University of Counsellor Session March 26, 2015

Contact: Stephanie Parker 1 306 966 2951 email: [email protected]

Presidential Address by Dr. Gordon Barnhart, Interim President & Vice Chancellor, UofS Email:[email protected] UofS has the largest number of self declared indigenous students in Canada. He has a very interesting career trajectory. He is a historian with a Masters in History. He went to UofS at 49 to get his PhD. He joked that he did not receive job offers for the positions he applied for, but all the jobs that he held, he was contacted and offered the job. Job History 1. High School Teacher- He completed his Bachelor of Arts in history in 1967 and in 1968, he took a job teaching grades 10 and 11 history for five months. He was approached by the High School to teach history. 2. Clerk, Saskatchewan Assembly 20 years. After only four months of teaching, he was appointed Clerk of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, the youngest to take on such a position across the Commonwealth. During his tenure, he worked on his Master of Arts at the . 3. In 1989, Governor General Jeanne Sauvé, on the advice of Prime Minister , appointed Barnhart to Clerk of the Senate, and thereby Clerk of the Parliaments in Ottawa. This was his toughest job. 4. He returned to the University of Saskatchewan, where he completed his Doctorate in 1998. From 2000 to 2005, he served as Secretary of the University of Saskatchewan. 5. UofS approached him to teach political studies classes, specializing in Canadian politics, government and the Canadian Senate. 6. His interest in international democracy at the academic level led him to work with such government-supported agencies as the CIDA and United States Agency for International Development. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is the federal government agency responsible for administering most of Canada's official co-operation program with developing countries and countries in transition. Dr. Gordon helped governments in Russia, Indonesia etc. 7. In 2001, Barnhart's book Peace, Progress and Prosperity which provided the first detailed biography of Saskatchewan's first premier, Thomas Walter Scott, was first published. 8. In 2006, Canadian Prime Minister announced that Gordon Barnhart would the Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan. 9. Chair of the Saskatchewan International Minerals Innovation Institute 10. In 2015 The University of Saskatchewan announced that Barnhart would return to the faculty of the Department of History as an adjunct professor. 11. In 2014, UofS Phoned Barnhart to appoint him as the interim President at the University of Saskatchewan. As such, he becomes the first former Lieutenant Governor to serve in this capacity.

Note: When I asked him what’s his next job, he replied that he waits by the phone. I just made these detailed notes from my chat with him. Reason- To tell students about the possibilities for a historian. Interesting that he received all these offers without applying for them. His message to students is, “We always tell students to have clear goals, but have the courage to accept new offers. Have confidence in yourself.”

UofS  Established in 1907.  Home to 13 interdisciplinary colleges, three graduate schools and six affiliated or federated colleges.  Signature areas of research- like water security etc  UofS is about agriculture, food and water security, energy, mining, public health, football games, music, aboriginal people, synchrotron sciences, human and animal health, huskies.  Over 20,000 students from over 100 countries  143000 alumni including Premier, Oscar winner, nobel prize winner.  16:1 student to faculty ratio.  Unique- Only one College for Arts and Science. This college is half the university.  College of Veterinary Medicine – very hard to get into. College is shared with four provinces. No special advantage for UofS students. 20 spots each for Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan and 15 spaces for Manitoba. Lots of female students are interested in small animals and prefer to work in the city, while there are a lot of male students who work with large animals in the rural areas.  Med. School- Difficult period. 3 to 4 years with acting Deans. Now President Smith from Dalhousie. This program is under probationary watch. Has accreditation. Students can graduate, no problem. They are fully qualified. The university has to meet some conditions like upgrade the Health Science Library, meet some aboriginal student requirements etc. Accreditors are coming this May. Hopefully they will be off probation in 2017. This is top priority for the Board. The Med. School admits 100 students every year. 80% from Saskatchewan residents, 10% out-of-province, 10% aboriginal students. Students who study undergrad in Saskatchewan are treated as Sask. Residents. So it is helpful for BC students to do their undergrad there.  College of Agriculture and Bioresources- Close match to the College of Vet. Medicine. 32 types of grains have been hybridized here including Canola.  Unique at UofS- plant, animal and human health in one place  Brans new additions to the Health Sciences building, the largest capital building project in U of S history. Over $300 million. The facility’s design is intended to break down disciplinary barriers and maximize the potential for collaboration. All human health in this new building- Physical Therapy, Kinesiology, Pharmacy etc. All health care professionals under one roof. The synergy is coming out. Shared research.  Unique- the Canadian Light Source, CLS, Canada’s national synchrotron. Over 1000 scientists coming through CLS. CLS has started to produce medical Isotopes used in detection of cancer. Only one producing so far is at Chalk River, that is closing.  The University of Saskatchewan is a leader in medical imaging technologies and applications. Uranium city is in Saskatchewan. They are sitting on uranium. Among the milestones:  World’s first betatron used in a cancer treatment program  World’s first effective radiation machine for cancer treatment (cobalt-60 unit)  Canada’s only synchrotron—the Canadian Light Source (CLS)  North America’s first Biomedical Imaging and Therapy Beamline (BMIT at the CLS)  Sylvia Olga Fedoruk Professor of oncology and associate member in physics at the University of Saskatchewan. She was involved in the development of the world’s first Cobalt-60 unit and one of the first nuclear medicine scanning machines.  New- Global Institute for Water Safety  New -Global Institute for Food Security.  VIDO- Viro Infectious Disease Org. Intervac- one of the world’s most advanced containment level 3 vaccine teaching and research facilities. This lab came up with a vaccine for mad cow disease. Close to coming up the vaccine for swine. This is at testing stage. Once it goes through free vaccine will be provided in Saskatchewan.  UofS tuition and fees are put together and is at the medium – hot high or low compared to other Canadian universities.  Brand new residences- one is for grads. There is residence for married students and international students as well.  MFA in writing.  21,000 students and still growing.  Has underground tunnels and skywalk ways.  Success rate for retention has gone up. For aboriginal students it’s 66% and in general 76%.  Cohort of international students has increased  is a very international city.  Mosque located 2 blocks from the campus. They have a Muslim prayer room on campus.

Presentation by Peter Stoicheff, Dean of College of Arts and Sciences

 UofS one of U15- group of research universities. Joined this group about 6 years ago. Important achievement.  College of Arts and Sciences has under one roof- arts, science, humanities, social sciences and fine arts. Advantage to students to move easily within the college.  One of the two founding colleges. Other being Vet. College.  Arts and Science College is large. About 9000 students. 21 Departments.  New Course in Arts and Science. Students are given a theme. This Sept. the theme is beauty. What counts to you as beauty. Students from different disciplines will define beauty. In the 4th year, the students will be brought back in smaller class configurations and given a problem to solve, say water security. Students work together and bring perspective from different disciplines.  Unique Identity- multidisciplinary and want to make single student experience interdisciplinary.  Fine Arts is important to UofS. Drama, Art History, Music, Music Education (degree). Very proud of Fine Arts.  Has grad students who share research experience with undergrads , who can have research experience.  UofS offers many 3 year degree programs. They have fewer credit units. These are good for students who cannot afford a four year degree. Also some students want to finish in 3 years and top this with one year at a college or polytechnic to acquire skills.  Liberal Arts degree is now being valued by employers. Focus at UofS is on English, Global Citizenship, Critical Thinking, Aboriginal Culture.  Combined BA and BSC four year program. New this fall is one in Health.  Coop Programs exist in some programs like music education (one term off to teach), computer science, business, English, urban planning, engineering etc. Experiential learning is being built into other areas. There are internships as well. Computer Science has lots of internship agreements, through their alumni, with companies in the Silicon Valley.  Internship Program: Dr Gordon took about 32 years to get this going. Now they have 6 positions. Share with UofR. Students have to work with MLAs in both opposition and ruling party. They go into caucus.

Presentation by Stephanie – Contact for High Schools, Visits and CUE

Email:[email protected]

Colleges that have programs for first year students coming directly from high school- Arts and Science, Agriculture and Bioresources, Edward School of Business, Education, Engineering, Kinesiology.

Nursing Program: One year prerequisite (Pre nursing). Can be from Arts and Science. Followed by 3 years of intensive nursing. In all four years of study. Nursing has higher English requirement. Open to international students. One year of pre professional school is good. Students who decide not to go into nursing can continue their study in other fields. No quotas for domestic, international or out-of-province students. Lots of jobs for nurses in Saskatchewan. Intake 255 students. Not a direct entry from High School. No quota for anyone. Open to domestic, international and out-of-province students. Northern communities can stay where they are and still get a UofS degree. They practice on full simulators. Dentistry: Only hand full of spots for out-of-province students and international students. Engineering: One of the key colleges for international students, followed by Commerce.

Admissions

May 1- Deadline for domestic students Feb. 15- application deadline for competitive ranked admissions- Business, Engineering and Kinesiology. 85% targeted GPA for these programs. Might drop lower to say 83%. Dec. 1- Early application deadline. For early admission GPA is 90%. Will look at Gr. 12 and Gr. 11 courses. March 1- To submit marks- interim or final. If one is not available, will take Gr. 11 mark.

Admission Requirements: Five Gr. 12 courses including English . Like to see a combination of Sciences and other courses. http://explore.usask.ca/admissions/requirements.php for Program Specific Requriements. GPA formula: One English, One math, three other approved subjects: Maximum of two natural sciences, Maximum of two social sciences or humanities, Maximum of one fine or performing art. For applicants who have completed high school, only marks for senior-level (Grade 12) subjects will be used. If you are currently enrolled in high school, marks for Grade 11-level subjects may be used as predictors for performance in Grade 12-level subjects if an appropriate Grade 12-level subject has not already been completed.

English Requirement: If your first language is not English, you may have to prove proficiency in English before admission. For others no minimum in English 12. Technically a pass will do. It is part of the GPA.

Registration Opens on April 1.

Language 11- Not required for admission. Only for certain majors like English , need second language to graduate from the university.

Edward School of Business: Need Pre-calculus 12 or Foundations of Math 12.

GPA for Arts and Science and Bioresources – for conditional offer of admission require 70% minimum.

Online application for all programs. No supplemental is required.

Scholarships

1. Guaranteed Automatic Entrance Scholarships: 95% GPA -$3000, 93 to 94.9% $2000, 90 to 92.9% $1000 and 85 to 89.9% $500. These are one time awards. Non renewable. These are guaranteed based on the interim, or Gr. 11 and 12 marks. Not clawed back based on final marks. 2. Competitive Entrance Awards- One application. Up to $24,000.

UStart Registration Workshop for admitted students on May 26 in Burnaby. Parents are welcome to attend.

6 steps to Become a USask Student: See view book.

PAWS.usask.ca – student portal . Campus Tours for students.