Supervisor and Location: Dr. Megan Levings, Department of Surgery, Immunity and Infection Research Center

What has winning the Vanier Scholarship meant to you?The Vanier Scholarship reduces financial stress which allows me to focus on my research.

Research description Suppressing immune responses in patients who have undergone organ transplantation is necessary to prevent rejection of the organ. This is currently achieved with drugs that are expensive and have adverse side effects. T regulatory cells (Tregs) are a type of white blood cell that can suppress immune responses. Therefore, these cells have great potential for use in transplantation to protect organs from rejection.

Computer Science Mirela Andronescu

Dr. Andronescu has developed the best available thermodynamic models of RNA structure formation. To do this, she has leveraged rigorous optimization techniques to make new inferences from large RNA databases. Her models are being adopted by RNA structure prediction web servers world-wide, and are of great value to molecular biologists.


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Our lab developed a method to change human T cells into Tregs by causing T cells to make a protein called FOXP3. The goals of my research are to generate human Tregs and to test the ability of these cells to inhibit graft rejection in a cross-species mouse model. Successful generation of Tregs that eliminate graft rejection in this model would indicate a promising future for clinical use of Tregs, potentially reducing the need for harmful drugs and improving the health of transplant patients.

What do you hope to accomplish with your research?I hope to develop skills that will be useful for future research while being a productive contributor to biomedical research and helping to develop new therapies for transplant patients.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? My last undergraduate co-op work term was at UBC in Dr. Robert McMaster’s lab in the TRID (Translational Research in Infectious Diseases) program. This was my first academic research work term, and I enjoyed it, so I decided to pursue a graduate degree.

Dental Science Juliana J. Kim

Dr. Kim examined the ways signals are transmitted in the neutrophil cells of the immune system from patients with periodontal disease. She showed that novel mediators called resolvins promote the resolution of inflammation. Her research findings show that resolvins can serve as a potential therapeutic agent to treat not only periodontal disease, but also other inflammatory diseases.

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David McVea: Vanier ScholarDegree and Program: Combined MD/PhD, Neuroscience Research Topic: Testing the role of movement-related feedback in plasticity and development Research Supervisor and Location: Tim Murphy, UBC, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

What has winning the Vanier Scholarship meant to you?One of the most difficult aspects of a career bridging clinical and research medicine is that students often graduate with debt levels that make it impractical to continue to pursue research. The Vanier Scholarship will allow me to graduate and decide on a balance of clinical and research work based on what is best for myself and my patients, and not financial concerns.

Research description A major goal of neuroscience research is to understand the neural changes that underlie adaptations of the motor system and to use this understanding to promote healing after injury. I am studying the role of sensory input in this process from two different perspectives. First, I am testing the idea that muscle spindles, which respond to changes in muscle length, help determine when changes in the motor system are needed and subsequently spur changes in neural circuits. Second, I am studying how spontaneous muscle twitches in very young animals provide sensory feedback that helps to calibrate and organize the brain’s motor circuits.

Economics Christopher Barrington-Leigh

Dr. Barrington-Leigh used geographic statistical analysis of survey data to measure the degree to which the well-being benefit we get from consumption and wealth lies in status comparisons with the wealth of our neighbours. His work helps to challenge the widespread assumption that pursuing economic growth will tend to make society happier.

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What do you hope to accomplish with your research?I am fortunate to be working on projects that span a range of questions about the function of the nervous system. Some are closely related to clinical disorders, such as promoting recovery after injury to the brain, while others address more fundamental issues, such as the organization and maturation of networks of neurons in early life. My hope is that my research will help develop treatments for disorders of the nervous system, whether by directly suggesting treatments or by laying the groundwork for future research.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? Since first encountering the field of neuroscience as an undergraduate student, I have been fascinated by the workings of the brain. The MD/PhD program at UBC gives me the chance to satisfy this curiosity and simultaneously get the training to apply my research to understanding and treating human disease. The University of British Columbia has a strong MD/PhD program, as well as an internationally known neuroscience research program. These two factors were priorities for me in my decision to study at UBC.

Educational Studies Kaela Jubas

Dr. Jubas explored shopping as a site of adult learning about the politics of globalization, consumption and citizenship. She conceptualized learning as incidental and holistic, and employed multiple methodologies and methods. Her analysis illuminates how people come to know and respond to complex phenomena through their everyday experiences.

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Luna Vives-Gonzalez: Vanier ScholarHometown: Granada (Spain) Degree and Program: PhD, Geography Research Topic: Contemporary migration of Senegalese women to Spain: gender, transnationalism and migration policy Research Supervisor and Location: Daniel Hiebert and David Ley, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia

What has winning the Vanier Scholarship meant to you?I take the Vanier Scholarship, first and foremost, as proof that my work is relevant. That type of affirmation is really welcome, as it is sometimes difficult to see how our research fits into the larger context when we are in academia. Financially, the Vanier Scholarship has made possible a very ambitious project that takes place simultaneously in North America, Southern Europe and Western Africa. This research would have been much more difficult to conduct without it.

Research description My PhD research focuses on the migration of Senegalese women to Spain: the conditions in which this migration happens, the obstacles that these migrants face, and the strategies they use to overcome them. I use a feminist perspective to weave together three areas of the literature (migration policy, transnationalism, and border theory). Little by little I am also developing a strong interest in the meaning of “race” in the Spanish context, which is very different from the Canadian one.

Methodologically, I rely mostly on qualitative information gathered in Senegal, countries of transit (Morocco) and Spain. This multi-sited ethnography allows for an incredible depth, but is also costly and requires full dedication to research.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Samad Sheikhaei

Dr. Sheikhaei studied the circuit techniques for speed and power improvement of analog-to-digital converters, a ubiquitous block in communication systems. Using current mode logic and pipelining as well as reformulating the conventional encoding function, he achieved more than two times improvement in power as compared to the state-of-the-art designs.

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My goal is to make my work as accessible as possible to the wider public. In that sense I am the organizer of a series of activities that under the title “Women Through the Border” aims to make the experience of Senegalese women migrants more accessible. (Website: migraciones.ugr.es/mujeresyfronteras)

What do you hope to accomplish with your research?I have three main goals. First, I aim to raise awareness about the mismatch that often exists between migration policy and the experience of migration as it actually takes place. Second, I want to contribute to the understanding that gender is a constitutive factor of migration, and not just another variable to throw in the blender. And third, I would like to help the growing Senegalese population in Spain feel at home in their new country.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? I have always loved doing research, in particular in-depth qualitative work that is challenging both personally and professionally, and whose results can be applied outside of academia. Graduate school allows me to follow this passion, and at the same time learn skills that will be useful in the labour market.

I first came to Vancouver in 1995 to learn English and loved the city: this place is a paradise for lovers of the outdoors! Years later, while studying a year abroad at the University of Minneapolis, I was encouraged to apply for the graduate program in Geography at UBC, reputedly one of the best Geography departments in North America. I followed that advice and have not been disappointed.

English Karen Ann Selesky

Dr. Selesky examined how charity becomes a powerful tool for religious women writers to initiate reform in social and cultural values, shaping new identities for women. This study provides new insight into the condition of women and thereby into the construction of society and social reform in the nineteenth century.

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Oralia Gómez-Ramírez: Vanier Scholar Hometown: Mexico City, Mexico Degree and Program: PhD, Anthropology Research Topic: Sex workers’ collective organizing Research Supervisor and Location: Dr. Alexia Bloch, Department of Anthropology, UBC

What has winning the Vanier Scholarship meant to you?I feel tremendously honoured to be a recipient of the prestigious Vanier Scholarship. Winning has given me a greater sense of commitment and responsibility towards my research, the members of the community, and society more broadly. This generous award provides me with the chance and privilege to have the best resources and tools at hand to conduct my project. I am truly grateful.

Research description My doctoral research examines commercial sex workers’ contemporary efforts to obtain social, legal, health, and labour rights in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. In particular, it addresses the question of how international and national sex-work policies, pressing social and health issues, and global debates on commercial sex have both driven the emergence of and shaped the local organizing of sex-trade workers in Mexico City. Moreover, my research examines the ways in which Mexican sex workers’ organizations have simultaneously responded to, accommodated, and contested broader international agendas and debates around their work.

My project will contribute to debates taking place in the social study of sexuality and sex work, feminist theory, and the anthropology of globalization. It will help us understand the ways in which social movements organized around issues of gender and sexuality intersect with broader struggles for sexual citizenship, human rights, and social justice in the contemporary globalizing world.

Experimental Medicine Christopher Fjell

Dr. Fjell analyzed short proteins that have antibiotic activity. He developed computer models to identify naturally occurring peptides in the genomes of animals. He also created computer models for potent synthetic peptides against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These peptides may lead to new drugs for use in the clinic.


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What do you hope to accomplish with your research?It is my hope that by addressing the challenges and achievements of sex workers’ collective organizing for their rights in Mexico, my research will contribute to the destigmatization and decriminalization of sex work worldwide.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? I decided to pursue a graduate degree as a way to open up more opportunities for me in life. I am truly passionate about learning, and I have loved reading since I was child. Thus, going to graduate school in Canada was for me a way to create exciting employment prospects for myself while continuing to learn and grow as a person and as a young scholar.

UBC is a leading university that provides students with a rich and supportive atmosphere to study and conduct research. Being a doctoral student at UBC is without a doubt an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to influential and cutting-edge ideas, and to engage in compelling conversations with scholars from around the world. It was precisely this intellectually stimulating milieu that brought me to UBC.

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Trudeau Scholars

Trudeau Foundation www.trudeaufoundation.ca

Independent and non-partisan, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was established in 2001 by the family, friends, and colleagues of the former Prime Minister as a living memorial. In 2002, the Government of Canada endowed the Foundation with a donation of $125 million to honour the great humanitarian spirit of the former Prime Minister.

The Trudeau Scholarship programme administered by the Trudeau Foundation is focused on encouraging emerging talent by awarding scholarships to the most talented doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences.

Up to 15 Trudeau Scholarships are awarded each year to support doctoral candidates pursuing research of compelling present-day concern, touching upon one or more of the four themes of the Foundation: human rights and dignity, responsible citizenship, Canada in the world, people and their natural environment. Trudeau Scholars are highly gifted individuals who are actively engaged in their fields and expected to become leading national and international figures.

Forestry Minghao Li

Dr. Li used computer modeling, experimental studies and reliability-based approaches to study the behavior of post-and-beam timber buildings during earthquakes. An efficient framework was developed to assess the seismic performance of these structural systems, leading to performance-based seismic design methods.

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Mark Lawrence Santiago: Trudeau ScholarHometown: Balagtas, Bulacan, Philippines and Vancouver, British Columbia Degree and Program: PhD, Geography Research Topic: Made for Canada, product of the Philippines: global nurse migrations and the geopolitics of global justice Research Supervisor and Location: David Ley and Merje Kuus; (Canada, the United States, the Philippines, and Geneva)

What has winning the Trudeau Scholarship meant to you?The financial component of the scholarship means that I can do my research full time without a lot of constraints, and stay focused on producing quality academic work. For example, I am being supported by the Foundation to do 18 months of global ethnographic fieldwork. I advanced to PhD candidacy on time (after two years in the program) and the scholarship runs for three years with the possibility of a fourth year of funding available, so I can divide my schedule wisely and collect field data that I can analyze for my doctoral dissertation and perhaps even for the early phase of my academic career. Beyond this, the Foundation has amazing scholars, fellows and mentors who inspire and challenge me to go beyond my academic interests and engage with other disciplinary perspectives and policy questions.

Research description Nurses trained in developing countries are increasingly migrating to developed countries. This migration flow is a response to a global shortage of nurses, affecting global health security and population health in both developing and developed countries. My doctoral project will investigate this global phenomenon through a transnational study of Philippine-trained nurses recruited to work in Canada. I will look at how both the Philippine and Canadian states, nursing education sectors and labour recruiters become active brokers of this migration system.

What do you hope to accomplish with your research?I want to produce a dissertation and hope to produce a book manuscript (or a series of articles) that will inform policymakers on how to shape better policies for distributing global health human resources in a just manner. But I also want to engage with the academic literature on global migration through doing a “thick description” of the migration industry complex that propels the movement of health workers. Finally, I wish the global public to start thinking about ethical issues in relation to the migration of health workers, as their movements ultimately affect local as well as global health systems—and all of us, regardless of our nationality or citizenship are stakeholders here.

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Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? I am the first person to go to higher education in my family and perhaps the first person to get a PhD in my town in the Philippines—so it’s certainly not pressure from family or influence from my initial surroundings that made me want to get a graduate degree. I pursued a graduate degree for two reasons: first, because I want to become a professor and like the “life of the mind” and second, I want to engage with policy processes related to global migration and global health (affecting countries such as the Philippines and Canada) through rigorous research.

UBC has some of the best professors of transnational migration in the world, which is my main field of study in Geography. UBC also encourages cross-cutting interdisciplinary work—something I need to do as my work involves both social and health sciences. I also chose UBC because I wanted to study in a Canadian institution so that I could have a different perspective on studying the Philippines. Most Philippine studies scholars get their graduate degrees in US institutions so obviously, their perspectives are affected by the national and methodological blinders acquired through those institutions.

The Philippines is now the top source country for temporary foreign workers in Canada, and in a way, my choice to go to UBC was informed by a hypothesis that Canada will play a very important role in the Philippine political economy and culture of migration in the next 10 years or so. Something thorough has to be written about the “Canadization” of Philippine imagination and the “Filipinization” of certain Canadian job sectors especially health care and the service industries.

Genetics Jason Stephen Maydan

Dr. Maydan developed technology to improve our ability to detect mutations, an approach already adopted by the research community. Using this technology, he discovered numerous novel mutations and was the first to describe the extent of natural gene content variation in the important model organism C. elegans.

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Laura Madokoro: Trudeau ScholarHometown: Eaton Corner, Quebec. Degree and Program: PhD, History Research Topic: History of Chinese political refugees, 1949-1967 Research Supervisor and Location: Dr. Henry Yu and Dr. Steven Lee, University of British Columbia

What has winning the Trudeau Scholarship meant to you?I am still in shock about receiving the award. It’s a tremendous honour. I had the help of wonderful faculty and peers who supported and encouraged my application so I am all too aware that I did not do it on my own. Receiving the award has inspired me to ask more interesting questions in my research and to think more seriously about how to translate the important work that goes on in academic life in a way that is meaningful for non-specialists and policymakers. I am committed to giving back as much as I can to the Canadian public and to the academic and advocacy communities of which I am a part.

Research description My doctoral research on the history of refugees examines the evolution of social and political ideas about who, and what, a refugee is. Moving beyond the legal framework that structures how we understand refugees today, my research follows refugees out of China after the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 as they move to various places of refuge including Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. Over the course of twenty years and across several continents, ideas about who constituted a refugee changed constantly, amongst the migrants themselves and the countries that received them. My project traces these changes to illustrate the wide gap that exists, and continues to grow, between the lived experience of refugees and perceptions of refugees amongst policymakers, aid-workers and the general public.

Geography Emma Spencer Norman

Dr. Norman investigated the rescaling of transboundary water governance along the Canada - U.S. border. This research helps to move environmental governance discussions beyond a nation-state framework, illuminates the role of local actors in international resources issues, and shows how the politics of power help define and redefine the landscape.


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What do you hope to accomplish with your research?The debate over refugee policy in Canada is extremely polarized and often the result of misinformation and misunderstanding. I hope my research will change the way people think about refugees so that when they hear the word “refugee” they don’t think that this simple label tells them everything they need to know about a person and the reasons they are in motion. I think it is really important to distinguish between the rules and structures that frame migration and the actual people involved in any migration process.

Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree at UBC? I have always found formal education to be an incredibly rewarding experience yet I think we all learn as much, if not more, outside of the classroom. It was therefore important for me to approach a second graduate degree with the benefit of substantial life experience. I took a long break between my master’s and doctoral studies to travel, volunteer internationally and work in environments and fields that I care deeply about: museums, archives, and journalism.

It’s cliché but I chose UBC because of the people. It was a tough choice as there are a number of fine universities in Canada but the dynamism of the History Department at UBC along with the incredible support and encouragement I received from my supervisors from the moment I pitched my project convinced me that I should come to UBC. It’s proven to be a great choice. Thanks to the phenomenal energy within the department and a lot of stimulating conversations with peers and faculty across campus my project has grown in size and scope. I’ve been encouraged to be creative and ambitious and I only hope I can to rise to the challenge.

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Killam Doctoral and Postdoctoral Award WinnersThe Killam Trusts www.killamtrusts.ca

The Killam Scholarship and Prize Programmes were established in memory of Izaak Walton Killam through the will of his wife, Dorothy Johnston Killam, and through gifts made during her lifetime. Their primary purpose is to support advanced education and research at five Canadian universities and the Canada Council for the Arts. The UBC Killam Doctoral Scholarships are provided annually from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies. It was Mrs. Killam’s desire that those selected to receive scholarships: “. . . be likely to contribute to the advancement of learning or to win distinction in a profession. A Killam scholar should not be a one-sided person. . . Special distinction of intellect should be founded upon sound character.”

Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Doctoral Scholarships:Killam Doctoral Fellowships are the most prestigious awards available to graduate students at UBC. Approximately 30 awards are made each year to the top doctoral candidates in the University Graduate Fellowships competition. These awards are granted in support of programs of study leading to a doctoral degree.

New Scholars:

SAMER ISHAQ AL KISWANY Electrical and Computer EngineeringLIV BAKER Animal ScienceANTHONY JASON ERICH BERNDT Cell and Developmental BiologyCINDY MARIE BLOIS MathematicsANGELA KAREN CRANE ChemistryEMILY JANE DAVIS GeographySTEPHAN ETTENAUER PhysicsKIERAN MARK FINDLATER Resource Management and Environmental StudiesALEEZA CARA GERSTEIN ZoologyLEI HUA StatisticsTERI LYNN KNEELAND EconomicsSANDRA BEATRICE LAUCK NursingJEAN MICHEL PHILIPE LAUZON ChemistryMOJTABA MAH SULI Civil EngineeringHANNAH MILENA CAROLINE SCHREIER PsychologyANITA SZAKAY LinguisticsLORI LYNN TIMMINS EconomicsDARYL GLEN VAN VORST Electrical and Computer Engineering

Isaac Walton Killam

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Killam—Donald N. Byers Prize:In 2002, UBC created an endowed prize in memory of former Killam Trustee, Donald N. Byers. The prize is awarded annually to the highest-ranking Killam Doctoral Fellow in the University Graduate Fellowships competition. The award is made on the recommendation of the Faculty of Graduate Studies in consultation with the University Graduate Fellowships adjudication committee.

Donald N. Byers prize winner: Cindy Bois, Mathematics

Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowships:These awards are offered to candidates who have shown outstanding ability in any field of academic research and who wish to pursue postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. Applicants should have obtained a doctoral degree from a university other than UBC within two years of the anticipated commencement date of the Fellowship.

Language Education Kendrick Platon A. James

Dr. James studied how the automation of correspondence systems influences sustainability in information environments. Examining the mass production, dissemination, and control of unsolicited electronic mail, his research illuminates the complexities of excess information in order to critically understand online discourse, public expression and knowledge acquisition in the digital age.

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UNIT REPORTS: THINKING ABOUT COMMUNITYInterdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (ISGP)Dr. John Beatty, Chair

www.isgp.ubc.ca

The main purpose of the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (ISGP) is to enable qualified graduate students to pursue advanced interdisciplinary research that cannot be pursued adequately in traditional university departments. The program is designed for highly motivated students with well-defined goals who can steer an independent course.

Most students enter ISGP with specific real-world problems in mind that they have already spent some time addressing, and that they have come to realize cannot be solved within the confines of any one disciplinary perspective. While there are no restrictions regarding the subject, students are required to draw upon expertise from at least three distinct faculties. ISGP is home to approximately 75 students, most of whom are pursuing PhDs. Some of our graduates take positions in academia, but most go into the public or private sector.

Examples of just some of the research that ISGP students are working on include: curatorial ethics and social justice; deliberative democracy and biobanks; genetic testing and discrimination; art and aging; First Nations elders as cultural refugia; sustainability and the importance of reforming the “econ 101” curriculum.

Students enrolled in ISGP study in various departments across campus. However, they also come together for colloquia on topics of broad, common interest. These colloquia are co-sponsored by Green College, which has an interdisciplinary mandate. During the past year we organized a monthly colloquium called Creativity: Three Lectures, which featured talks by philosophers from the across the continent who challenged our minds with topics such as: Is Creativity a Complete Mystery?, Mozart’s Skull: Looking for Genius [In All The Wrong Places], and What Can Cognitive Science Say About Creativity? The program also sponsored a graduate seminar on creativity for credit, held at Green College, titled Transforming Curatorial Practice: Transdisciplinarity, Plural Worldviews, and the Creative Universe.

Students in ISGP continue to be very successful in obtaining awards from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institute for Health Research, UBC, and many other governmental, private, and not-for-profit organizations. Two of our students currently hold the prestigious Trudeau Fellowship. One of our doctoral graduates was awarded the NSERC Innovation Challenge Award.


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UNIT REPORTS: THINKING ABOUT COMMUNITY

St. John’s CollegeDr Timothy Brook, Principal

www.stjohns.ubc.ca

St John’s College is UBC’s international graduate college. A magnet for international and multicultural exchange, the College offers an academic setting that encourages discussion, debate and cultural expression, all enlivened by the participation of resident graduate students who come from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The College offered an eclectic selection of academic programming in 2008/09, ranging from documentary screenings followed by discussions with the filmmakers (Li Yifan’s The Longwang Chronicles and Gwendal Castellan’s Long Road North) to presentations led and/or moderated by our Senior Faculty Fellows (Professor Paul Evans, Institute of Asian Research and Liu Institute for Global Issues, Canada and China: What Comes After Cool Politics, Warm Economics?, and a Public Issues Forum on the Gaza Strip, moderated Dr. Michael Byers.

The College continued its successful relationship with the Vancouver Institute, partnering to present the St. John’s College Lecture on March 21, Understanding the Increased Prevalence of Autism, by Professor Peter Bearman, Department of Sociology, Columbia University.

Thanks to an initial generous donation from Harry Aoki, the Aoki Legacy Fund was established in 2008 to support the sponsorship or co-sponsorship of events that use music, dialogue, and other cultural productions for the purpose of celebrating and promoting intercultural understanding. St. John’s College is proud to partner with friends of Harry Aoki to honour the work and achievements of Harry and Ted Aoki. Harry Aoki is a second-generation Japanese Canadian professional musician, recipient of the Living Heritage Award from the Asia Pacific Foundation, and a well respected bassist and musical arranger performing jazz, classical and world music. Ted Aoki has been described as a “legendary figure in North American curriculum studies” who has received numerous honours including the Canadian Education Association Whitworth Award, as well as honorary doctorates from four universities.

As part of our vibrant community life, The Junior Fellow Outreach Committee continued its tradition of contributing to the improvement of the lives of those less fortunate worldwide. A highlight of the year is the annual holiday dinner cooked and served by residents for 120 people at the Lookout Society, a Vancouver-based charity that provides services to individuals who face challenges including physical, mental, medical and/or social challenges. Other charities supported by proceeds of the Committee’s activities include SOS Childrens Villages, the Red Cross and the United Nations World Food Programme. The Committee raises funds through diverse initiatives such as service auctions, and fundraising barbeques and breakfasts.

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The Junior Fellow Environmental Committee has been active in encouraging the development of environmentally sustainable practices and consciousness such as developing and supporting recycling and composting initiatives within the College, organizing visits to UBC Waste Management and the UBC Farm, creating a College community garden, and promoting participation in Earth Hour. The Committee has forged an important link with the College Dining Society with a view to promoting the use of local food and reducing food wastage. The Committee organized a very successful Green Docs program in 2008/09, a bi-weekly film and guest lecture series with an environmental theme.

Residents have continued to teach each other their languages, including Chinese, German, Japanese, French and Spanish, and in some cases, demand for instruction in some languages has been sufficient to warrant classes at more than one level. Other classes have included yoga, belly dancing, tai chi, martial arts, and painting and drawing. Community participation in sporting events, including soccer, softball, volleyball and the Vancouver Sun Run continues to boost community spirit.

The College will move forward with initiatives to develop and enhance relationships with its alumni. An Alumni Steering Committee has been formed in order to provide advice and guidance on how best to foster on going life-long relationships with College alumni.

Principal Tim Brook will be stepping down from the Principalship as of December 31, 2009. The Faculty of Graduate Studies along with staff and members of the College thank him sincerely for his service. While his leadership will be much missed, the College looks forward to the next chapter in its development.

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UNIT REPORTS: THINKING ABOUT COMMUNITY

Green CollegeDr.Mark Vessey, Principal

www.greencollege.ubc.ca

Green College, founded in 1993 as a residential graduate community with a mandate for interdisciplinary studies and the motto of “Ideas and Friendship,” passed its fifteenth anniversary without fanfare. The beginning of the new academic year was an exciting time where “new” was the operative word with the installation of a new Principal (the College’s third), four new staff members (out of six) in the office, and over half the arriving members of our resident community being new to the College. In the course of the year, the roster of College Faculty Members was also renewed; we were especially pleased to welcome Professor Stephen Toope as a Green College Faculty Member inter pares.

The College’s internal governance structures have been re-established on traditional lines. After a period in abeyance, the Policy and Planning Committee was struck again, resuming its place beside two other standing committees advisory to the Principal (Membership and Academic). To assist in a long-overdue website overhaul, a new standing committee for Media and Communications was also formed, which will have a general brief for publicity and publications. Resident delegates from all standing committees now join chairs of select resident-run committees (Social, Sports, Arts, Environmental, Outreach, Health and Safety, etc.) on a Residents’ Council, charged with coordinating resident activities and ensuring liaison with the Principal and staff. A parallel Faculty Council has taken the place occupied in earlier years by a small group of “Senior Fellows,” the term “fellow” being reserved from now on for honorary appointments.

Thanks to the goodwill and hard work of returning and incoming residents, staff, and faculty, the adjustments of the first term were made without breaking the rhythm of College life. The resident-run Members’ Series of talks continued to elicit some of the liveliest discussions of all the interdisciplinary lecture series. Outreach activities included successful fundraisers for Student Health, International Women’s Day, and—thanks to a comeback by the Green College Players, who put on three one-act comedies—a local agency that helps people with HIV/AIDS. Other in-house performing talent was on show at the Arts Committee’s popular Coffee Houses and again at the annual Founders’ Dinner in early February, when a former President of UBC, Dr. David Strangway, became a Foundation Fellow of the College. On that occasion College members and their guests also had the pleasure of hearing another performance by the Borealis String Quartet, an ensemble previously resident at Green College and happily still attached to it.

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In keeping with its mandate to provide extra-curricular, interdisciplinary academic and cultural programming for the University and wider community, the College hosted more than 150 lectures and other events (workshops, conferences, concerts, etc.) between September and April, most of them taking place in the intimate and intermittently cramped surroundings of the Coach House. A weekly series under the banner of Thinking at the Edge of Reason showcased local and visitors’ research of all stripes. Established monthly series on themes such as Law and Society, Science and Society, and Policy Issues in Post-Secondary Education, were supplemented by new ones in Cosmology, Religion in the Twenty-First Century, Genomics and Society, and (co-sponsored with the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program) Creativity.

The Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professorships Program, re-launched this year in partnership with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, brought poet-playwright Tony Harrison, paleobiologist Simon Conway Morris, and intellectual historian Ludmilla Jordanova to UBC, each staying for a week at the College.

Writer in Residence Patricia Robertson read from her own fiction, mentored early-career writers, and hosted a series of four panel discussions on the question Is Fiction an Endangered Species? As the College’s own main season ended, it opened its doors to returning summer visitors including the MFA Optional Residency program in Creative Writing and the Early Music Vancouver company, completing a year-round cycle of creative and performing arts.

A decade and a half from its founding and in an academic environment where the kind of collaborative, interdisciplinary discourse that it was designed to promote has become almost mainstream, the College has reaffirmed its vocation as a unique, purpose-built theatre of intellectual and cultural experiment, open to all-comers, by adopting a new logo that foregrounds its campus-edge location and inclusive architecture, and that has for a tagline, “Creating New Horizons.” Its true brand identity, however, is carved more deeply than that, in the conversational community of residents, non-resident members, Society Members (i.e. College alumni), and visitors that is constantly forming and reforming at Graham House and in the Coach House, before, over, and after dinner, and at www.greencollege.ubc.ca. With a heritage building and several ranges of early 1990s Vancouver wood-frame accommodations to maintain, and an academic endowment that had to weather one of the worst decades in recent investment history, the College ended the year facing significant financial challenges. It faces them certain of its purpose and with confidence undiminished.

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THE DEAN’S OFFICE: THINKING ABOUT SERVICE AND SUPPORTGraduate Pathways to Success ReportThe key goal of graduate education is to provide students with the support they need to create new knowledge, ways of thinking, and expertise. Here at the Faculty of Graduate Studies we also place a high value on the broader personal and professional development of graduate students to further enable them to make effective and positive contributions in their careers. Much of this development activity happens outside the academic curriculum. As part of the Faculty’s commitment to this end, stable funding was secured for a comprehensive and expanded graduate student development program, and a new Associate Dean position and a Program Manager position were created. These Associate Dean and Manager positions were filled, respectively, by Drs. Susan Porter and Elizabeth Wallace in the summer and fall of 2008.

Based on current research and thinking, student interest, and past experience, a model was developed to help frame program content. In addition to and overlapping with the development of research and professional competencies, five domains of competency were identified as goals in graduate education:

• graduate school success • professional effectiveness • constructive leadership• self-management• career-building

Mechanical Engineering Sayra Magnolia Christancho Solano

Dr. Cristancho developed a methodology for quantitatively assessing both motor and cognitive aspects of surgical tasks in a live operating room setting. Her work will lead to more objective assessments of surgical trainees’ progress and gives us new insight into links between surgical technique and outcome.


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These personal and professional development pathways should be built upon the values and attributes of integrity, critical and creative thinking, and global and societal responsibility.

Relative to previous years, the 2008-09 academic year saw an approximate doubling of the offerings and participation in the program. Attendance at the 26 offerings was over 1,200. In addition to repeats of highly successful past programs, new workshops included:

• Negotiating a Productive Relationship with Your Supervisor• Communicating with the Media• Preparing an Effective Conference Poster• Introduction to e-Portfolios• Preparing to Succeed as a Job Seeker• Science Careers in Business• Science Careers in Government• Networking Skills• Publishing Your Creative Writing

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

2008200720062005200420032002

Registration Year

UBC Graduate Studies - Application Process from 1995 to 2009

2001200019991998199719961995 2009

Applications Oers Registrations

UBC Graduate Studies—Application Process 1995 to 2009

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THE DEAN’S OFFICE: THINKING ABOUT SERVICE AND SUPPORT

A highlight was a full-day symposium, Working with Governments featuring Daphne Meredith (Associate Deputy Minister, Public Works and Government Services, Government of Canada), Stephen Owen (former cabinet minister and current VP External, Legal and Community Relations, UBC) and several other university, and provincial and federal government representatives.

With an increasing diversity of graduate career paths, difficult financial times, and a recognized weakness in current career development support both on campus and nationally, there was a strong emphasis on workshops that provide career information and opportunities for the development of job searching skills. These were extremely well attended and highly rated.

We hope to continue expanding the range of offerings as resources permit, with an emphasis on enhancing collaborations within the UBC community. Another key priority moving forward is the development of longitudinal programming that will allow more in-depth experience and the growth of effective learning communities.

Top 20 countries of origin for UBC International Graduate students

United States 531China 479Iran 264India 146Mexico 85Germany 70Korea, South 59

United Kingdom 56Japan 54Bangladesh 36Saudi Arabia 36Turkey 32Taiwan 28Chile 27

Brazil 23Singapore 23Switzerland 22France 21Hong Kong 19Colombia 18

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What Participants are Saying:

“Foundational, instrumental, critical, excellent, necessary, on and on.” Communicating Your Research for Funding and Influence

“Wonderful workshop - very practical and ready to apply in daily life.” Facilitative Leadership

“Very interesting topics, fascinating in fact, and great speakers. I feel privileged to have heard them all in one afternoon!” Working with Governments

“Thank you—I really needed this!” Preparing a Conference Poster

“This was the most useful workshop I’ve attended at UBC so far.” Publishing Creative Writing

“This is the kind of thing we need more of! It is so helpful to get such practical tips and feel supported in the scary step of “leaving the nest”.” Preparing to Succeed as a Job Seeker

“Very useful. Wish I’d attended it a couple of years ago.” Negotiating a Productive Relationship with Your Supervisor

“Excellent! I feel ready and re-focused to proceed. Good practical tips; some hard truths; overall a feeling of confidence” Getting Back on Track with Your Thesis

“Great and stimulating. Promote it and offer it again!” Introduction to Portfolios

Microbiology Carly Huitema

Dr. Huitema investigated related proteases necessary for replication of the hepatitis A and SARS viruses. She characterized some of the most potent inhibitors of these proteases identified to date and described mechanisms of inhibition. She also developed a method to screen specificity for further inhibitor development and protease characterization.

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Standing Committees’ Reports

Academic Policy CommitteeMajor policy issues addressed in 08-09 included:

• Reviewed the role of the external examiner and the role of university examiners in the context of the final doctoral oral examination

• Reviewed the criteria for eligibility of students applying for university general bursary funds

• Revised documentation required for visiting undergrad students taking graduate level courses

• Initiated an exit survey for graduate students• Implemented program review procedures• Established policy to review the dissertation for formatting before being sent

to the external examiner• Established criteria for how the Four Year Doctoral Fellowship will be allocated

to individual graduate programs• Developed and implemented graduate student vacation policy• Reviewed graduate student climate and culture study

UBC Graduate Studies—Domestic/International Applications from 1995 to 2009

12,000

14,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

2008200720062005200420032002

Registration Year

UBC Graduate Studies - Domestic/International Applications from 1995 to 2009

2001200019991998199719961995 2009

Domestic International

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New Programs and Curriculum CommitteeThe Committee approved one new graduate program: Master of Food and Resource Economics.

In addition, the Committee approved 57 proposals for new courses and substantive changes to existing courses, and 162 proposals for minor changes and course deletions.

Awards and Scholarships CommitteeThe Committee meets several times each year to review and make recommendations for changes to policies and procedures in connection with awarding University Graduate Fellowships and with nominating candidates for NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR and other externally-funded fellowships.

This year a major focus was on planning for the Four Year Doctoral Fellowship, a guaranteed minimum funding package that will be implemented in the 09/10 academic year.

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Jill Marie Williamson

Dr. Williamson piloted an international study into the molecular epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases of great socio-economic circumstance. Her efforts had a groundbreaking impact to the field of communicable parasitic diseases. Results have set a precedent for bridging the gap between diagnostic medicine and the pathogenomics of diseases of significant concern to public health.

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Student Academic Services (SAS) Report With the steady expansion of graduate student enrolment over the past several years, the 2008/09 academic year was a historic one for the Student Academic Services (SAS) team. In fulfilling their mandate to provide administrative services for UBC graduate students and programs, the team managed the administrative needs of 8,800 registered graduate students—an all-time record number.

Throughout the entire “lifespan” of a UBC graduate student SAS has the responsibility of managing a wide variety of administrative tasks: recruiting students, handling inquiries about graduate programs, application, admission, records and registration, thesis preparation and submission, final doctoral oral examinations and graduation checking.

Consistent with having the greatest number of registered graduate students the office also handled the most admission offers, doctoral exams and graduations in UBC history. Between the period of December 2008 and August 2009, the staff processed 3,600 offers of admission, most within three business days. Other notable achievements included:

• fully established electronic submission of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations—80% of all such documents are now submitted electronically, leading to quicker dissemination of UBC student research worldwide

• held second successful Rising Stars of Research National Undergraduate Research Poster Competition with over 100 of Canada and Hong Kong’s most promising young researchers coming to UBC to compete and gain exposure to UBC’s outstanding faculty, labs and graduate programs

• added significant expertise on social media and marketing through the addition of Jens Locher as Web Strategist and Recruitment Officer

• began website redevelopment, re-envisioning web-based communications• developed guaranteed minimum funding package that will be implemented in

the 09/10 academic year

Physics Joss Ives

Dr. Ives’s work is the culmination of a 40 year search for an extremely rare and important decay of a sub-atomic particle, the charged K-meson, into a Pi-meson and a neutrino-anti-neutrino pair. Three new instances of this decay were observed, bringing the total to seven, and confirmed detailed theoretical predictions while suggesting the possibility of new effects.


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Graduate Supervision and Advising

Graduate Advisors Graduate Advisors are the faculty members with the wide-ranging responsibilities for the 120+ graduate programs at UBC V. Recognizing that graduate advisors across campus face many of the same challenges, and also have a wealth of experience, the Faculty has taken a number of steps this year to better enable graduate advisors to become acquainted with one another, share good ideas, problem-solve and share best practices. In addition to listserv discussions of good ideas and web-posting of best-practice recommendations and templates, we have established a forum series for graduate advisors to discuss issues of collective importance. Forum topics thus far include:

Elements of a Great Graduate ProgramWe considered the key goals of a great graduate program, some strategies and tactics for achieving these goals, and then devised metrics that would allow proper assessment of the quality of a graduate program. The suggested metrics informed current discussions at UBC on how to recognize and reward successful graduate programs.

Keeping Students on TrackWe discussed what graduate advisors can do to prevent the derailment of a student’s program and what they can do to improve their program’s overall completion rates and time to completion. A number of graduate advisors shared their best practices for tracking student progress, and these have been made available to graduate advisors campus-wide on the Faculty website.

Political Science Amanda J. Bittner

Through a quantitative analysis of surveys conducted during 35 elections in seven countries, Dr. Bittner examined the nature, origins (including partisan stereotypes), and impact of voters’ perceptions of party leaders. This is the most comprehensive study ever on the topic.

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Table 1: UBC Vancouver: Citizenship of Graduate Students

Region:

CanadaAsiaUnited StatesEuropeSouth AmericaCentral AmericaAfricaOceaniaCaribbean

Fall 2009

69401260

521277

9793563111

Other examples of sharing best practices include describing a buddy system for linking incoming international students (prior to arrival) with current students from the same country to assist in their transition to life at UBC and in Canada, and posting of Graduate Student Handbooks from various programs on the FoGS website to provide a shared resource.

The Comprehensive ExamThe comprehensive exam is a critical point in the program of each doctoral student, but there is wide variation in the nature of the exam across campus. We revisited the purpose of the exams and discussed best practices for ensuring that the exam serves its intended purpose of ensuring that students admitted to candidacy will be able to produce a dissertation that meets UBC standards in a timely manner.

A Discussion with the New Dean of Graduate Studies This forum provided an opportunity for graduate advisors to meet Dr. Barbara Evans, to hear her vision for graduate studies, and let her know what they considered to be top priorities for improving graduate education at UBC. Top priorities identified were:

• establishing competitive, multi-year funding for PhD students to help recruit excellent students

• developing a junior faculty mentoring program for supervising graduate students• offering professional development training for students• increasing recognition of graduate student supervision and graduate advising

on promotion and workload assessments

These suggestions informed the Dean’s priorities and have already been acted upon.

Psychology Marguerite Agnes Ternes

Dr. Ternes examined verbal credibility assessment in incarcerated offenders’ accounts of perpetrated violence. Her research showed that verbal credibility assessment is possible with this population. These results will assist those who work with violent offenders to improve risk assessment and other evaluations.

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Awards and Scholarships ReportThe Faculty of Graduate Studies administered a wide range of externally and internally funded merit-based graduate scholarships and awards in 2008-09 with an approximate total value including carry-forward funds of $54 M. In addition to the Tri-Council awards, including the inaugural Vanier Scholarship competition, the external awards included the Provincial Government Pacific Century Graduate and Pacific Leaders Scholarships, awards from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the B.C. Cancer Agency, the Canadian Heart Foundation, and other recognized research agencies, together with funding provided by a large number of corporate and individual donors. Internal awards were the University Graduate Fellowships, the new Graduate Student Initiative Awards that are replacing the PhD Tuition Fee Award as it is being phased out, and the International Partial Tuition Scholarships. The Faculty also administered some 280 endowed scholarships, most notably, the Killam, Paetzold and Li Tze Fong Scholarships, many of which provide multiple awards in each year. The Killam Doctoral Fellowship Program, established in memory of Izaak Walton Killam by his wife Dorothy Johnston Killam and through her munificence, are the most prestigious awards for UBC graduate students.

School Psychology Jill Merita Etmanski

Dr. Etmanskie examined the cognitive and academic profiles of children experiencing late-emerging reading disabilities. A series of longitudinal analyses indicated that very few children encountered persistent late-emerging reading problems and that children appeared to recover from what has been traditionally known as the “fourth grade slump.”

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The 2008-09 awards funding available is shown below and includes all applicable carry-forward amounts from the previous fiscal year.

The five major University-funded awards for 2008-09 were the University Graduate Fellowships (UGF) the Graduate Entrance Scholarship (GES), the International Partial Tuition Scholarship (IPTS), the PhD Tuition Fee Award and the newly created Graduate Student Initiative Awards (GSI).

2008-09 Distribution of University Funded Awards

2008-09 Awards Funding

GPOF-University

Funded Awards $14,499,108

Endowed Awards $4,305,882

Externally Funded Awards $35,290,892

UGF$3,850,845

Graduate EntranceScholarship$1,680,455

Graduate Student Initiative$781,370

InternationalPartial Tuition

Scholarship$4,580,972

PhD Tuition Fee Award $7,059,251

GPOF=General Purpose Operating Fund

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Financial ReportFaculty of Graduate Studies funding comes from four different sources; General Purpose Operating Funds, Fees for Service, Specific Purpose funds and Endowments. The total amount of funds available for 2008/09 was $2,973,461.

Our base budget (GPOF) is provided by the University and is used to cover the Dean, Associate Deans and some support staff costs, as well as the Faculty’s and the Dean’s Office operating expenses. Fees for Service are in large part revenues raised by application fees for graduate school admission. These fees cover the operational and support staff costs of processing applications, admissions and records administration and a portion of this revenue is shared annually with graduate programs. Endowment funding comes from the Killam Advanced Studies Endowment and is used for Killam Program Administration costs and the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowships program costs. The Specific Purpose funds are external funds raised for various initiatives. In 2008-09 these funds were raised for our Rising Stars of Research National Undergraduate Research Poster Competition.

In 2008-09 the Faculty saw a modest increase in GPOF funding from the Provost’s Office to stabilize and enhance support for our Graduate Student Professional Skills Development Program, Research Analysis and Report Writing, and our Graduate Recruitment Initiative.

Faculty of Graduate Studies Funding 2008/09

General PurposeOperating Funds

$1,220,469

Specific Purpose $38,901

Fees for Service$1,102,171

Endowments $611,920


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Two graduate residential Colleges, Green College, St. John’s College and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program are affiliated with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Their combined funding, which includes residential rental fees revenue, for 2008-09, is shown below. These funds support both operational and program costs.

Green College, St. John’s College and ISGP 2008/09 Funding

Green College, St. John’s College and ISGP 2008/09 Funding

General PurposeOperating Funds

$261,540

Ancilliary Funds$1,193,110

Specific Purpose $36,075

Fees for Service$417,604

Endowments$706,392

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STATISTICS: THINKING ABOUT TRENDSGraduate Education - Analysis and Research (GEAR)The Faculty of Graduate Studies’ Graduate Education - Analysis and Research (GEAR) unit provides the University community and external agencies with a wide range of statistical reports, data analyses, and surveys on UBC graduate students and programs. GEAR also tracks and reports on graduate education at comparable universities worldwide, as well as other trends which may impact UBC graduate student recruitment and experience.

Louise Mol, Manager, Systems and Data Analysis Louise explains that the work is fascinating for her as it moves well beyond the gathering of basic statistics and into research and analysis of the student experience. While accurate data gathering and thoughtful analyses are implicit, she also stresses the importance of managing student privacy. A good day’s work can consist of identifying trends in the world and analysis of their impact on graduate student numbers and outcomes, reviewing peer literature, researching other institutions and providing reports to programs which allow them to make good decisions on program management based on real data.

Employed at UBC since 1983, Louise has worked all across campus in a number of different departments, but it soon became clear to her that her interest and talent with numbers would define her career. Her favourite aspect of her current job is exploring the data, getting a challenging project and having an opportunity to deliver beyond people’s expectations. Down time is hanging out with her two and a half year old son and watching Bob the Builder on TV. If you drop by her office candy bowl for a pick-me-up, she’ll be happy to teach you the theme song!

Zoology Timothy Todd Jones

Dr. Jones took a unique approach to the conservation biology of critically endangered leatherback turtles by rearing leatherbacks from 45g hatchlings to 45kg juveniles at UBC. The data attained on age-at-maturity and resource requirements aid in our understanding of the impacts of human activities in the decline of leatherback populations.

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Graduate Pathways to Success (GPS)With the addition of Dr. Susan Porter, Associate Dean, Professional Development in August of 2008 and Dr. Elizabeth Wallace, Manager, Graduate Pathways to Success in October 2008 to the Dean’s Office, the Faculty’s efforts to support graduate students in all aspects of their personal, professional and academic development reached a new level of commitment. The newly named Graduate Pathways to Success unit is the result of the evolution and significant expansion of the Faculty’s previous Graduate Student Development Initiative and Graduate Student Development Program.

Here, we take this opportunity to introduce you to Drs. Porter and Wallace and learn something of their background and thoughts around the important portfolio they manage for the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Susan Porter Dr. Susan Porter took up the post of Associate Dean, Professional Development at the Faculty of Graduate Studies in August of 2008. Her mandate is to advance graduate student development at UBC and includes a particular focus on working towards an increased awareness of, and commitment of students to, scholarly and research integrity and social responsibility.

She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and a scientist in the Microbiology Lab at Vancouver General Hospital, responsible for the development and oversight of molecular-based testing in the clinical laboratory.

A part of the UBC community since 1991, she has also served as Graduate Advisor for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, then Assistant Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, Faculty of Medicine. Her career achievements are founded on an educational background that features a BSc (UNB), PhD (UBC—Biochemistry, supervisor - Dr. Michael Smith), Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia (supervisor—Dr. Beatrice Mintz).

Listening and learning features prominently in a discussion of her favourite aspects of her position at the Faculty and is integral to her description of a great day at the office, which would include; “Reflecting on the ends of graduate education and what might help and inspire students to reach their full potential; working with Liz to help make these a reality; hearing from and interacting with students about their programs and aspirations; learning, myself, from the varied, talented and insightful program/workshop facilitators; getting a fantastic person to agree to present; meeting with a potential collaborative partner and being mutually excited and inspired about what we might do.”

As to her best advice to graduate students? It is something that might speak to us all. “Be engaged in the university community—be inspired and learn from the amazing array of people here, including those outside your area of expertise and be involved in activities and service of benefit to the University and outside world.”

Graduate Student development: thinkinG about accompliShment

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Dr. Elizabeth WallaceWith the arrival of Elizabeth Wallace to the Dean’s Office staff in the fall of 2008, UBC’s graduate students gained a valuable resource —someone who has walked the walk and can talk the talk with regards to achieving success as a graduate student. Liz’s credentials include an Ontario Teaching Certificate, a BA English and Drama (UT), MEd Organizational Development and Developing Human Relations (OISE/UT), and a PhD in Adult Education (OISE/UT).

Her advice to graduate students illustrates her commitment to the integration of purpose and passion in achieving a balanced and fulfilling life: “Discover what you do well and what you’re passionate about; get advice and help in building on your abilities and passion; set large goals for life and don’t get distracted, so that you achieve to the best of your ability, and with all emotions fully engaged.”

This is advice she demonstrates fully every day in the juggling the myriad activities required to be a doting mother and grandmother, secretary of the Welsh Society and avid walker, as well as pursuing scholarship as an active academic and manager of the GPS program. Her job requires that the day’s work be as much out of the office as within it, “The greatest days happen outside the office—in grad workshops, visiting departments to develop new program ideas, at coffee shops where new ideas emerge from scribbles on napkins.”

As Manager of the GPS program, she serves on the Thrive Committee (UBC Health and Wellness) and effectively divides her time between interacting with graduate students, program development, curriculum development, creating alliances with other Faculties and departments at UBC, and overseeing the delivery of current GPS events.

Her thoughts on the importance of student engagement make it evident she won’t be slowing down any time soon. “The GPS program has the potential to contribute greatly to the graduate student experience. FoGS is demonstrating leadership in modeling graduate student support programs for other universities, and I think this will reflect well on UBC. I look forward to helping to build GPS to its fullest potential.”

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LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE: THINKING ABOUT FACULTY Dr. Hillel Goelman

A New Chair is Appointed for the Interdisciplinary Studies Program (ISGP)August 1, 2009—The Faculty of Graduate Studies is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Hillel Goelman as the new Chair of the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program. Dr. Goelman is a full professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education (ECPS) and an Associate Member of the Department of Paediatrics. He is currently Senior Scholar with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), a research centre within the College for Interdisciplinary Studies.

Dr. Goelman brings strong leadership and experience in the areas of interdisciplinary research and graduate study to this role. Over the past 15 years Dr. Goelman has held numerous senior leadership positions at UBC: Associate Director and Graduate Coordinator of the interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Curriculum and Instruction in the Faculty of Education; Graduate Advisor for the Graduate Program in Human Learning, Development and Instruction in ECPS; the founder and first Director of the faculty-wide Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research; and Associate Director and Senior Scholar in HELP. In addition, Dr. Goelman has served on several committees related to doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows at UBC. Dr. Goelman’s research has been supported by SSHRCC, MSFHR, Social Development Canada, Statistics Canada and other sources.

We welcome Dr. Goelman as part of the Faculty of Graduate Studies community, and wish him a very successful and rewarding experience with the ISGP.

We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to Dr. John Beatty as the former Chair. Dr. Beatty has held the ISGP Chair for the past five years and has dedicated significant time, support, and expertise to ensure this unique program and its students have flourished.


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Dr. Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe

A New Associate Dean, Scholarships and Research, Faculty of Graduate StudiesJuly 1, 2009—With the appointment of Professor Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe F.S.A. to the post of Associate Dean, Scholarships and Research, the Faculty has gained an experienced advocate for quality graduate education. Dr. Windsor-Liscombe is highly knowledgeable about graduate education at UBC having previously chaired the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program and served as head of UBC’s Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory where has been a full professor since 1988. In addition to the supervision of many successful graduate students, he has for many years been active with the Scholarships Committee, several times as Chair.

Dr. Windsor-Liscombe is a graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art. He previously taught at London and McGill Universities. His major publications include: William Wilkins 1778-1839 (Cambridge, 1980)—revisited in The Age of Wilkins,The Architecture of Improvement (with David Watkin, Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, 2000), Francis Rattenbury and British Columbia: Architecture and Challenge in the Imperial Age, (with A. Barrett, UBC, 1983), “Altogether American”: Robert Mills Architect and Engineer (Oxford, 1994) and The New Spirit. Modern Architecture in Vancouver 1938-1963 (Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1997; awarded the Vancouver Book Prize at the Vancouver International Writers’ Festival in 1998).

One component of his current research, centering on intersections between Modern Movement design practice and late British imperial policy, was awarded a J.S. Guggenheim Fellowship 2000-2001. A related project, funded by a major SSHRCC Research Grant, examines the changing social and cultural role of architecture in Reconstruction era Canada with particular respect to the design of the urban fabric. These studies of urban design led to his being commissioned to write the lead position paper on The Ideal City in preparation for the upcoming World Urban Forum in Vancouver 2006; in association with this he organised the Living out the Metropolis Lectures and the more comprehensive Living the Global City series. The design process and more especially association between aesthetic and technological design represent a further dimension of inquiry, the latter being currently focused on the development and impact of the jet engine.

Upcoming is a UBC Press publication of an anthology which he edited and to which he contributed entitled Architecture and the Construction of the Canadian Fabric—supported by a publishing grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

He has served as Vice President and President of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada and was Local Chair of the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians. During his tenure at UBC he has been awarded the Killam Teaching Prize, the Killam Senior Research Award and the Margaret Fulton Award. He is a Life Member (Fellow) of Clare Hall at Cambridge University.

Faculty of Graduate Studies 170–6371 Crescent Road, Vancouver, BC V6t 1Z2 T: 604.822.3848 | F: 604.822.5802 www.grad.ubc.ca

THINK: 08-09 Annual Report

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