14 minute read
Eye on Acadia
The impact of a pandemic
Acadia researchers shift focus, explore effects of the COVID-19 crisis on society
By Fred Sgambati (’83)
Acadia University has faced many difficult situations during its 182-year history, but the novel coronavirus pandemic has challenged its resilience and tested members of its community like never before .
On the advice of the Nova Scotia Medical Officer of Health and the Government of Canada, the University cancelled all in-person classes and labs and closed its doors to the general public in March . Students and employees were sent home, Convocation was postponed, campus tours and all oncampus events were subsequently suspended .
As the world struggled to cope with the realities of COVID-19, researchers in the Acadia community took a deep breath, rolled up their sleeves in a new work-from-home normal, and shifted gears . They began to examine the myriad impacts of the global pandemic on everyday people and explore issues as diverse as food security; inter-personal relationships; how working conditions have changed, particularly for food-service workers, long-term care workers, and teachers . Other research is looking at alternative teaching approaches in a pandemic; the community-building aspects of virtual choirs; and theological questions for a faith community .
With the help and cooperation of Acadia’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies and the Office of Industry and Community Engagement (ICE), here’s a snapshot of what some members of Acadia’s research community have been doing during the pandemic .
Dr . Edith Callaghan of the Manning School of Business and Dr . Liesel Carlsson from the School of Nutrition and Dietetics are collaborating on a project that explores the challenges of the localized food system; specifically investigating how the local small/medium food producers and distribution networks throughout the Annapolis Valley have pivoted to meet local food needs . They want to identify systems that work well and those that show fragility and need to be redesigned so we are prepared to meet a similar situation in the future .
Nutrition and Dietetics Honours student Emily McCarthy is studying the adaptations small to mediumsized local food producers have had to make in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . Her research seeks to understand: 1) how local food producers had to shift during this crisis in order to meet various needs of their stakeholders; 2) what types of policy or infrastructure supports helped these organizations transition; and 3) the extent to which this experience and lessons learned could improve the resilience of our local food system . McCarthy is in the beginning phases of her interviews and work with Carlsson and Callaghan .
The enemy within? Understanding predictors of intimate partner violence
Meanwhile, Dr . Kathryn Bell and Dr . Diane Holmberg are working to understand the effect of social distancing practices on intimate partner violence (IPV) rates in Canada and the United States . How do pandemics affect psychological functioning and how do deviations to this functioning impact the risk of IPV? This research will help understand how psychological and relational factors contribute to IPV risk during periods of isolation and help public health and allied professionals mitigate the effects of social isolation on couples .
Bell and Holmberg, in collaboration with recent Acadia alumna Erin Norris (’18, ’20) and with support from a SSHRC Institutional Grant, are completing a project on emotional and relational responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States . Preliminary results indicate that difficulties tolerating uncertainty predict mental health symptoms across time . Additional findings suggest that people in romantic relationships reported that the initial pandemic lockdown had more positive than
negative effects on their relationship .
They are also collaborating on a project with Dr . Karen Blair (’07) at Trent University, with support from the Nova Scotia COVID-19 Health Research Coalition, examining interpersonal relationships as a source of risk and resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic, including among Nova Scotians, members of Acadia University’s community, and individuals within LGBTQ+ communities . More than 2,000 people participated in the intake survey and a report summarizing the initial findings was provided to Acadia University’s administration, to inform their decision-making process during the pandemic .
Additional findings from the intake survey indicate that individuals within LGBTQ+ communities encountered greater barriers to seeking and accessing medical services, had less perceived social support and greater economic instability, and experienced greater mental health difficulties than non-LGBTQ+ individuals during the pandemic . Manuscripts on both lines of research are in preparation for submission to peer-reviewed journals . Top row, left to right: Claudine Bonner; Rebecca Casey; Lesley Frank. Second row, left to right: Sarah Rudrum; Jennifer Tinkham; Rachel Brickner
Workers’ experiences during COVID-19
Sociologists Dr . Claudine Bonner, Dr . Jesse Carlson, Dr . Rebecca Casey, Dr . Lesley Frank (’95), Elisabeth Rondinelli and Dr . Sarah Rudrum have teamed up with Education’s Dr . Jennifer Tinkham (’04) and Politics’ Dr . Rachel Brickner to examine how working conditions have changed during the pandemic for food service workers, long-term care workers, and teachers . It is critical to understand how the physical and mental health of these three groups of workers have been impacted by COVID-19 and identify polices that have worked and those that need improvement . Surveys of the three working groups are in the pilot stage and all involved are looking forward with great anticipation to the data collection .
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Practicum in a pandemic: Alternative teaching approaches
Janet Dyment
Elsewhere, in the School of Education, Dr . Janet Dyment and Dr . Tinkham are examining the experiences of pre-service teachers who were forced to shift gears to support ‘at-home learning’ in Nova Scotia . They are interested in determining the implications of this shift and how pre-service teachers meet the needs of K-12 students and families during a time of great societal upheaval .
Isolated Bodies, United Voices: Virtual choirs in the age of COVID-19
Over at the School of Music, Dr . Michelle Boyd (’01) is focused on the pedagogical, musicianship and community-building prospects of virtual choirs in the age of COVID-19 . Unable to sing together in person due to social distancing, choirs around the globe have begun making virtual videos as a means of continuing to perform and connect Michelle Boyd (’01)
with one another . Boyd says, “The Isolated Bodies, United Voices project on virtual choirs is well underway . Since June, I have been working with a great research team comprised of 16 talented musicians, coming together virtually from various parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Montréal and Ottawa . We call ourselves the Acadia University Virtual Singers!
“As part of this project, this laboratory choir will be recording and creating four virtual choir videos that we will release on YouTube at the project’s end . Each of the four choral works we are performing – and the videos we are creating – speak to a different facet of our pandemic experience . We are all eagerly looking forward to the day we can sing together in-person again, but in the meantime, it has been exciting to explore this means of musical collaboration and to continue to perform and be connected with one another . The students express their gratitude that Acadia’s COVID-19 grant program has created an opportunity for us to further research music in the midst of what has been a very challenging time for musicians . ”
Finally, co-funded with the Acadia Divinity College (ADC), Rev . Dr . Stuart Blythe, Associate Professor and John Gladstone Chair of Preaching and Worship of ADC, is investigating the theological questions for faith communities during the pandemic, with a focus on the rhetoric of preaching in five Baptist congregations across Atlantic Canada on Sunday, March 29, 2020 . Besides social and economic concerns, the pandemic has raised theological questions for people seeking
Stuart Blythe
reassurance and answers to the meaning of life . This rhetorical analysis will explore ways that preachers faced the pandemic with positive social and religious messages .
Blythe now has six detailed sermon transcripts from the March 29 services . This date was the first Sunday after the State of Emergency was declared in Nova Scotia and all preachers referred to the COVID-19 situation and used a variety of language to describe the “times .” Blythe is currently gathering demographic information about the congregations and the next stage will be a detailed rhetorical analysis that will indicate the sort of stance preachers took as community leaders and the faith perspectives they brought to bear upon the situation .
Indeed, each challenge provides opportunity, and members of Acadia’s research community have risen to the occasion, adapted, and are working diligently to interpret the social, personal and health effects of the pandemic . We look forward to learning more as their research unfolds, and applaud their multidisciplinary approach at a time when, by banding together and supporting one another, they seek to create a better future for all .
Alumni Association commitment to COVID-19 Student Relief Fund increased to $100,000
By Fred Sgambati (’83)
Wow, they did it again! The Acadia Alumni Association doubled its commitment to COVID-19 relief at Acadia to $100,000 by adding another $40,000 to the Student Relief Fund and earmarking $10,000 in June for immediate aid for international students . In May, the Alumni Association acknowledged the tremendous financial pressure facing Acadia students due to the coronavirus pandemic and donated $50,000 to the University’s COVID-19 Student Relief Fund . The fund was created to provide bursary support in variable amounts to second, third and fourth-year students facing ongoing and/or summer employment disruption or other financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic .
The Student Relief Fund was announced in early April and support continued to arrive on an almost daily basis from alumni and friends . The Alumni Association contributed almost half of the Fund’s $225,000 total, which will benefit over 360 students in need .
Alumni Association President Donalda MacBeath (‘75) says, “we understand the impact the pandemic has had on Acadia’s students and wanted to make sure that resources were in place to support their return to school and share in the many academic and social experiences that characterize Acadia .
“We are particularly conscious of the circumstances our international students faced . Our priority as an alumni community comprised of people in more than 60 countries around the world is to extend help where and when it is needed, and we hope this financial aid package assisted in mediating some of the challenges affecting our international students . ”
University President Dr . Peter Ricketts applauded the Association’s commitment, saying, “time and again, Acadia’s alumni community has seen and responded to our students’ needs . On behalf of the University, I’d like to extend my deepest thanks to the Alumni Association for this generous gift and acknowledge members of our wonderful alumni community for supporting in a very meaningful way our COVID-19 Student Relief Fund . We are all stronger together, and support like this means we could look forward with excitement and great anticipation to the fall and a return to campus of our students . ”
Coordinated teamwork guides Acadia through dynamic change
The global pandemic has brought about change on an unimaginable scale . Dr . Dale Keefe, Provost and Vice-President Academic, has worked with internal and external partners to engineer Acadia’s COVID-19 strategy
By Rachel Cooper (’89)
When news broke of Canada’s first case of COVID-19 last January, Dr . Dale Keefe began planning Acadia’s response to a potential pandemic . “Back then, we were looking at what might happen if there was a case in the area or an outbreak on campus,” says Keefe, who is Acadia’s Provost and Vice-President Academic . As chair of the University’s COVID-19 planning task force, he is in charge of the returnto-campus plan and safety protocols .
“None of our initial plans considered that the entire province or the country would shut down and borders would be closed for months,” he adds . “With what was known then, nobody could anticipate this scale of change . ”
Besides its scale, the pace of change has been daunting . “One of the big challenges with all of this is that things are changing so rapidly,” Keefe says . “It has been hard to predict what the provincial and federal guidelines will be three or four months out . Even now, we’re only four weeks away from the start of term [at time of writing, in late August], when students will return to campus . So, while we’re making sure we’re following the current guidelines, we’re also trying to predict where we’ll be in one or two months . ”
Team effort
Keefe set up working groups early to establish plans for safe movement around campus, how classes could be operated safely, and all aspects of student life . As a residential campus, Acadia had to apply protocols not only to the delivery of courses and programs, but also to every aspect of student life on campus, including residences, dining hall and social events . Student life off campus also had to be factored in . The new protocols and updates are on Acadia’s COVID-19 information site: https://www2 .acadiau .ca/ covid-19 .html . Photo: Peter Oleskevich
“There has been a lot of coordination to make sure all the units put in place the plans they need, as well as the protocols for their individual units,” Keefe says . “In addition, we’re making sure the protocols are uniform and in agreement across the different units . Coordination is a big part of that . ”
People have worked long hours in what has been a team effort, Keefe says . “Many people have done a lot of work behind the scenes . What you see is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the effort people have put in . And that effort has been from all the staff and faculty members, but in particular the ones working with the task force . I’ve been chairing the task force, but they’ve been doing all the hard work . ”
The Planning Task Force includes representatives of the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA), Senate and the Acadia Students’ Union (ASU), as well as a number of Planning Task Force Working Groups, with members from administration, faculty, staff, and students .
Delivering the Acadia experience
Health and safety are top priorities, Keefe points out, but he and the working groups also tried to minimize the disruption for students, faculty and staff .
“We wanted to make sure we could do that in a safe environment and following all the different protocols while still delivering the Acadia experience,” he says . “Acadia is known for that
“When we get through it, we have to make sure that we are stronger and have learned from it.”
Dr . Dale Keefe on life after the pandemic
personal connection; for students and faculty being involved in the community . ”
Keefe’s two biggest challenges are keeping up-to-date with all the changes, and then making sure that students, faculty and staff know and understand what the changes are .
“A big part of that is not only how we adapt to new information about the disease and new public health protocols from the province, but also how we keep everybody informed and make sure they’re following the protocols and the best advice at the time,” he says . “What we tell them this week may become slightly different next week . ”
Beyond the pandemic
Despite the hurdles, Keefe is confident in Acadia’s strong future . “People are saying we could be dealing with this for one to two years, but that’s short term in the life of an institution,” he says . “When we get through it, we have to make sure that we are stronger and have learned from it .”
He points to how faculty members have engaged and found new ways to incorporate technology and distance learning into their teaching . “It’s a lot of work for them, but one of the silver linings may be that changes we thought would be impossible, or would take years, people have done in a matter of weeks in some cases . And that’s exciting,” he says . “Many of the things we’ve learned from this and have had to do to support students, we’ll be able to continue to do postpandemic . That bodes well for Acadia and for our students . ”
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