News Articles
From the President
Guelph a Longtime Leader in Undergraduate Learning
Editor's note: President Alastair Summerlee welcomes comments on his column at president@uoguelph.ca.
When it comes to the teaching and learning experience of undergraduate students, Guelph has been blazing a trail for others to follow for more than a century.
Back in 1910, for example, the first-ever course devoted to Canadian literature was taught by an Ontario Agricultural College professor. His interdisciplinary experiment was a harbinger of the modern University of Guelph, which remains strongly committed to path-breaking pedagogy.
Over the years, many of U of G's best ideas for making a strong learning environment have been adopted by other universities. One such innovation is our supported learning groups, which are attached to courses whose content proves to be especially difficult for many students.
Like Guelph, other universities in Ontario and across Canada are always looking for new ways to provide the most supportive, yet most challenging learning environment for their students.
Just as research cannot stand still or ground is lost, so it is with teaching and learning in the 21st-century university. The domains of knowledge are more elastic and dynamic than ever. Sometimes it seems as if knowledge is now doubling every few minutes. Universities like Guelph that aim to embrace these dynamics need to challenge themselves to be sure that, organizationally, they can also be responsive to rapid change.
The undergraduate curriculum is the lifeblood of our efforts to transmit knowledge and to invite students to join faculty on the important journey of research. Knowledge is more than facts, of course. It's also the way we organize what we know and the way we think about reimagining ourselves and the world in which we live.
And increasingly, research crosses back and forth across the boundaries of the traditional domains of knowledge. Recent developments in neuroscience, bioengineering and international development are all good examples of the interdisciplinary routes open to researchers and the next generations of students.
In the history of universities, the curriculum has traditionally followed several paces behind leading-edge research. But it's different here at Guelph. We've already made great strides in bringing together students and professors at the crossroads of knowledge, and today there are numerous examples across campus where the current and future generations of researchers are working side by side on innovative projects.
This was the context for the provost's White Paper on the undergraduate learning experience. Published last November, the paper invited broad dialogue about how Guelph can expand on its unique and already strong learning environment. It collected and presented ideas large and small to guide and stimulate discussion. Following the release of the White Paper, the provost charged the associate vice-president (academic) with leading a University-wide effort to review and renew our undergraduate learning environment and keep us on the leading edge. This is being achieved through a 21st-century curriculum committee. Substantial conversations have been organized with every undergraduate curriculum committee in every academic department. There have also been consultations with the Board of Undergraduate Studies (BUGS), the U of G Faculty Association, Student Senate Caucus and many others.
This process identified four major areas for further thought: the first-year learning environment; institutional processes; innovative learning opportunities; and the research and teaching link. Working groups have now been struck and are expected to report back to the University community early in the winter semester with recommendations for action. It is expected that these will be considered by the steering committee and, as appropriate, the governance processes: program committees, BUGS and Senate. Details of membership and the timeline can be found on the web at www.21c.uoguelph.ca.
As we all know, knowledge is more dynamic than ever, and both the content and the structures of the curriculum need to keep pace. At its best, the curriculum is a living organism; it needs growth, renewal, even tender loving care. And in an era of static — if not shrinking — resources to support our programs, attending to the curriculum is just that much more difficult and more necessary, to ensure that we are using our resources to their maximum effect to support the undergraduate learning environment.
At Guelph, we have always aimed to pursue research and teaching with equal vigour. I predict that, in the next while, these two activities will converge more and more in institutions of higher learning throughout the rest of the province, the country and the world.
And, just as we have so many times in our 132-year history, Guelph has once again broken the trail and is leading the way.