WINNIPEG—From April 21 to 25 Manitoba high school students will be on The University of Winnipeg campus, testing the laws of physics and examining Led Zeppelin from a psychological perspective.
It’s all part of the Enrichment Mini-Course Program (EMC), designed to introduce exceptional high school students to the possibilities and advantages of higher education. This year the University is proud to present the 20th offering of this unique program.
“This program offers a valuable service to students who should be encouraged to pursue university studies a year or so later,” says Hinton Bradbury, the originator of the Enrichment Mini-Course Program. “It provides them with a week of exposure to professional scholarship on topics of their selection, and in the company of other students who share their interests.” He adds that early introduction to university can help students see post-secondary education as both attainable and attractive.
Ian Burley teaches physics at The University of Winnipeg. He knows first-hand the value of early contact with university—not only is he an instructor for the EMC program, he participated in the program himself as a high school student in 1987. “Getting to know the professors really made a positive impact on me,” says Burley. He went on to take a physics degree at UWinnipeg following his experience at EMC, and is now an instructor in the physics department, working under his former EMC teacher—Dean of Science Gabor Kunstatter. “The University of Winnipeg feels like home to me,” says Burley. “And it’s great to share that with the new students who come from high school each year.”
Over the years the program has given more than 10,000 students from across the province an early taste of the university experience that awaits them. The majority of the 500 participants who attend each year are Winnipeg residents (Winnipeg One, River-East Transcona, and Louis Riel School Divisions send the highest number of students). The remainder travel from 58 rural Manitoba communities—including Norway House, The Pas, Cranberry Portage, Beausejour, Russell, and Arborg—to take part in this prestigious program.
In a unique relationship with the province’s school divisions, each area reserves spaces
for their students in The University of Winnipeg program. To qualify for the program, students must be recommended by their division. The cost for the program (paid by the student) is $110.
The University offers a wide variety of courses, all of which are tailored to a high school audience and designed to provide students with one week of class experience on a topic of the students’ selection. To enhance the element of personal access, class sizes are limited to approximately 20 students.
Some of the most popular choices include Greek Mythology (taught by Jane Cahill), Crime and Justice in Canada (taught by Doug Skoog and Colin Goff), The Visible Brain (taught by Michael McIntyre), and Astronomy (courses taught by Donald Campbell and Ian Burley). All mini-courses are designed to pique curiosity about the university experience and inspire that proverbial thirst for knowledge that brings promising scholars to The University of Winnipeg each year.
The University of Winnipeg, located in the heart of the city, is a compact, caring community committed to access and excellence in the arts and sciences. Ranked by Maclean’s magazine as one of Canada’s top four undergrad universities, UWinnipeg is home to more than 8,000 students. Offering over 400 courses in 40 subject areas from filmmaking to forensics, The University of Winnipeg is distinguished for the meaningful connections made between students and award-winning professors.
For further information, please contact:
Katherine Unruh, Director of Communications, The University of Winnipeg
T: 204.786.9872, C: 204.782.3279, E: k.unruh@uwinnipeg.ca
