volume m24, issue no. 21, june 8, 2020...library has two new databases vanier now has 2 new...
TRANSCRIPT
Intercom is published regularly and serves to inform Vanier staff and teachers of notices and special events. It is posted on the Vanier College Website and distributed electronically. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions should be in WORD, and sent as an attachment. No formatting or bullets. Photos are welcome. Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on the Wednesday preceding the week of publication.
Save the dates in August
Volume M24, Issue No. 21, June 8, 2020
Plans for Autumn Events and Festivals!
Although we do not yet know the exact form the Autumn 2020 Semester will take, it will likely not be normal. Hence, Vanier’s annual fall
events such as the Social Science Festival, Women of Science Week, Big Band Concert, English Symposium, and other events, may not take
place as they usually do in the Auditorium. In fact, they may become virtual events instead. Already, the28th Annual Holocaust and Genocide
Symposium, which was cancelled in April due to Covid 19 and the college closure, will take place virtually November 9-13, 2020.
Please let me know what you are thinking of doing in the fall for our regular festivals or what other types of events you may have in mind so
that I can help in any way possible, and the Communications Department can assist you in making your event a success. While you may be
swamped with redesigning your courses this summer, I’m sure you are also thinking of how to give our students, and especially our new first
year students the same a rich and varied experience of Vanier students usually receive.
Please let me know your views on fall events and festivals, your tentative programs, and whatever questions you may have so that we can
work together to maintain the high standard of student offerings and opportunities Vanier is renowned for.
Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications and Corporate Affairs,
Vanier College Social Media Accounts
If you are considering starting a social media account for a Vanier program, department or project, and are not sure what to do, then read
on. Take a look at our guidelines for Facebook & Twitter. We will be preparing more guidelines soon.
Contact Vanier Communications and ask us any questions you might have. Your main contact in the department keeping track of the Vanier
accounts is Zsofia Orszagh. You may reach her via email at [email protected]
The College needs to know about the existence of any account linked to Vanier or using the Vanier name, so Vanier Communications asks for
access to Vanier Social Media Accounts. We do this so that important accounts don’t just disappear or become inaccessible because people
change jobs within Vanier, retire or leave for other opportunities. We had one case where the account holder passed away. So in order not to
lose the accounts, it is important to keep us informed and provide us (Zsofia Orszagh) with administrative rights. Once we have that, we will
also add your account under the list of Vanier Social Media accounts page on our website.
Thank you.
Zsofia Orszagh, Web Communications Officer, Communications and Corporate Affairs
Library has two New Databases
Vanier now has 2 new databases: Artstor and Oxford English Dictionary online.
Artstor is a database of images from art museums, artists and photographers around the world. Oxford English Dictionary is a historical
dictionary of the English language published by Oxford University Press since 1884.
You can access these databases from the following pages: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/learning-commons/library/find-articles-films/ or
https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/library/databases-find-articles/article-databases-by-title/
Nina Arabian, Library Services
VConnect Peer Mentors Needed!
VConnect is a peer mentoring program which aims to offer a supportive non-judgmental space for new students to build connections within
the Vanier Community, seek guidance and advice regarding their college success.
If you know of any students that are returning in the Fall 2020 semester who would be great mentors, please encourage them to apply.
Application form: https://bit.ly/3flhH8X
Ourania Zafiri, TASC
https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/mentoring/mentors/vconnect/
RespectWorks Tools for these Times
Hello Everyone!
I am very excited to share a new infographic, Tools for Working Together in These Times, that contains a user-friendly summary of suggestions
on how to nurture healthier virtual working spaces and corresponding resources and tools, some of which were referenced in previous
intercom posts.
This infographic is accessible through the RespectWorks Website and will be featured in the online learning Toolkit produced by the PSI office
and college collaborators (check out the PSI office announcements for more details!). I hope this tool proves helpful; feel free to contact me
with any questions or feedback.
I continue to be reachable by email on weekdays and available to schedule verbal consultations around when would best suit our respective
availabilities.
Congratulations to everyone for your tremendous efforts over the course of these intense last several weeks. Sending sincere best-wishes to
you and yours this summer!
Anuska Martins, Respectful Learning and Workplace Environment Advisor,
Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications and Corporate Affairs
STAR Program During Covid 19
Please note below a poster announcing changes and an extension to the STAR Program for students due to Covid 19. I you are in touch with your students please let them know of these changes, if you can. Thank you.
Kristen Whitelaw, Student Services
28th Annual Vanier College symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide
As many of you know, the symposium had to be cancelled in March due to Covid-19 and the college’s closure. We have been able to reschedule
the symposium to coincide with Kristallnacht and so, the symposium will now be held virtually (through the use of Zoom or some related
technology). All of our headline speakers have agreed to speak in November and they include:
Dr. Matthias Becker: Matthias is a postdoc research fellow at the Vidal Sassoon Center at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and he is
affiliated to the Center for Research on Antisemitism (ZfA) at the Technical University in Berlin and to CENTRIC, Sheffield Hallam University.
His research lies within the disciplines of (pragma) linguistics, research on prejudice, and internet studies and focuses on the construction of
implicit hate speech.
Kyle Matthews: Kyle Matthews is the Executive Director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia
University. His work focuses on human rights, international security, the Responsibility to Protect, global threats, and social media and
technology, and global cities. He works closely with the Canadian All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and has advised
Members of Parliament on issues related
to international peace and security.
Dr. Barbara Perry: Dr. Perry is the Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism. She has written extensively in the area of hate crime
and right-wing extremism. She has made substantial contributions to the limited scholarship on hate crime in Canada.
Tommy Schnurmacher: Tommy is a former radio host who was on CJAD. He recently has written a memoir to his mother entitled “Makeup
Tips From Auschwitz: How Vanity Saved My Mother’s Life”. He will be speaking about his experience growing up as a Holocaust survivor’s son
and how that influenced his own life.
More speakers will be added throughout the summer months. As you prepare for you fall semester, please keep these dates in mind.
Marlene Grossman, Psychology Department
ECE Weekly Tips Good morning, from the Early Childhood Education department! We hope that the past week went smoothly, and we wish you a wonderful upcoming week! This will be our final Intercom for the year, so we thought, now that the warmer weather seems to be here to stay, we’d send you off with some great DIY recipes! For starters, here’s all the info you’ll need to enjoy a classic summer activity -blowing bubbles!
To make your own bubble mixture, here is what you’ll need:
Basic Homemade Bubbles Recipe
Store all homemade bubble solutions in an airtight, labeled container. A clean
glass mason jar or jelly jar works perfectly.
And here are some recipes for another summer necessity- sidewalk chalk!
We’ve had a lot of fun sharing ideas with you over the past few months- we hope you’ve enjoyed it too! If you are looking for daily ideas, links and information throughout the summer, follow us on Twitter @vanierece Have a wonderful summer everyone - stay safe and stay healthy!
Mary Johnson, Early Childhood Education
You can make your own chalk by following these steps:
Prepare your mold- line a toilet paper roll or other cardboard tube with wax
paper, wax side facing up. Tape one end of the tube so your mixture doesn’t
leak out.
Mix equal parts cornstarch and water in a mixing bowl. Add food colouring if
you want to make coloured chalk. Stir the mixture until it has a smooth
consistency.
Pour or spoon the chalk mixture into your molds and cover the end of the roll
with wax paper. Let your chalk dry for 12 hours or so. Then remove the chalk
from the roll and voilà!
Another fun project is to recycle old broken wax crayons so they can be used again,
using solar energy! Here’s how:
Place broken crayon pieces (remove the paper first) into a plastic egg carton. Place the
egg carton on a cookie sheet and leave it in the sun. The broken crayons will slowly
melt- once they’re all melted, let your new crayons cool before removing them from the
egg carton molds- and there ya go! Brand new, super cool crayons that are ready to
live a second life!
Finally, you can create soap crayons- put one cup of mild, powdered laundry soap in a bowl. Slowly add water one teaspoon at a time, until the soap is liquid. If you
like, add a couple of drops of food colouring. Stir well. Pour the mixture into an ice cube tray and set it to dry in a sunny spot for a few days. Once the crayons have
hardened, pop them out of the tray- cool! These are also great for drawing on sinks or the bathtub.
PSI News
To support you in navigating the uncertain waters ahead, the PSI office and collaborators from across the college have prepared an online learning toolkit called Teaching and Learning in Uncertain Times. The toolkit includes synchronous workshops and asynchronous resources such as online course design tools, course plan templates and samples, ideas on how to respond to student challenges with care in online contexts, and much more! SYNCHRONOUS WORKSHOPS To sign up for our workshop offerings, register here. An invitation to the workshop will be sent out to participants on the morning of the scheduled session. Toolkit Launch – June 5th
Meet the toolkit designers
Get tips on how to use the toolkit
Toolkit Tours (General) – June 8th, 10th
Join us for a guided tour of the entire toolkit
SALTISE “CourseFlow” Workshop – June 9th
Explore the dynamic course design app, "CourseFlow"
Led and facilitated by members of SALTISE
Toolkit Tours (Course Planning) – June 11th
Join the toolkit team for a focused discussion on course planning
Learn how to use our handy course-planning tool
ASYNCHRONOUS RESOURCES To access the toolkit resources, please watch our brief instructional video on how to sign into Vanier’s Moodle page, or follow the steps below: Login steps:
Visit https://vanier.moodle.decclic.qc.ca
Click the red Login with O365 button
Enter your Vanier credentials
Scroll to Teaching Resources & Sandboxes
Click Online Learning Toolkit
Scroll down to find Self enrolment (Student)
Enter enrolment key: toolkith20
Tips:
If you have never logged into O365, you will need to do so*
Mobile device users, download the Moodle app for the best experience
Have fun exploring the toolkit at your own pace!
*To log into your Vanier O365 account, do the following: 1. Go to portal.office.com in your browser;
2. Input your Vanier email address and password
If you are already logged into a personal O365 account, you can use a different browser to login to Vanier’s O365 or switch accounts.
Elana Cooperberg, Pedagogical Support and Innovation