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AlvinofDiaspar said:
TOareafan:

There has consistently been rumours about the Faculty of Law and Music using the site somehow but no concrete info was available to the public regarding the site.

AoD
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I can certainly see more use to a faculty of music than a faculty of law.....but who knows.

The FoM is really at a crossroads. It has long prided itself on being a small, somewhat elite, group that attracts the best and brightest students and that a B.Mus from there carries more weight than from other schools. That, however, has created a bit of a financial mess and without these funds they were facing the options of, either, being absorbed by Arts & Science (which would likely end their ability to grant B.Mus degrees) or greatly expanding the number of students.

I think, in general, the idea now is to use this money (and it is a significant increase in cost) to fund things that will enhance (or restore depending on how bad you think the situation has gotten) the faculty's standing/reputation and attract donours and talented/ambitious foreign students (both of which bring money).

As a side note, what is interesting is how this levy is achieved. The province forbids such rapid tuition increases....so this levy will be collected by the student association (FMUA) and then, essentially, donated to the school......so the student association and the faculty have, really, worked together to get around the province's rules on tuition increases.......quite interesting.
 
Mongo:

I am *still* waiting for a real planetarium in Toronto - Montreal just had theirs completely rebuilt. The current site is probably not a good one for it though.

AoD
 
TOareafan:

Good to hear that they care about the future of the faculty - having students support such a large levy is really quite telling. Should be interesting to see what the long-term plans for the site is - as it stands now the planetarium building can't possibly be a good fit.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
TOareafan:

Good to hear that they care about the future of the faculty - having students support such a large levy is really quite telling. Should be interesting to see what the long-term plans for the site is - as it stands now the planetarium building can't possibly be a good fit.

AoD
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If I hear anything I will pass it along.

The students within this small faculty are very tight and passionate about their "school of music"....that said, there was a bit of a manipulative/emotional appeal and the change to a phased in approach (originally it was gonna just increase to the full $1200 +/- in the coming year) went a long way to getting the majority needed for approval.

4th year students (who had a vote) will see no financial impact, 3rd year's a fairly minimal impact.....so you would expect a very high percentage of those students voted "yes". The vote from my household was from a first year (at the time) so they have 3 year's of impact.....of course, incoming students (who will have the biggest cost) did not have a vote but, that said, they also have the option now of saying "nah, too expensive I will go to 'insertmusicschoolnamehere'. "
 
Ah so they probably wouldn't make it a planetarium again
 
I work at U of T. The fees collected by the student association will go towards supporting the costs for their weekly individual lessons. It is not going elsewhere. The province would not let the Faculty raise tuition rates, and the Provost at U of T would not let the Faculty raise new ancillary fees. This was a last, creative resort.

I can't comment too much on plans for the planetarium site, other than the building that stands there will not be there. It is most likely a ways off from being taken down though. Part of the wait is that any new design involving the planetarium site will also involve Falconer Hall, which is currently being used by the Faculty of Law. They aren't leaving that building until their new building is complete.

Regarding the Faculty: it is slowly reinventing itself while staying true to its roots. On the graduate side, new research in music and medicine has been extremely promising and once a few more studies are completed more funds will come in that direction. For undergrads, you get the quality of education that is still a fraction of the price compared to similar programs in the US (I suppose that could be said for all of U of T though).
 
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greenleaf said:
I work at U of T. The fees collected by the student association will go towards supporting the costs for their weekly individual lessons. It is not going elsewhere. The province would not let the Faculty raise tuition rates, and the Provost at U of T would not let the Faculty raise new ancillary fees. This was a last, creative resort.
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Yes, creativity is evident (as you would expect from a music faculty ;) ) including the line I have bolded. Providing private lessons is a prerequisite for having a faculty of music and is already provided before the levy. So, if they now use this levy to pay for those and free up that cash to redo MacMillan/Planetarium they are just finding another level of creativity to do with the money what the Dean has said he wants to do with the money...that is redo MacMillan/Planetarium.

Regarding the Faculty: it is slowly reinventing itself while staying true to its roots. On the graduate side, new research in music and medicine has been extremely promising and once a few more studies are completed more funds will come in that direction. For undergrads, you get the quality of education that is still a fraction of the price compared to similar programs in the US (I suppose that could be said for all of U of T though).
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Yes, you could say that about every program...it is as good and cheaper than the high profile US schools.....but you could also say that in many UofT programs (and certainly the Faculty of Music) it is more expensive than other Ontario schools. So those two comparisons may lead to a situation (particulalry in the FoM) where, to support their ambitions, they become an Ontario/Canadian school that is very attractive to foreign students and only attractive to talented Ontario students who have the financial resources to pay the UofT premium (which just got $1,200/year bigger).....not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Mongo:

I am *still* waiting for a real planetarium in Toronto - Montreal just had theirs completely rebuilt. The current site is probably not a good one for it though.

AoD
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The Science Center would be an excellent location for a full-scale planetarium. Their current one is too small.
 
I think I went to Laser Pink Floyd at the Planetarium back in the '80s. Or was it Laser Beatles? An enertainment concept whose time has come and gone, I think.
 
"The U of T proposes to demolish the building and create a mega-cultural complex at 90 Queen’s Park Cres. At the heart of it will be a new Jewish Museum of Canada, backed through a partnership with a group of philanthropic families led by Isadore and Rosalie Wise Sharp, with the help of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto.

In addition, the university plans to create a new 250-seat performance hall for the Faculty of Music and house the Institute of Islamic Studies and several other university departments, including history and Middle Eastern civilizations."

more here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ncluding_jewish_museum_of_canada_knelman.html
 
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