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Welcome to the new UniversityAffairs.ca

Re-launched website enables readers to comment on articles, features video and blogs

BY LÉO CHARBONNEAU | OCT 06 2008

For academics across Canada trying to keep on top of university news, career advice and job listings, life just got a whole lot easier.

On October 9, University Affairs launched a redesigned website that sports a host of new features, many intended to encourage readers to interact with the magazine’s editorial content in new ways.

The magazine, approaching its 50th year, knows from regular readership surveys, including the latest one this spring, that it is the most trusted news source for Canada’s universities.

The relaunched website is part of a push to further strengthen the magazine’s relationship with its readership, particularly younger faculty and graduate students who search for news, information and jobs online.

“Academics in Canada now have the site they have been waiting for,” said editor-in-chief Peggy Berkowitz.

“It’s a place where our readers can do more than just read about the news touching their community. Now they can also comment on it. And, as well as having access to the largest faculty job listings in Canada, they can also get personalized job alerts delivered right to their inbox.

“This site will give faculty members, graduate students and university administrators and staff members even more tools to stay informed and stay connected with the university community in Canada,” she said.

The site introduces a number of new features and improvements:

  • Two new blogs: “Margin Notes,” offering commentary on news about Canadian postsecondary education issues by longtime deputy editor Léo Charbonneau and “Career Sense,” a blog for academic job seekers by York University career development coordinator Carolyn Steele.
  • Improved career resources
    including new video clips to be released every month from Career Corner held at the 2008 Congress of the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences, where experts gave real-world solutions to the career development challenges facing academics of all ages.
  • Comment forums at the bottom of every article.
  • New article tools to make sharing articles even easier.
  • RSS feeds
  • More frequent posting of news, blog postings and career advice.
  • A new bimonthly e-mail newsletter, “At-a-Glance,” to help readers stay on top of what’s published at UniversityAffairs.ca.

  • Job alert e-mails for job seekers
    who want to be the first to know when a job is posted in their fields (and, if you like, preferred geographic areas or universities).
  • The largest faculty job listings in Canada redesigned for easier navigation.
  • Magazine archives extending back to 2004.

“We realize that we’ve made many changes to the site, and it will take some time for our readers to digest it all” said Ms. Berkowitz. “But now readers can see the wealth of content that’s existed on our site for a long time, but was hard to find in the past. And it links everything we offer – information, job ads and career advice for academics – all in one place. We’re confident that over time, readers will find the site an improvement on what we had before.”

This is the first major redesign of the University Affairs website since UniversityAffairs.ca was launched in 2004. The new look and feel was designed by Ecentricarts Inc., a Toronto-based firm. University Affairs is published by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada in Ottawa.

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