Campus community celebrates Eyes High milestones

As much town square as town hall, this year’s Community Report event on Sept. 26 at Mac Hall buzzed with games, goodies and giveaways as hundreds of attendees perused nearly 20 booths showcasing a wide cross-section of campus community groups — from the Creative Destruction Lab to the Dinos and Staff Wellness — offering information, insight and resources.

The event also featured a presentation from President Elizabeth Cannon highlighting progress over the past year toward the Energized Eyes High goals and outlining an exciting direction for the year ahead. She announced as well that the University of Calgary is ranked among the top 200 universities internationally in the latest Times Higher Education report.

“The 2018 Community Report documents our progress against the foundational Eyes High commitments that guide everything we do at the University of Calgary,” President Cannon said. “It also celebrates the dedication and achievement of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and a community of supporters and friends who — through their spirit and curiosity — have helped us achieve our goals and motivated us to aim even higher."

Booths and badges

The showcase booths and the enthusiasm of the people staffing and visiting them exemplified President Cannon’s comments that it takes a community to realize the Eyes High goals.

Jessica Snow in the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning booth was busy with attendees explaining the various resources they have to offer. “I’m letting people know about all the programming we have, that it extends beyond academic faculty to include postdocs, graduate students and staff,” she says.

The Office of Sustainability booth featured a map with a 3D representation of all the LEED-certified buildings on campus. Taryn Meyers and the team at the booth shared information on the sustainability initiatives on campus, signed up sustainability co-ordinators, and gave away metal straws to attendees pledging to stop using plastic straws.

Spreading the word about her work in Indigenous engagement, Pamela Beebe helped visitors understand that the Native Centre is primarily a resource for students, while in her new role as Indigenous cultural education and protocol specialist she works mostly with faculty and staff, recruiting and engaging the Indigenous community.

Visitors to every booth received a stamp on their Community Report passport, with a complete passport earning participants a chance to win an iPad. More than 750 people registered to attend the event, with nearly half visiting at least four showcases.

Community Report highlights

In her first report on the refined goals set out in the energized Eyes High strategy released in April 2017, and her final report as president before stepping down at the end of the year, President Cannon offered highlights from the 2018 Community Report (available in full online). They include the university being ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide (and top seven in Canada) by the Centre for World University Rankings, and being named one of Alberta’s top employers for the fourth year running.

Other major 2018 Community Report milestones and highlights in research, teaching, community and philanthropy include:

• Expansion of Haskayne School of Business with $20-million gift from Ronald P. Mathison  for Mathison Hall
• Introduction of certificates and diplomas in data science and a new master’s program in software engineering
• Significant improvement in 2017 National Survey of Student Engagement
• Securing $419.2 million in sponsored research funding, placing it sixth in Canada and representing a 48 per cent increase since 2011-12
• Opening of the world-class Microbiome Centre research facility
• State-of-the-art University of Calgary Psychology Clinic opens, providing sophisticated research environment for faculty and graduate students
• Raising $1.06 billion for Energize: The Campaign for Eyes High since 2011 with more than 25,000 donors
• Launching an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy
• Raising $639,048 for the United Way