UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST
UCW professors selected as GUS Institute Fellows, will lead innovative projects

Five University Canada West professors have been selected by an international review committee to join a new GUS Institute Fellowship program from UCW's parent company Global University Systems.

Dr. Paul Hedru, Dr. Asif Ali Raman, Dr. Mohsen Saeedi, Dr Hamed Taherdoost and Dr. Abeba Nigussie Turi were selected as GUS Institute Fellows. They each bring extensive research and scholarly backgrounds, and will build a team of colleagues from UCW and other GUS higher education institutes to work on an innovation project.

The Fellowships will be formally awarded at the inaugural GUS Academic Summit in London, England on March 12 and 13.

Dr. Stephanie Chu, Associate Vice-President of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship at UCW, expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity, saying, "The inaugural GUS Institute Fellows and UCW's appointment of five out of the 25 fellowships are an exciting opportunity for our scholars to contribute their expertise across the GUS network and bring colleagues together on their various projects.

"Within UCW, we look forward to the Fellows' leadership, leveraging of internal scholarly activity and further establishing our internal networks of scholars. Stewart (Fast, UCW Director, Office of Research & Scholarship) and I look forward to working with our Fellows and supporting their progress and projects."

Twenty-five GUS Fellows were selected by a committee led by GUS Chief Academic Officer Dr. Maurits van Rooijen.

According to the GUS Institute, "The beauty of Global University Systems is that the various higher education institutions and campuses that form the system feel in themselves quite small scale, but the system as a whole is actually comparable to a mega academic institution, with many thousands of academic experts and a truly global presence. It sets us apart from any other higher education institutions."

Besides UCW, the GUS academic community includes more than 30 higher education institutions including the University of Law, Berlin School of Business and Innovation, Arden University and Medical University of the Americas.

The role of GUS Fellows will be to offer leadership to innovative projects within the international GUS academic community. They will focus on "international, innovative and impactful" projects that either can be suggested by the Institute Board or by the Fellows themselves, subject to approval by the institute. The aim is to be innovative in teaching and research.

The fellowships will be for three years and 25 fellowships will be awarded annually.

For more information, contact UCW's Office of Research and Scholarship at ORS@ucanwest.ca.