After the first few weeks of term, usually we all settle into a groove. I’m not sure that’s going to happen this time around, and that’s okay. We all knew this term would be different. The new college Widening Our Doorways 10-Point Plan has been fully launched, and we’re on our way. I’m glad to have a road map. No one can know the precise final destination at the moment, but we know at least the ‘country’ we’re headed for, if not the exact ‘town.’ And it’s a great ‘country’ to be heading to.

This week I have been focusing on: web resources for Program Review – what we need, what we have, and what needs to be created; and revising the Program Review handbook. I’m going through it in detail, adding in where relevant, pieces to articulate the connections between Program Review and the 10-point Plan. Looking at what is involved for faculty being part of this process, as well as reflecting on how I will be supporting the process, it’s reminding me of what I’ve done in previous incarnations, before coming to the college. I know it will be important for me to draw on these past experiences as my current role at the college evolves. Working with MA and PhD students to create surveys and focus group questions to support them in their research and writing of dissertations; reviewing program offerings of the MA TESOL Program I led to identify what we needed more or less of in terms of courses, if there were gaps, how we were assessing, what was/ wasn’t supporting student success (role-modelling to students what they might need to consider as they moved forward to be either educators or take on some other role within education); with Canadian government funding, developing a nursing / ESL curriculum to support internationally educated nurses transition into working in Canada that aligned with the Standards of Practice of the College of Nurses of Ontario (that’s a lot of lines to keep straight). I’m thinking back to the courses I did for my PhD (particularly – Curriculum Development and Teaching in Higher Education).

I can’t help thinking that somehow life draws us into a mosaic. If we care to look, we can see the connections, the webs woven across the years. Sometimes apparently disparate experiences, when viewed from the distance of years, have a relevance to where we end up that we couldn’t possibly have predicted.

I realize as I move forward that not everyone will understand the ways in which my previous incarnations have prepared me for what lies ahead. I also know there is much still to learn.