William Edwin Beckel (April 11, 1926 – October 15, 2018) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

academic and former president of

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = ''Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Weasel ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. He was an early proponent of the use of television as a university teaching medium. He was born in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

Career

1960s and 1970s

Beckel, a

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, was an early proponent of the use of television as a teaching medium. In 1964 he became the first dean of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

-affiliated Scarborough College, which led an experiment in teaching half the courses using TV-only lectures. Beckel was president of the University of Lethbridge from 1971 to 1979. During Beckel's tenure, the university implemented Management Arts, Native American studies and expanded cooperative education. Under Dean Russell Leskiw, the education program became one of the best in Canada. A highlight during Beckel's presidency was the provincial government's approval of the Centre for the Arts, a building that allowed for the creation of U of L's art collection. Like many Ontario universities at the time, Carleton was in financial trouble when Beckel took the helm in 1979. That year it was running a $1.5-million deficit.

1980s–1990s

Beckel oversaw several controversial faculty buyouts, and in 1980, the school had to dip into academic scholarship funds to help cover its debts. Beckel's efforts during the 1980s eventually pulled Carleton out of the red and into a building period that resulted in a new student residence, a new library, a Life Sciences Research Building, an Art Gallery,a Social Sciences Research Building, a Day Care Centre and the beginning of a new engineering complex. Unlike Carleton's rival universities, most of whom were raising admissions standards to compete for better students, Beckel decided to keep Carleton open to high-school graduates with averages as low as 60 per cent on the premise that "every student should have the right to fail." The benefit of this philosophy was that first year enrollment increased bringing with it increased tuition revenue that more than offset the impact of a lower retention rate. This egalitarian philosophy combined with tough financial controls resulted in a strong financial position for the university and made it "rare chance" university. For many students, Carleton offered a rare chance at a university education. (Beckel's critics were the first to coin Carleton's pejorative nickname "Last Chance U.") On July 1, 1989, the same year he received an honorary degree of ''Legum Doctoris'' from Carleton, Beckel was succeeded as president by

Robin Hugh Farquhar Robin Hugh Farquhar (born December 1, 1938) is a Canadian academic and former university administrator. He was president of the University of Winnipeg from 1981 to 1989 (where he is now president emeritus) and president of Carleton University from ...

References

*Archival Papers held by the University of Toronto Archives and Record Management Services. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckel, William Edwin 1926 births 2018 deaths People from Kingston, Ontario Presidents of Carleton University University of Lethbridge faculty