For those of you discombobulated by a July without our beloved OK cherries, fear not. According to Glen Lucas, general manager of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association, this year’s cherry crop will “be a little lighter than usual. But what I’m hearing is that because there’s not as many cherries, the remaining cherries are going to be bigger.” In academic lingo, it’s almost as if we’re giving the cherries an extension. 

Welcome, Dana Cserepes! 

The following message was supposed to go out on Today@KPU earlier this week, but gremlins appear to have gotten a hold of it. It will eventually appear there, of course, but meanwhile, we wanted to share this exciting news with you all via today’s Update!  

‘Please join us in welcoming Dana Cserepes, former Chair of Fine Arts, to the position of Associate Dean pro tem in the Faculty of Arts, effective immediately. Dana will be succeeding Dr. Danny Tones, who will return to his faculty position in Music as of July 30, following his remarkable achievement of onboarding and guiding the Entertainment Arts program through its fledgling stages at KPU. The entire Faculty of Arts owes Danny a debt of gratitude for his dedication and hard work during his tenure in leadership, and we wish him all the best as he renews his mission of helping our students explore and master the worlds of music and percussion. Thank you, Danny! 

Dana Cserepes grew up in Vancouver, on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Nations, the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish. Her family spent four years in England when she was young and the visits to museums, galleries, and historical sites there and in Europe would lay the foundation for her future studies. At Queen’s University, she discovered the Art History department, and her path was set. She graduated with an Honours BA in Art History. From there she went to the University of Toronto where she completed her Masters in Art History. 

Since joining the Fine Arts department at Kwantlen, Dana has balanced her teaching commitments with service. She twice served as the Chair of the Fine Arts department. There have been several stints on the Curriculum Committees for the Faculty of Humanities and then Faculty of Arts. Her university-wide committee service included the Degree Program Advisory Committee, which she chaired, and Education Council as Vice-Chair.  

In April 2008 when the announcement was made transforming Kwantlen University College to Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Dana was a member of the Senate Creation Committee. In January of 2009, she became the first Vice-Chair of the Senate. Dana was privileged to hold that position for six years and help guide the university through those early years. She has never quite figured out how to capture all she did on her CV. In reviewing her service activities, Dana stresses the people she met and worked with and how rewarding that has been. In her new position, she is looking forward to working with the faculty, the various departments, and the team in the office of the Faculty of Arts. 

In recent years Dana’s scholarship has included presentations on female artists, Emily Carr and the Women of the Beaver Hall Group, at the Association of Canadian Studies in Ireland conferences.  And now Associate Dean pro tem. After years of attempts to lure her into the Dean’s Office, she finally said yes! 

Welcome to the Dean Team, Dana!’ 

Indigenous Artist and Writer-in-Residence positions at KPU 

It’s our great pleasure to announce that Faculty of Arts is seeking candidates for an Indigenous Artist-in-Residence and an Indigenous Writer-in-Residence. Both calls are for two positions: one starting Fall 2022 and one starting Spring 2023. 

The Indigenous Artist-in-Residence will support Indigenous artists in the research and creation of new works and are open to artists in a variety of fields, including but not restricted to filmmaking, music, the visual arts (carving, weaving, painting, drawing, photography, digital media, sculpture, printmaking, etc.), performance, and interdisciplinary creative practices. https://ca.indeed.com/cmp/Kwantlen-Polytechnic-University/jobs?q=Indigenous+Artist+-+in+-+Residence&l=Vancouver%2C+BC#cmp-skip-header-desktop 

The Indigenous Writer-in-Residence will support Indigenous writers in the research and creation of new works https://ca.indeed.com/cmp/Kwantlen-Polytechnic-University/jobs?q=Indigenous+Writer-in-Residence&l=Vancouver%2C+BC#cmp-skip-header-desktop 

Please share these calls widely. Please contact Associate Dean pro tem Billeh Nickerson at Billeh.Nickerson@kpu.ca should you have any questions. The first review of applications will take place Monday, July 18, 2022. 

Calls for Volunteers and Proposals 

Search for Program Coordinators in ENTA: We’re seeking 2-3 faculty members to serve on a Search Committee for Program Coordinators in our recently formed Entertainment Arts program. This committee will review and approve the advertisement for the coordinator positions and assess applications. The commitment would likely involve two virtual meetings at most, held in late July. If you are interested in this service opportunity, please email Greg directly at greg.millard@kpu.ca 

Exploring Indigenous Ways of Knowing: This project will use a review of literature and of institutional websites, as well as interviews with Indigenous post-secondary organizations to explore how Indigenous approaches to research could inform BCCAT’s approach to research For further details, see https://www.bccat.ca/projects/call Feel free to share with others you think may be interested!  Extended Deadline: September 1, 2022 

Arts Speaker Series: 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 

Happy Pride month/season! Please consider joining the KPU Toonie Brigade in the Vancouver Pride Parade on Sunday, July 31! We need about 40 volunteers to help carry the giant rainbow flag along the entire parade route, collecting donations for the Vancouver Pride Society Community Bursary fund. 2SLGBTQ+ KPU community members and allies of all abilities are welcome; again, please email pride@kpu.ca to sign up. Best of all—this year, we’re going to have our own DJ’d dance music! Can’t wait to hear from you! 

Students In Distress 

The Green Sheet and Buddying Up: The pressures of midterm season can sometimes lead to challenging situations. Please find attached the Students in Distress handout (the famous “Green Sheet”), which is a one-stop resource for those rare moments where a student appears to be in serious trouble. Counselling is always available, of course, and can be of great benefit to students who are wrestling with issues beyond the familiar challenges of academe. The Student Rights and Responsibilities Office can also offer invaluable help for hard cases. Equally important are KPU’s Working Alone protocols: faculty who find themselves proctoring exams, or otherwise working, in liminal time-slots with few other people around are encouraged to bookmark these and refer to them. In addition to these, those seeking further reassurance may find it helpful to practice a buddy system for late-night or weekend exam invigilation – e.g., a colleague can, in the spirit of university service, sit in on the class and grade their own papers or otherwise put the time to fruitful use while a faculty member oversees an exam.   

Hold the Line 

Upholding Integrity: It is a truth universally acknowledged that peak periods for assignments and exams often bring spikes in academic integrity violations (AIVs). We highly recommend our AIV One-Pager for an overview of the processes and best practices around integrity violations – please check it out! Under Policy ST2, we have an obligation to report all violations, and doing so is vitally important, as it is the only way we can track multiple violations across courses and act accordingly. Arts has a convenient SharePoint portal for submitting an AIV report here; please use that for reporting violations. We also have a suite of further resources, including strategies for minimizing AIVs. Rest assured, Arts is committed to a “restorative” approach to integrity violations which approaches a first violation as a learning opportunity wherever possible. Reporting violations thus also offers students the benefits of a helpful and formative conversation with the associate dean.

Opportunities for Students 

Student Assistant Opportunities: The Faculty of Arts Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Network is hiring students to assist in furthering the development of the network and in promoting awareness across Arts of the various projects, programs, and initiatives underway. If you know a student who might be interested in this role, please contact Wade.Deisman@kpu.ca or alternatively, ask the student to contact Dr. Deisman directly. The positions are properly remunerated and would constitute gainful wages for students looking to support themselves as they complete their schooling. If you have any questions about this opportunity, don’t hesitate to reach out! 

Upcoming Events

Arts Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Network Workshops on SSHRC: Please mark your calendars for July 12th (4:00 – 5:00 PM) for a workshop on applying to SSHRC.  In partnership with the Office of Research, Graduate Studies and Innovation, the Arts Network will be co-hosting grant writer Fiona Haynes on July 12th as she provides strategies for writing successful grant applications. (Please note this is a rescheduled date.) 

Save-the-date for our upcoming Teaching & Learning event on October 13-14: Appreciating Teaching Excellence. The event will provide an opportunity to reflect on the lessons of teaching and learning through the pandemic, celebrate innovation, learn from one another, and connect with your colleagues across KPU. More details to come. 

Supports for Student Success: We are delighted to announce that the Mentoring Network for Youth Aging out of Care – now rebranded as the Supports for Success Program is slated to resume operations this fall. Faculty members who are interested in becoming mentors to these students can contact Tracy Sherlock Tracy.Sherlock@kpu.ca or Wade Deisman Wade.Deisman@kpu.ca . More information, including dates for fall training will be forthcoming throughout the summer. This is a fabulous opportunity to connect with students and build supportive coaching relationships. 

Kudos

Political orientation, moral foundations, and COVID-19 social distancing. Congratulations to Hammond Tarry, Valerie Vezina, Jacob Bailey, and Leah Lopes on their recent publication.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35749535/  

Congratulations to KPU English instructor Kam Azmoodeh on the release of his first self-published  novella Incarcerated Angels. https://www.amazon.ca/Incarcerated-Angels-Kamaleddin-Azmoodeh/dp/1778071309/ref=sr_1_1?crid=361MG3F2HZQ4V&keywords=the+incarcerated+angels&qid=1656999804&sprefix=%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1 

Wishing you all fruit aplenty, 

Greg, Shelley, Wade, Danny, Dana and Billeh