Dear Faculty of Arts,
Welcome to the final Arts Update of 2022! The overture has played, the curtain is falling, and the lights are starting to dim – but Arts sure did hit the heights. Granted, there were times when we all thought we’d go Looney Tunes, but we persevered, and in the end brought the house down in a fashion worthy of Bugs Bunny himself. Everyone in our Faculty can now look forward to a well-deserved holiday break.
This Update also marks a fond farewell from this iteration of your Dean Team. Starting in January, Arts will welcome a new slate of wascally Associate Deans supporting Dean Shelley, bringing new voices and possibilities in service of Arts. More on this below.
But for now: on with the show, this is it!
EVENTS AND DEADLINES
Watch out for falling anvils! It’s the Grade Submission Deadline: All final grades and any Incomplete Grade Contracts must be submitted by December 20. As we’ve mentioned before, this is a hard deadline, and any failure to meet it can bring harmful consequences to students, not to mention potentially drawing KPU to the attention of the Ministry for failing to discharge our duty to issue grades. If you’re concerned that delays in student submissions may hamper your ability to meet the deadline, please work on Incomplete Grade Contracts for those students and input an “I” grade by December 20th. Be sure to contact arts@kpu.ca ASAP if you need any information or guidance about the process for submitting Incomplete Grade Contracts.
What if you have a student facing an unresolved Academic Integrity Violation case? Then please submit an Incomplete Grade Contract without the student’s signature, and record their mark as an “I.” Their grade can be adjusted later via a Grade Change Form.
Be vewwy, vewwy wespectful: If you haven’t yet completed your annual Respectful Workplace Training, don’t forget to partake of this special (and, ahem, mandatory!) seasonal treat. The link is here. As a further inducement, we hope this brief, special video will give you that magical “Respectful Workplace Training” feeling!
Hold the Date – Anti-Racism Symposium: KPU will hold its inaugural Anti-Racism Symposium on March 21, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Details to follow. For queries, please email the Office of Anti-Racism: oar@kpu.ca
PLAUDITS AND KUDOS
The ACME of digital artistry: Arts’s stellar Entertainment Arts program is doing fantastic work. Don’t miss ENTA’s Artist Showcase here, which shares and celebrates the work of our second-ever ENTA graduating class! It’s a thrilling testament to the skills and imagination of these outstanding KPU grads.
Doc Rose tells us what’s up: Dr. John Rose (GEOG) recently shared reflections on the efforts of municipal governments to promote civic engagement and belonging with Vancouver Sun columnist Douglas Todd. You can enjoy his insights here.
I tawt I taw an exhibition of Monique Motut-Firth’s work: Entertainment Arts faculty member Monique Motut-Firth’s work will be featured in an exhibition curated by Courtney Miller at the ACT Gallery in Maple Ridge! Intricate Arrangements: Connotations in Collage brings together Monique’s work with that of Amy J. Dyck to showcase the utilization of collage to create complex internal and external systems. The opening reception will be on Saturday Jan 7th, 2:00-4:00 PM, with the artists in attendance, and the show will run until Feb 25th, 2023. Congratulations, Monique!
OPPORTUNITIES AND INFORMATION ITEMS
Heavens to Murgatroyd! The Illudium Q-36 Space Modulator now writes term papers: Many faculty have alerted us that free AI bots are now capable of writing coherent and effective papers. This lamentable reality may suggest a need for a fundamental rethink of conventional assignment structures. There are no easy answers here, but we do have a few resources to help, and we’d encourage folks to get as experimental and creative with assignment structures as possible. Food for thought while digesting over the holiday break, perhaps.
Sufferin’ succotash! It’s JEDI time: In celebration of International Human Rights Day on December 10, the President’s Diversity and Equity Committee https://www.kpu.ca/pdec/members announced the opening of nominations for the 2022 KPU Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Awards. These awards will celebrate members of the KPU community who demonstrate outstanding commitment, innovation, and leadership in working towards intersectional social justice, dismantling systemic barriers, and building a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion at and around KPU. If you know of someone at KPU—a colleague, instructor, staff member, or student—who has a proven record of addressing systemic inequities and creating an inclusive environment at KPU, please consider nominating them. More information about KPU JEDI Awards and links to nomination materials are available at kpu.ca/pdec/jedi. Additional inquiries can also be emailed to pdec@kpu.ca. Nominations will close at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, February 20, 2023 – World Day of Social Justice. Thank you for your help in recognizing the important work of our colleagues and students!
Santa took a left turn at Albuquerque: Arts held its annual holiday shindig for our fabulous staff last week, and guess who made a surprise guest appearance? None other than Jolly Old Saint Nick himself! Sadly, Associate Dean Wade Deisman was not in attendance to meet his hero. Oh well, maybe next year, Wade!
And so the curtain falls on the closing semester of 2022, with Wade, Greg, and Dana taking their final bows as associate deans (not to mention Arts Update co-conspirators). As much as we’re looking forward to welcoming the new Dean Team in January, we will miss the extraordinary adventure and honour of serving in Arts Leadership. Our deepest gratitude goes out to each of you – faculty, lab instructors, instructional associates, and all our incredible staff – for your patience, dedication, and support through the years. The work you do is vital and inspiring. It has been our great privilege to share in it.
Happy holidays, everyone!
The Dean Team
December 2022
Comments by Greg Millard