McGill and UQAC leaders at Cercle de presse
Heather Munroe-Blum, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, and Michel Belley, rector of the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), were guests of the Cercle de presse du Saguenay today. The university leaders were invited to discuss the various issues affecting their institutions during the meeting, which could be viewed on Canal Vox.
Munroe-Blum has been in the Saguenay region to celebrate the many Saguenay-area scientists and academics collaborating with McGill researchers on an array of projects. Indeed, the latest venture between the two universities was announced yesterday, Panorama sur le Québec, a new website that serves as a gateway between the world and Quebec. Accessible at www.panorama-quebec.com, the site was created by UQAC's École de langue française et de culture québécoise and McGill's Quebec Studies Program and French Languages Program, in conjunction with the Association internationale des études québécoises.
Another new link was created last night when the McGill Baroque Orchestra and the Ensemble baroque du Conservatoire de musique du Saguenay teamed up for their first-ever joint performance. A future collaboration will see the Ensemble baroque du Conservatoire de musique du Saguenay, comprised of student-musicians aged 11 to 23, visit McGill for a master class on November 18, 2004.
Principal Munroe-Blum, who twice stayed in the Saguenay area to complete French immersion courses, was thrilled to be back in the region. "I've rediscovered this wonderful part of the world and its warm people," she said. "This is a region that I have come to love. The Saguenay area is a dynamic part of Quebec where we are happy to collaborate on different ventures."
Under-financing of universities and McGill graduates
During her Cercle de presse du Saguenay visit, Principal Munroe-Blum addressed the issue of under-financing of Quebec's universities. "Our biggest challenge is chronic underfunding," she said. "This issue must be urgently settled to enable Quebec universities to maintain the ability to deliver high-quality education."
Principal Munroe-Blum also stressed that while McGill is Canada's most international university — with a student body recruited from over 140 countries — over 50 percent of McGill students are from Quebec. Indeed, 6,000 of McGill's 32,000 students are francophone.
Several of McGill's francophone students, including those from the Saguenay area, go on to achieve great things. A case in point is Jean-Pierre Martin, a McGill physical chemistry graduate (PhD'80), who was named director of the new, UQAC-based Aluminum Technology Centre this week. Other notable grads from the Chicoutimi area include UQAC professors Michael D. Higgins (PhD'80, geology) and Judit Ozoray (MSc'83, geology).
