For the first time in many years, a spring session course will be offered through Campus Manitoba. The second year University of Winnipeg course, UW ENV-2603 - Environmental Sustainability: A Global Dilemma, will be offered this spring.

Course Description:
This course focuses on environmental factors relevant to understanding and implementing sustainable development. It's aim is to teach students to understand and appreciate fundamental ecological principles within the context of social values and technological constraints. Moreover, the course seeks to equip students to assess environmental problems from an interdisciplinary perspective, and to develop strategies that might solve these problems. Topics or issues that may be addressed include: ecosystem dynamics; feedback in environmental processes; the concepts of carrying capacities and population thresholds; optimum yield theory; loss of biodiversity; over consumption and overpopulation; deforestation, desertification and pollution; energy demand versus supply; urbanization trends; global warming; ozone layer depletion; resource management, conservation, and recovery; and environmental monitoring and impact assessment. This course may be taken for major credit in Environmental Studies and International Development Studies.

Prerequisites: ENV-1600(3) or IDS-1100(6), or permission of instructor. Cross-Listed: International Development Studies IDS-2603(3).

Please contact your Campus Manitoba coordinator or call 1-866-445-0063 for further information.

Mr. Tom Nevakshonoff, MLA Interlake made the following statement in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba:

It is with great pleasure that CMB announces that three new CMB centre staff have joined our team.

Kim Friesen has been hired by the Borderland School Division to work as the CMB Altona Centre Community Learning Assistant. She will work for Campus Manitoba and the Regional Alternative Education Centre (RAEC) as an education assistant.

Erica Holliday Hurst has been hired by Red River College as the CMB Southport Centre Coordinator to job share (50%) with our existing coordinator Evelyne Schirp Asmundson.

Both Kim and Erica have previous experience in adult education.

In addition, a casual employee, Kathryn Giesbrecht, has been hired to code our web content and upload this content to the CMB web site. Kathryn is a graduate of the Assiniboine Community College Web Design program. She does similar work including web design for a number of Community and Non-Profit organizations in the region.

We welcome our new staff to the CMB team and look forward to working with them.

The John E. Robbins Library at Brandon University recently acquired access to two new databases with Full-Text Newspaper articles: Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies and EBSCOhosts Newspaper Source Plus.

Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies consists of 18 Canadian Newspapers. They include The Winnipeg Free Press, Globe and Mail, the National Post and 13 other major newspapers. Most have a two day delay before the article is in Full-Text, but the Winnipeg Free Press and Toronto Star should be in the day of publication. RSS Feeds can be set up for each publication if you select the Publications tab then select that Publications RSS Feed.

EBSCOhosts Newspaper Source Plus consists of a large number of International Newspapers as well as the transcripts for many major News organizations including:

• Cover-to-cover full text for 149 national and international newspapers
• Full text for 410 regional (U.S.) newspapers
• Complete coverage for over 250 top U.S. college and university newspapers
• General coverage for more than 850 college newspapers nationwide
• Full text television and radio news transcripts from CBS News, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, National Public Radio (NPR), etc.

These databases are in addition to a historical Newspaper database that was acquired in the fall called NewspaperArchive.Com. It has the full-text to older newspapers - some of which date back to the 1700s.

These - and other newspaper databases which we link to - can be found at: http://www.brandonu.ca/library/databases/newspapers.html

Please feel free to contact the library at (204) 727-9646 if you have any questions or would like to arrange a library instruction session in the use of these tools.

Dr. Scott Grills, Vice-President (Academic & Research) at Brandon University, and Chair of the Director of Campus Manitoba Search Committee, wishes to announce and extend congratulations to:

Bonnie Proven, successful candidate for the position of Director of Campus Manitoba. Bonnie has been appointed to a three-year term effective January 1, 2009.

CMB students can access writing skills assistance from BU Online through the Moodle page at http://wolf.brandonu.ca/moodle/.

Look for “Academic Skills Centre: Writing Skills” under the “Communication Websites” category. Anyone can access the writing skills assistance services there by logging in as a guest.

If you have any questions about writing skills assistance through BU Online, feel free to contact Alex Braun at either brauna@brandonu.ca or toll-free at 1-866-706-9768.

As of October 2008, there are now two $3000 bursaries available to students who are accepted into the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Students Without Borders Program.

Information about this program is available in the Office of the President. Current placement opportunities and more information can also be found at http://www.wusc.ca/en/volunteer/swb.

The bursaries will be granted based on the following criteria: 1. Acceptance into the program by WUSC; 2. A minimum G.P.A. of 2.5; 3. A proven history of community service.

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane, Extension Librarian of the John E Robbins Library, Brandon University, gave an online presentation to Campus Manitoba students and staff located throughout Manitoba on October 28, 2008. This introduction to the Off-Campus Library Services that are available to Campus Manitoba students provided an overview of:

• Performing an effective search
  
  
• Using the library catalogue
  
  
• Searching online databases for journal articles
  
  
• Locating electronic resources such as e-books and electronic reference tools
  
  
• Accessing the Library Guides for suggestions about using the library’s resources
  
  

For further information about these services, please explore the Off-Campus Library Services webpage, http://www.brandonu.ca/Library/OCLS/, speak with your coordinator, or contact either Randy Patton or Carmen Kazakoff-Lane of Off-Campus Library Services, http://www.brandonu.ca/Library/OCLS/contact_us.htm.

If a student missed the presentation and would like to view it, please contact your coordinator.

Bonnie Proven, A/Director of Campus Manitoba has been invited to represent Campus Manitoba at the Commission on Tuition Fees and Accessibility to Post-Secondary Education in Manitoba.

The provincial government has set up this commission as a part of its ongoing commitment to ensure post-secondary education is accessible and affordable to as many Manitoba students as possible. The eight-month commission review will be funded through Advanced Education and Literacy.

University of Toronto professor, Dr. Ben Levin, has been appointed as commissioner of this review by Manitoba Advanced Education and Literacy Minister, Diane McGifford. Dr. Levin will outline the recommendations in a report to the Minister by March 2009.

Ms. Proven attended as open discussion session with other invited stakeholders on the afternoon of September 15, 2008, at the Legislative Building. Additional sessions are planned over the next months.

For additional information on the commission, please go to www.postsecondarycommission.mb.ca.

The Campus Manitoba centre in The Pas has moved to the downtown area in The Pas and is now located on the main floor of the Provincial Building located at 79-3rd. Street & Ross Ave.

We have expanded our classroom and office space and anticipate Campus Manitoba students in The Pas and the surrounding area will find the new location more convenient and accessible.

We are planning an open house in October and hope to web cam the event so that other Manitobans can see our new space using “ virtual technology.”

Please contact the Campus Manitoba centre in The Pas by contacting our CMB coordinator Don Marlow at 204-627-8650 or CMBThePas@brandonu.ca or by visiting our new location at 79-3rd Street & Ross Ave.

BRANDON, MB – Brandon University is pleased to announce that Bonnie Proven has agreed to extend her term as Acting Director of Campus Manitoba until December 31, 2008.

"I very much appreciate Bonnie's willingness to extend her term as it will allow the CMB partners an opportunity for a full and informed search for a new director in the fall," says Brandon University Vice-President, Academic & Research Dr. Scott Grills.

Proven joined Campus Manitoba on March 17, 2008.

A regular on Chatelaine magazine's annual "Who's Who of Canadian Women" list since 1998, Proven is an alumna of Brandon University who returned to the campus from Assiniboine Community College (ACC), where she has worked in various academic, management and leadership capacities since 1981. During that time, Proven was instrumental in the development of many new programs, initiatives and policies at ACC. Most recently, she served as Vice President, Academic at ACC since the fall of 2006.

Bonnie Proven's career at ACC began in 1981, teaching adult high school and life skills programs in several rural First Nations' communities. In the fall of 1985 she moved to ACC's Brandon campus, where she coordinated and taught single parent job re-entry and career decision-making programs. In 1987, Proven joined ACC's Agriculture and Rural Enterprise division, where she held the position of Coordinator, Distance Education and Rural Agriculture Training until 1991, when she was appointed Chairperson (Dean) of the Agriculture and Rural Enterprise division. During her time in that position, Proven was instrumental in expanding the programming within the division and organizing many provincial and western Canadian cooperative and distance education agriculture programs with various other prairie universities and colleges. During this time, Proven was also instrumental in securing a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded international agriculture program in Tanzania, which developed a college-level agriculture training system for rural farmers in that country.

From March 1994 to July 1995, Proven was seconded to the position of Dean of College Development, where she was tasked with structuring ACC's first Foundation and Alumni Office and Corporate Fundraising Office, in addition to being responsible for contract training, distance education, satellite campuses and international education. In 1995, Proven was appointed to lead a newly amalgamated division as Chairperson (Dean), Technologies and Environmental Industries Division, where she was responsible for all programming within the Technology, Engineering Technology and Environment Industries sectors at the college. The division name was changed to Information Technologies and Media Communications in 1996 and Proven's portfolio expanded to include responsibility for all distance education at ACC, as well as for a live television station, a CRTC licensed radio station, a Pearson VUE authorized online Test Centre, and a digital media facility. During this time, Proven once again worked hard at expanding the programming, gaining approval and funding for a number of new two-year diploma and distance education programs.

In the summer of 2006, Proven was named Acting Vice-President, Academic (VPA) at ACC. She subsequently competed for and was appointed to the permanent VPA position in September 2006. During her time in this position, she was instrumental in restructuring the college's academic divisions to create larger and more comprehensive schools, and hiring Academic Chairpersons to head them. In addition, Proven headed a process for reviewing and strengthening a number of the school's academic and student policies, as well as implementing new academic appeals and student concerns and complaints policies. Proven has also been instrumental in implementing the recommendations of the Aboriginal Strategies Committee report and Bear Spirit consulting report, and in orchestrating the college's move from industrial Brandon to the heritage site formerly known as the Brandon Mental Health Centre.

In addition to her work, Proven is an active participant in sustainable rural development activities in the community, as well as in international development projects and equity issues, and remains committed to working and living in rural prairie Canada.

Brandon University looks forward to having Mrs. Proven on the team, and to having her experience and expertise benefit Campus Manitoba.

BRANDON, MB - On Monday May 26th Bonnie Proven , Director Campus Manitoba was the guest speaker at the Brandon YWCA Women in Networking Luncheon .

Her topic “ Distance Education Options “ was well received by the many professional and business women in attendance . Ms. Proven spoke about the history of distance education in Canada and Manitoba and current trends in online and distance delivery. In addition she was able to market and promote Campus Manitoba and CMB partner institutions.

BRANDON, MB – Campus Manitoba's Eriksdale, Manitoba centre has become a Community Access Program Community Connection site with the help of funding from Industry Canada and Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy and Mines through the Community Access Program (CAP).

The focus of the CAP is to provide a vehicle for job searching, job banks, job descriptions, Service Canada, résumé writing, connecting communities, summer employment for youth to provide computer supports to the public, and promoting environmental issues within rural Manitoba communities.

Through the program, organizations such as schools, community centres, friendship centres and libraries can apply to receive new computer equipment through the Computers for Schools program for setting up the site, funding for the cost of internet connection, software support, promotion and training for users of the site, and further funding of up to $780.00 for more equipment or to offset ongoing internet service access costs.

“We at Campus Manitoba saw this as a way to complement the educational goals of our students, as well as increase our presence in the community and encourage the public into our centre by offering free internet access to community members,” says Campus Manitoba's Eriksdale Community Learning Assistant Monica Fuchs, who volunteers to also host the CAP site through her Campus Manitoba centre.

The Campus Manitoba site in Eriksdale is one of two CAP sites in the community that offer complementary hours. The other is located in the local library.

Campus Manitoba (CMB) is a consortium of Manitoba's public post-secondary institutions. It serves as a conduit to provide access to college and university courses and programs for Manitobans through distributed learning mechanisms including the Internet. Campus Manitoba supports students by providing services that remove barriers and enable the achievement of educational goals.

CMB courses are delivered by means of synchronous (real-time, scheduled, LearnLinc communication technology) and asynchronous (unscheduled, student-discretion motivated, online Internet and multimedia-accessed) courses.

Campus Manitoba is a unique program, which allows students to receive transfer equivalents for courses offered by any of the participating universities. Students register with Campus Manitoba, but they choose a ‘home' institution from which they aim to graduate upon completion of their studies.

Campus Manitoba has fifteen centers throughout Manitoba. The centers are staffed with coordinators who provide CMB registered students with academic and logistical support. Further academic support is provided through Off-Campus Library Services and an online resource directory.

Brandon, MB - David Rehaluk, Dauphin Coordinator for Campus Manitoba, has received a Long Service Recognition Award from Brandon University for his 15 years of excellent service. Congratulations, David!