UBC This Week | Jun. 21, 2007

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.

Recent UBC Media Releases

• Jun. 18: Online shoppers trust reputations of sellers more at Amazon than at eBay: UBC study
• Jun. 21: UBC receives a $5.7 million federal boost in social sciences and humanities funding

Upcoming Event Highlights

• Jun. 22: VISI - Make Music Sweeet: An English Songbook
• Jun. 26: Public Gala Event - Why Civil Society Matters to Global Health
• Jun. 26: FREE NOON HOUR SERIES - Developing a Healthy Relationship with Your Money

Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.

UBC People

• Theatre at UBC makes an impact at the Jessie Awards
• Continuing Studies programs win award of excellence
• Change in directorship in Continuing Studies

UBC People

Theatre at UBC makes an impact at the Jessie Awards

Theatre at UBC students, alumni, faculty, collaborators and their theatre companies earned 60 nominations for this year’s Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards. The Jessies are Vancouver’s theatre awards, named after theatre pioneer Jessie Richardson. Highlights include:

• Jessie Award for Outstanding Production for alumnus and MFA directing candidate Camyar Chai’s work on Adrift on the Nile
• Nomination for Outstanding Original Script for Michael Lewis MacLennan’s Life After God, created in collaboration between Theatre at UBC and Touchstone Theatre
• 11 nominations for Peer Gynt and The Birthday Party, productions from Professor Emeritus John Wright’s Blackbird Theatre
• 10 nominations for alumnus Bill Millerd’s Arts Club Theatre
• Five nominations for Skydive, including Outstanding Production for adjunct professor and alumnus Kevin Kerr and Outstanding Direction for Roy Surette and alumnus Stephen Drover

For more information, visit www.theatre.ubc.ca/awards.shtml.

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Continuing Studies programs win award of excellence

UBC’s Continuing Studies received an Award of Excellence in the international category for their web analytics program from the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUCE). Offered in partnership with the US-based Web Analytics Association, students learn to measure traffic to a web site and optimize the effectiveness of the site's content, navigation and structure.

Continuing Studies also received a CAUCE Award of Excellence in the local/regional category for the ESL Conversation Facilitator’s Program, designed to develop the skills of English-speaking Downtown Eastside Vancouver residents to lead English language conversation sessions with immigrants and refugees. This objective is part of the UBC Learning Exchange ESL Conversation Program, supported by HSBC Bank Canada and offered in collaboration with UBC’s English Language Institute.

Formed in 1974, CAUCE fosters professionalism and creativity in program development, management and administration.

For more information, visit http://cauce-aepuc.ca/en/awards-winners.asp.

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Change in directorship in Continuing Studies

After serving more than eight years as Associate VP Continuing Studies, Jane Hutton has completed her term and will step down. Hutton has served UBC since 1979 and was instrumental in pioneering computer science programs and creating the downtown campus at Robson Square. She will continue to serve as Director of UBC Robson Square, providing oversight of management and operational activities, developing 2010 Games linkages related to the downtown campus, and building UBC’s presence at street-level.

Judith Plessis, currently Director of Languages, Cultures and Travel in Continuing Studies, will assume leadership of Continuing Studies effective Nov. 1. Plessis has more than 25 years experience in teaching and administration at UBC, with expertise in second language acquisition and comparative literature.

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