Western Ontario and Fanshawe College - Page 14

jammer139 · #**261** Posted **Sep 21, 2023, 6:47 PM**

Brescia University College to fully integrate into Western in 2024.

"Western will assume Brescia’s assets and liabilities and will provide the college’s full-time faculty, current contract faculty with sessional appointments, and full-time staff and permanent part-time staff with employment offers."

CTV article

https://london.ctvnews.ca/brescia-un...2024-1.6571977

LFP article on news

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...ege-winds-down

MolsonExport · #**262** Posted **Sep 21, 2023, 7:43 PM**

yep, we just got the scoop a few minutes ago in a special meeting.

MolsonExport · #**263** Posted **Sep 21, 2023, 7:45 PM**

Amid demographic mega-shift, women's-only Brescia College winds down

Quote:

In the 104 years since nuns founded Brescia University College to guide young women into higher education, the landscape of academia has shifted so dramatically that female students now make up the majority – and the London school is winding down.

Brescia 1973:

jammer139 · #**264** Posted **Jan 11, 2024, 7:30 PM**

Take over Brescia approved today by Western.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/merger-app...lege-1.6721504

MolsonExport · #**265** Posted **Sep 23, 2024, 3:07 PM**

Convocation ceremonies shifting downtown for at least 5 years. The report was presented at UWO Senate a couple of weeks ago.

As Alumni Hall ages, Western University may shift graduations to downtown venue

Quote:

The 15-page report identified Budweiser Gardens as the preferred off-site location for Western’s convocations, at least in the short-term. The downtown sports and entertainment venue, which may soon be renamed Canada Life Place, has been the location of Fanshawe College’s June graduation ceremonies since 2022.

Quote:

Article content

“This recommendation carries with it an acknowledgment of the need to commence a capital planning process to explore costing, planning and eventual construction/renovation of a multi-purpose facility with capacity to host convocation ceremonies.”

Western is expecting to boost enrolment over the coming years, a move that will increase the number of graduates and the ceremonies necessary to accommodate them. Alumni Hall has limited capacity and lacks accessibility features. Western holds 27 convocation ceremonies at Alumni Hall over two weeks in June and three days in October each year. The ceremonies attract about 8,000 graduates and their families.

Djeffery · #**266** Posted **Sep 23, 2024, 5:07 PM**

I actually deliver the gowns that Western uses for convocation each year, and the guy I deal with at the UCC was telling me about that plan. I was hoping it would come true. I think they have to wait until that new warehouse is built at the arena so they can more easily accommodate everyone in picking up the gowns, getting organized, go out in the arena for the ceremonies. Fanshawe does theirs down there as well, on a much smaller scale. This past June was fortunate with the weather because they had the gowns down in the lower parking lot at Thompson Arena rather than in Mustang Alley at the UCC due to the Gaza protests. At last Bud Gardens has a proper loading dock.

MolsonExport · #**267** Posted **Sep 23, 2024, 5:36 PM**

Apparently the university will be bussing people (students/faculty/staff, and possibly guests) from the campus to/from downtown, for the ceremonies.

ssiguy · #**268** Posted **Sep 25, 2024, 2:58 AM**

I never knew Western even knew where downtown London was. Why the big switch? It's not like Western, unlike Fanshawe, has ever shown any interest in London before. If ever there was a university that wanted nothing to do with the city it's located in, it's Western.

MolsonExport · #**269** Posted **Sep 25, 2024, 1:05 PM**

Logistics. Alumni Hall is just too small to accommodate hundreds of graduates + 3-4 family members per graduate. This means that we have something like 20 convocation ceremonies in the Spring (maybe another 8 in the Fall):

Spring convocation, 2024:

Monday June 10, 10:00 a.m.
Monday June 10, 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday June 11, 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday June 11, 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 12, 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 12, 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 13, 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, June 13, 3:00 p.m.
Friday, June 14, 10:00 a.m.
Friday, June 14, 3:00 p.m.
Monday, June 17, 10:00 a.m.
Monday, June 17, 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 18, 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, June 18, 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 19, 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 19, 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 20, 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Friday, June 21, 10:00 a.m.
Friday, June 21, 3:00 p.m.

For each, there is a 4-5 hour time commitment from the university brass. For each, we need faculty+staff to volunteer (you'd be surprised just how many people are needed to pull off each ceremony).

As the university grows, we can't keep adding more ceremonies. The time commitment becomes untenable.

Another issue is accessibility: Alumni Hall is very inaccessible for people with mobility challenges (including the many older folk who want to see their grandchildren graduate). Another issue is the facilities. We have to marshal the students in proper order, by name/degree, etc., and the space for doing so is cramped. Climate control is a terrible issue in this space as well (several hundred bodies make the room very humid and hot).

Alumni Hall can't be enlarged. We are looking into renovating Thompson Arena for this purpose, but we may end up building a new facility.

We had explored using the Football stadium, but that is not going to work on account of the heat/glare, and (often torrential) downpours that we get in London at that time of year. There is no covered seating in the stadium.