January 21st, 2009
Filed under: Dentistry
Faculty of Dentistry dean Anthony Iacopino knows exactly where he wants to be in five years.
“We want to be one of the top five dental schools in North America in five years,” Iacopino said.
The Drive for Top Five Campaign was launched last month and the goal is exactly what the title says.
“It’s a question of public opinion and perception. When you ask someone about the state of the profession and where the hottest places in the field are, we want the University of Manitoba to be in the first five names they can rattle off.
“That means we’re going to be at the top of the game in education, innovative programming, niche research, student recruitment and community support.”
Reaching that elite level will have a huge impact on what the faculty and its students and staff members can do.
“When you reach that level you get respect. Students interested in dentistry will know that this is a place that they can come to get the best possible education and we can be a centre of intellectual thought for the dental community.”
It’s not just about the Faculty of Dentistry. Reaching the top five can have spin off benefits for the larger university and the entire Manitoba community.
“When you reach that stature you have the ability to draw talent to Winnipeg, and that impacts the entire city because those people don’t just work in the Faculty of Dentistry, they get out into the community and contribute their skills to making Winnipeg and Manitoba a better place.”
Getting to top five is going to mean changes across the board for the Faculty of Dentistry. From a public relations standpoint, the faculty is already on the move, aggressively promoting its stories to the Winnipeg Free Press and CTV News.
The success of a Dental School hinges on maintaining a close relationship with its graduates, who depend on the research and training programs that come out of the dental school to drive their industry. To that end, Iacopino, who joined the faculty last summer, has been meeting with dentists from across Manitoba.
“My goal is to visit every office in the province over time (there’s over 300 of them in all) to get to know the issues from the practitioners and to tell them about the faculty and what we’re doing. So far the people have been unbelievably welcoming and some of them have become our strongest supporters,” Iacopino said.
Similarly, the faculty has taken its former alumni relations/continuing education position and split it between two full-time people, which means the alumni person can focus on friendraising among alumni, while the continuing education person can focus on lining up training programs that meet alumni needs.
“And we’ve expanded our mentorship program,” Iacopino said. Previously, students waited until the third year in their program before being partnered with community dentists. Now that happens in year one with the mentor taking part in the faculty’s white coat ceremony at the beginning of the year.
“The mentors will follow them through their training which will culminate with graduation. By that time, they’ll have a four-year relationship with someone in the field which will hopefully lead to better relationships with organized dentistry and the practicing community.”
The Drive for Top Five is really just kicking off, over the coming months Iacopino said they’ll be seeking external resources to put in place the tools needed for the faculty to excel.
Make no mistake, getting to the top of the heap in North America is going to be a lot of work. But it can happen. Iacopino says he believed strongly in that from the moment he first laid eyes on the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Manitoba.
“I was immediately struck by the differences between this school and all the schools I had been associated with in the United States. Thanks to the small class size, there’s really a family atmosphere in the faculty and a genuine concern among the instructors, support staff, and students for improving the school and to make everyone feel welcome. Additionally, this was the most highly skilled faculty and support staff that I have ever seen in a dental school,” Iacopino said.
The only hold ups were a matter of resources – something that the Faculty is hoping a resource plan will address – and making sure people in the industry know exactly the level of talent at the University of Manitoba.
“People here are pretty humble and they don’t believe in blowing their own horn,” Iacopino said. “But the problem with that is that other people aren’t aware of the accomplishments here and they can take credit for those accomplishments. I’ve seen schools in the States taking credit for innovations that were developed here.”
Iacopino says his role as dean will be to maximize the talent that’s already here and supplement that with new talent.
“I take a hands on approach to being a dean with respect to being a people person and making sure there are open communications but I don’t micromanage. I try to give people the resources they’ll need to achieve success and reach their full potential,” Iacopino said. “And I believe in taking risks and doing new things. I like to challenge the existing status quo and see if we can come up with something better.”
Previous to joining the University of Manitoba, Iacopino was the associate dean for research/graduate studies and professor in the department of restorative dental sciences at Marquette University School of Dentistry, Wisconsin, where he spearheaded the reworking of the undergraduate and graduate curricula, and with Baylor College of Dentistry in Texas.
He’s originally from New Jersey and grew up looking towards the ocean.
“I always thought going through school that I was going to be a marine biologist,” he said. “I thought I was going to be the next Jacques Cousteau. I loved the coast.”
But while he was earning his BA in biological sciences at Rutgers College, the field of dentistry caught his eye.
“I was intrigued by the work and lifestyle of dentistry. But while most people assume dentistry means going through school and then hanging up a shingle, I knew there were more options. From the beginning, I knew I was interested in the scholarly approach. I wanted a career that included clinical work, research and teaching,” Iacopino said.
“I’m the sort of person who needs to do multiple things.”
And once he was in dental school, he was hooked.
“I found out how much I loved the academic environment. I liked the professors, and I loved the scholarly debate and educational atmosphere. I knew this was the kind of environment I wanted to be in,” Iacopino said.
He’d already met his goals at Marquette when recruiters from the University of Manitoba came calling, but it wasn’t until he came up here and saw what the university had to offer that he was convinced.
“I had never thought about coming to Canada or about a position with a Canadian dental school,” Iacopino said. “It was really my wife Sharon who said, ‘Why not have a look at it?’”
Moving was tough, but they’re settling in nicely. Sharon, a nurse, has found work at the Grace Hospital as a patient safety and quality improvement officer, and they’ve moved into the community of LaSalle just south of Winnipeg. Their daughters, aged 18 and 21, stayed in Wisconsin to finish their education and have both announced that they are interested in the field of dental hygiene.
As for Iacopino, he hasn’t completely left that love for the ocean behind.
“Fishing is my one passion in life. I’ve fished all over the world and I just can’t get enough of it. It’s never boring. There’s always the challenge of figuring out how to get one on your line.”
Manitoba, of course, is a fisher’s paradise for Iacopino, whether it be heading out on a junket or dipping his hook in the water next to the home at LaSalle.
“I’ve been going to Mexico for 20 years and most of the people I’ve been fishing with down there have been from Canada,” Iacopino said. Now, of course, he’ll be able to trade stories with them about what the fishing is like in Mexico and back home in Canada.
Posted in: Dentistry
January 15th, 2009
Filed under: Music
Most children dream about what they want to be when they grow up.
But while the other students were writing ‘fire fighter’ or ‘policeman’ in their Grade 1 notebooks, Edmund Dawe was very purposefully pencilling ‘music teacher’ in his.
“My family has always gotten a kick out of that,” the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music dean says. “Our Grade 1 printing journals had a page where we were asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ My response was ‘I want to be a music teacher.’ I think most of the other kids thought I was crazy!”
Actually, Dawe probably knew even sooner. He was playing the piano by ear when he was four-years-old and taking lessons by the time he was six.
“Growing up in a small Newfoundland town, we lived in an environment with a rich folk music tradition. Music was a central part of what we did at family, church, and social gatherings.” Dawe said. “My mother plays by ear, so I guess the musical talent comes from that side of the family.”
Home for Dawe during his childhood was Upper Gullies, a small town of about 350 near St. John’s. However, it has since grown to become part of the substantial bedroom community of Conception Bay South with a population of about 25,000.
Pursuing his grade school career aspirations, Dawe entered Memorial University to study music and education.
“One of the most exciting things to happen during that period of my life was an external semester program where two students were chosen each semester to study in London, England at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1980, I was one of those students, and I spent six months living in central London. Just think of the impact of this on a 19-year-old musician – going from a small town to living in one of the world’s major cultural centres! I had the opportunity to hear renowned performers and I studied with some of the best artist-teachers. The experience changed my life and made me decide to continue my education by pursuing a graduate degree in piano performance. I was hooked,” Dawe said.
He graduated from Memorial University in 1982 with the degrees of bachelor of music and bachelor of music education, winning the university medal for excellence in music. Dawe then went on to the University of Western Ontario to complete a masters degree.
Following his graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario, he attended the University of British Columbia where he earned a doctor of musical arts degree (piano performance). Throughout his education, his work was a balance between performance and historical research on aspects of performance and piano pedagogy.
After graduating from UBC, he spent two years back home in Newfoundland teaching at Memorial University followed by two years at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
“In 1990, I moved to Sackville, New Brunswick, where I spent 17 years at the department of music at Mount Allison University,” Dawe said. For six of those years, he served as department head.
He maintained an active performing schedule and released two solo CDs. He continues to be a regular adjudicator at music festivals and competitions including the Juno Awards, a speaker at national and international conferences, and was nominated for an East Coast Music Award (Best Classical).
In 2007, he had the opportunity to become dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. Dawe said there were several elements that attracted him to the position.
“First and foremost, the faculty has a strong and growing reputation for offering an outstanding curriculum taught by exceptional professors, in an area of the country known for producing tremendous musical talent,” Dawe stated. He also liked the size of the faculty; small enough to maintain close interaction between professors and their students, yet large enough to offer specialized training.
“And being part of a larger research-based university opens interdisciplinary possibilities. Last year, for example, we offered a course ‘anatomy for musicians’,” Dawe said. “It was team taught by a musician and an occupational therapist, and allowed students to explore the musical and physical issues associated with playing an instrument.”
The faculty is also adding a business course for musicians which recognizes that musicians need business skills.
“Musicians have to be entrepreneurs,” Dawe said. “They need career management skills – organizing and advertising concerts, making and marketing recordings, maintaining financial records, dealing with tax laws, applying for grants, etc. Most of these aspects are not covered in university music programs.”
Dawe was also drawn to Winnipeg by the strength of its artistic community.
“There was a period last year when I attended 18 events in three weeks – all of them were excellent and indicative of the vibrant cultural activity in the city.” Dawe said. These strengths allow the faculty to partner with nationally respected professional arts groups in the community and enrich our students’ training. Last year, a mentorship program was established with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. This year, the program was expanded and the assistant conductor of the WSO was appointed conductor of the University of Manitoba’s Symphony Orchestra.
But for all its strengths, there was one thing the faculty did not have: space.The current Music Building was built in the mid 1960s and designed for 60 students. Today the faculty has over 260 students and with the addition of its new bachelor of jazz studies degree, the enrolment is expected to grow to over 300 within the next three years.
“Currently, we use any available space on campus,” Dawe said. Students are using rooms in the Faculty of Education, the Music Annex, and the Great Hall in University College. Even the Great Hall’s former kitchen is being called into action by the faculty’s percussion students. The faculty also has some office and practice space in the Services Building, and will use the entire Services Building when its current occupants move into the university’s new Welcome Centre next spring.
But into that mix, two rather astounding things have happened for the Faculty of Music. The first was the announcement of Project Domino last April – an outstanding facilities master plan that will see changes and upgrades to the locations of over a dozen faculties and departments at the university. As part of the plan, the Faculty of Music and the School of Art will be moving into a refurbished Taché Hall, helping solve the space issues that both groups have been facing.
And on the heels of the Project Domino announcement was something that was perhaps even more stunning. Canadian Credit Management Foundation president Marcel A. Desautels donated $20 million to the Faculty of Music, with $10 million in support of Project Domino, and $10 million in an unrestricted endowment fund.
The donation followed a dinner that Dawe and past president Em?ke Szathmáry shared with Desautels in Toronto on Dec. 1, 2007.
“We didn’t even discuss money,” Dawe recalled. “We talked about music. He’s passionate about music and, in particular, opera. So we shared our love of music and I talked about the exciting things happening at the faculty.” In other words, they discussed the very strengths that had drawn Dawe to the faculty. But they also talked about Dawe’s vision for the faculty to become a primary destination for Canadian and international students.
The $20 million gift is one of the largest in Canadian history to a department, school, or faculty of music. “It’s historic and transformative. A $10 million gift for the renovation project is tremendous, but to receive an additional $10 million in an unrestricted endowment fund is practically unheard of,” Dawe stated. The income generated from this fund will enable the faculty to offer outstanding support to its students and professors, and is already inspiring others to give.
“My colleagues and I were in unanimous agreement that the Faculty should be named the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music.” Dawe said. “This chapter in the history of music at the University of Manitoba will remain one of the main highlights of my career. Marcel Desautels is a visionary, a business leader, a gifted musician, and a great friend. He is one of the strongest advocates of the faculty, its mission, and its vision.”
His duties as dean aside, Dawe has three children aged 16, 19 and 21. His wife Karla is an organist and is also an instructor in the faculty. And while it’s his administrative talents that have received the lion’s share of attention in this article, Dawe is also a performing artist, juggling his work as dean with a performance schedule in the community.
“We joke at our house that my practicing has become the nightshift,” Dawe said. “Given the intense planning activity and daily demands at the faculty, this has not been possible here. So I do that work in the evenings if I can, or on the weekends. It’s a challenge, but it’s all worth it.”
Posted in: Music
January 8th, 2009
Filed under: Engineering
The atrium of the Engineering & Information Technology Complex at the University of Manitoba will be taken over by Hovercraft on Tuesday, January 13th as part of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Advanced Manufacturing Discovery Program.
The Program was developed to introduce high school students to explore “great jobs” in Manitoba’s exciting manufacturing sectors. Working in teams, the students will design a radio controlled hovercraft. To accomplish this task, students must use essential skills for work, learning, and life. On Tuesday, January 13th, each team will present their business plan and demonstrate the radio-controlled hovercraft they have designed and built for lift, load and propulsion to a panel of five judges.
There will be 16 Teams participating from; Dakota Collegiate, Glenlawn Collegiate, Kelvin High School, Kildonan East Collegiate, Murdoch MacKay Collegiate, St. James Collegiate, Sisler High School, Sturgeon Heights Collegiate, Tec-Voc High School, Windsor Park Collegiate, Carman Collegiate, Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School, Garden Valley Collegiate, Landmark Collegiate, Lord Selkirk Regional Secondary School, and W.C. Miller Collegiate.
From the semi-finals on January 13th, the top ten teams will compete in the finals at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters’ Manufacturing & Trade Conference in March at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The final top three teams will receive Certificates of Excellence as well as Bursaries and Scholarships promoting continued learning.
Posted in: Engineering
January 7th, 2009
Filed under: Science
Cheryl Klassen, Ph.D. Student, Biological Sciences
I am originally from Steinbach, Manitoba, and upon graduation from the Steinbach Regional Secondary School, I was awarded the Chown Centennial Scholarship by the University of Manitoba. After four years of study, I completed my Bachelor of Science degree (with distinction) in Ecology. Through courses offered in the Ecology program at the Faculty of Science, I was able to: travel to Churchill, Manitoba and observe polar bears and caribou in the wild, conduct a behavioural study at the Assiniboine Park Zoo on a captive herd of muskox and spend time at the University of Manitoba’s Delta Marsh Field Station learning valuable field research techniques. These experiences led me to pursue a career in biology and conservation.
Summer employment with the Manitoba Science Academy in Pinawa, Manitoba (formerly Deep River Science Academy) presented me with the opportunity to study lake sturgeon, a fish whose numbers have plummeted over the past century due to over-fishing. I worked on a research project focused on developing more efficient methods of rearing larval and juvenile lake sturgeon in order to support stocking programs. My fascination with these unique creatures and concern for their continued existence, led me to build on this research at a higher level and I obtained my Master of Science degree in Biology from the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton campus) in 2007.
Over the past few years, success in the hatchery has resulted in large numbers of juvenile lake sturgeon being released into Manitoba waters. The survival rate of these released animals is currently unknown, and to learn more about their survival, I have moved my research from the hatcheries to the rivers. To continue my research, I chose to return to the University of Manitoba and am currently pursuing a PhD in the newly formed department of Biological Sciences. I am hopeful that the results of my research will shed new light on the effectiveness of using cultured lake sturgeon for the purposes of restoring their population.
Posted in: Science
January 5th, 2009
Filed under: Graduate Studies
Every year, the Faculty recognizes student award recipients but to mark this 60th anniversary, on December 4 a larger than usual event was held in the Engineering atrium where the Faculty recognized more than 450 awardees.
The evening was hosted by Dr. Jay Doering, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and was well attended by members of the Presidential Executive Team and Senior Administrators. A number of guest speakers spoke at the opening of the event including the Miss Kerri Irvin-Ross (MLA - Fort Garry and the provincial Minister of Healthy Living) and Dr. Joanne Kesselman (Vice-President Research).
Three student honourees also spoke about their experiences and how they benefited from support administered by the Faculty. Those students were Kathleen Chambers Clouston (Distinguished Dissertation), Carla Ens (SSHRC Doctoral recipient), and Diane Roberts (Distinguished Dissertation).
2008 FGS Award Reception held in the Engineering Atrium
It was noted by Dr. Doering that the purpose for the faculty’s creation is even more relevant today than it was 60 yrs ago, “The Faculty of Graduate Studies was formed to systemize graduate study and research. While the development and teaching of graduate programs remained primarily the responsibility of the departments within the university, the Faculty of Graduate Studies established common standards and was responsible for their administration. As such, the Faculty admits all graduate students, monitors their progress, and authorizes all graduate degrees.”
As the oldest University in Western Canada, we have a long and proud tradition of achievement and innovation in graduate scholarship. We take pride in our laurels, our vision, and our pursuit of excellence in graduate education, scholarship, and research and the faculty wishes to recognize all of the outstanding scholars who were award recipients over the past year.
Founded in 1948, the Faculty of Graduate Studies brings together a community of scholars that includes more than 3,200 students, 1,970 faculty, and 140 graduate programs.
Posted in: Graduate Studies
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