Tim Lougheed
If science represents a never-ending quest to explore and improve our understanding of the world around us, then the University’s Faculty of Science is, likewise, an ambitious work in progress. Just ask Dean André Lalonde, who has been inspired by the development he has witnessed over the course of his career.
“The Faculty of Science is a grande famille,” he says. “People know one another, and there’s a comfortable atmosphere. Our strength is our people — our professors, our support staff, our students.”
Dean Lalonde is eager to extend that level of comfort to the Science Students’ Association. Lalonde and the association realize that the ready exchange of ideas and observations can head off potential problems before they become significant.
In some cases, the solution may be to ensure that the equipment in computer labs is kept up-to-date. Similarly, he notes that last year’s National Survey for Student Engagement, North American-wide review of undergraduate attitudes, highlighted other areas where the University and the Faculty of Science in particular were able to improve services.
Among those improvements were greater flexibility for students to take courses from other faculties and a greater choice of programs. This renewed attention to curricula is especially important in light of the popularity and success of the faculty’s multidisciplinary offerings, which include programs in biomedical, biopharmaceutical and environmental sciences.
These efforts have likewise been reinforced by ongoing pedagogic initiatives. Lalonde points proudly to the work of biology professor Jon Houseman, one of the principal figures in creating state-of-the-art teaching laboratories that provide students with access to a unique combination of high tech hardware and hands-on experience.
The Faculty of Science is also exploring new institutional frontiers, particularly in collaboration with local governmental research institutions. Among the many new and promising faculty members to have arrived in the past year is Julian Starr, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology who was hired jointly with the Canadian Museum of Nature, where he has parallel facilities for working in his field of plant systematics and evolution, facilities that are likewise accessible to his students.
Dean Lalonde would like to see the faculty continue to build on such external linkages. He regards this kind of move as a natural outgrowth of the University’s strategic location in the national capital, as well as the commitment to maintaining a fully bilingual context for teaching and research, as outlined in the Vision 2010 planning document.
If that commitment occasionally challenges the ability to offer a full range of courses in both official languages, it is a challenge that Lalonde is more than ready to meet. He remains optimistic because he has also seen individuals and entire departments rise to meet that challenge. In fact, what he regards as le grand défi is ensuring that the wider world knows just how well the Faculty of Science is doing.
“Our performance is way above our reputation,” he says. “Our challenge is to talk more about our remarkable achievements.”
