After all the attention we lavished on canine companions in the last update, and in response to our promise that the next issue would have serious cattitude, there has been a veritable Internet-breaking photo frenzy from those who prefer friends of the feline persuasion. The dogs have had their day, they say, and now the cats must have their time to play!  And so, as we pass the midpoint mark of the summer term, and as planning and preparation for the fall return continues apace, let’s “paws” and reflect on the latest happenings and hijinks in Arts.

Categorically Awesome: Our congratulations go out to faculty from Arts who have been selected to serve as consultants in the Teaching and Learning Commons: Jennifer Anaquod (Indigenous Studies) will be doing work supporting Indigenization, while Farhad Dastur (Psychology) will support the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Jennifer Hardwick (English) continues in her role of supporting Universal Design for Learning. Kudos to Jennifer, Jennifer, and Farhad for this invaluable work.

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Academic Integrity Violations: With the summer semester heading into the home stretch, please bear in mind the imperative of reporting all academic integrity violations here.  Penalizing a student without reporting the violation to the Dean’s Office undermines due process by depriving them of any recourse for contesting the finding. It also pre-empts the potential benefits of a formative conversation about integrity with the associate dean. Reporting is also a vital component of upholding our culture of academic integrity because it allows us to identify patterns (e.g., repeat offenders, or ‘duplicate’ papers submitted across multiple courses).

Belling the Cat: In case you missed our reminder last week, despite the loosening of restrictions we still need to submit a Campus Visit Request Form before coming to campus. Access to Mail Rooms and Copy Centers requires a KPU ID Card.

The Cat’s Pyjamas: Dr. Marcelina Piotrowski has been appointed Director, Flexible Learning and Academic Integrity, beginning July 30, 2021. Formerly an instructor in our Journalism and Communications department, Marcelina’s most recent role was with UBC Extended Learning. In her new role, Marcelina will provide strategic leadership and oversight of Continuing & Professional Studies as well as lead and coordinate the University’s activities and projects related to Academic Integrity. The latter includes the introduction of a new Special Investigator for academic integrity violations, which we hope will support faculty who are reckoning with challenging cases. More on this exciting development shortly.

Pouncing on Research Opportunities: The call for Arts Research Course proposals went out on Wednesday. Just a reminder here – if you have a project that might represent an opportunity for a student to accrue valuable research experience, email anne.lin@kpu.ca  

The Cat’s Pyjamas: Dr. Marcelina Piotrowski has been appointed Director, Flexible Learning and Academic Integrity, beginning July 30, 2021. Formerly an instructor in our Journalism and Communications department, Marcelina’s most recent role was with UBC Extended Learning. !  In her new role, Marcelina will provide strategic leadership and oversight of Continuing & Professional Studies as well as lead and coordinate the University’s activities and projects related to Academic Integrity. The latter includes the introduction of a new Special Investigator for academic integrity violations, which we hope will be able to provide support to faculty in reckoning with challenge cases. More on this exciting development shortly.

Herding Cats: Course Feedback surveys will be launching for summer sections on July 12 and will remain open until August 10. Students can either go to ONE KPU and click on the Course Feedback button, or visit course.feedback.kpu.ca/kpu and log in with their KPU email. Probationary faculty will receive weekly survey reminders during the survey period with their response rates, until their response rate exceeds 50%. We’ve attached a memo to instructors, a course feedback slide, and an instructor guide on how to lead course feedback surveys; but the main thing is to be sure to regularly remind your students to fill them out. Creating a permanent link on your Moodle site might help in this regard, as would deliberately setting aside time during synchronous sessions for students to access and fill in the form. Student feedback is important, so let’s get those response rates as high as we can. We have attached some supporting materials to this update. 

We hope you are finding time to bask in the summer sun. Wishing you all a purrfectly wonderful weekend! 

Diane, Shelley, Greg, and Wade