A huge thank you to all who taught in Spring 2020 for submitting the final grades by the deadline yesterday. Your timely grade submissions are crucial to students who need them as prerequisites for the next semester, or in order to graduate, or for transfer purposes. Well done, everyone! 

We have several updates and resources to share with you on this Friday afternoon.

Fall Forward:

Many of you have inquired as to whether or not the Fall semester will be online, face-to-face, or some combination. Mindful of the need to be part of a widely shared and coordinated strategy for higher education, KPU is working with the Ministry of Advanced Education and with other institutions in the province to resolve this question. We expect to hear an announcement soon.

Arts Faculty Meeting: 

The Arts Faculty meeting, originally scheduled for May 6th, will now be handled through an asynchronous format. During its April meeting, Arts Faculty Council agreed that all sub-committees will submit their written reports to Faculty Council in time for AFC’s May meeting.  Departmental representatives serving on AFC will share these reports with their colleagues and gather questions and comments in time for AFC’s June 26th meeting. A compiled report of faculty members’ feedback will then be circulated and addressed at the Arts General meeting in the fall. 

Summer Tip: Library Research Guide for Students:

Although social distancing limits students’ ability to use the Library – which is open only for study space and computer use – the Library nevertheless offers a wealth of relevant resources beyond its online catalogue. For instance, there is a student-friendly guide to research here https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/doingresearch/, which may prove helpful in lieu of face-to-face library orientation sessions for your students. For more information about the Library’s offerings in the time of Covid, please see https://libguides.kpu.ca/going_online

Textbook Tips:

The Bookstore is providing a range of alternatives to give student access to course materials. These include curbside pickup and mailing the materials by Canada Post. See https://bookstore.kwantlen.ca/ for more info! Of course, our sector-leading Zero-Textbook-Cost (ZTC) initiative has made us exceptionally well-placed for the pandemic contingency. To further explore ZTC and open-ed resources, check out  https://www.kpu.ca/open/ztc

Arts Research Courses:

The grievance pertaining to the Arts Research Courses has concluded.  Going forward, these courses will be paid at the Guided Study rate. We have heard from a number of faculty and students who are eager for these courses to resume, and a limited number of these courses can be taught beginning in the fall 2020 semester.  In the coming weeks, the Dean’s office will be sending out more information to faculty who would like to propose teaching an Arts Research course in the fall semester.  

We know the past few weeks have been tremendously challenging both professionally and personally, and we want to commend each and every one of you for your hard work and perseverance.  The Spring 2020 semester will definitely be a part of our collective memory for many years to come. 

With much gratitude,

Diane, Wade, Greg, and Shelley