Dear Faculty of Arts, 

The Faculty of Arts held its spring meeting this past Wednesday – the second virtual gathering of the Faculty of Arts as a whole since Covid began. The morning opened with a warm welcome through the singing of Lekeyten, KPU’s elder-in-residence, and his partner Cheryl. Over 110 faculty members from across the Humanities and Social Sciences, approximately 30 staff members, and student guests gathered to reconnect, touch base, catch-up, and celebrate recent accomplishments.  One topic of discussion was imagining what the future will look like when we begin returning to campus this fall.  Faculty and staff shared how they have collaborated and worked to innovate amid the many pressures that accompanied the “Great Pivot” to our online teaching and working worlds – many discovering highly effective ways for teaching and connecting with KPU students and colleagues. As one wise faculty member reflected, it is important to keep looking for those life-giving moments within these “virtual” Covid circumstances, so we don’t feel overwhelmed or denied.  While we may be facing degrees of anxiety at the prospect of the fall semester’s return-to-campus, let’s all carry forward a sense of possibility for the “New KPU” that is forever marked by the courage, compassion, and creativity the Faculty of Arts has demonstrated this past year.  

ARTS FACULTY MEETING – A RECAP OF THE HONOUREES! 

AMASSING AWARDS: One highlight of the AFM was the presentation of annual Dean of Arts Awards! The Dean of Arts Teaching Award went to Alison MacTaggart (FINA), Kyle Mitchell (SOCI), and Rajdeep Gill (IDEA). Meanwhile, Greg Chan (ENGL) and KPU alumnus Ayesha Khan took home the inaugural Dean of Arts EDI Award, which was presented by PSYC Major and Arts EDI Award Committee member Sarah Schwagele. Congratulations again to the award recipients and to all the wonderful nominees. If you would like to view the PowerPoint presentation of the Awards, you may do so here. 

THE K.D. JUBILEE: Another AFM highlight was a short message from Senate Vice-Chair David Burns fêting Kristie Dukewich (PSYCH) for her stellar leadership in overcoming the Sisyphean task of developing and passing a new B.A. Framework. David’s short panegyric was accompanied by a video while we watched Kristie unwrap a statue especially designed by Melanie Bland (Faculty of Design). 

HELLOS AND GOODBYES: The AFM saw bittersweet farewells to impending retirees, as well as fond hellos to new faculty members and Arts staff. Please follow this link to SharePoint to view the PowerPoint slide deck in honour of both.

KUDOS AND ACCOLADES  

THE PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT IS ON A ROLL! Recent alumni have been winning plaudits, recognition, and scholarships like nobody’s business: Shelby Hughes was awarded a SSHRC for her M.Sc. at UofA; Devinder Khera was awarded a SSHRC for his M.Sc. at Western; Flora Oswald was awarded the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship at Penn State; and Amanda Champion was awarded the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship at SFU. Congratulations to all! 

HEARTSPEAK ABOUT STUDENT SUCCESS DURING COVID: Congratulations to Journalism faculty member Tracy Sherlock whose recent article “Want to Be a Successful Student? Here’s the Secret” was published in the Richmond News.  Reflecting on several approaches to online learning, Tracy’s article is a useful resource for students who may be looking for guidance and suggestions this upcoming summer semester. 

UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

WHAT MAKES GREAT MEETINGS? Join us on Wednesday, May 19, from 10:00 – 11:30 AM for an all-star panel of Faculty of Arts faculty and staff who will share their knowledge, practical tips, and guiding philosophies for fostering marvelous meetings. Panelists include: Farhad Dastur, David Burns, Mike Larsen, Dana Cserepes, Parthi Krishnan, Alex Oliphant, and Tracey Kinney.  Click here to join the meeting 

MEETING OF THE MINDS – NEW STRATEGIES TO FACILITATE STUDENT SUCCESS: Christina Page from the Teaching and Learning Commons will be leading a workshop for the Faculty of Arts on May 27, 1:00 – 2:30 PM on the topic “Getting Unstuck: Helping Students Move Beyond Learning Bottlenecks.” This workshop will explore a method called Decoding the Disciplines that helps you to identify a learning task or assignment with which most students in a course struggle and then systematically breaks down the process of helping students move through these learning bottlenecks.  Watch for further details and the MS Teams link in the coming weeks.    

A CLUSTER OF OPPORTUNITIES: The Teaching and Learning Commons is seeking expressions of interest from dynamic educators interested in joining the Commons Team as an Educational Consultant. Seconded from their respective faculty appointment through a partial time release, Educational Consultants work with the TLC Team in their efforts to support the further development of teaching expertise of KPU educators and the activities and efforts of the Teaching and Learning Commons. We would like to highlight two opportunities in particular: 1) Indigenization (50% time-release, 1 year term) – to contribute to and support the further development of KPU educators in acquiring competencies related to designing learning experiences and environments that support indigenization and decolonization of the curriculum; 2) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (50% time-release, 1 year term) – to support the further development of educators interested in engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). 

FUNDS UP FOR GRABS: The Summer 0.6% PD call for applications was communicated in Today@KPU (see message here).  For more information, including which activities are eligible for funding, click here. As you prepare and submit your application, please keep in mind that applications completed on ROMEO need to be submitted before Tuesday, May 25, 2021 (1 week prior to the deadline). Once you have completely submitted your application, the Associate Dean will receive an automated e-mail letting them know that your application requires a letter of support. The Associate Dean will upload the letter of support to your application on ROMEO. 

Monday will mark the beginning of the summer semester, so many of you will be gearing up for the first week of classes.  We wish everyone a rewarding term to come and a restful and re-energizing weekend! 

Best Wishes, 

Diane, Wade, Greg, and Shelley 

Featured Image: The Idyllic Version of the Dean’s Hot Seat at the Faculty Meeting!

Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash