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TEACHER'S FREE UNIVERSITY IDEA WINS 100K GRANT
Simon Fraser University
http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/teachers-free-university-idea-wins-100k-grant.html
July 7 2011
CA
Health sciences senior lecturer Kate Tairyan's pitch to develop
the world's first free university has won her a $100,000 grant and
recognition as a "Rising Star" in Canada.
Tairyan is one of 19 Canadian innovators chosen in late June by the
new health-research organization Grand Challenges Canada in the first
phase of its Canadian Rising Stars in Global Health initiative.
The non-profit group, which is funded by Canada's foreign aid budget,
has given each of the innovators $100,000 to take their ideas to
the next level. The ideas that are "robust, effective and proven"
may also be eligible for a scale-up grant of as much as $1 million.
Innovators from across the country submitted video proposals of
their initiatives.
In her proposal, viewable at http://at.sfu.ca/MTTWut, Tairyan and
colleagues in Vancouver, Kenya and Columbia describe the pilot
programs they will launch this year to combat a global shortage of
trained health workers-a million too few in Africa alone.
"The idea behind the world's first free university is to use existing
web-based and mentoring resources and make them more broadly available
to revolutionize health-sciences education," explains Tairyan.
When Tairyan says free, she means it: no charges at all for students.
Many degree-granting universities claiming to be free don't charge
tuition but do charge administrative or exam fees, while other "free"
universities offer courses but not degrees.
Tairyan has taught undergraduate and graduate students at SFU since
2008. She also works on research projects focusing on ethics issues
in neuroscience.
She has a medical degree in preventive medicine from the State Medical
University in Armenia, a health management diploma from Armenia's
National Institute of Health, and a Master of Public Health from
Emory University.
With a free university, says Tairyan "We can educate thousands
of trainees at a time, particularly in developing countries, with
students remaining in their home environments."
Simon Fraser University
http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/teachers-free-university-idea-wins-100k-grant.html
July 7 2011
CA
Health sciences senior lecturer Kate Tairyan's pitch to develop
the world's first free university has won her a $100,000 grant and
recognition as a "Rising Star" in Canada.
Tairyan is one of 19 Canadian innovators chosen in late June by the
new health-research organization Grand Challenges Canada in the first
phase of its Canadian Rising Stars in Global Health initiative.
The non-profit group, which is funded by Canada's foreign aid budget,
has given each of the innovators $100,000 to take their ideas to
the next level. The ideas that are "robust, effective and proven"
may also be eligible for a scale-up grant of as much as $1 million.
Innovators from across the country submitted video proposals of
their initiatives.
In her proposal, viewable at http://at.sfu.ca/MTTWut, Tairyan and
colleagues in Vancouver, Kenya and Columbia describe the pilot
programs they will launch this year to combat a global shortage of
trained health workers-a million too few in Africa alone.
"The idea behind the world's first free university is to use existing
web-based and mentoring resources and make them more broadly available
to revolutionize health-sciences education," explains Tairyan.
When Tairyan says free, she means it: no charges at all for students.
Many degree-granting universities claiming to be free don't charge
tuition but do charge administrative or exam fees, while other "free"
universities offer courses but not degrees.
Tairyan has taught undergraduate and graduate students at SFU since
2008. She also works on research projects focusing on ethics issues
in neuroscience.
She has a medical degree in preventive medicine from the State Medical
University in Armenia, a health management diploma from Armenia's
National Institute of Health, and a Master of Public Health from
Emory University.
With a free university, says Tairyan "We can educate thousands
of trainees at a time, particularly in developing countries, with
students remaining in their home environments."