Every evening at dusk, movement in the skies above may catch your eye if you happen to be in Vancouver. When the birds are close enough, an audible series of caws soon follows, as well as those quiet clicks crows share with one another. Traveling en masse, the crows are returning to Burnaby to roost for the night after a day spent foraging near the water. Ecologist Christine Thuring notes that “crows from all sections of the coast trickle in, like tributaries in a watershed of families and groups all destined for the large consolidated roost at Still Creek.”     

This past Wednesday, Arts held its first ever online AGM with over 100 participants connecting through Microsoft Teams. Faculty and staff gathered from near and far – from across the lower mainland, the sunshine coast, the gulf islands, Edmonton, Toronto. In many ways, it felt as though we were those many tributaries of flight, coming together to reflect on all that has transpired in the past five months and to look forward to this academic year as we undertake this next migration back into the online classroom. As September begins, we are so grateful for the confluence of energy, determination, and generosity that is Arts. 

Student Feedback Lifts You to New Heights:  For faculty who taught over the summer, you can now receive some ready feedback on the way your design and delivery strategies worked out for your students. Summer course feedback survey results are now available. This might be important information to consult as we move into the fall. 

Tips from Faculty as You Migrate Online for Fall: In August, we invited faculty to send us tips or sure-fire strategies for teaching online.  Before classes begin next week, we’d like to share several suggestions submitted by Valérie Vezina, from the Political Science Department.  Valérie just completed her first full semester of online teaching this summer.  Thank you, Valérie, for these helpful insights! 

  • Keep it simple! Master one of the Moodle functions (ok maybe two), including the assignment function, and use it consistently. I have used so many functions (check lists, etc.), and the data collected on Moodle reveals that students don’t click/view them all. 
  • Be clear about expectations and timelines. 
  • Be flexible about extensions, about the fact that not all students can always be connected, etc. 
  • Over–communicate through emails, on the Moodle page, in forum discussions (if that is a Moodle function you use). Reach out to students after a week or so, or after the first assignment, especially to those who have not submitted it. 
  • Be kind: This is not normal; you have the right to not be ok, to cry, etc. Be kind to yourself, and you will be kind to others. 

Sojourners and Truth: Lilach Marom, of Educational Studies, features prominently as an expert voice in this Tyee article on the challenges faced by internationally trained teachers in the Teacher Updating Program at UBC. Plaudits to Lilach for these timely and important insights. 

Gliding into Fall – Arts Speaker Series: The Arts Standing Committee on Research and Scholarship is excited to announce the final schedule for the 2020/2021 Speaker Series (please see the attached PDF for the complete line-up).  This year’s series will take place entirely online via Microsoft Teams and will include an encore presentation from President Alan Davis on the topic “Remote Life” in November.  The first event is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16 from 1-2 PM and will feature Dr. Asma Sayed (Dept. of English and Canada Research Chair in South Asian Literary and Cultural Studies) and KPU graduate Rahil Faruqi (Philosophy) sharing their collaboration on “Confronting Racism: The Role of South Asian Radio in Canada.” Please share the series’ schedule with your students. More information and Teams links to the events will be arriving soon in your inboxes. 

Birds of a Feather – Friday Updates: When we first began the Arts Updates back in March, their purpose was to provide regular communication, sharing information with faculty and staff in the rapidly changing context of the pandemic. Another important aim has been to foster a sense of community and sustained connection despite everyone working remotely and not being able to gather on campus — or to cross paths with friends and colleagues in the courtyard or hallways. As we look forward to the next several months, we hope to continue to serve Arts by keeping everyone informed and connected even though we are all grounded at home.  As always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback.  

Be on the lookout for details regarding the first “Coffee with Leadership” this fall via Teams! 

Wishing you all a wonderful long weekend,

Diane, Wade, Greg, and Shelley