Welcome
CCUBC - 2012 Membership
Form
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Dear
Heads and Chairs:
The Canadian Council of University Biology Chairs is a network of chairs and
heads of biology departments from across Canada. To participants, it is an
invaluable forum for the exchange of ideas and strategies for fulfilling our
responsibilities.
The highlight of the council is the annual meeting. Each fall we organize
a meeting during which we hold formal workshops and informal discussions with
colleagues. This year our meeting will be hosted by Dr. David Rose (University
of Waterloo) in Waterloo, Ontario tentatively scheduled from 15-17 November
2012. Our annual meetings always have a mix of seasoned veteran administrators
and first-time chairs with lots of opportunity for information transfer! Although
the feedback from all participants has been wholly positive this group is
particularly valuable for those first-time chairs. Not sure what you have
gotten yourself into? Feeling isolated? Our meetings have a mix of formal
workshop topics and plenty of less-formal conversation. Our workshops typically
cover issues of common interest such as animal care, granting council policy
and trends, strategic plans, etc. To me, one of the more beneficial components
of our meetings has been the opening“5-minute-reports” presented by each head
or chair that speak to their specific issues, trends and innovative programmatic
developments. Typically, each report has pertinence to most of us and thus
these are a great primer for further conversations during discussion periods,
coffee breaks, and/or over your favorite beverage in the evening. This year
will be my 5th year being a member of the council and I have no doubt that
the investment of the nominal membership fee and my time to participate has
made my time as chairperson that much more rewarding and productive (and less
stressful!).
Membership in the CCUBC, aside from the annual meeting, provides additional
benefits. The CCUBC’s website and e-mail listserver is a forum for rapid communication
among Biology heads and chairs. For example, through its website position
announcements can be advertised or information on practices in other Departments
quickly gathered. Moreover, CCUBC has lobbied politicians and representatives
of granting councils on behalf of our departments. We are now a member of
the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE) who works to ensure
our parliamentarians are informed about advances and challenges in the sciences
and engineering.
The mutual benefits of CCUBC membership are tremendous. Through discussion
of our shared experiences, inquiry into novel practices, communication with
politicians, granting councils and each other, CCUBC provides a collegial
environment that helps heads and chairs navigate the many challenges common
to us all. I look forward to our meeting this year and encourage members to
rejoin and, for those who are not yet members, to join CCUBC and participate
in this year’s annual meeting in Waterloo.
I look forward to seeing you in Waterloo this year.
Sincerely,
Hugh Broders
Saint Mary’s University
Contact US:
Mrs. Wafaa H. Antonious
CCUBC Secretariat
C/O Rofail Conference and Management Services
17 Dossetter Way
Ottawa, ON K1G 4S3
Email:
Info@CCUBC.ca
Tel.: 613 421 7229
Fax.: 613 421 9811
Updated: March 29, 2012