I’m not entirely sure where this week has gone. I feel like it has been somewhat discombobulated, with meetings, going through applications for the new hiring, thinking about the evolving direction of the department and what I need to do to continue to develop my own skills to meet future needs, reading documents for curriculum committee, getting back in to working on the Program Review website, and celebrating the fact that my CiCan funding application for an Intercultural Toolkit has been accepted.

It’s always exciting when there’s a new position, with the possibilities for the department and the College that a new hire promises. We’re at a critical point and it’s important that we ensure we find the right person. It’s good that so many people have applied and also somewhat of a ‘wonder’ that some people have applied, who so clearly do not meet the criteria of a position.

In terms of my own skills, attending POD last week was both informative and inspiring and I’m still reflecting on the experience. My big ‘take away’ is the identified need to maintain the human connection and the humanity in education, as we navigate doing so much in a virtual environment. I’m looking forward to having the POD membership that will allow me to continue my development over the coming months through accessing resources / communities of practice. I’m looking forward to ITLC LILLY coming up and that will help me consider where the most important gaps are to address in my knowledge / experience, with regard to teaching and learning online. I’m also thinking that doing the BC Campus FLO Bootcamp in December (which I could manage around continuing with my current work priorities) would be a good idea, as it would be give me practical experience of how to transition a f2f course online; it’s always good to be able to to talk to faculty coming from a place of direct experience.

Reading the curriculum committee materials this week I was reminded how much work we still have to do. While some faculty do understand learning outcomes, others clearly need a significant amount of support. The idea of creating a BBL module to support faculty with this is fabulous and I’m looking forward to working on that.

There’s a lot of work still to be done on the Program Review website, and I’m enjoying working on that. I know it will remain a work in progress. The FAST Quick Start Guide is wonderful and a good resource that I’ll draw on for the website, so that faculty can see how the resources created to support Program Review all tie in with each other. I know there are delays in some areas in getting started. Everyone has a lot going on right now.

I’m thrilled that all the CiCan applications that the College submitted were accepted. Now where to start!