Hi Applied Arts,
I was doing so well for a while there sending out blog postings monthly, then went completely off the rails in March, April and May. Sigh. It’s been a very busy time in Applied Arts, but I’ll endeavor to get back on schedule. Here are few reminders and news items from the across the Division and the College:
Out-of-Office Messages & Leave Reports
For faculty and staff heading out, or already out, on leave, please remember to set up out-of-office messages on your phone and email. The message must include details about the length of your leave, whether you are reachable by email or other method while you’re away, and when you’ll be back to the office to meet with students, staff and the public. It also helps out our admin team if you block off your leave periods in Outlook, so please do so. Lastly, also remember to submit your leave reports so they can be approved throughout the summer months. You can front-load all your leave hours before you exit the College, or you can submit leave reports remotely via Banner WebAccess. If you’re not sure about how to do any of the above, just ask an Applied Arts admin team member for guidance.
Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Governance
The IGD is fully approved, past external quality assurance, accepting applications, and eager to register its first student. It has been a long, tough but ultimately rewarding journey. This degree is something for the whole College to be proud of!
New VPA&SS
As you most likely have already heard by now, YC will be welcoming a new Vice-President, Academic and Student Services later this summer. Dr. Janet Welch comes to us from Lethbridge College.
New programs
Huge shout outs to Melanie McFadyen and the recently retired Liz Bosely for all their work on the Education Support (ES) certificate and Yukon First Nations Arts (YFNA) certificate, respectively. The ES cert has been developed with support from the Learning Partnerships project and will provide education and training related to a range of frontline education workers in First Nation communities—Education and Training Officers, Education Support Workers, Community Education Liaison Coordinators, and Education Outreach Coordinators. The program has been through the full internal quality assurance process—meeting with approval from the VPA’s office, Senior Executive Committee, Academic Council and, just this afternoon, the Board of Governors—and is slated for a January 2019 launch. The YFNA cert has come a long way too. Its development has been funded by the Northern Adult Basic Education project and will combine new studio courses in a range of First Nations visual arts media with literacy and numeracy courses at the ABE level. The Stage 2 proposal for the program has been approved by the VPA and Senior Executive Committee. It goes to Academic Council later this month and to the Board most likely early in fall 2018. Accordingly, its proposed fall 2018 launch date will be pushed back a bit, but it should be enrolling students in the winter of 2019.
Applied Arts Retreat
Thank you to all faculty and staff who made it to the Applied Arts retreat in early May. And of course extra special thanks to Jay Dobson and Carolyn Kauth for all the organizational work they put in behind the scenes. We received a lot of positive feedback on the day as well as plenty of great suggestions for areas to improve and future topics for discussion. More than one attendee commented on the need to increase overall attendance, so that’ll be on the to-do list for next year’s event, starting with a closer look at scheduling. Retreats are never easy to schedule, but it’ll be crucial to find a day and time that a greater number of you can work into your calendars.
Farewell (sort of), Jay!
As some of you might have already heard, Jay Dobson will be leaving her role as admin assistant to Liberal Arts and moving on to a Development Officer position. Her last day with Lib Arts is today, and we’re sad to see her go. But she’s going to be a huge asset as YC builds its fundraising capacity. All the best in your new role Jay!
Welcome Aubyn, Rhiannon and Marilou!
Announcements have already gone out, but welcome to the team Aubyn O’Grady (program director, YSOVA), Rhiannon Klein (instructor, Policy Studies and Public Administration), and Marilou Aguillon (admin assistant, HEHS)!
Thank you, Eldo!
This time last year, YSOVA was in a difficult position: low application numbers and the sudden departure of its previous program director. Later in the summer, Eldo Enns came out of retirement and into the director position to help out. He and Kyla MacArthur did great work securing registrations to the point where the School started the 2017-18 academic year with a solid cohort of full- and part-time students. That said, Eldo has let me know, in no uncertain terms, that he would really like to be retired again. He’ll be heading back that way after June 30th. Thank you for putting your heart and soul into YSOVA this past year, Eldo. Don’t be a stranger, and I promise I won’t try to employ you again. ;O)
SEC Retreat
Senior Executive Committee was away in Watson Lake last week for its annual retreat. Among other topics, Giulia Lucchini led us in a far-ranging conversation about leadership and strengths, and we spent a morning drafting workplan goals for 2018-19 and penciling in goals for 2019-20. One Applied Arts goal for the coming year will be to implement a community of practice on indigenization, something that was identified as a desirable at the Applied Arts retreat in May. More on that initiative in the days ahead, so stay tuned.
If I don’t see you before the fall, have a wonderful summer wherever it takes you!
Take care,
Andrew