upgrade complete: faculty of extension recognizes student achievements at graduation 2013 “You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it.” -John Updike (cited by MLA Jacquie Fenske in her greetings to the Extension graduating class of 2013) For 885 students, June 7, 2013 represented a key milestone in their lifelong journey of learning. Regardless of their age, personal lives, or other obligations, each took upon him- or herself a program of part-time study at the Faculty of Extension, and that afternoon, certificates and congratulations from the uppermost echelons of the University community were conferred on the freshly-minted associate alumni at this year’s graduation ceremony. “Part-time learning is hard,” conceded Dean Katy Campbell in her message to the graduates. “I know that personally. Both of my graduate degrees were done part-time, as a single mother, trying to establish a new career in a foreign country. You’ve taken a journey that requires determination, optimism, confidence, flexibility, vision, exceptional organization skills, dedication to lifelong learning and personal achievement, and immense stores of intellectual and emotional energy. We are all very proud to have played a part in helping you reach your goals.” Also on hand to welcome each graduand across the stage were University Vice President Debra Pozega Osburn; Chancellor Ralph Young; members of the U of A Senate; Jacquie Fenske, MLA for Fort Saskatchewan and Vegreville; and, delivering the address to the graduates, Yasmin Jivraj, President of Acrodex and representative of the Ismaili Council of Edmonton. “I am deeply honoured to address the truly inspirational group of people seated before me,” said Yasmin.
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“The University of Alberta is one of the finest schools in this country, and its graduates are poised to do great things in this world.” Ms. Jivraj, who was also instrumental working with the Faculty and Edmonton’s Ismaili Community to develop a new Citation in Entrepreneurship, the first students of which graduated this year. Yasmin went on to advise the graduates to “embrace technology and innovation,” noting that “success will come to those who get in front of the trends.” She also encouraged graduates to continue learning, citing the words of Ismaili leader, his Highness the Aga Khan (recipient of an honorary doctorate conferred by the University of Alberta): “Educating effective future leaders in a rapidly changing world requires the development of individuals possessing a strong ethical orientation, agile and adaptable minds, pragmatic and cooperative temperaments and a capacity for intellectual humility.” Twenty-two programs graduated students this year, from the Aboriginal Health Citation to the Human Resources Management Certificate to the Residential Interiors Certificate. Congratulations to our inspiring grads!
now we are 20: women’s words writing program celebrates the dawn of its third decade in 2013 “We women writers are all potential revolutionaries. Our voices, muted through history, can sound out to imagine collective futures where we all flourish.” --Janice Williamson, from Story is the Other Side of Sorrow: Writing for Your Life (in the Women’s Words Anthology) Programs and courses at the Faculty of Extension are as susceptible to the rigours of time as anything else -- as public interests, job markets, and community needs change, learning opportunities are pruned, augmented, and sometimes jettisoned altogether. A program that lives past its teens is a rare and remarkable one. And both these descriptors fit the now 20-year-old Women’s Words writing program perfectly.
as the keystone instructor, flanked with support by Women’s Program Director Reinhild Boehm and Susan Boychuk, who to this day continues to be instrumental in coordinating Women’s Words. “Over 20 years, I have yet to experience a single Women’s Words writing week that could be described as unremarkable,” said Susan. “Consistently, women from wildly different backgrounds and experiences join us, some from Edmonton, others from all manners of far-flung locations. There’s something very special about this program. I constantly hear it described by our students and instructors as a life-changing experience.”
“In 1994, we planted a seed—one of many planted by those who heard the silence in women’s lives and who saw a way to end it” said Eunice Scarfe, long-serving writing instructor and original coarchitect of the program. Born and incubated in Extension’s Women’s Program and Resource Centre (which operated from 1981 to 1997), the summer intensive writing week was an extension of University resources intended to help women find their distinct voice in a supportive, safe environment. Loosely following a model established by the International Women’s Writing Guild (albeit with purposely smaller class sizes), Eunice took the helm
This year, Susan points out, is particularly remarkable, as Extension welcomed back a number of long-time students, including the oldest and youngest to ever enroll in the program. What’s more, to mark the 20th anniversary, the Faculty has published “Women’s Words: An Anthology,” compiling written works by students and instructors from the past two decades. Edited by instructors Janice Williamson and Shirley A. Serviss, the compendium salutes in its introduction “all the courageous women who have attended Women’s Words over the past 20 years. It is because you came and continue to come, regardless of location or sacrifice that this program continues. Year after year, you have opened yourselves up to new possibilities, shared your writing, your dreams, and your pain, listened with continued next page Page 2
open hearts and supported each other. It is our hope that in reading this collection of women’s voices other women will be inspired to find their voice through writing.” The anthology was launched with a reading by some of its contributors on the evening of June 5. Besides this, a number of other free events were open to Women’s Words students this year, including the opening reception, a number of guest lectures, celebratory dinner and student readings, and a talk from Eunice Scarfe entitled “Strong Women/Strong Words—20 Years of Writing.” Said Eunice: “The principles governing the design of Women’s Words remain unchanged. All women are welcome: all ages, all levels of experience, all forms of writing, all degrees of education. Through participating in the creative act of writing, women develop confidence, competence, and fluency--as well as awareness of shared and often unspoken aspects of experience.”
significant import: english language program begins testing for cohort of brazilian science students June 16, 2013 was an exciting day for Extension’s English Language program as 60 Brazilian students from three different time zones participated in the ELP Online English Assessment. The online test, which mirrors the paper-based ELP placement test, was developed in-house by the ELP’s instructional team. The test results will determine the eligibility of these students to study in our program for six to eight months before they begin their degree program at main campus. For these students, who applied to the Science Without Borders scholarship program funded by the Brazilian government, this was also a critical and exciting point in their own histories. Long-serving ELP instructor Laura Gallant was the coordinator/ and proctor of the test, while Vincius Barro, an intern from Brazil, stood by to provide IT support. Vincius himself received a Science Without Borders scholarship and has been studying Engineering full-time and English language part-time since last Fall. The group who wrote the online test is one of three cohorts coming to ELP this year; staff have been planning intensely to welcome these students who will participate in the Intensive Day Program or English for Academic Purposes in July, September and January 2014. The university consortium, CALDO (Alberta, Laval, Dalhousie and Ottawa) is the driving force to encourage Brazilian students to come to Canada. CALDO received a list of 200 students wishing to study in Canada in September. Page 3
an energetic crowd centre for public involvement co-presents the findings of edmonton citizen panel Ever since the clear, light crude burst out of Leduc #1 oil well on February 13, 1947, Edmonton assumed the alias Oil City, for better and for worse. Throughout booms and busts, the city has owed its economic viability to fossil fuel extraction, and though the world’s dependence on oil doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon, a consciousness of the need to scrutinize this dependence has grown, particularly in this provincial capital.
to learn about and grapple with issues of energy and climate,” said Fiona Cavanagh, Director of CPI. “The participants were a highly-diverse group of citizens carefully recruited for their attitudinal and demographic diversity.”
In July 2011, Edmonton City Council approved an environmental strategic plan called “The Way We Green,” which identified climate change and energy supply as the two greatest risks to the city’s longterm viability. Within a year, a discussion paper was published by research think-tank the Pembina Institute and green community design firm HB Lamarc, identifying possible policy changes to reduce fossil fuel dependence and harmful oilrelated emissions. These recommendations, while rooted in thorough planning and up-to-date research, were still potentially volatile subjects in the court of public opinion; in a progressive city that owes a great deal of its livelihood to oil, opinions about energy policies are many and thoroughly polarized. How then could it be determined which recommendations would yield a strategy that best represents the will of the people? The best answer, according to the City of Edmonton and the University of Alberta, is the most obvious: Ask the people themselves. The Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate Challenges was to become an ambitious and multi-faceted project for the Centre for Public Involvement, a partnership between the City and the University dedicated to advanced research and learning in the area of public involvement. Working closely with the Alberta Climate Dialogue [ABCD] group and the City’s Office of Environment, CPI set about jointly designing, recruiting for, and implementing a panel representative of all ages, income brackets, wards, education levels, and attitudes.
Building on previous work of the CPI in implementing two previous citizens’ panels and a citizen jury, Fiona’s team, along with key expertise and researchers of ABCD, recruited 56 Edmontonians who represented all key demographics and psychographics and, remarkably, were willing to give up six Saturdays (42 hours) of intense learning, scrutiny, and discussion in the name of more representative decision-making in local energy policies. Between October 13 and December 1 2012, panellists were brought up to speed on the pertinent issues with the most balanced and up-to-date information as possible. Tempering their own diverse experiences and expertise with facts from a number of presentations, discussion papers, and a citizen’s handbook on energy and climate issues, the group participated in professionally-facilitated discussions in order to identify common ground and divergence on Edmonton’s possible future as a low-carbon city. Recommendations to the City were forged through multiple rounds of anonymous voting using electronic, hand-held devices. The results of the process were, at least to certain members of the panel, both positive and surprising.
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“I came in, and there were a few others who were likeminded, in that we didn’t believe in the science of climate change,” said Scott Hannah, who participated in the panel. “But in the process, we found that one of the few things we did agree on is that this doesn’t mean the city shouldn’t move forward with being smart about energy.” The group of 56 achieved remarkable consensus in six areas, which were summarized in the Citizens’ Panel report, presented to Edmonton City Council on April 15, 2013. Among the actionable items proposed were to reduce greenhouse gas; create compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods; to increase the energy-efficiency of buildings; and to increase the uptake of distributed energy generation such as solar heat and power. Says the report: “Our recommendations provide a clear and reliable representation to you as decision-makers of what Edmonton as a whole would want if every citizen could be given the time, support, exposure to diverse perspectives, and balanced information needed to reach an informed conclusion.” Though at the time of writing, it is uncertain which recommendations will be considered by City Council, Fiona is confident that the months of hard work and deliberation were absolutely worthwhile: “This kind of rigorous, innovative citizen involvement is essential for strengthening decision-making and building the capacity and trust of citizens. I’m extremely proud of the work that has been accomplished by our centre, by our partners, and certainly by our panel participants in this unique and very important project.” The Centre for Public Involvement, a centre of excellence affiliated with the Faculty of Extension and housed in Enterprise Square, has advanced new models of citizen involvement and research including impact on policymaking. It is also positioning Edmonton as a leader in innovation in public involvement.
student testimonial: Enrolling in the University of Alberta ERM program as a mature student has provided me with the breadth of current education in the environmental field to enhance my 35 years of knowledge and experience and to pursue new opportunities in Alberta. The program provides a solid foundation of learning with its diverse curriculum, high quality of instruction and emphasis upon knowledge acquisition in providing a challenging and fruitful learning experience. rick shewchuk, EP little bear environmental consulting ltd.
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From www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/05/28/privacy-commissioner-blackstocksurveillance.html
snooping on first nations activist went too far, privacy commissioner says Two government departments went too far in their monitoring of a First Nations children’s advocate and her personal Facebook page, federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has found. Stoddart was looking into a complaint filed by activist Cindy Blackstock, who is the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, an organization fighting the federal government in court over First Nations child welfare programs. The commissioner found that Aboriginal Affairs and the Department of Justice seemed to violate the spirit of the Privacy Act when they compiled reams of information from Blackstock’s personal Facebook page. “It raises the question: who else?” said NDP aboriginal affairs critic Jean Crowder. Officials knew full well that they were delving into personal information, and not just Blackstock’s thoughts on child welfare policy, the report states. However, the senior officials in charge of the First Nations child welfare dossier gave written permission to departmental information technicians to dig through all of Blackstock’s Facebook pages and collect screen shots and records of page excerpts for circulation to other government officials, Stoddart found. At the same time, Blackstock was making obvious efforts to better secure her personal information on her Facebook page, making it clear that the government attention was not welcome, the report added. “The lack of transparency surrounding the collection of personal information by the respondents from the complainant’s Facebook page would seem to violate the spirit, if not the letter of the act,” Stoddart’s report states. The decision shows that even if information is somehow publicly
available, the government can’t just go and collect it in an organized fashion, explained Blackstock’s lawyer, Paul Champ. Rather, personal information can only be gathered for a specific, appropriate purpose. Government officials told the commissioner they needed to monitor Blackstock because she had posted some court-related material that had been deemed privileged. However, Stoddart’s investigation finds that the monitoring of Blackstock’s personal information began before she had posted the material in question. Aboriginal Affairs and the Department of Justice have agreed to cease and desist such monitoring, destroy any personal information not directly linked to federal policy, and set up a new system to make sure such surveillance does not happen again. Stoddart found no merit to two other privacy complaints from Blackstock. She ruled that government monitoring of Blackstock’s speaking engagements was an acceptable activity for officials in their policy work. And she ruled that since there is no public record of government officials accessing the Indian status record database, she could not agree with Blackstock that her privacy was invaded. Blackstock’s organization has been in a legal battle with Ottawa since 2007, arguing that the federal government is discriminating against First Nations children by refusing to provide support at the same level as provincial governments. The dispute is now before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Page 6
a recognized name in academic circles: extension’s dean katy campbell receives award for leadership in higher education When new descriptors are conferred on Academics, they typically appear after the surname; in the case of the Dean of the Faculty of Extension, however, the phrase “award-winning” can now precede her first name. At their 2013 conference in Brandon, the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada organization presented Dr. Katy Campbell with the SWAAC Recognition Award for “demonstrated innovative leadership in advancing the mission of, and achieving outstanding contributions to, their institution and/or to higher education.” In recognition, SWAAC will donate $1000 to the charitable organization or endowment of Katy’s choice. Factors key to Dean Campbell’s win were certainly the enthusiastic letters of reference from her colleagues and friends, Debra Pozega Osburn (the University of Alberta’s Vice President, University Relations) and Ayaz Bhanji, President of Edmonton’s Ismaili Council, the latter with whom Katy worked closely in developing programming for Edmonton’s Ismaili Muslim community. “Dr. Campbell was pivotal in setting up the Fall/Winter 2011-2012 Citation programs in Entrepreneurship and Management,” reads an excerpt from Mr Bhanji’s letter. “The graduating students are now equipped with a recognized university education and are becoming strong role models and ambassadors for the Ismaili community and society at large.” Adds Dr. Osburn: “[Katy] is a strong and effective advocate for diverse communities both within and outside the institution, assuring that we stay connected through our scholarship, community outreach activities, and – perhaps most importantly – our institutional visioning.” The staff and students of Faculty of Extension would like to congratulate our Dean on this award (and SWAAC for making an excellent choice among many excellent candidates). The Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada organization was founded in 1987 to provide a forum and a collective voice for women in senior administrative ranks in Canadian universities and colleges.
student testimonial: I have worked in the construction field for more than 30 years in various capacities. The Construction Administration Program offered at the University of Alberta was recommended to me by a colleague of mine and, although I was initially skeptical about the program, I registered for some initial classes. The program proved to be valuable and provided training that assisted me in becoming a successful project manager. This program has the potential to jump start a profitable, rewarding career in this continually changing field. I helped me to more effectively deal with contractors, engineers and others in the construction industry. I would strongly recommend this program to anyone seeking advancement in the construction field. daren yaremko, CME senior mechanical systems coordinator, edmonton public schools
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blooming brilliant: communications graduate students germinate ideas in the MACT spring institute A large part of the appeal of the University of Alberta’s online Graduate degree in Communication and Technology (MACT) is that, for 49 weeks of the year, the learning and research experience is parttime and online. What has been omitted from the program description is that for three weeks in the spring, the learning becomes anything BUT part-time and online… for some very good reasons. “Our three-week spring institute was built into the design of the Communications and Technology program so our students and instructors could meet one another, discuss various topics and projects, and strengthen their learning and study skills,” said Gordon Gow, Director of the program. More than this, the Spring Institute, which wrapped up Friday, May 24 at a celebratory dinner at Edmonton’s Marriott Courtyard, involves the completion of two core courses for first- and secondyear students, as well as a research symposium for second-year students showcasing poster abstracts for their final research project. This year, the posters laid out an impressive number of piquant topics, ranging from the esoteric (“Instructional Gaming for the Service Industry”) to the meta (“Multimedia Enhanced Course Content vs. Text Based Content in an On-Line Course
Environment”) to the ultra-topical (“Evaluating Collective Correction During the Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion and the Boston Marathon Bombing”). “Through displaying and discussing their final project abstracts to members of the University commmunity, our students are able to discuss with other experts their rationale and methodology,” explained Gordon. “Historically, this has helped to galvanize students’ final research projects and yield some very impressive results at the conclusion of the program.” The learning portion of the Institute culminated with a lecture from distinguished scholar Dr. Robin Mansell, Professor of New Media and the Internet in the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Department of Media and Communications. Her lecture, entitled “Internet Social Imaginaries: Crowdsourcing, Collective Action and Governance,” shared insights on crowdsourcing as a form of online collective action in the light of alternative ways of imagining the development of the Internet. Following the evening’s celebration, MACT students split up to return to their careers as athletics events managers, television producers, network analysts, librarians, and a slew of other divergent professions, ready to take on another year of distance study in this world-class graduate program. Page 8
guardian angels: delegates of access and privacy 2013 stand on guard for information stewardship “It is very appropriate that, at the only conference in Canada that focuses on Access to Information AND Privacy, I have the pleasure of making this announcement”: This was the preface issued by Don Scott, Alberta Associate Minister of Accountability, Transparency, and Transformation, in his welcoming address to the delegates of the 11th annual Access and Privacy Conference, delivered by the Faculty of Extension. His announcement that the provincial government would, as of that moment, begin the process of reviewing Alberta’s information access and privacy legislation received a warm reception from the 300some attendees present in the banquet room of the Marriott River Cree Resort. Making his timing even more appropriate was the fact that 2013 marked the 30th anniversary of Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy Acts (for which the planning team chose “We Stand on Guard” as the theme for the conference). “By reviewing this Act, we will ensure we achieve that fine balance between the public’s right to know and an individual’s right to privacy,” he said. “This review is another way we are ensuring that transparency and accountability are cornerstones of this government.” Minister Scott’s review process will involve meetings with stakeholders across the province; public opinions, one might wager, will likely be more polarized and fervent than those expressed when Alberta first rolled out its Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act in 2000. Today, when the eyecatching news headlines of the day might report massive secret surveillance policies by democratic governments or gross misappropriation of public funding, access and privacy are increasingly and more frequently at the top of the public agenda.
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The Access and Privacy conference, the longestrunning and foremost of its kind in Canada, extends the vision of Extension’s Information Access and Protection of Privacy (IAPP) certificate program to educate and enable professionals to maintain the highest standards for information rights and stewardship. Over three days of many keynote and plenary addresses, breakout sessions, and workshops, subject matter at the 2013 conference ranged from management of personal information during an imminent public threat to privacy and security in cloud computing to social media challenges in public schools. The roster of over 40 speakers included both the Information and the Privacy Commissioners of Canada, as well as John Weigelt (CTO for Microsoft Canada), and Dr. Ann Curry, professor in Extension’s graduate program in Communications and Technology (who spoke on advances in surveillance technology and the loss of privacy). Wayne MacDonald, long-time conference chair and IAPP Program Manager, was audibly pleased with this edition of Access and Privacy, noting in his closing remarks to attendees: “I have worked in this field since the very beginning, and to have seen our profession and its leaders and practitioners grow so tremendously over that time makes me so very proud to count myself as your colleague.”