2023-05-31 – Newsroom

#DawsonProud, Human Resources, Professional Development

Big cohort from Dawson receive Performa certificates

There was a large delegation from Dawson to the Performa celebration evening on May 18. Faculty and professionals from the English CEGEPs who had completed various levels of the professional development program over the last four years received their diplomas at Champlain College.

We are so #DawsonProud of our colleagues! Director General Diane Gauvin attended to celebrate with those who completed their M.Ed. in College Teaching (pictured with blue shoulder sash): Vanessa Gangai, Alison Gelinas, Caroline Haddad, Mary Hlywa (retired), Mark Mattei, Vincenza Pascale and Andreas Tsatoumas (no longer at Dawson).

Others in the picture or not present were celebrating the completion of either the Graduate Diploma in College Teaching or the Graduate Certificate: Laura Abbatiello (pic), Krista Bulow, Jessica Cadieux, Tommy Diamantakos – GDCT, Louisa Hadley (pic) – GDCT, Marilyn Hosein, Irene Kakoulakis, Maria Lavoie – GDCT, Anne Marie Legault – GDCT, Lei Lopez (pic) – GDCT, Maureen MacMahon, Heather Martin (pic)– GDCT, Sherry McMillan – GDCT, Dimitrios (Jim) Parthimos, Catherine Roy, Wen Shen (pic), Kim Webb – GDCT, and Stefano Di Lollo (no longer at Dawson) GDCT.

PERFORMA (Perfectionnement et Formation des Maîtres au Collégial) is a program in the Faculty of Education at the University of Sherbrooke, providing a network of professional development offering in college education. It offers graduate level certificates, diplomas and degrees in college-level teaching for current CEGEP teachers and educational professionals at a part-time pace to accommodate college-level workload. Performa programs include both French and English streams.

In the English stream, college teachers can enroll in the Master Teacher Program to work towards the Graduate Certificate in College Teaching (GCCT) of 15 credits, which can serve as core credits for the Graduate Diploma in College Teaching (GDCT) of 30 credits. Obtaining 15 additional core course credits leads to the completion of a Master of Education in College Teaching (M.Ed.) of 45 credits.

If you are interested in pursuing courses starting in autumn 2023, contact Azra Khan, Dawson’s Performa Local Representative, before June 13.

#DawsonProud, Human Resources, Perks for Dawson Employees, Sustainability, Well-being for all

Sustainable Happiness registration open for support staff & professionals

Support staff and professionals have the amazing opportunity to use work time to attend and do the course work for Dawson’s Sustainable Happiness non-credit course. Did we mention free? The Sustainable Happiness course is free and is guaranteed to help you be more happy, sustainably.

What is Sustainable Happiness? “Happiness that contributes to individual, community or global well-being and does not exploit other people, the environment, or future generations.” -Dr. Catherine O’Brien

Pictured: SH Winter 2023 cohort: top row left to right: Gianna Di Giacomo-Smith (Campus Life and Leadership), Trudy St. Croix (CLL), Matthew Rettino (Academic Skills Centre), Wendy Willis (Administration Technician), Jaime Hutchison (Facilities Management), Stavroula Vitoratos (Library). Bottom row, left to right: Azra Khan (Human Resources), Jenn de Vera (Sustainability Office)

Please visit the link below for all the details and go register! Make the most of this opportunity for Dawson staff.

#DawsonProud, Communications Office, Dawson Grads, Events

Dawson’s first Homecoming is Sept. 23

Dawson graduates, retirees and employees are invited to Dawson's first ever Homecoming! We are inviting our alumni back to reconnect with the Dawson community. Together, with our graduates, Dawson contributes to the strength of Quebec and our beloved and eclectically diverse City of Montreal! Now more than ever, we need to come together and show our Dawson values and pride.

Come and enjoy fun activities, walk down memory lane, go to program reunions and take in a Dawson Blues basketball game.

Dawson’s Homecoming will be on Saturday, Sept. 23. Plans are underway and we will be creating a webpage with all the updates.

Have ideas? Want to contribute? Email dvarrica@dawsoncollege.qc.ca

#DawsonProud, Awards Office, Dawson Grads, In the news/in social media

Two Dawson students honoured with Lt-Gov. Youth Medal

For their commitment to making their corner of the world a better place, graduating students Joseph Anali Kapita and Kiana Lalavi received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Youth Medal.

For the homepage news story, please visit the link.

Academic News, Communications Office, Dawson Foundation, Dawson Gives, Living Campus, Well-being for all

Eight faculty projects approved for funding through Dawson Foundation

Eight projects proposed by faculty have been approved for funding available through the Dawson Foundation’s Student Academic Enrichment Fund.

The projects that will receive funding in 2023-2024 are: Illustration Quebec membership and events, AR Cité - AI production tools and community awareness, Ecology & Culture (Costa Rica complimentary course), Resources for Science on tourne, Sonic levitator kits for student labs, Interprofessional Education Symposium, Facilities visit for outdoor education programming, and the Cuba Trip (North-South Studies/ Social Change and Solidarity).

Three of the projects – the Cuba trip, the Interprofessional Education Symposium and the Facilities visit for CRLT – have been approved for three years of funding.

This year, all proposals received were reviewed and approved by the SAEF committee: Megan Ainscow, Communications; Fred Jansen, Foundation; Geoff Kloos, Student Services; Catherine Lebel, Dean of Academic Development; and three student representatives from the Dawson Student Union. Each relevant sector dean also approved.

A total of $39,795.17 will be distributed by the Dawson Foundation to implement these projects that will enhance the academic experience of our students in a wide array of programs.

Academic News, Facilities Management, From the Director General

Ministry financing for additional space to Forum confirmed

The Ministry of Higher Education has confirmed funding for Dawson to rent additional space at the Montreal Forum for the next 5 years.

With this additional space, the Nursing Program will have quadruple the space for simulation, which can also be used by other programs, and an additional 90 square metres for their labs.

Plans are being developed to renovate the former Future Shop space on the second floor. It will accommodate the Nursing Program as well as one low tech active learning classroom and eight general use classrooms. There will also be a new student space where students can relax and study between classes. The preliminary layout of the renovation has been provided by Facilities Management and can be viewed here.

This is a temporary response to Dawson’s space deficit of more than 11,200 square metres confirmed by the Ministry of Higher Education in December 2021. The College continues to work on a longer-term solution to the space deficit after plans for the construction of a new medical studies pavilion were officially cancelled by the Quebec government in late March 2022.

#DawsonProud, Academic News, Faculty Hub

Update from the Interprofessional Education team

Near the end of each semester, the IPE team updates the community on some of the IPE learning opportunities implemented. This time, instead of highlighting each activity, we wanted to turn the focus on one aspect of the IPE project: simulation. Here are the three major steps we completed this semester in an attempt to incorporate more simulation in our teaching and conduct an IPE simulation with multiple disciplines.

Visit the link below for the full IPE report.

Academic News, From the Director General, Well-being for all

Implementation of Dawson’s Strategic Plan to begin in Winter 2024

The College has decided to delay the launch and implementation of its five-year Strategic Plan slightly in order to ensure the extensive consultation process thus far is properly considered. The College plans to submit the Strategic Plan to the Board of Governors in Fall 2023 and begin implementation in Winter 2024.

“The consultation process on the Strategic Plan has been more extensive than ever before and we sincerely appreciate the feedback we’ve received from the community. We want to make sure the document reflects the richness of this feedback, so it is taking a little more time than originally expected,” said Leanne Bennett, Academic Dean.

In addition, the necessity to implement Bill 96-related measures on curriculum and admissions has kept many employees of the College quite busy, causing some delay in progress.

If you’d like an update on the activities and progress of the Strategic Plan Design and Writing Committee, visit the Strat Plan Teams site to view posts on the timeline for development of the plan and on some of the draft components developed so far. Feedback is welcome in the form of public comments on the posts.

The Strategic Plan Design and Writing Committee includes Sameer Bhatnagar, Quality Assurance and Planning; Cathy Giulietti, Executive Assistant, Academic Dean; Dianne Hawryluck, Academic Advising; Ian MacKenzie, Faculty; and Alan Stewart, Assistant to the Academic Dean.

Board

Dawson’s French Language Policy approved by Board of Governors

Dawson’s Board of Governors approved the College’s French Language Policy at a special meeting held on May 24. For more details on the policy and what it means for Dawson, see full article in the April 4, 2023 issue of D News.

The policy was submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education on May 29, 2023 ahead of the Ministry’s June 1 deadline. It is possible that either the Ministry of Higher Education or Ministry of the French Language will have comments or request amendments to the policy.

Additionally, given the accelerated timeline required to complete the policy within a short timeframe, the College plans to continue consulting with the community and revisit the policy before June 30, 2024. It is already possible that amendments to the policy will be required, given that the National Assembly is considering special exemptions for Indigenous students who do not hold a certificate of eligibility. See more details in this recent CBC article.

The full text of the policy is available on Dawson’s website in both English and French.

Continuing Education and Community Services (CECS), Learning opportunities, Perks for Dawson Employees, Well-being for all

Check out summer programming from Cont. Ed.

Enhance your language skills with our non-credit language courses, capture memories with our photography classes, and stay ahead in the digital era with our computer and technology courses. Enroll today! Visit dawsoncollege.qc.ca/ctd/ to explore our course catalogue and take the first step towards personal growth and professional development.

#DawsonProud, Decolonization, Events, Peace Centre, Sustainability, Well-being for all

Save the date and plan to participate in Peace Week

Looking forward to next fall, the Peace Centre will bring the 7^th annual Peace Week: Exultation: Queer Freedoms & Futures from Sept. 13- 21. Save the dates in your calendars and look out for the fulsome schedule of events in August!

Visit the link for more information about the speakers and programming.

Events, From the Director General

Welcome Back event is Aug. 18

To kick off the new semester, Director General Diane Gauvin and Academic Dean Leanne Bennett will be hosting a Welcome Back event for all staff and faculty on Friday, Aug. 18.

The event will include lunch and will take place in 3C.1 and the courtyard from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Dawson Remembers, Milestones

Funeral and viewing for Frédéric Bastien is June 4

On May 17, all Dawson employees were informed of the sad and untimely passing on May 16 of our colleague Frédéric Bastien, faculty member of the History Department since January 2007.

The viewing and funeral will take place on Sunday, June 4. Please visit the link for his obituary and details.

#DawsonProud, Sustainability

Dawson Illustration students win award for illustrations of UN Sustainable Development Goals

Students in Dawson’s Illustration program have won a group prize in the Digital Illustration or Animation category of College and Institutes Canada’s (CiCan) Student Art contest.

Working in collaboration with the Sustainability Office, the students collaborated on a fanzine project where they illustrated each of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals.

Visit the link for the complete list of student winners and to see their fanzines and illustrations.

Board

Your role in protecting Dawson’s records

As summer approaches, you may be tempted to clean out a filing cabinet, or declutter a disk drive/SharePoint folder, but first please make sure you can do so legally.

As a public body, Dawson College is subject to the Archives Act and must retain its records in accordance to its government-approved retention schedule. All documents created or received in the course of the college’s activities have a corresponding retention rule that sets out the amount of time these documents must be kept, and when/if they can be eliminated.

When records become inactive, some records can be destroyed while others must be preserved permanently as historical archives, even if they are have no current administrative, legal or financial value to the unit.

To familiarize yourself with Dawson’s Records Management Policy, please check the retention schedule and contact the archivist, David-Marc Newman, at 1437 or dnewman@dawsoncollege.qc.ca if you have any questions, or would like help or training in records management.

You can find more information by checking out: https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/governance/archives-and-records-management-arm/.

In addition to the Retention Schedule, you will find records managements tools such as the college’s Digitization Policy (and form) that will be useful for any digitization project of paper documents; a guide to Naming Conventions for digital files and folders to help locate and identify them easily; and the Remote Work guidelines for best practices when working off campus to ensure documents and data are protected.

#DawsonProud, Living Campus, Sustainability, Well-being for all

Students from two courses beautify Dawson’s Living Campus

Students in an intensive Physical Education course put in an estimated 300 hours of work over one weekend in May to beautify our Living Campus and make it more attractive to more species. Among various jobs, they moved three tonnes of wood chips, 10 tonnes of soil, 1 tonne of leaves, 1 tonne of branches and 0.5 tonnes of mulch.

Students from Mechanical Engineering Technology worked to make a new birdhouse for the Peace Garden. The hope is that it will attract an Eastern Bluebird or a Wren to nest on campus.

Visit the link below to read more about the projects from faculty members Paul Wasacz and Adam Kingsland.

#DawsonProud, Academic News

Computer Science internship project with Nursing

Mady Fouert, a third year Computer Science Technology student worked with Sherry McMillan, coordinator of the Nursing program, to develop a website to better prepare students and faculty for the OIIQ exam. In an authentic multi-disciplinary project, Mady consulted with Tania Chiarotto from Graphic Design for guidance on the UX; in addition, Tim Miller from the Inter-professional Education project and the Nursing curriculum committee provided valuable feedback. Thanks to all involved for a fabulous collaboration!

Check out Mady's website here: https://dawsoncollege.gitlab.io/thinkinglikeanurse/

#DawsonProud, Living Campus, Sustainability, Well-being for all

Moving toward 1,000 species on campus

In the past two weeks, the Dawson community has observed 10 new species, made 83 new observations and added one new observer to our Dawson Community-Campus Biodiversity Network on the free app iNaturalist.

These observations are moving us closer to our goal of identifying 1,000 species in 1,000 days!

As of May 31, the total species count is at 548. Everyone is welcome to contribute to the project. Download the free app iNaturalist, join the Dawson community project and start observing! To count, the species must be observed within Dawson’s city-block campus.

Pictured: Coccinelloidea beetle observed and posted by second-year Environmental Science student Ruisi Yang on May 25.

#DawsonProud, Book/article/video recommendation, Student Services

Ken Fogel presents new book to Library

Ken Fogel (retired faculty, Computer Science) returned to Dawson on May 25 to present a copy of his new book, Transitioning to Java. The book will help non-Java developers transition from whatever language they are using now to learning Java.

Claire Elliott of the Library team was on hand to receive the book. She said it will be proudly displayed in the Books by Faculty bookshelf (visible in the photo)

Student Services, Well-being for all

Miriam on Campus can help you until June 22

The last day of the Miriam on Campus Program will be Thursday, June 22. The program will resume on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

The program’s purpose is to promote the development of work, social and interpersonal skills in an integrated work environment for people with special needs. They are currently at Dawson during the work week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Their office is located in the 5B. 16 area.

The Miriam members can help you with all kinds of tasks: small amounts of paper shredding, putting up and taking down posters, flattening boxes, and/or assembling the boxes, they help in the kitchen cafeteria (wrapping food for example), laundry, reception at PARC, helping out with a variety of gardening tasks, bringing items to shipping, mailing, packaging, cutting old folders, collecting recycling, assembling packages and much more.

You can reach out to Melicha Dorset if you would like some help: 514-931-8731, ext. 1537 (Dawson Program) or
melicha.dorset.miriam@ssss.gouv.qc.ca

Facilities Management, Student Services

Temporary Closure of 6th floor Library

Starting Monday, May 29 until the end of summer school, the 6th floor of the library will be closed due to painting. This project is part of our ongoing efforts to maintain and improve our library, ensuring a comfortable and pleasant environment for all.

Please note that the Chapel floor (5th floor) will be open for studying during the summer.

If you require any books located on the 6th floor (General Collection, Reference Collection or Paperback Collection), we kindly ask you to approach the library staff at the Circulation desk for assistance.

Don't forget that our online resources, including e-books, journal articles, research databases, and streaming collections are available 24/7 on the library’s website!

We will keep you updated on any changes to the closure schedule.

Living Campus, Sustainability, Well-being for all, Workshops

Students and staff learn bike maintenance skills at workshop

Students and employees showed up with their bikes to learn how to change a tire, adjust brakes and do basic tune up’s on May 23. Mech Tech faculty member Adam Kingsland led an outdoor bike workshop.

Adam facilitates the workshops by ensuring all participants can get their hands dirty to benefit from the hands-on learning.

Jocelyn Parr (faculty, History) said: "I loved the workshop with Adam! It was accessible to all types of cyclists and it was the first time I'd ever changed my own brake pads. I left feeling like I might even be up to swapping out some cables and maybe even my derailleur!"

In addition, the Sustainability Office was able to form a partnership with local bike shop Martin Swiss cycle, just a 5-minute bike ride from Dawson. Simply present your student or employee I.D. and you will receive 15% off on all accessories. (Discount not applicable to bikes or labour)

Pictured: Jocelyn Parr (History) and Adam Kingsland (Mech Tech). Photo credit : Sophie La Font

To join our Active transportation team, send us an email sustainability@dawsoncollege.qc.ca

Faculty Hub

Over at the Faculty Hub

Best wishes for a relaxing and energizing summer.

See you in the fall!

-Your Faculty Hub Team

Communications Office

D News has “gone fishin'”

This May 31 issue is the last issue for D News before the Fall 2023 semester. D News will be back on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

The Communications Office wishes you a wonderful summer!

In the meantime, keep up with Dawson news on our social media:

DawsonITE

DawsonITE Newsletter # 594

DawsonITE is your curated news related to IST and Education prepared by Dawson's Rafael Scapin.

In this issue:

OpenAI just released an official ChatGPT app for the iPhone

A Simple Way to Create 360° Interactions in E-Learning

How Do We Prepare Students for an AI-Driven World?

Wednesday, May. 31, 2023