Canada in brief: Sept. 22, 2010

Online university loses accreditation

Fredericton (CUP) – An online university once considered a success story by the New Brunswick government has had its degree-granting licence revoked.

Fredericton-based Lansbridge University will no longer be allowed to offer MBA and executive MBA programs to students after the government determined the school was “sub-standard” on Aug. 20.

The website also states the school will continue to offer already-scheduled classes until December 2010. Students who complete their program by December will be granted an accredited degree.

The government has appointed an independent registrar to help Lansbridge students who now find themselves without a school.

–Jamie Ross, CUP Atlantic Bureau Chief

Census reform endangers students

Ottawa (CUP) – In the wake of the federal government’s decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census questionnaire sent to 20 per cent of Canadian homes every five years, the Canadian Federation of Students has raised red flags over the decline of national, student-centric surveys.

The Youth In Transition Survey, and the National Apprenticeship Survey were identified as surveys carried out by Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada that would not have their funding renewed.

Statistics Canada explained their surveys are always changing and none of the three student-related surveys have been officially discontinued for the time being.

–Emma Godmere, CUP Ottawa Bueau Chief

Pro-life group charged

Saskatoon (CUP) – Alanna Campbell has been charged with non-academic misconduct — and could face possible expulsion — for displaying graphic images of aborted fetuses at the University of Calgary (U of C). Campbell is the president of Campus Pro-Life at the U of C.

She, along with eight other group members, were issued a formal warning that they violated the university’s Non-Academic Misconduct Policy after a series of hearings. The group has been in conflict with the university administration since 2006 over the graphic nature of the Genocide Awareness Project — a visual display that compares abortion to the Holocaust, the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides and the U.S. slave trade — which they have set-up nine times in the last four years.

–Tannara Yelland, CUP Prairies & Northern Bureau Chief