I invite you to contact Staff Development if you are interested in making a submission to the next issue of the newsletter.

Patricia C. Robinson, TESL, MEd, EdD (abd)Faculty Facilitator, Organizational & Staff DevelopmentEmail: pcrobins@georgebrown.ca, x6008

@gbcstaffdev Issue 2 / Volume 2 / Summer 2017

How’s My Teaching? ISW as a Teaching Laboratory

A Final Word from the Editor Thank you to everyone who contributed articles for this issue of the Faculty Forum Newsletter. Working in Staff Development this past year has been an amazing experience for me, and I am grateful for this oppor-tunity to have worked with, and learned from, so many members of our college community. In September 2017, I return to my regular faculty role in the College Teacher Training Program (www.georgebrown.ca/cttp), and I wish you all the best for the upcoming academic year!

Below is a list of topics that you will find in this issue of the Faculty Forum Newsletter:

By Laz SimeonFaculty Facilitator, Organizational & Staff Development.

Imagine this scenario: Five professors are trapped in a classroom for 24 hours, teaching each other lessons on topics as varied as computer programming, nutrition, and sociology, all the while being recorded on video by a seemingly disinterested facilitator, stopwatch in hand, ready to call time on the 10-minute mark.

No, this isn’t the premise of the latest reality-TV show. It’s what happens (more or less) in George Brown College’s Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW). For three days each spring, professors from across the college meet to practice their teaching, to observe their colleagues teaching, and to give and get feedback on how effective they are at teaching. Think of ISW as a laboratory for improving teaching and learning. It is an intensive 24-hour workshop during which participants review basic ideas about teaching, reflect on their current practices, and are encour-aged to try new instructional strategies and techniques within a safe and supportive environment. Participants learn how to apply the BOPPPS lesson plan model, which stands for Bridge-in, Objective, Pre-test, Participatory learning, Post-test, and Summary. More than just a lesson planning approach, BOPPPS is grounded in the principles of active learning and learner-centered instruction. It focuses on the development of a kind of teaching that steps beyond transmission of content to one that builds opportunities for stu-dent engagement, participation and formative feedback into each lesson. Each participant prepares and delivers a 10-minute mini-lesson that’s supposed to incorporate the BOPPPS model. Developing a lesson around opportunities for participatory learning can be new and unsettling for some teachers. (“How do I cover all this really, really important content?” is the often-asked question.) But this transformation in teaching doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and practice and lots of honest questions about what’s working in the classroom and what isn’t. The “I” in ISW should stand for “intensive.” Over the course of the three days, each participant teaches three times. And did I mention they’re

being recorded? The workshop facilitators set up a camera in the back of the classroom and focus it on the instructors as they go through their 10-minute mini lesson. This is what makes the ISW a unique experience for teachers. The idea here is for participants to view the videos at home that evening, reflecting on their own teaching, and building these new insights into the next day’s lesson. The ISW is one of the few opportunities for instructors to observe other instructors teaching. It’s a time for professors to experiment with new techniques, to reflect on how they teach, but also to receive feedback on their teaching. Participants learn the most from colleagues. The feed-back is always constructive, clear, and copious, and always centres on the teaching. For many, it’s the first time they’ve received feedback on how they’re doing as teachers. If you’d like to take part in the next round of the ISW, scheduled for October 2017, contact Susan Heximer sheximer@georgebrown.ca in Staff Development.

• ISW – Instructional Skills Workshop

• “What’s in it for me???”• Myths about Mindfulness

in Education• Learning and Development

Retreat – Indigenous Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Action

• BSSN: Black Student Success Network

• An Online Curriculum Resource: History in Practice

• Role-playing as a Teaching and Learning Strategy

• Ways of Connecting Across the College

By Robin Yap, MSc, LLB, DM, CTDPProfessor, Centre for BusinessEmail: ryap@georgebrown.ca / Twitter @robinyap

Growing up, we learned about sharing and it bound us together as a fam-ily, as a community, as good citizens. As we started our careers, this was somehow overshadowed by WIIFM: “What’s in it for me?” WIIFM perme-ated everything, even how we persuaded others. “Once you’ve asked for what you need, actively engage your supporters in the effort. Help them see ‘what’s in it for me’ and ask them to do specific things.”

Misalignment between sharing and WIIFMAs learning professionals, we design our courses for the student’s WIIFM, but the approach is ineffective. We cannot be motivated by self-inter-est alone. “Systems based on self-interest often lead to less productivity than an approach oriented toward our social motivations.” When left unchecked, WIIFM can become a crutch instead of a benefit for all of us.

“WIIFA: What’s in it for all?”You may find yourself cobbling information to create learning assets, only to find the same assets from those who have gone before you. The culprit? Unshared data. Sharing can save time, money, and human resources. We begin to think WIIFA, not WIIFM, when we look to create next level solutions. Godin (2015) says, “The culture we will live in next month is a direct result of what people like us share today.” Should we always share? It’s one thing to have legitimate reasons to withhold information but another when it stems from uncongeniality. Save from unabashed self-aggrandizement, there may not be many reasons to exclude, refuse or embargo information. Sharing gets our eyes off our-selves and what they might think about us and shifts our thinking from “me” to “we.” Studies show a correlation between information sharing and profit. Beyond finances, sharing strengthens relationships, enhances credibility, and creates opportunities to leverage one another’s expertise. Those who transparently share are seen as trustworthy.

This is important to remember the next time someone asks you for a copy of your learning materials. You might even co-create a solution!

Isn’t this collaborative work?Yes, but more. Collaborative work is often project-specific and the working relationship is temporary. In an environment where continuous sharing is de rigueur, skills align more naturally. Lofty goals? Maybe, but change-fo-cused organizational initiatives often are. Researchers intrinsically know this. They attribute work when adding to the body of knowledge resulting in a culture of collaborative-research practice. This idea isn’t new but has somehow gotten lost in our selfie world. Godin’s words are apropos for the state of our industry, “We’ll judge you most on whether you care enough to change things.” If we profess to be learning professionals, we need to continuously learn ourselves. This means addressing a common issue and seeing our world as one learning opportunity after another. We can fast track this by evolving WIIFM to WIIFA by regularly co-creating to produce inventive approaches to tightly-held beliefs. Our best practices today are but child’s play tomorrow when our best practice is just to “be better... together.”

To read the complete article with citations, visit goo.gl/SVxS1C.

Evolving “What’s in it for Me”

Issue 2 / Volume 2 / Summer 2017

By Jessica Paterson Curriculum Specialist, Office of Academic ExcellenceEmail: jpaterso@georgebrown.ca

Let me begin by stating that by no means am I trying to represent any-one else’s experience except my own. If I’ve learned anything from my mindfulness practice, both personally and professionally, it’s not to make assumptions about others’ stories (including my own.) Let me provide some context. My friend and colleague, Carolyn Dobbyn, and I have been facilitating a weekly mindfulness group at George Brown for two years now. During lunchtime, we invite staff and students in the School of Work and College Preparation (SWCP) to join us for a drop-in gentle yoga session and twen-ty-minute guided mindfulness meditation. We share a common definition of mindfulness, credited to Jon Kabat-Zinn. He defines mindfulness as discovering and cultivating awareness “through paying attention in a par-ticular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” (2013, p. xxvii). A pretty simple definition that, as one of our teachers noted, takes five minutes to understand and a lifetime to practice. Although it’s useful to focus on the definition of mindfulness, I have found that for understanding the impact that mindfulness can have in education, it might be more useful to point to what it is not. When working with my own practice, and supporting those of colleagues and students, these are impor-tant reminders along the path of discovering and cultivating awareness.

1. Mindfulness is a panacea. While research has pointed to many benefits of a regular mindfulness practice (Barbezat & Bush, 2014), it may not be for everyone at every point in their lives. In fact, it is not recommended that individuals who may be in a state of crisis or experiencing severe mental distress start a mindfulness practice at that time (Kabat-Zinn, 2013). We remind students of this at our weekly ses-sions; it is also why we thank Chris Caron, an Academic Upgrading counsellor, for being present at each community practice. At the same time, I also believe that anyone can practice mindfulness and, looking at Kabat-Zinn’s definition, most people likely are already mindfulness practitioners (at least informally), a commonality we can tap into and build upon in the classroom.

2. Mindfulness is trendy. Well… this is not untrue, but in reality, contemplative practice has been around in many different forms in all cultures for thousands of years (Berila, 2016). Relatively recently, scien-tific research has supported the benefits of a mindfulness practice, but people have known this long before MRI technology was around. The trend of mindfulness is problematic, too; media presents the ‘average’ practitioner as white, young, and female which is not the demographic I have observed in the mindfulness communities I have been involved with. Interest in mindfulness comes from a diverse range of practition-ers that connects across sectors, cultures, races, ages etc.

3. Mindfulness is only personal. No doubt, many people I know started learning about and practicing mindfulness for personal rea-sons. I, too, took my first mindfulness course at a time of increased personal stress. However, I soon discovered that mindfulness helped

me better navigate interpersonal relationships, whether at home or at work. Daniel Siegel recently spoke at A Mindful Society conference in Toronto, and he would argue that any shift in the personal self – that which is enclosed by our skin - impacts the collective Self. As an attachment researcher, he has theorized Interbeing, an idea that is supported by quantum physics (2017). John Rice Zahgausgai, an Elder from the Wasauksing First Nation, who also presented at the confer-ence, noted the similarity between Siegel’s theory and his culture’s connection to the Earth (2017).

4. Mindfulness is passive and easy. Anyone who has sat still with themselves for a few minutes can probably attest to this myth. Mindfulness involves both learning and unlearning. Biologically, it can reroute the conditioned responses of our brains, particularly those we resort to during times of stress. Mindfulness practice allows us to learn new responses but also unlearn those that are no longer useful (Berila, 2016). This makes for an uncomfortable experience at times. However, discomfort plays a role in education, particularly problem-based learn-ing. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said in a recent interview, “To solve the problem, you have to be willing to engage with the discom-fort” (2017, p. 80).

5. Mindfulness is apolitical. A growing number of practitioners purport that practicing mindfulness sets the foundation for political action. For example, Beth Berila (2016) integrates mindfulness into an Anti-Oppressive Pedagogy. She states that practicing mindfulness in the classroom allows learners to embody their learning, an approach that helps people to “cultivate a nuanced discernment of their own experience” (p. 15). This embodiment is what allows us to unlearn our prescribed roles within systems of oppression. While Berila (2016) doesn’t dismiss the value of analytical thought, she finds mindfulness augments and transforms this more traditional mode of teaching and learning. John Dewey might agree; he argued, in 1938, that the life experience of people in the classroom is what needs to inform educa-tion for it to be transformative. Therefore, embodied learning through mindfulness practice forms the foundation for transformation at the root of political change.

Carolyn and I will continue our small mindfulness sessions in the fall of 2017 for students and staff in SWCP. We are currently gathering feedback from participants to improve what we offer by measuring the benefits and challenges they have experienced during the group practices. We are also launching a GBC Mindfulness Community of Practice, inviting students, faculty, staff and administrators who use mindfulness in the work that they do, to come together and discuss mindfulness in education. Look for our announcements in the George Brown Weekly Update. We hope to see you there!

References

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. (2017, July/August). The chatelaine q & a. Chatelaine, 79-83.

Barbezat, D. P. & Bush, M. (2014). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Berila, B. (2016) Integrating mindfulness into anti-oppression pedagogy. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness (Revised and Updated). New York: Bantam Books.

Siegel, D. (2017, April). Keynote - Mind: A journey into the heart of being human. In. M. Apollo (Chair). A Mindful Society (Third Annual Conference). Lecture conducted from University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Zahgausgai, J. R. (2017, April). Finding common ground: Culminating panel. In. M. Apollo (Chair). A Mindful Society (Third Annual Conference). Lecture conducted from University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Myths About Mindfulness in Education

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The 14th annual Learning and Development Retreat for fac-ulty and staff took place June 7-9th, 2017, on the land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, at the YMCA Geneva Park Conference Centre near Orillia, ON. George Brown’s Indigenous Services and Education team and Organizational and Staff Development team partnered together in the design of the 3-day retreat, which focused exclusively on Indigenous Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Action, and more specifically, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. The overarching goal of the retreat was to provide employees with opportunities to develop an understanding of Indigenous culture, context, and worldview in relation to their college role, asking them to consider how to operationalize their new understandings and awareness in their personal lives and their professional roles. The retreat commenced with a smudging and opening cir-cle, led by Lori Budge, Coordinator of Indigenous Initiatives and Counselling, and Bob Crawford, Indigenous Counsellor. Lori introduced partici-pants to Indigenous peoples’ relationship with the land and natural world, and Bob taught about the original treaty agreements, peace and friendship agreements, and passed around wam-pum belts, which represent living documents—agree-ments between settlers and Indigenous people and the

sharing of Turtle Island (North America). Greg McGregor, Manager of Indigenous Services at Georgian College, and his colleague Tareyn Johnson, Indigenization Coordinator, facilitated a session on the implications of the TRC’s Calls to Action for Ontario Colleges. They shared their insights from the implementation of their college’s Indigenization Plan, which includes incorporating Indigenous knowledge into curriculum.

Day two of the retreat opened with a smudging and water blessing led by two Elders from Rama First Nation, Mark Douglas and Lorraine McRae. Retreat participant, Professor Will Edwards, offered his impres-sions of the opening circle:

“The morning light invaded the assembly, we stood in a circle beside Lake Couchiching, our Rama First Nation Elders, Lorraine McRae and Mark Douglas, began a smudge

and water blessing that I will not soon forget. The burn-ing sage and sweet grass was presented to each member present, the cleansing smoke atomized and purified us. A solitary drum set the tone for this ritual. They were many thoughts on fire: each member shared a word in an attempt to pin down the ineffable—to capture a refer-ent for the collective and deeply personal experience we shared together.”

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT RETREAT 2017

Indigenous Cultural Awareness, Understanding and Action

Issue 2 / Volume 2 / Summer 2017

humility, love, wisdom, courage, and respect—‘concepts of abiding by a moral respect for all living things’ and ‘as principles of living’. The George Brown College Learning and Development retreat concluded with faculty and staff sharing their new under-standings, experiences, and reflections. Participants generated both individual and collective actions that we can undertake as members of our college community. Faculty members Marta Wolniewicz from Liberal Studies and Sue Fleming from Culinary Arts both had immediate takeaways from the retreat. Wolniewicz indicated that the retreat matters for her and the college because it fosters “community building, getting to know the people at a different level,” and “sharing new or important ideas and issues”. Fleming said “it opened up new networking channels for me”. Professor Wolniewicz stated “my main goal is to incorporate indigenous peoples’ knowledge, teachings and history into my curriculum. In fact, I’ll be discussing aspects of indigenous cul-ture in my geography class today.” Chef Fleming indicated her desire “to bring more of the teachings and philosophy of First Nations into (her) classes, and also to bring traditional foods into (her) theory classes.” Edwards further shared his thoughts by stating:

“Without this retreat, this moment in time shared together with my colleagues, my practice as an educator may have propelled the broken narrative I had become accustomed to hearing when encountering issues of indigeneity. To sit alongside elders by a low burnt fire and share thoughts about how our practice intersects with difficult moments in history is a rare opportunity to recognize the holistic worldview of indigeneity. These moments still resonate with me; I can never approach a fire in the same way.”

Indigenous Cultural Awareness, Understanding and Action

The opening circle was followed by the Blanket Exercise facil-itated by Kairos Canada, described as “an interactive way of learning the history most Canadians are never taught”, which illustrates the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Leah Bergstrome, Indige-nous Patient Navigator at the Royal Victoria Hospital, pre-sented on cultural safety and shared her knowledge on how to create cultur-ally safe environments. She explained the required steps towards achieving cultural safety as a) cultural aware-ness, b) cultural sensitivity, and c) cultural competency. The destination of cultural safety moves beyond these first three building blocks to:

challenge power imbalances, institutional or systemic discrimination, colonization, neo-colonial processes, and requires a systemic approach that encompasses an understanding of the power differentials inherent in ser-vice delivery. It requires professionals to be aware of their own cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and outlooks that consciously or unconsciously affect their behaviours. Behaviours can intentionally or unintentionally cause people to feel accepted and safe or rejected and unsafe. Cultural safety is a systemic outcome that requires organ-izations to review and reflect on their own policies, procedures, and practices in order to remove barriers to accessing appropriate supports and services.

On the final day of the retreat, Bob Crawford led the session with The Seven Grandfather Teachings—honesty, truth, Image from: http://shabotobaadjiwan.net/seven-grandfather-teachings.html

5

By Susan Heximer, MAFaculty Facilitator, Organizational and Staff DevelopmentEmail: sheximer@georgebrown.ca

What happens when a health historian and a col-lege faculty member with a commitment to mental health education team up? Many things, not the least of which is a community-informed, co-de-signed set of online curriculum resources entitled History in Practice (HiP) (historyinpractice.ca/en). This teaching and learning resource, consisting of six modules, is the progeny of two previous research projects led by Professor Megan Davies of York University: The History of Madness in Canada, and After the Asylum (aftertheasylum.apps01.yorku.ca/en). Davies’ knack for community engagement leads to collaboration and powerful personal narratives, making history accessible, vital, and irresistible. When it came time to develop the learning materials to accompany the artefacts, Davies turned to the college sector, based on her belief that college faculty take teaching seriously and have significant expertise in the development of learner-centred materials. I was fortunate to be invited to collaborate on the HiP project in early 2015, a few months before my Professional Development Leave began. The project scope was ambitious, devel-oped over six years of consultation with people with lived experience as the community experts, along with a team of academic scholars from as far away as British Columbia and the U.K. One of my early roles was to field test some of the materials with social work and nursing students in Ottawa, at both Carleton and l’Uni-versité d’Ottawa, in both English and French, as some of the modules are available in both lan-guages. The students’ responses confirmed that these materials go beyond what can be learned from a textbook, giving them a deeper under-standing of the importance of emotions, the knowledge that arises from lived experience, and some of the systemic barriers that people encounter in their mental health journeys.

The project team hopes that these free, openly accessible resources will be used widely across a variety of disciplines to foster an appre-ciation amongst students about the history of deinstitutionalization and its legacies. Three of the six modules’ topics (Medicine and Power, Models of Practice, Policy into Practice) address systemic issues, while the other three (Stigma and Discrimination, Advocacy and Activism, Mapping Emotions) have a sharper focus on individual experiences within the mental health system. Each module and learning unit sets out takeaways and assessment tools, a learn-ing lens that provides historical context, and a collection of artefacts. The artefacts range from radio plays, videos, audio interviews, histor-ical documents, poetry, prose, and art. Davies describes the materials as “a rich mosaic of sto-ries, analyses and insights, closely connected to community [and] with a strong public purpose”. This project’s ethos of collaboration extends beyond its borders. At a recent curriculum launch, Michael Jonny, Manager of Knowledge Mobilization from York University, proposed that these materials would be useful to sensitize future police officers, and Lyse Hébert, Chair of Translation at Glendon College, agreed to have her students translate more of the resources into French. Working across disciplines has extended my learning, scholarship, and my practice. I joined members of the HiP project team at the British Association of Canadian Studies in April where we presented these uniquely developed materials as a citizen’s resource. The Teaching and Learning Exchange at George Brown College also hosted Megan Davies and myself to present this project and learning materials to faculty and staff at GBC in June. I see the potential of these resources to span a variety of programs and disciplines. Please visit the web-site historyinpractice.ca/en to see if any of the modules or units would fit with a course that you teach, or contact me to discuss ways of using them.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Opens Minds and Informs Practice

Black Student Success Network (BSSN) Launches College-wide

As a result of the overwhelmingly positive student response to the 2016 pilot, BSSN is launching college-wide in fall 2017. Stay tuned for details.  Students, staff and faculty collabo-rate cross-divisionally to provide tailored supports to black students in four ways:  information/ referral services, academic support (i.e. tutoring), social engage-ment events/activities (i.e. Let’s Talk & Appreciation Gala) and mentorship pair-ing opportunities.  Find out how to become a faculty mentor or volunteer by contacting Andria Lewis Alexander alewisalexander@georgebrown.ca ext. 2296  Checkout the new webpage for details of services, activates & supports: www.georgebrown.ca/bssn. Tell your students about us.

Issue 2 / Volume 2 / Summer 2017

By Linda Gillis, RD, PhD Nutrition Professor, Centre for Hospitality and Culinary ArtsEmail: linda.gillis@georgebrown.ca

The Art of Role PlayAre you searching for ideas to keep your students engaged in a less than stimulating lesson? Yes, I mean Boring with a capital ‘B’. Active learning, through role play, improves knowledge retention and increases student confidence (Lewis, 2013). Peruse my examples below:

The Tedious RubricDescribing the ‘rules’ of the rubric for an assignment can be extremely unengaging. Students would rather listen to the history of indoor plumb-ing than hear what will earn them a good grade. So how about trying this role play to peak interest. Example: Have your students play the roles of overrated actors (e.g. Nicolas Cage or Gwyneth Paltrow). Let me explain: imagine you are describing an oral presentation rubric. You want to explain your expectations of memorized information, profes-sional slides and a well -rehearsed presentation. (Blah blah blah-sorry if that bored you). Write a script, for the topic of the oral presentation, for four volunteers who will act it out in front of the class. They are welcome to exaggerate the details. For example, have one actor put notes in front of her eyes and read without eye contact with the audience. Another will continually inter-rupt asking if it is his turn to speak. Have one student giggle throughout the presentation (that always gets a laugh). Put up a slide with small font, no pictures and full sentences. After the ‘play’ is over, ask the class what could have been done differently and how to edit the slide. It only takes five minutes, but gets your points across in a memorable way.

The Infant in All of UsIf students can ‘become’ their clients, customers, patients, etc. for a few minutes, understanding of material will likely increase. Example from a nutrition course I teach: I wanted the students to learn the developmental stages of eating for an infant with the help of six stu-dents (three as students and three as infants). The class had to guess the age of the infants by the way they acted. Garbage bags for bibs and applesauce with spoons were employed. The two-month old stuck out her tongue (extrusion reflex) and turned her head away (not developmentally ready for food) (at one point, she fell off her chair, so I gave her an Oscar). The six-month old accepted the food but lost most of it on his chin. The 12-month old tried to feed herself, grab food from the other infants, while throwing a temper tantrum when denied. (Cameras flew out during this role play!)

The Brave ProfessorCourageous professors can play a role themselves. Example: When teaching the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, I told the class to listen to my words during the class to determine if I was suffer-ing from this disease or simply demonstrating the normal aging brain. For example, I asked one of the students to ‘work the clicker’ for me to change the slides. Then I gave him a shiny new nickel for helping me. Someone with Alzheimer’s may give away large sums of money to strangers thus indicating the non-hefty pay of five cents was simply a sign of a mon-ey-savvy individual. Students listened intently and shared their thoughts at the end of class. Amazing what they retained. I wish I had the research to substantiate these specific role play tech-niques (future plans…) My students say it facilitates learning! One said “I will never forget Dr. G and her aging brain”.

Reference

Lewis, D., et. al. (2013) ‘Putting words into action’ project: using role play in skills train-ing. British Journal of Nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 22 (11), 638-644.

Role Play in the Classroom

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georgebrown.ca/staffdevelopment @gbcstaffdev

FacultyConnect FacultyConnect is an online video hub for faculty by faculty designed to share best teaching prac-tices for fostering well-being in the classroom. Created in collaboration with Healthy Campus and Organizational & Staff Development. Videos are available under the faculty tab on the Organizational & Staff Development website (www.georgebrown.ca/staff_development). Check them out!

Over 1000 views since inception (September 2016).

NEW! Integrating Late Admits – a 3 part series with tips on how to integrate students who join classes late – featuring: Ana Pereira, Winston Marcellin & Doris Miculan-Bradley. If you have a best practice you would like to share get in touch!

Contact: Kate Klein at x 3033kate.klein@georgebrown.ca

Connect to Success Connect to Success is a weekly rotating series of dynamic slides/videos outlining important dates, upcoming events and tips for student suc-cess. Tailored for each campus and displayed on CCTV screens, Youtube and available for upload by faculty to Blackboard. Created in collaboration with Peerconnect and other service areas. Sample videos are available on Peerconnect’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UC52rQ7_OWezCHD7w05666Jg.

Over 1900 views since we started circu-lating video links (October 2016).

NEW! We are working on uploading content globally to Blackboard so faculty don’t have to manually upload videos. Stay tuned for details. If you’d like to participate by posting videos on your blackboard course shell, let us know!

Contact: Alexandra Seay at x 2733 alexandra.seay@georgebrown.ca

Connect to the Heart of GBCConnect to the Heart of GBC, modeled after the Humans of New York, aims to recognize mem-bers of our community who care deeply about student success, connection and community building at GBC. Anyone in the GBC community can anonymously nominate a colleague or stu-dent to be profiled. A collaborative effort led by Academic & Student Affairs (www.georgebrown.ca/asa). Profiles are integrated into Connect to Success slides/videos. Marketing & Communications also posts them on social media.

Over 100 faculty and students profiled since we started (September 2015).

NEW! You. We accept nominations all year around. If you know a colleague or student in the GBC community who goes out of their way to help students succeed, nominate them today!

Contact: Alison Burns at x2097 ABurns@georgebrown.ca

Creating Connections for Faculty & Students at George Brown:

By Alexandra Seay Retention Project Manager, Academic & Student Affairs Email: alexandra.seay@georgebrown.ca

Our students tell us that having one personal connection with a faculty or staff member can make the difference between persisting and dropping out. Over the last three years, the College-wide Retention Initiative has spearheaded a series of cross-divisional initiatives designed to encourage connection between the college and students and amongst faculty. As with many college-wide retention initiatives, FacultyConnect, Connect to Success and Connect to the Heart of GBC, are now embedded in practice at the divisional level and are continuing in 2017-2018 academic year. Find out more about these initiatives and how you can participate.

Ways of Connecting This Fall3

Issue 2 / Volume 2 / Summer 2017