Yesterday, Statistics Canada released a report on 2007/08 tuition fees -- and student union associations are taking up arms.  Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and New Brunswick are credited with the steepest tuition increases, while Nova Scotia and PEI cut fees by 9 and 10% (although NS still holds the title for highest tuition in the country).  6 provinces increased their fees this year, and the national tuition average for full-time undergraduate studies came in at $4,524 -- a 2.3% increase.

Picketing food and maintenance workers interrupted traffic today outside the University of Manitoba, while union and administration representatives picked up negotiations.  The chair of the CAW chapter has said that the workers will compromise on wages, but will not give ground on issues that "hurt our members." He promises to "shut down the university for two months if that's what they have to do." 

McGill University has launched a 5-year $750-million fundraising campaign entitled "Campaign McGill: History in the Making," to attract and retain top minds and to increase accessibility. The campaign has the largest initial goal of any similar campaign in Canadian history, but organizers are confident, since $325 million was raised prior to the campaign launch.

New Brunswick's minister of PSE promised earlier this week that "there will always be a university in Saint John."  The province's university presidents, Premier, deputy minister and minister of PSE are said to "feel very strongly" about keeping a university in the city, and hope that upset citizens will be reassured.  Students and community members have been staging protests since the recommendation to merge UNB-SJ with a local polytechnic was made in a report on higher ed commissioned by the province. 

Mount Allison University was featured in Tuesday's Globe & Mail University Report Card, in an article entitled "Mount Allison's eastern promise."  Despite a bursting population of 2,000 students at the small university, president Robert Campbell claims that he can greet many of his students by name.  The school has a strong alumni network that contributes more than 10% of its operating budget.  "Mount A" is known for arts, fine arts and music -- as well as small classes taught by full professors rather than part-time or grad students. 

Fanshawe College has received the A.M. "Mac" Cuddy Gardens, located in Strathroy Ontario.  Cuddy developed the property into an extensive and beautiful garden visited by international horticulturalists and landscape designers. The college is known nationally for its horticulture and landscape design programs, and the new property will be a valuable asset to its students.  (Fanshawe College Email News Release)

McGill University is evaluating and approving all use of its trademarked moniker by clubs and services on campus, and is reserving the right to refuse permission to use "McGill" in a club name at any time.  The administration argues that using "McGill" is not "an entitlement," but rather a privilege that requires permission.  3-year negotiable contracts will be drafted with hundreds of clubs and services on campus -- despite protests from student groups. 

Memorial University of Newfoundland's two-time national champions have earned an international silver medal at this year's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) World Cup, held earlier this month.  The ACE Memorial team presented on several innovative and entrepreneurial projects, and are credited with giving a "spirited and emotional performance that drew praise from everyone, including many of their competitors."  The team's success in the competition is the best showing by a Canadian team in the history of the event. 

Students who take college courses during their high school years are 16.8% more likely to graduate, and 7.7% more likely to pursue PSE and excel.  Male, low-income, and academically-challenged students benefit the most from college during high school programs, according to a new report.  Dual-enrolment programs are increasingly common, says one of the first and most comprehensive studies of their effectiveness. 

Professor Michael Wesch released a short video, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us," credited as the "most popular video in the blogosphere." Chances are good you've seen it.  Now, in a wiki collaboration with the 200 students in his Anthropology class, Wesch has produced a 4.5-minute YouTube video characterizing students today -- "how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like" and more.  More than 100,000 people have already seen it -- shouldn't you?