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Schulich EMBA student honoured with Meritorious Service Medal

Schulich EMBA student honoured
Schulich EMBA student honoured

He’s the chief of staff at Toronto’s Humber River Regional Hospital, a Kellogg-Schulich EMBA student at York University and now the recipient of the highly prestigious Meritorious Service Medal.

Narendra Singh was awarded one of Canada’s highest honours, the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division), by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada

Dr. Narendra Singh, who is working toward reducing the number of infant mortality rates in Guyana, was recently awarded one of Canada’s highest honours, the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division), by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada.

Guyana has one of the Western world’s highest infant mortality rates, but thanks to a program spearheaded by Singh – Guyana Help the Children – those numbers are in decline.

Singh, who moved to Canada from Guyana when he was a teenager, wanted to bring about lasting change that would improve Guyana’s access to basic prenatal care. Instead of volunteering his services as a pediatrician on a short-term basis, he envisioned a sustainable and comprehensive program to improve the state of infant mortality.

“The foundation for any sustainable program has to be education,” said Singh.

In partnership with the local government, he created a residency program at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) that brought state-of-the-art technology to the country, using a hybrid model blending in-person education with volunteer doctors and a virtual classroom where Singh and other faculty members provide instruction from anywhere in the world.

In the NICU at GPHC

“Before we started this program, Guyana had only two pediatricians,” said Singh. “To date, we have trained over 10 pediatricians and over 50 nurses, which is a lot for a country of only 750,000 people. Early individuals that we trained are now becoming the educators, so we are close to it becoming a self-sufficient program.”

To date, the infant mortality rate has dropped over 40 per cent at GPHC in Guyana, and has saved the lives of over 150 babies annually. For his contribution to the welfare of Guyanese people, Singh was awarded the Meritorious Service Decoration.

Now completing his Kellogg-Schulich EMBA in Canada’s top ranked executive MBA program, Singh is looking to gain the financial, administrative and managerial skills necessary to take the same model for a high-impact, non-profit campaign to other at-risk countries around the world.

Schulich and the Faculty of Science battle for first place

Vari Hall from the exterior
Vari Hall

Thousands of first- and fourth-year York University students are taking part in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or “Nessie”. Through NSSE, they’ll be able to contribute their insight and have input into York University’s future direction. The online survey, which began Feb. 6, continues to March 31.

Organizers at York U have challenged the individual Faculties (except the Faculty of Education and Osgoode Hall Law School) to encourage participation in the survey.  The Faculty with the highest participation rate will win the NSSE Champion Cup and bragging rights until the next survey.

NSSE results for the week ending March 10

Faculty results published for the week ending March 10 show that students in the Schulich School of Business continue to maintain their strong lead over the other faculties. The Faculty of Science has closed the gap with Schulich. The Faculty of Environmental Studies has surged and students have increased the lead over the other faculties. The NSSE Champion Cup was won in 2014 by the Schulich School of Business. Will Schulich win the trophy for the second year in a row? The survey closes March 31, so there’s still time for the other faculties to launch a strong effort.

The online survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, allows students in their first and final years of a four-year degree to offer their insight into what York U does well and what it could improve. It will be used to determine how much time and effort students put into educationally rewarding activities and to what degree York University facilitates this involvement.

Updates on the progress of the survey and the NSSE Champion Cup will be published every week in YFile.

Schulich team advances to $1M finals in Hult Prize

Schulich team at Hult Prize
Schulich team at Hult Prize

A team of four undergraduate business students from York University’s Schulich School of Business has won the Hult Prize Regional Finals in Shanghai, advancing them to the finals for a chance at $1 million to execute their vision.

Team Empower

The Hult Prize, known as “the Nobel Prize for B-schools” according to Bloomberg Businessweek, brings together the brightest minds from around the globe to present solutions to world problems.

Team Empower – Akash Sidhu (BBA ’17), Amal Naufer (BBA ’18), Vasiliki Belegrinis (BBA ’18) and Joseph Truong (BBA ’17) – started work on their project in October 2016, and left to compete in China in late February 2017.

This year, the Hult Prize challenged students to focus on reawakening human potential and restoring the rights and dignity of refugees around the world. Team Empower’s winning pitch focused on how connectivity can become productivity for refugees: by providing stable and affordable Internet access, refugees around the world can be lifted out of poverty by realizing their potential as a global citizen.

“After working with refugees and staff at the York University Centre for Refugee Studies, we were shocked to know that up to 40 per cent of refugees’ disposable income is spent on staying connected, demonstrating a real need for affordable and reliable connectivity,” said Belegrinis. “We like to think that slow WiFi or running low on cellphone battery are major inconveniences in our lives. But for refugees, it can literally be the end of a lifeline.”

“The internet is a portal of countless opportunities and we believe that everyone has the right to connectivity. We are ready to provide them with the link to the outside world and give them the opportunities they deserve,” said Truong.

With thousands of university students competing in the regionals in Shanghai, London, Dubai, Boston and San Francisco, the Hult Prize is the world’s largest student social enterprise competition in the world.

After three presentations and judges feedback calls, Team Empower ultimately won the entire regional finals and have advanced to the global finals in the fall.

As one of the six globally selected teams, they will spend the summer in the United States working in the Hult Prize Accelerator and will begin piloting their project in Africa.

“It’s been such an amazing experience going through the Hult Prize journey. Ever since we won our campus round in November, we’ve evolved our idea into a real business. Now we can’t wait for the summer and the opportunity that awaits us to really change the lives of refugees around the world,” said Naufer.

Team Empower feels that the Hult Prize is a large community hub for like-minded individuals wanting to collaborate and do social good for the world.

“We truly believe in the power of collaboration and how young entrepreneurs like ourselves can make a real difference in the world,” said Sidhu.

To follow Team Empower, visit their Facebook page here goo.gl/4syR96.

Schulich still in the lead at the end of the fourth week of NSSE survey

Vari Hall from the exterior
Vari Hall

Thousands of first- and fourth-year York University students are taking part in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or “Nessie”. Through NSSE, they’ll be able to contribute their insight and have input into York University’s future direction. The online survey, which began Feb. 6, continues to March 31.

The NSSE survey response rates for the week of Feb. 27

Organizers at York U have challenged the individual Faculties (except the Faculty of Education and Osgoode Hall Law School) to encourage participation in the survey.  The Faculty with the highest participation rate will win the NSSE Champion Cup and bragging rights until the next survey.

Faculty results published for the week of March (the fourth week of the survey) show that students in the Schulich School of Business have a commanding lead but the other faculties are fighting hard to catch up. In second place, the Faculty of Science has closed the gap with Schulich. The battle for third place is heating up. While the Faculty of Environmental Studies has a strong lead, the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, Glendon and the Faculty of Health have all shown strong gains. The NSSE Champion Cup was won in 2014 by the Schulich School of Business. Will Schulich win the trophy for the second year in a row? The survey closes March 31, so there’s still time for the other faculties to launch a strong effort.

The online survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, allows students in their first and final years of a four-year degree to offer their insight into what York U does well and what it could improve. It will be used to determine how much time and effort students put into educationally rewarding activities and to what degree York University facilitates this involvement.

Updates on the progress of the survey and the NSSE Champion Cup will be published every week in YFile.

Science and Schulich battle for first place in third week of NSSE survey

Vari Hall from the exterior
Vari Hall

Thousands of first- and fourth-year York University students are taking part in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or “Nessie”. Through NSSE, they’ll be able to contribute their insight and have input into York University’s future direction. The online survey, which began Feb. 6, continues to March 31.

Organizers at York U have challenged the individual Faculties (except the Faculty of Education and Osgoode Hall Law School) to encourage participation in the survey.  The Faculty with the highest participation rate will win the NSSE Champion Cup and bragging rights until the next survey.

Faculty results published for the week of Feb. 21 (the third week of the survey) show that students in the Faculty of Science are fighting hard to close the gap with the Schulich School of Business, but Schulich has surged in its standing and has a commanding lead. The Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) has pulled ahead of the Faculty of Health for third. The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design has slipped to fifth. (The NSSE Champion Cup was won in 2014 by the Schulich School of Business.)

The online survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, allows students in their first and final years of a four-year degree to offer their insight into what York U does well and what it could improve. It will be used to determine how much time and effort students put into educationally rewarding activities and to what degree York University facilitates this involvement.

Updates on the progress of the survey and the NSSE Champion Cup will be published every week in YFile.

Faculty of Science closes the gap with Schulich in second week of NSSE survey

NSSE Champion Cup standings image
NSSE Champion Cup standings image

Thousands of first- and fourth-year York University students are taking part in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or “Nessie”. Through NSSE, they’ll be able to contribute their insight and have input into York University’s future direction. The online survey, which began Feb. 6, continues to March 31.

NSSE Survey Results for the week of Feb. 13.
NSSE Survey Results for the week of Feb. 13.

Organizers at York U have challenged the individual Faculties (except the Faculty of Education and Osgoode Hall Law School) to encourage participation in the survey.  The Faculty with the highest participation rate will win the NSSE Champion Cup and bragging rights until the next survey. Faculty results published for the week of Feb. 13 (the second week of the survey) show that students in the Faculty of Science are closing the gap with the Schulich School of Business. York’s business school is still leading the challenge, but the lead is smaller. The Faculty of Environmental Studies has taken over third place from the Faculty of Health. The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design has shown a huge surge in responses over last week. (The NSSE Champion Cup was won in 2014 by the Schulich School of Business.)

The online survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, allows students in their first and final years of a four-year degree to offer their insight into what York U does well and what it could improve. It will be used to determine how much time and effort students put into educationally rewarding activities and to what degree York University facilitates this involvement.

Updates on the progress of the survey and the NSSE Champion Cup will be published every week in YFile.

Schulich invites students to Master Your Future event

schulich open house
schulich open house

York U’s Schulich School of Business will host an open house for students to explore the range of masters programs available for those who have completed a bachelor’s degree.

Experience Schulich 2017: Master Your Future, which runs March 4, provides an open house format to learn more about Schulich’s 12-month masters programs.

Discover the Master of Finance, Master of Business Analytics, Master of Management and Master of Accounting, direct-entry programs that provide students with the theoretical foundation that offers an ‘edge’ toward succeed.

During the event, students will have the opportunity to:

  • connect with Schulich’s admissions team and pick up valuable information about the Master of Accounting, Master of Business Analytics, Master of Finance and Master of Management programs;
  • engage in discussions with graduate ambassadors and gain insight into the student experience;
  • participate in hands-on mini-lectures with leading faculty; and
  • network with the dean faculty, alumni and current students and find out first-hand about Schulich’s unique culture.

The event runs 9am to 1:30pm at the Seymour Schulich Building, Keele Campus. To learn more and to register, visit schulich.yorku.ca/experienceschulich.

 

York’s Hennick Centre for Business and Law honours accomplished leader

Carol Hansell
Carol Hansell

The Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University has presented the 2016 Hennick Medal for Career Achievement to Carol Hansell (LLB/MBA ’86), founder and senior partner of Hansell LLP and Hansell McLaughlin Advisory, and one of Canada’s foremost experts in corporate governance.

Carol Hansell

The Hennick Medal, which is awarded annually to a distinguished leader who has earned international recognition in the business and legal communities, was given to Hansell at a reception in her honour in Toronto on Feb. 8.

Schulich Dean Dezsö J. Horváth introduced Hansell at the Hennick Medal reception. “Carol is not only one of our most accomplished graduates,” said Horváth, “she is also a lifelong friend of the Schulich School, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and the recipient of a Schulich Alumni Achievement Award in 2005 for “Outstanding Public Contribution.”

In praising Hansell’s career achievements over several decades, Horváth quoted Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, who said that “good corporate governance is about ‘intellectual honesty’ and not just sticking to rules and regulations…”.

Horváth then added, “If that is true – and I believe it is – there are none who have practiced intellectual honesty more expertly, more frequently and more faithfully than Carol Hansell.”

Hansell, who was appointed last year as chair of Ontario’s Business Law Advisory Council, is the author of a four-volume looseleaf, Directors and Officers in Canada: Law and Practice, that deals with the legal framework of corporate governance in Canada, and What Directors Need to Know: Corporate Governance.

She was inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in 2013 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Investor Relations from IR Magazine Awards – Canada in 2015. She is a founding trustee and Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel.

In addition to her LLB/MBA degree from York, she also holds degrees from Western University (BA ’81) and the University of Toronto (MA ’82).

“Carol Hansell is a role model for our students,” said Edward J. Waitzer, Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business, and director of the Hennick Centre. “She is a pioneer in governance education and thought leadership, grounded in practical experience. In a career spanning more than 25 years, she has done so much – from leading transactions to advising boards, management teams, institutional shareholders and regulators in connection with legal and governance challenges to shaping public policy. She has also given back to the community, as a board member, mentor and force of nature.”

The event was dedicated to the memory of James Gillies, founding dean of the Schulich School of Business. Horváth noted that Hansell was a former student of Gillies.

Previous recipients of the Hennick Medal have been Kathleen Taylor, former president and CEO of Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts and now chair of the RBC Board of Directors, in 2010; Tye Burt, former president and CEO of Kinross Gold Corporation, in 2011; Moya Greene, CEO of Royal Mail Group, in 2012; Gregory Sorbara, former MPP, Vaughan and now Chancellor of York University, in 2013; Marianne Harris, chair of the Board of Directors of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), in 2014; and Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and chairman of Ferrari S.p.A., in 2015.

About the Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law
Launched in 2009, the Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law – a joint initiative of Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business at York University – is the first Canadian centre to promote and develop joint business and law scholarship and education. Made possible by a gift from Jay and Barbara Hennick, the Hennick Centre’s flagship is the joint JD/MBA program, offered by Osgoode and Schulich. The Hennick Centre also draws together the teaching and research strengths of the Davies Fund for Business Law and other endowed chairs including the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance, cross-appointed to Osgoode and Schulich.

First week of NSSE survey shows Schulich in the lead

FEATURED image shows a crop of the NSSE survey. The full graph is in the story
FEATURED image shows a crop of the NSSE survey.

Thousands of first- and fourth-year York University students are taking part in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or “Nessie”. Through NSSE, they’ll be able to contribute their insight and have input into York University’s future direction. The online survey, which began Feb. 6, continues to March 31.

Above: A graph shows the progress of the NSSE Survey. The Champion Cup standings show the Schulich School of Business in first, the Faculty of Science in second place and the Faculty of Health in third place

Organizers at York U have challenged the individual Faculties (except the Faculty of Education and Osgoode Hall Law School) to encourage participation in the survey.  The Faculty with the highest participation rate will win the NSSE Champion Cup and bragging rights until the next survey. Faculty results published for the week of Feb. 6 (the first week of the survey) shows that students in the Schulich School of Business are leading the challenge, with the Faculties of Science and Health closing the gap. (The NSSE Champion Cup was won in 2014 by the Schulich School of Business.)

The online survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, allows students in their first and final years of a four-year degree to offer their insight into what York U does well and what it could improve. It will be used to determine how much time and effort students put into educationally rewarding activities and to what degree York University facilitates this involvement.

Updates on the progress of the survey and the NSSE Champion Cup will be published every Monday in YFile.

Schulich Professor earns Lifetime Achievement Award

Andre Kuzmicki
Andre Kuzmicki

Andre Kuzmicki, adjunct professor at  Brookfield Centre in Real Estate and Infrastructure, Schulich School of Business, will receive the NAIOP Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Industry and the Community.

Andre Kuzmicki

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is the leading organization for commercial real estate knowledge, networking and advocacy. Past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include JJ Barnicke, Hazel McCallion, Gordon Gray and Ed Sonshine.

“As a senior executive, as a board director, and as an educator involved in developing the next generation of business leaders in the real estate industry, Andre has built a truly impressive legacy,” said Dezsö J. Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business. “Andre has played a critical role in our Real Estate and Infrastructure Program for nearly two decades now, as a teacher and as a program director. During that period, he has reached out to industry leaders and built strong and lasting ties that have benefited our School, our students and our alumni.”

Kuzmicki has been teaching real estate finance and investment at the Schulich School of Business since 1998 and has co-directed the program in Real Estate and Infrastructure since 2000. Recently he was appointed as the program director for Schulich’s new Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure, which will launch in January 2017. For five year, he also lectured in the MSRED program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University.

“Andre took on the difficult task of bridging the three solitudes of academia, industry, and the student experience and distinguished himself as an outstanding academic, student mentor and trusted colleague,” said Professor James McKellar, associate dean, External Relations and director of the Brookfield Centre in Real Estate and Infrastructure at Schulich.

Kuzmicki will receive the award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards Gala to be held in April.