Le semestre approche du point médian. On this rainy Friday, many of you will be looking forward to the weekend or taking stock as we enter the midterm period of the summer semester.  In this pandemic time-zone, the days and weeks seem to blur together, so taking note of the many happenings in Arts is one way to stay grounded in the present moment. Today, we offer a few highlights from this week and some resources.

Félicitations! The Canadian Political Science Association/ Association canadienne de science politique announced this week that Valérie Vézina’s book, Une île, une nation ? Le nationalisme insulaire à la lumière des cas de Terre-Neuve et Puerto Rico, is the official runner-up for le Prix francophone 2020 de l’Association canadienne de science politique. Taking home ‘silver’ for the most prestigious prize for a French-language work in Canadian Political Science is a veritable feat! Félicitations, Valérie!  

Valérie Vézina at her book launch, Political Science Department, KPU

Merci mille fois!  On Tuesday, Kristie Dukewich hosted a highly informative workshop on academic integrity for approximately 30 Arts faculty members via an interactive session on Teams. Many thanks to Kristie for her time and energy, and for sharing her knowledge. Kristie has generously provided a PDF of her PowerPoint slides and recorded the Teams session, which we have uploaded to the Faculty of Arts SharePoint site.  The files are available for consultation under the “Resources for Faculty” menu via the link to “Academic Integrity Resources”.

Réfléchissez avant de sauter: We appreciate that faculty are under tremendous pressures with the shift to online teaching; however, we would like to send a gentle reminder to make sure that you are using KPU-approved platforms, such as Moodle, Big Blue Button, Kaltura, and Teams (with restrictions). Legal has reminded us that other platforms that have not been deemed FIPPA-compliant may place students at risk, and KPU at legal risk, by storing students’ private information on servers based outside of Canada. Also, having multiple instructors using different platforms can place an extra burden on students, who are then required to navigate all these platforms in addition to the challenges of coursework and Covid. While KPU is actively exploring future options, examples of high-profile platforms that are currently non-compliant include: 

  • Zoom 
  • WhatsApp 
  • Google Educate 
  • Slack 
  • MS Teams – under our current arrangement, faculty can invite students to a Teams meeting, but should not create a Team with students in it. The chat function is also a serious issue, as personal information in chat can be stored on American servers; please refrain from any use of this with students. 

Please remember that the Teaching and Learning Team is always ready to offer support if you are facing challenges or are having difficulties deciding which platform will work best for your teaching needs. 

Recherche réactivée: The Arts Research Courses will be revived this fall semester and paid at the Guided Study rate.  Because of a need to balance the cost of these courses with the excellent opportunities they present to students who would like to be meaningfully involved in faculty-led projects, these courses will be capped at 10 distinct sections per semester, with one student per faculty member.  Please watch for an email later this month inviting faculty to submit proposals to teach this course.  The submission form will require a brief description of the research project, the potential role for the student, and any specific tasks that the student would be engaged in that are relevant to the learning of research skills. 

Célébrer en anglais: Departments across Arts continue to innovate to celebrate their graduating students.  Through the coordinated efforts of Kelly Doyle (who taught herself how to use the software in one day to edit the video!), Heather Cyr, and Bryn Jones Square, the English department recently shared this montage: https://youtu.be/77zLYvHbIAA  Even though we remain at home separated from one another, Arts is creating a vibrant online community for KPU students.  Please keep sharing with us the many ways you are working to stay connected! 

Boîte à suggestion: We began sending these Friday updates in late March to help Arts faculty keep pace with the scale and volume of changes precipitated by the pandemic. While things have settled down, our sense is that the continuation of these updates throughout the summer and fall semesters would be useful. We always welcome your feedback and would like to extend an open invitation to faculty and staff to let us know if there are additional items you would like to see included. 

Enjoy le weekend! 

Diane, Greg, Wade, and Shelley