Four Royal Roads University students enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce program have been awarded a coveted trophy following their win at an intense week-long competition at Concordia University in Montreal. Using knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom along with rigorous training to analyse and evaluate four real-world business problems, Siobhan McManus, Clarence deSilva, Evan Willms and Thomas Schertzer topped 19 other teams at the annual John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition held Feb. 21 - Feb. 27. Read the Case Competition news release . . .
RRU students, staff and faculty are getting ready to mark International Earth Day with a celebration on campus April 17 and participation in several community events around the region on April 22. Among the events being planned are a green vendor exhibit and trade show, a bicycle cleaning and repair station, an environmental campus tour of greener solutions and 100 mile diet meals at Habitat. Also this year, Susan Kerr, our goBEYOND campus organizer, will ask people to take responsibility for the social and ecological impact of their behaviour by participating in a climate action challenge.
Royal Roads University and Dwight 
International School have joined forces to create an innovative transfer agreement for students enrolled in tourism and hospitality programs in China. The agreement allows for eligible international students to complete their degree at the Victoria campus of RRU. A memorandum of understanding - signed by Allan Cahoon, president of RRU and Jerry Salvador, head of DIS - lays the groundwork for this academic cooperation. Read more about the RRU/Dwight International School MOU . . .
Alumni interest to be gauged for global conference on strategic and international studies
Dr. Terry Power of RRU’s Faculty of Management is proposing to host a conference next year to explore global and strategic issues facing Canadian government and businesses, with a particular focus on Canada’s geo-political and economic relationships with the U.S. The 2.5-day conference is tentatively slated for March 16-18, 2011 in Vancouver and the subsidized registration rate for RRU alumni would be about $250. The decision to proceed with the conference will be made in April, 2010, so Dr. Power is asking alumni to indicate whether they’d be interested in attending the conference by filling out a very brief survey (fewer than 30 seconds!) by April 8. Click here for further information about the conference or contact Terry Power by email.
Call for artists. The 15th annual Mother’s 
Day Paint-In and Craft Fair will be held Sunday, May 9 at Royal Roads University. More than 3,000 visitors are expected to attend the event, which this year will feature events and displays commemorating special anniversaries. Paint-In is going back to its roots and this year will feature artists painting in the grounds and gardens. Artists associated with RRU – staff, students, alumni – are invited to participate. Simply email Cindy Goodman to indicate your interest. Read more about the Mothers Day Paint-In at RRU . . .
Tiffany Auvinen, a student in the MA in Intercultural and International Communication program at RRU, is planning a fundraising event for the BC Paraplegic Association and Boys and Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria. Monopoly Madness takes place May 8, and the goal is to raise $150,000.
Members of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Royal Roads have launched the first annual Microfinance Business Ideas Competition where winning ideas are eligible for $10,000 in prize money plus the support of RRU business students, faculty and local business leaders. “Micro lending is a way to empower individuals by giving them the resources they need to build a profitable business,” says faculty advisor Geoff Archer, PhD. “This year, we are asking students to act locally and think globally by using the micro-lending concept, made famous by Nobel Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, to help build capacity in B.C. and Tanzania. For more information and submission requirements please visit www.MFBIC.org.
RRU's recruiters Tim Kituri and Sandy Huang have been on the road visiting colleges and attending conferences and transfer fairs in Ontario. Joshua Guiller, Mike Thomson, Matt Dodd, Vivi Doresam, and Erich Schellhammer all spent time visiting classrooms, developing relationships, meeting with the CEO and board of Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC) Canada as well as helping out at the RRU booth. In total, they visited all of the Humber, Seneca, Sheridan, Fanshawe, and Georgian College campuses. It was a rigorous trip, but after it was all said and done they collected contact information from over 70 individuals eager to come to Royal Roads. Read more about the Ontario visit . . .
RRU received two United Way campaign honours Jan. 27: winner of the Post Secondary Challenge Cup and a tie for Chair of the Year for RRU campaign chair Cecelia David. The honours were presented at the 2009 Spirit Award ceremony held at the Empress Hotel where the United Way of Greater Victoria announced that it had raised $6.7 million in last year's campaign. The Spirit Awards are held to acknowledge the commitment of community leaders to providing important funding and services to our community. The Post Secondary Challenge Cup is earned by the institution with the highest increase in the amount raised and percentage of participation. This year RRU took the cup back from UVic which won it last year.
Read more about the RRU United Way campaign results . . .
Recently published papers by two Faculty of Management professors - Chris Duff who teaches finance and Terry Power who teaches strategic studies - are now available online. Chris Duff co-authored an article with Brenda Liggett in the Certified Management Accountants magazine Management. 
It is an analysis of a new financial reporting system for front-line managers in the health sector and specifically looks at a case of a group of nursing leaders who implemented it. Read the article on page 21 of the magazine. Dr. Terry Power of RRU's Faculty of Management recently published a paper entitled, “Canada Opposes The United Nations’ Declaration Of 2007 Recognizing The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples: Is Canada’s Strident Opposition An Anomaly Or A Symptom Of A Troubling Transformational Shift In Canadian Values?” in the Forum on Public Policy, a journal of the Oxford Round Table in the summer 2009 edition of this prestigious journal. Read the article . . .
Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance visited RRU on February 4 and spoke on combat operations, the challenges of command during a demanding and complex mission, as well as the advances being made by Canadian soldiers and civilians in spite of the difficult conditions in the heart of Kandahar Province. BGen Vance recently returned from Afghanistan where he served as Commander of Canadian and NATO Forces in Kandahar Province from Feb. to Nov. 2009. Click here to view BGen Vance’s biography.
Venture Challenge: Each year Bachelor of Commerce students at RRU are asked to contribute a dollar each and work in teams of five to make as much money as they can in under a month. This year, 14 teams took part in the Venture Challenge and all the profits from their projects went to local charities. More on the 2010 Venture Challenge...
Lindsay Nicole McPherson has won the Denis Racine Student Bursary from the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) on Vancouver Island. McPherson is a student in RRU's Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication program. Any CPRS-VI student member living in the Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands area is eligible to apply for the bursary and this is the second year an RRU student has won the two-year-old award. McPherson is also an avid volunteer, working as the communications chair for the Columbia Valley Relay for Life. She has also been involved in municipal and provincial political campaigns.
Rod Harris has been named an adjunct faculty member with the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Faculty of Management at Royal Roads University. In his former capacity as tourism B.C. CEO and President of Tourism British Columbia for 12 years, Harris became is one of the most respected leaders in tourism and hospitality management in Canada. Under his direction, B.C. Tourism was recognized by Watson Wyatt Worldwide as one of British Columbia's Best Employers in 2002 and 2004. More on Rod Harris's appointment...
Troy King was named Canadian Coach of the Year by the International Coaching Federation at its annual conference held in Orlando, Florida in December. King is a graduate of Royal Roads University's graduate certificate in executive coaching. He is a 12-year veteran of the coaching business and founding partner in Corporate Symphony International. King's expertise is in the telecom sector where he has worked with AT&T, Avaya, Bell, Cisco and Siemens.
New Convocation Venue. A complete review of the convocation model was conducted in spring 2009 and submitted to the executive for consideration. Recommendations in the review, combined with feedback received from our students, have resulted in a decision to host future convocation ceremonies offsite, in a purpose-built theatre. The intent behind the change in venue is to enhance the quality of experience, decrease liability risks associated with hosting the event in a temporary tented structure, and provide a more sustainable model. In support of this recommendation, the executive has agreed to host spring convocation 2010 on campus June 18, 2010, and then shift to an offsite venue - the Royal Theatre, located in the city centre - effective fall 2010.