Latest News
- Category: Latest News
Every few years, new program directors are appointed to each graduate and executive-level program at Telfer. The selection committee recommended a program director to take on the Master of Science (MSc) programs, formerly two separate directors. Dean Stéphane Brutus announced Professor Lavagnon Ika as the newest MSc Program Director for both the Health Systems and Management programs at Telfer. He will serve a mandate of three years from July 1st, 2022, to June 30th, 2025.
Meet the New MSc Programs’ Director
Lavagnon Ika is a Full Professor of Project Management at the Telfer School, a former Program Director for the MSc in Management, Faculty Leader for the University of Ottawa’s partnerships with African Universities, and the Founding Director of the Major Projects Observatory at Telfer. Professor Ika also holds a joint affiliation with the uOttawa School of International Development and Global Studies. Prior to joining the Telfer School, he earned an MSc and PhD in Project Management from the Université du Québec, where he also held his first positions as a course lecturer and a professor for 11 years.
History of the Telfer Master of Science Programs
In 2008, the Telfer School launched two MSc programs in Management and in Health Systems. Over the past couple of years, the MSc in Management has improved and developed considerably with newer concentrations like Innovation Management and the introduction of a program, the research project MSc in Management. The research-based program helps students develop applied research skills to a relevant business topic, preparing them for an exciting career in their field or industry of choice. The project-based program is only one year, so it is a fast way for students to position themselves as experts immediately after their undergraduate degree. Furthermore, students can also register for this program with a CO-OP option, providing them with real-world workplace experience in their field of study.
Students can also now apply directly to the Bachelor of Commerce + MSc in Management (Research Project) program prior to beginning their undergraduate studies. This allows them to transition from their BCom to MSc program with ease and no disruption, and to complete both an undergraduate and graduate program within 5 years at the Telfer School.
The Future of the MSc at Telfer
Professor Lavagnon Ika expressed his excitement for his new position at the School and working with various stakeholders including professors, staff, and students who are involved in these programs. He was highly involved previously as part of the initial ideation of the project-based MSc in Management program. Professor Ika shared some of the objectives he hopes to focus on over the next three years: “actively promoting the program inside and outside Telfer, establishing more connections with industry partners, working with the Research Office to facilitate Mitacs funding for professors and students, especially those in the project-based MSc, increase the quality of the student experience, and targeting and recruiting top students from abroad.” Professor Ika will surely provide a positive impact on these programs through his leadership.
Thank you to Professor Patrick and Professor Lapierre
Thank you to the former directors of the MSc program, Professor Jonathan Patrick and Professor Laurent Lapierre, for their positive impact on each program’s growth and success over the years. Under the guidance of Professor Patrick, the Health Systems program flourished, despite the difficult role of managing the program during the pandemic.
Additionally, Professor Lapierre was able to make great strides for the Management program as well. Professor Lapierre has the distinction of launching three new concentrations, Finance, Accounting and Organizational Behaviour & Human Resources, as well as a research-project edition of the program.
Dean Brutus shared his gratitude towards each program director in an email announcement to all staff and faculty at Telfer: “As a result of the hard work of our two colleagues, our MSc programs are now more popular than ever. I would like to thank both Professors Patrick and Lapierre for their outstanding contributions to the MSc Programs in Heath Systems and Management.” Big thank you to both former directors for their hard work and dedication to these leading graduate programs.
- Category: Health Systems Management
Our Master of Health Administration (MHA) students are shaping a healthier debate with their final assignment as part of the Health Care in Canada course (MHA6360). This course, led by Assistant Professor Agnes Grudniewicz, consists of an interesting project as the final class assignment which involves an online publication opportunity. The students were to prepare an opinion article on a chosen topic of interest with the ultimate objective of being published in Healthy Debate, a Canadian online publication that aims to provide easy-to-understand information about the health care system.
An opportunity to make an impact beyond the classroom
Professor Grudniewicz first came across the Healthy Debate online platform during her PhD studies since their editorial office was based at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital where she was conducting her research.
“The idea to include Healthy Debate as an applied learning opportunity came to me this summer, while planning the first online delivery of the course due to the pandemic. I simply decided to reach out to them,” she added. “They were very enthused about the idea as it aligned with their new goal of using their platform as an educational opportunity.”
The experience of writing for Healthy Debate
For the assignment, students were expected to follow all guidelines to write an opinion article as outlined on Healthy Debate’s website. Students had the chance to read previous opinion pieces to understand the tone and style of these short-type articles.
Ranging from 650 to 900 words, the opinion articles are far more challenging to write than usual longer research papers since ideas, fact-based content and argumentative information needs to be concise. “It was a challenging exercise because they had to adapt to the style of Healthy Debate, which is very different from more academic writing. It’s punchy and short. Students had to think about ways to write about a niche topic to a broader audience, using lay terms and explaining concepts,” stated Professor Grudniewicz.
Students had the opportunity to consult with the editors at Healthy Debate regarding their topic and work with them to submit the article for publication. This consultation and submission to Health Debate was an optional component of the assignment, but students were strongly encouraged to make use of this fantastic opportunity to strengthen their assignments, as their article is expected to be of high enough quality to be submitted to Healthy Debate for publication after they are graded.
“The Healthy Debate assignment was a great learning experience as we got the chance to pick a health subject of our choice. We felt proud to share our opinion with a broad range audience and bring awareness about mental health in these COVID-19 times,” shared MSc in Health Systems students Mohcene Abdessemed and Sandra Blais-Amyot, co-authors of the now published opinion piece Pandemic, winter taking toll on Canadians’ mental health. “We had the opportunity to interview a mental health professional to gather his insight on the current situation. We found the course professor and the Healthy Debate editors to be very helpful in providing constructive feedback that guided and strengthened our article.”
The assignment was also followed by a requirement to create a 10-minute podcast where one student interviews another on the topic of their Healthy Debate article. “Students did tremendously well on this component, surprising me with their creativity and enthusiasm,” exclaimed Professor Grudniewicz.
Lesson learned
"Publishing in Healthy Debate was a great opportunity to collaborate with a colleague and add our expertise to a topic that we're both passionate about. It allowed us to not only apply the course content to a real-life policy issue, but to also use our respective professional backgrounds to bring our different perspectives to the issue." shared MHA student Joey Taylor, one of the co-authors of It’s time to get moving, Canada.
“I think it was a great experience for these students because they got to pick a topic that was important to them – either because of personal experience or because a topic we covered in class sparked a new interest” reports Professor Grudniewicz. She concluded: “the MHA trains our future health care leaders. In this assignment, I wanted to give our MHA students the opportunity to join the conversation and have their voice heard on topics that mean the most to them. I hope having their work published inspires them to continue to actively engage in health policy discussions for the betterment of our health care systems.”
Read each of our MHA students’ articles published by the Healthy Debate:
‘Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always’: The importance of support networks, by Brent Leonard
Addressing racism in Indigenous health – Moving beyond systemic reassurance, by Amanda Larocque and Maddie Venables
Fighting fire with fire: Managed Alcohol Programs need to be widely implemented, by Steven Parker and Erin Tighe
It’s time to get moving, Canada, by Joey Taylor and Talia Ignacy
CANZUK: A cure for our healthcare challenges?, by Anna Wu and Priyank Tyagi
Pandemic, winter taking toll on Canadians’ mental health, by Mohcene Abdessemed and Sandra Blais-Amyot
- Category: Student Announcements
It's time for a new school year, so we have created a checklist for our new and returning Telfer students to get you started.
- Set up your uOttawa Student Card: If you are a new student, be sure to collect your new student card in the University Centre building or online. If you are a returning student who has lost a student card, deactivate it and get a new card or check the University of Ottawa lost and found.
- Collect or renew your U-Pass: The U-Pass is a mandatory bus card for all full-time undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Ottawa. You can get or renew your U-Pass in the University Centre building (UCU) student lounge (located on level 0). To renew your pass, you must tap it at a recharging station in the UCU.
- Get your Gee-Gees Pass: The Gee-Gees Pass gives you access to 100+ varsity events and exclusive access at uOttawa sporting events. If you live in residence, it is already included in your residence fees.
- Attend a Mandatory Information Session on September 3: All first-year students need to go to a mandatory information session to learn important information about being a new student. You can also ask questions of our staff members at the session.
- Join a club(s) or activity at uOttawa: The University of Ottawa has a huge variety of clubs and extra-curricular activities for you to choose from. Watch out for Clubs Day during Welcome Week along University Private.
- Sign up for a Telfer student club(s): Telfer has 17 different student-run clubs and associations that you can join each year. During uOttawa Welcome Week, you can get to know these clubs on University Private, or in Morisset Library on the first floor at Clubs Day.
- Take part in intramural sports: A great way to keep up with a sport you enjoy while making new friends is to join or start your own intramural team at uOttawa.
- Try out for a Gee-Gees sports team: If you are more serious about a certain sport, you could try out for a Gee-Gees varsity sports teams.
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Stay safe with the SecurUO safety app: The university has worked to develop a new app for students to keep you safe and informed of key security information. You can download the app to your mobile device to use while on campus.
The University of Ottawa and the Telfer School offer a variety of student services, career help, activities, sports, and volunteer opportunities. The Telfer Student Services staff are happy to help you learn about these opportunities.
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Student Voices
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please