Cast your eyes toward the skies one of these August evenings, and you might catch sight of something heavenly: the annual Perseids Meteor Shower. Although the meteors were at their astronomical best during the wee hours of Wednesday morning, they should remain visible until August 24th. COVID has generated its own kind of gravity over the last five months, keeping each of us grounded at home — imposing new and restricted orbits on our day-to-day lives. But as challenging as this pandemic has been both professionally and personally, we may also take solace in knowing that Covid’s centripetal force pulls on each of us, bringing us toward one another.
One Giant Leap: Classes have concluded and all that remains is to thread your way through those last few grading gauntlets. Final grades need to be submitted three business days after the final exam date (or three days after the final class if there is no final exam). All grades must be submitted by August 26th. Violating this deadline can have egregious consequences for students and places the institution at risk of missing Ministry mandated commitments. Please do your utmost to submit your grades in a timely manner.
I Heard a Rumour from Ground Control: The word is out: working conditions for NR1 faculty are set to improve quite significantly as a result of the latest round of collective bargaining. Under the new agreement, NR1 contract instructors are to be placed on scale, and will be eligible for ‘step-up’ increases in compensation based on accrued FTE. NR1 instructors will also have service as part of their workload. This new provision is something of which the entire institution can be proud and sets us apart from many other B.C. post-secondary institutions.
The Countdown Is On: Four, three, two, one: All systems are go for KDocs! After reviewing over 400 contenders, KDocsFF is thrilled to announce the official film selections for KDocsFF 2021, which will be held online on February 18-21, 2021. More information will be forthcoming, but for now, save the dates and consider ways of incorporating the festival and its films into your spring semester courses.
To Boldly Go Where No B.A. Framework Has Gone Before! In preparation for the Faculty of Arts General Meeting, which will lift off on Wednesday, September 2 via Microsoft Teams (making this the first-ever virtual gathering of the Faculty of Arts!), we are delighted to distribute the following captain’s log and homework materials from APP Committee Chair, Kristie Dukewich:
APP is delighted to have a (draft) Recommended Model of the new BA Framework. This model is the result of an extraordinary collaborative effort based on credible research and meaningful consultation, including presentations at Arts AGM, Chairs, and AFC, as well as intensive discussions involving both faculty and students.
In preparation for the Arts AGM, please:
1. Watch the Video – explains consultations and recommendations
2. Review the handout – includes details not suitable for the video
3. Post questions to Padlet – During the discussion we will select questions from Padlet and from the ongoing chat to answer.
Instructor’s Guide to the Galaxy: Many of you have just completed your first full semester of teaching entirely online. Venturing into the unknown, you have gained invaluable experience through the immense challenges of teleporting your classroom teaching behaviours and practices into the online world. Looking to bridge the distances that separate the Covid-isolated members of the Arts galaxy, we would like to compile accounts and suggestions (from faculty for faculty) as Arts readies itself for take-off again in September. Please send one sure-fire strategy you are willing to contribute to the ‘Arts Online Strategies’ compilation by emailing Wade, Greg, or Shelley.
The Stars Are Out Tonight: We wish you a starry-eyed weekend and leave you with a few lines from the book of poems A Responsibility to Awe by the late Canadian astronomer Rebecca Elson (1960-1999).
Sometimes as an antidote
To fear of death,
I eat the stars.
Those nights, lying on my back,
I suck them from the quenching dark
Til they are all, all inside me
Calling, calling home,
Diane, Greg, Wade, and Shelley
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