Dear Faculty of Arts, 

This week is academia’s equivalent of baseball’s seventh-inning stretch, a time when fans get up and stretch between the halves of the seventh inning. Many major clubs also play “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” while the Minnesota Twins also play Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and, inexplicably, the Texas Rangers play “Cotton Eye Joe”. Canada’s Blue Jays also play “Ok Blue Jays”.  We are not suggesting folks play any of these songs, though we do think it’s a good idea to note that the term is almost complete and that perhaps some music and stretching are in order.

Covid Updates 

The Word from Alan Davis: Testing Kits and Post-pandemic Plans: On January 24, KPU began a phased Return to Campus. We envisage completing the transition by April 4, 2022. The province is expected to lift passport requirements on April 8 and if that goes ahead, passport checks to use our gyms and fitness centers will also be lifted. Currently, KPU still requires mask-wearing in indoor public areas of campus and recommends them in other areas, although there are exceptions (such as when one is delivering a lecture or presentation, or when actively eating or drinking. Check out KPU’s guidelines for mask wearing for full details.  After the Spring term ends on April 27, mask-wearing at KPU will become a matter of personal preference, provided the provincial mask mandate remains optional in all indoor public settings.  Rapid antigen testing kits are an optional means that you may use to assess whether any symptoms are COVID-19 related. KPU has these kits available for employees to collect now and If you have COVID-19 symptoms, please stay home until you feel better or your period of self-isolation has ended.  You can now collect two test kits per visit to a campus bookstore during opening hours at Langley, Tech, Surrey or Richmond, or the reception desk on the sixth floor at Civic Plaza. You should avail yourself of some of these rather than waiting until you are sick. 

Opportunities Abound 

Teaching Through Research: The next iteration of the Arts Speaker series is fast approaching. Each Arts Speaker Series talk showcases innovative and original creative endeavors, research, and scholarship activities, is one hour-long (30 minutes for presentation and the rest of the time for discussion/questions) and will either take place online or in a blended version. Proposals for the 2022-2023 Arts Speaker Series should be 250 words long and sent to Nancy Norman at: nancy.norman@kpu.ca.

NEVR conference: If you are part of any project on relationship violence (RV), Balbir Gurm would love for you to submit an abstract to a virtual NEVR conference in June. The themes for this year’s conference are on the call for presentations.

Please go to www.kpu.ca/nevr  and find the link on the page or check out the direct link to the word doc https://www.kpu.ca/file/call-presentationsdocx  Please note: The deadline for submission is March 31. Sorry for the short notice. 

Join The Network: The Arts Research, Scholarship and Creativity Network is growing, and is open for enrollment for faculty and for requested enrollment for students! Currently, there are already 70 Network members! The Network aims to provide a clearinghouse of resources; to facilitate mentorship connections; to promote collaborations and encourage synergies; to stimulate innovative thinking; to foster collegiality; and to raise awareness about the ways that research, scholarship, and creativity contribute to educational excellence. Email ArtsNetwork@kpu.ca for instructions on how to join.  

The Sands of Time are Shifting: Interested in teaching through research? -The Arts Research Courses are your ticket! If you have an idea for research or have a scholarly endeavor underway, we invite you to engage students in your work! Involving students in these projects is a great way to deepen the quality of the educational experience of our students! Contact Wade.Deisman@kpu.ca or Mary.illical@kpu.ca for more information. The deadline is March 29, 2021. 

UN Open Pedagogy Fellowship: Interested in designing meaningful assignments that take on some of the world’s most pressing sustainability needs? The UN SDG Open Pedagogy Fellowship is for you! Apply for this award-winning fellowship and work in interdisciplinary, inter-institutional teams this summer to create renewable assignments. Once created, deploy these assignments in your courses toward reaching any of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals .An info session recording (without the question period) is available here. For more information and to apply by Friday, April 1, 2022, please visit this link. Please note that successful applicants will receive $500 in professional development funding.   

Upcoming Events

With the 2021/22 Arts Speaker Series now concluded, Arts Communications&  Events Coordinator Samantha Dutton-Jones has uploaded all this seasons videos onto SharePoint. Thank you, Sam!  You can access the videos by clicking Resources for Faculty > Events > Arts Speaker Series > Arts Speaker Series 2021 – 22 > Recordings. Or, click this link. 

Resources for Faculty, Students, and Staff 

Faculty Handbook Reminder: We wanted to inform all new faculty members, as well as provide a reminder to continuing faculty, about the existence of the following two resources: 

  1. Faculty and Instructional Staff Handbook can be found here.
  2. More resources for Faculty can be found here: 

Policy AC4 – Changes on the Horizon: Please note the Senate-approved changes to Policy AC4 Student Evaluation and Grading / Procedure that will be implemented in September 2022. 

Curriculum and CourseLeaf: A new platform for official course outlines is on the horizon.  Training for all users is scheduled for May.  The CourseLeaf system is currently in its testing phase, and the Arts Standing Committee on Curriculum will be seeing a demo at their April 8th meeting (1:30-3:30 PM).  If any faculty are interested in having a sneak peak of the CourseLeaf demo, please contact Arts@kpu.ca to receive the link to the meeting.   

Nota Bene: We will be taking a couple of seventh inning stretches, or pauses, with the Arts Update in April. There will be no Arts Update next Friday, April 1, and Friday, April 15. We always welcome your feedback, information items, and suggestions. Feel free to send us a note with an idea or innovation!

Wishing everyone a home run this weekend, 

Greg, Wade, Danny, Shelley, and Billeh 

Credits:

Baseball- Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/@thomascpark?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText