The Gazette features an occasional series of articles of what's new and on the horizon for the University’s 10 faculties.
Jocelyne Morin-Nurse
“For a long time, the University of Ottawa’s best-kept secret was the Faculty of Education,” says Marie Josée Berger, dean of the Faculty of Education. “We still have work to do, but so far we’ve accomplished a great deal and we are continuing to make good progress.”
Making the most of this ongoing success, the faculty has built itself an enviable reputation on the local, national and international stage. Indeed, the diversity of its partners testifies to the faculty’s scope. Among these partners can be counted the University’s faculties, with which it has developed a number of interdisciplinary programs, the Government of Ontario, with which it cooperates in education to francophones by means of a working group, and institutions in both France and Spain, with which it teams up to enhance student mobility.
Deeply involved in the Vision 2010 strategic planning process, the Faculty of Education had set itself the mission, among other things, to utilize its competitive advantages, expand its knowledge and support the university community. These new strategic orientations have proved highly successful.
“We’ve already achieved the objectives we established as part of Vision 2010,” says Marie Josée Berger. “Key program changes include the creation of a program evaluation certificate in conjunction with the Faculty of Social Sciences, a certificate for health professionals developed jointly with the Faculties of Medicine and Social Sciences, and a master’s in education program offered entirely online. The challenge for us now is to work with our partners and with the community to spread the good news, so to speak.”
To this end, the faculty has taken on 35 new members since 2002, in addition to continuing renovations to infrastructures and meeting the needs of its research teams, whose importance keeps growing.
Moreover, the faculty, very well-positioned in terms of education research, will ensure that the areas dedicated to the five educational research units, the laboratory for the teaching and learning of mathematics, new classrooms, the pedagogic resource centre and research spaces for graduate students are maintained at the cutting edge.
To meet the needs of this growing faculty, 200 Lees Avenue will become home to the Faculty of Education (and to the Department of Visual Arts) starting in September 2008. (See Gazette 07/07/26).
What’s more, the Faculty of Education, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, aims to both strengthen its ties with its various collaborators and forge new partnerships with internal and external communities. There is no doubt that the faculty is ready to take on this formidable challenge. “Our biggest strength is our staff,” says Marie Josée Berger. “Our success hinges on the dedication of each person, from the program directors to the faculty members to the support staff. They do excellent work, and I am very proud of them.”
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