ENGAGING MINDS UPLIFTING LIVES
2012 REPORT
extension.ualberta.ca
ENGAGING MINDS AND UPLIFTING LIVES: THE SECOND CENTURY
W
hen the University of Alberta
opinion. However, something else hap-
our hands in the Cuban soil in the name of
was founded more than a
pened during those processes of
better urban agriculture or working with a
century ago, Albert Ottewell,
extending the university to its non-
student to create a communications
Extension’s first Director, was charged
traditional learner communities: We
network to improve safety among
with taking its knowledge and learning
discovered, as many institutions are also
prostituted individuals in our home city of
opportunities beyond the campus to all the
discovering, that by going beyond out-
Edmonton, our work is always changing
citizens of Alberta, regardless of location
reach and actively engaging in discourse,
and evolving. It is not easy to pin down,
or privilege.
planning and collaboration with those
and these examples are by no means
communities, the benefits to each partner
exhaustive.
The challenge of sharing knowledge with and among a variety of communities required a lot of energy, innovation, and creativity, and from those early days of
Dr. Katy Campbell Dean, Faculty of Extension
“We derive great strength from
ity to change, and to inspire change, and from this strength we continue to pioneer
From a century of evolving university
in our endeavours, giving credit to the
extension, the principles and practice of
work of our early founders, while cham-
University of Alberta President’s goal of
university-community engagement have
pioning ideals that will define us in our
the “uplifting of the whole people”.
become the very fibre of Extension today.
second century.
Throughout its evolution, Extension has been a multifarious concept. The past one hundred years has brought epic changes
inspire change, and from this
landscapes worldwide, and Extension has continued to develop and adapt methods of touching lives in communities throughout Alberta and now far beyond its borders. Today, Extension is a dynamic, research-driven Faculty. Learning and research are still our priorities, and we do both spectacularly well, in my unabashed
ENGAGING MINDS
otherwise.
We derive great strength from our abil-
extremely resourceful in pursuing our first
to social, economic, and technological
in our endeavours…”
tive synergies that could not be realized
university outreach, Extension has been
our ability to change, and to strength we continue to pioneer
can balloon exponentially, creating posi-
It comes alive as our students are inspired to take their knowledge into their work, home, and social lives. It is manifest in the incredible work of our research faculty, who, under the banners of engaged scholarship and scholarship of engagement, approach opportunities to mesh their knowledge with that of their commu-
It is an extraordinary privilege to serve as Dean of the Faculty of Extension at the conclusion of our first century and at the beginning of our second. Here’s to the future, and here’s to the as-yet unimagined learning and discovery that a commitment to engagement will bring.
nity counterparts to impressive syntheses. On the pages to come, you will read examples of the many different forms that community engagement takes at our
Dr. Katy Campbell
Faculty; still, whether it means dirtying
Dean, Faculty of Extension
¡VIVA LA REVOLUCIÒN AGRÍCOLA!
D
r. Mary Beckie is out of her
element, sweltering in the Cuban
heart; growing up on a Saskatchewan
sive,” says Mary. “One year, a group of
humidity, swatting away
Food had always been close to Mary’s
“The results have been very impres-
farm and later earning a Ph.D in sustain-
our students was challenged to make
voracious bugs, speaking broken Spanish,
able agriculture, Mary is a longstanding
use of what was essentially a dumping
and working the soil with tools older than
advocate for the local food movement.
ground for old rubber tires. What could
she is herself.
When she accepted an academic posi-
possibly be done with that? The students
tion with the Faculty of Extension, she
began stacking the tires, filling them with
found herself moving in circles with other
soil, and growing plants inside. Within a
thought leaders in this domain. One
year, the land has more than doubled its
in particular, permaculture expert Ron
yield of crops.”
This is not your typical classroom or
laboratory, but, as she has learned, the most fertile ground for learning and innovation is often miles out of one’s comfort zone. To that end, Cuba was a natural setting for Mary to study, teach, and help develop innovations for sustainable agriculture.
For hundreds of years, the people of
the island nation have endured a litany of invasions, occupations, and regime collapses, and they’ve become nimbly innovative as a result. After the collapse of the Soviet regime, subsequent trade embargoes meant an almost complete halt to imports of foreign food and fuel.
“If they didn’t move fast, people were
Berezan, mentioned plans to begin leading agriculture tours to Cuba and that his contacts in Cuban NGOs had expressed a desire to collaborate with Canadian universities. Naturally, his invitation for Mary to join him on the next tour was gratefully accepted.
Within a year, Mary, Ron, and their
Cuban colleagues had piloted their Permaculture Cuba program, wherein Canadian students were invited to immerse themselves in the nation’s sustainable agriculture movement. Besides attending workshops in composting
going to starve,” says Mary. “It was adapt
systems, natural building, and principles
or perish, and amazingly, today Cubans
of design, the students applied their
are leading the international conversation
own knowledge and creativity to build-
on organic and sustainable food.”
ing greater capacity for existing Cuban
As a result of a program Mary’s stu-
dents often describe as “life-changing,” the Faculty of Extension’s research committee has dedicated $10,000 to look at the Permaculture Cuba program through
Dr. Mary Beckie
a transformative learning lens.
Associate Professor,
“By taking students out of their
Government Studies
familiar surroundings and challenging them, we give them the opportunity to see the contradictions between their old
“If they didn’t move fast, people
paradigms and their lived experience,”
were going to starve… it was
Mary says. “There’s a lesson here that we all should get out of our homes, our classrooms, and our offices and indulge
adapt or perish…”
– Dr. Mary Beckie
our hunger for face-to-face interactions and real-world knowledge applications.”
permaculture projects.
UPLIFTING LIVES
THE CASE FOR HERITAGE LANGUAGE MANAGEMENT
W
hen he first arrived in North
losing the accrued values and knowledge
would have to forge two new scales with
America, Martin Guardado
of our ancestors, and as a society, we
little funding and no guarantee that those
was a promising young scholar
become less cosmopolitan and less coop-
scales could establish statistical correlation.
looking forward to growing his career in a welcoming new environment. Nothing, it seemed, would slow him down… save for one critical factor.
Dr. Martin Guardado
erative.” Though it was not a particularly popular
picked through literature and ethnographic
field, Martin poured himself into research-
research (and Martin’s own work-in-
ing Heritage Language Management and
progress typology of discourses on
“I was shocked that non-fluency in
its effect on cosmopolitanism. A natural
heritage language maintenance), synthe-
English seemed like an insurmountable
ethnographer, he soon amassed an im-
sizing brand new scales, which were then
barrier,” he admits. “It was like being
pressive stack of rich qualitative studies,
applied to several months of qualitative
demoted from a human being to a cartoon
many of which confirmed his suspicions
research, generating heaps of data in the
character. Though I learned the language
that forcing immigrants into a new lan-
process.
relatively quickly on my own, I found little
guage system serves assimilation (not
support, and it took me a long time to find
integration) and undermines the goals of
my ‘space’ here.”
Canadian multiculturalism.
Of course, Martin’s experience is not
Though he frequently saw this phenom-
unusual—he also recounts a story of a
enon play out first-hand, Martin points
friend of Chinese descent he met in Van-
out that “there are always skeptics who
Academic Director English Language Program
“Loss of heritage languages means couver who confided that he had never losing the accrued values and knowledge of our ancestors, and as a society, we become less cosmopolitan and less cooperative.”
– Dr. Martin Guardado
will not believe claims I make that are
had a meaningful conversation with his
not backed up by statistical quantitative
parents because they exclusively spoke
research.”
Cantonese, while he only spoke English.
Faced with a challenge to find the ghost
Martin wondered: If language is the tie
in the numbers, it seemed that Martin’s
that binds, what ties are severed when a
chances of being able to take the road
heritage language is abandoned?
more traveled looked scant: “There are
“There’s a good deal of research to show that those who have lost their languages have experienced a number
ENGAGING MINDS
Over the next several months, the team
really no available scales to quantify cosmopolitanism or heritage language ideologies in North America,” he explains.
of detrimental effects on their lives,” says
Before he could start collecting data,
Martin. “Loss of heritage languages mean
Martin and his two research assistants
The result? “Both scales show strong internal consistency,” says Martin, “And using them, we found a statistical correlation between a heritage language ideology and a cosmopolitan orientation.” Working feverishly to publish his findings, he is already extraordinarily optimistic about their implications: “The strength of our success is that it informs how we can best teach English to the world. This is something we do very well at Extension: We enjoy many relationships with many ethnically- and culturallydiverse groups, and we can learn from them and support them in addressing their challenges.”
MOBILIZING AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION The rest of her time, she decided, would
Seeing the potential for the software to
Through this new program, women
be dedicated to pursuing graduate studies.
mitigate violence against women in the
involved in prostitution are able to use
Though several options were available,
sex trade in Edmonton, Lisa approached
mobile devices to anonymously report
she was accepted in Extension’s Master of
Gordon with an idea for her final project.
concerns or incidents to one another and
Arts in Communications and Technology
Eager to help, he committed himself and
to frontline support agencies. The soft-
(MACT) program, which accommodated
his MARS lab to working with Lisa and
ware was set up to auto-forward incoming
both her current work schedule and a
the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation
text messages to subscribers of the net-
minor fascination with the work of
(CEASE) to develop the “Get the Word
work, preserving the content, but remov-
communications guru Marshall McLuhan.
Out” harm reduction service.
ing caller identification in the process. The network is also being used to allow users
The program, which is delivered mostly
to provide peer-based social support.
online, culminates with a final, self-
Lisa Prins Graduate, Communications and Technology Program (MACT)
L
directed, applied research project.
The one-year pilot project was com-
“Earlier in the semester,” Lisa says, “I
pleted in June 2012, after which Gordon
had been speaking with a fellow MACT
continued to work with CEASE to help
student, and she was asking me ques-
them build the internal capacity that would
tions about how some of the things we
allow them to take full ownership of the
had been learning about might impact the
system and the program. Meanwhile, Lisa
women I work with. We specifically talked
completed her degree in the Fall and was
about FrontlineSMS.”
awarded the Academic Women’s Association Graduate Student Research Award as
isa Prins had been practicing
FrontlineSMS, an open-source software
community engagement well
developed to create communications
before she was a student at the
networks for NGOs efficiently and inex-
Faculty of Extension. Since 1998, Lisa
pensively using available mobile phone
had been volunteering with women and
infrastructure, had long been in the
transgendered individuals involved in
toolbelt of MACT Director and instructor
prostitution in Edmonton, and, when she
Gordon Gow. Using his Mobile Applica-
was laid off her full-time job, she picked
tions for Research Support (MARS) virtual
up a ¾-time job as a support worker for
Communications and Technology
lab, Gordon helped develop programs to
this marginalized group.
Graduate Program (MACT)
enhance public health, public safety, and
well as Extension’s own research award. Lisa has accepted a new position as the Humanities 101 Project Manager at the University of Alberta (“a graduate degree
Dr. Gordon Gow
was required for the position,” says Lisa, “so it was pretty great that I had one!”).
Academic Director
agriculture in Sri Lanka and India.
UPLIFTING LIVES
BRIDGING THE LANGUAGE GAP
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”
– Ludwig Wittgenstein
For over 40 years, the first stop for many of the U of A’s international scholars has been Extension’s English Language Program, which ten years ago developed a Bridging Program that was unique in allowing students to bring their English proficiency up to academic standard, while at the same time immersing these students in the language, culture, and social fabric of Alberta.
English Language Program Christmas Party
T
he University of Alberta, like many
Though the ELP has long enjoyed high
to move very quickly,” recalls ELP Execu-
In its first term, iPASS attracted 73
world-class academies, holds as a
registration rates, an increased priority for
tive Director Mimi Hui. “We knew that this
per cent more registrations than in the
key value the attraction of talented
internationalization under the leadership of
would most adeptly be accomplished by
previous year. One year later, registrations
people from around the globe. A great
President Indira Samarasekera challenged
an in-house team of our own experts. The
increased an additional 17 per cent.
challenge to recruitment, and a key point
faculties to develop new ways to open the
process was definitely efficient, but it did
of differentiation, lies in each institutions’
University to more international students;
take a toll on ELP’s resources.”
ability to prepare international students for
of course, an increased student popula-
learning at a new level and living in a new
tion would require wider floodgates. So, in
country.
2011, a dedicated team at Extension was
For over 40 years, the first stop for many of the U of A’s international scholars has been Extension’s English Language Program (ELP), which ten years ago developed a Bridging Program that was unique in allowing students to bring their English
charged by Vice-Provost Bill Connor with a large-scale enhancement to the Bridging Program. The result, implemented in less than one year, was the new International Program for Academic Studies and Success (iPASS).
Director of the ELP, “Although language
Working closely with the Provost’s
plays a key role in students’ academic and
office, the Dean of Extension, the Of-
social success at the U of A, research tells
fice of the Registrar, and the six faculties
us that language alone does not account for
participating in the Bridging Program,
the quality of their experience and ultimate
Mimi’s team conceptualized, developed,
success. I define success in this context
and delivered iPASS in September 2011,
as the combination of social adjustment
broadening the scope and level of support
and academic achievement. In other
offered by the previous bridging pro-
words, engagement.”
gram. Students can now be admitted to
proficiency up to academic standard,
“This initiative necessarily meant that
the University of Alberta at a lower level
while at the same time immersing these
we needed to do a lot of research; to
of language proficiency, and, once their
students in the language, culture, and
gather feedback; to develop new courses,
language training is complete, additional
social fabric of Alberta.
seminars, and exit exams; and especially,
support is provided by the ELP where needs are determined to be the greatest.
ENGAGING MINDS
Says Martin Guardado, Academic
DIFFERENT LIVES, DIFFERENT SKILLS
“I
wanted the freedom to move
Because youth are particularly vulner-
outside the standard scientific,
able to the temptation of drugs, Alberta
epidemiological approach to
Health Services provided funding for
health research,” says Dr. Fay Fletcher of
Dr. Fletcher’s team to help youth gain
how she began working with representatives skills in identifying emotions and building of Alberta’s First Nations on a number of health-based initiatives.
friendships and networks. By 2012, the Alexis program was
“The indigenous peoples of Canada
already showing great promise; along the
tend to reject the notion that health is just
way, Fay was, in her own words, “taken
a matter of diet and exercise,” says Fay.
under the wing of some amazing aborigi-
“They see health as a convergence of
nal people who connected me with others
many factors, including mental, spiritual,
and taught me how to engage respectfully
and emotional components, and that has
and honestly.” This, in turn, allowed Fay to
long been my approach as well.”
reach out to members of the Buffalo Lake
When invited in 2004 by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation to help develop a life skills program for children and youth, Fay
Metis settlement (BLMS) to create a new life skills program specifically for Metis children and youth.
and her team readily accepted the chal-
“More than I had previously thought, I
lenge.
am realizing how distinct the Metis experi-
According to Canada’s National Aboriginal Health Organization, “the use of illicit drugs is a serious problem among First Nations, Inuit, and Metis,” citing also that the problem manifests itself in increased violence, abuse, and harm to children in utero.
“The indigenous peoples of Canada tend to reject the notion that health is just a matter of diet and exercise.” – Dr. Fay Fletcher
Dr. Fay Fletcher, Academic Director, Aboriginal Health Promotion Citation (right), and members of the Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement team.
ence is,” says Fay. “There are some very
Working together closely with the
“It is incredibly helpful to be working
unique aspects to their culture that I’m
BLMS, Fay and colleagues Alicia Hibbert
on this project with the support of the
thoroughly enjoying learning about. They
and Fiona Robertson have completed the
Faculty of Extension,” says Fay. “Not only
are similar to other First Nations, however,
draft manual for the Life Skills Journey
does this Faculty see the value in looking
in that their shared history of subjugation
program (a summer day camp program for
at larger contexts and engaging with all
has contributed to ill health, as well as
seven- to ten-year-olds), and discussions
communities, but our strengths in teach-
some ways of coping and adjusting that
for leadership training (for youth of 18 to
ing, research, and developing continuing
are not conducive to good health, such as
24 years) have begun. In 2013, the team
education programs have allowed us to
substance abuse.”
will graduate the first cohort of the Life
be incredibly responsive to the particular
Skills Leadership citation program.
needs of our partners.”
UPLIFTING LIVES
WORDS WERE EXCHANGED…FOR 20 YEARS AND COUNTING
“T
hey don’t look like writers,
proposed a program based on the Inter-
Many seasoned students of the pro-
much, these women. They
national Women’s Writing Guild summer
gram are actively publishing today, and in
look more like mothers, or
seminar, but with deliberately smaller
2013, one of the earliest students will be
sisters, or grandmas. You could see them
class size to optimize interaction and feed-
returning to teach one of the courses.
anywhere and never guess that they’re
back. In 1994, the program launched with
like dandelions gone to glorious seed just
Scarfe as its cornerstone instructor. Said
waiting for the tiniest signal to detonate
Sharon Espeseth of the Canadian Writer’s
and release their stories all over creation.“
Journal: “Eunice could get words out of a
Education, at its best, inspires. Very
Eunice Scarfe First Annual Summer Writing Week June 1994
rarely, though, does it inspire words like
“When I first taught writing fiction,”
these (from Kerry Mulholland, written
writes Eunice, ”I wasn’t hearing a need
about her experience at the 1998 Women’s
to learn the elements of fiction. Instead,
Words).
I heard the need of women to name, to
Though the week-long women’s writ-
– Eunice Scarfe
– Kerry Mulholland
As to the continued success of this
to write the truths about their own experi-
program, Kerry Mulholland offers this
ence.”
explanation:
submitted to Extension Liberal Studies. By
Since 1994, Women’s Words has
“The Woman would think of herself, of her
1981, the University of Alberta’s Women’s
welcomed hundreds of participants from
writing life, in terms of before and after
Program and Resource Centre was a pio-
all over North America, many of whom
that first class. Before, writing was an
neer in offering non-credit courses for, by,
return year after year, as well as a number
unquenchable yearning, a writing life was
and about women.
of instructors who would fly in to attend
an elusive fantasy surrounded by a moat
at their own expense. The program has
and high barbed walls. After, she came to
remained largely unchanged over the past
understand that in the daily act was the
two decades: For one week every sum-
magic, that the smallest memory pressed
mer, workshops are offered in life-writing,
through a sieve can leave a glittery resi-
fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and
due, that discovery is the thrill, and the
working with visual art and text.
labour.”
its roots extend back to 1980, when a
One of the core courses, Lives of Girls and Women, led participants and faculty alike to recognize a need for an event that would allow women a large block of time to pursue nothing but their writing. The course’s instructor, Eunice Scarfe,
ENGAGING MINDS
clarify, to record their story. The writing class is a place to use the ‘lie’ of fiction
ing program debuted two decades ago, proposal for women’s programming was
“I heard the need of women to name, to clarify, to record their story. The writing class is a place to use the ‘lie’ of fiction to write the truths about their own experience.”
stone.”
“You could see them anywhere and never guess that they’re like dandelions gone to glorious seed just waiting for the tiniest signal to detonate and release their stories all over creation.”
PUTTING RESEARCH TO WORK FOR FAMILIES
“R
esearchers were the last to
of the regional health authority, the City of
of people who are still united in spirit and
join the group. That almost
Edmonton, the Government of Alberta, a
enthusiasm after more than ten years.
never happens.”
lot of NGOs, and anyone else who would
That’s something else that almost never
help us get our research off the ground,”
happens.”
The group in question, says Dr. Maria Mayan, originally comprised a number of concerned social workers; at the turn of the 21 Century, they banded together st
through shared frustration over cuts to
Partnership for the Study of Children Youth and Families
knocking on doors, poring over data, and scraping together the funds necessary to
government of the day.
for the Study of Children, Youth, and Fami-
First study. Some victories are small, others
lies (CUP) program at Extension, along
are very much the opposite: in 2012, the
with Maria, took on the project proposed
“Putting Research to Work” initiative, an
by Families First, through which over 1,100
offshoot of Families First, was awarded
low-income families in Edmonton were
a rare $200,000 operating grant from the
recruited and tracked for over 36 months.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
report that voiced their concerns, and they brought it to me, knowing my ties to the University, asking ‘Can we do something about this?” Maria, at the time one of the University’s leading scholars at the International
“These were determined people with passion for the cause and nothing to lose.”
Institute for Qualitative Methodology, knew
she also knew that this would take a lot of
– Dr. Maria Mayan
is where CUP came in.”
Children’s Health for CUP, Maria is still
make the very most out of the Families
lose,” recalls Maria. “They had published a
Children’s Health, Community-University
ence in research and implementation. This
Now Assistant Director of Women and
The Community-University Partnership
passion for the cause and nothing to
Assistant Director, Women’s and
find a group with the necessary experi-
social programming by the provincial
“These were determined people with
Dr. Maria Mayan
said Maria. “The next step would be to
that community-based research could be used to help develop policies and practices to help Alberta’s low-income families, but work and a lot of help. “Most of the first five years of what became the Families First Edmonton project were spent knocking on the doors
At the end of the study, an extraordinarily extensive and rich collection of data was amassed for the purpose of evaluating four methods of service delivery to lowincome households. Preliminary analyses of the data was complete in December
After a dozen years, the group shows no signs of slowing: “We truly need each other,” says Maria. “And we all know that what we’re doing is so important that giving up is out of the question.”
2012. This, you might think, would be a logical place for this story to end. Not so. Says Maria: “We still have a bank of information that can tell us so much more about how to address poverty reduction, service delivery, and children and youth in the province. More than that, we have an unbelievably cohesive group
UPLIFTING LIVES
PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP “There’s a lot of discussion lately around public involvement in decision-making. The trouble is, how it’s best done in practice is not well-established.” – Dr. Marco Adria
own research interests,” said Marco. “The
So far, they have facilitated public involve-
potential for people to use communica-
ment projects on such diverse topics as
tions technologies to access information
agriculture, energy, and climate change;
and influence government is today being
gained a dedicated researcher in
realized on a very large scale.”
Dr. Kalina Kamenova; and selected a
After a successful pilot project in 2009 with Marco as academic lead for a
citizen’s jury to deliberate on the potential for internet voting in Edmonton.
Fiona Cavanaugh, Dr. Marco Adria, Dr. Kalina Kamenova
citizen’s panel on the city budget, it was
Says Marco: “I’m most proud of the fact
Centre for Public Involvement
agreed that a permanent centre would be
that the City Clerk said she would only
set up and co-funded by the University
take a positive recommendation on inter-
and the City. The next step would be to
net voting to council if the citizen’s jury
find the right person to occupy the CPI
endorsed it. Effectively, she was saying
Manager’s office in Enterprise Square;
that she had confidence that this citizen’s
racy, is only meaningful when decision-making has been a priority for
Fiona Cavanagh, a former project direc-
jury would come up with a valid recom-
it is fully cooperative,” says
Edmonton for several years; the City
tor for an international development NGO,
mendation because of how well it had
Dr. Marco Adria, former Director for the
implemented public involvement policies
took the helm.
been structured.”
Faculty of Extension’s Masters program
in all its departments in 2006, and two
in Communications and Technology and
years later, Councillor Karen Leibovici
“What Edmonton is trying to do with
So much has been accomplished in so
current Co-Chair for a unique partnership
proposed that Edmonton should be home
public involvement is really phenomenal,”
little time that it begs the question: What’s
between the City of Edmonton and the
to a centre of excellence for PI. A call was
says Fiona. “This is a great integration of
next for the Centre over the next several
University of Alberta: namely, the Centre
put out to the local academic community
scholarship and administration with huge
months?
for Public Involvement.
for help in forging the model for such a
potential for rich dialogue. What we hope
centre, and, from his office four blocks
to accomplish is to determine not neces-
away from city hall, Marco answered.
sarily the best result, but the right pro-
“C
ommunication, like democ-
“There’s a lot of discussion lately around public involvement in decisionmaking,” he goes on. “The trouble is, how
Greater participation in municipal
cesses that will yield the best result.” “This project was very much in line
it’s best done in practice is not well-estab- with Extension’s mandate of engage-
The job has been considerably labour-
lished.”
intensive for Fiona and her small team:
ENGAGING MINDS
ment, and more than this, it spoke to my
“There’s never a shortage of things to do,” says Fiona. “But I think it might be time to take a few days to catch our breath.”
ACTING LOCALLY, THINKING GLOBALLY
H
is Highness the Aga Khan IV,
Faculty’s Management programming unit,
they all completed the knowledge and
spiritual leader of the Nizari
under Director Dr. Corey Wentzell, began
skills assessments and graduated with
Ismaili denomination of Islam, is
consultation with the Edmonton Council
confidence in their new abilities.”
an internationally-heralded businessman,
of the Ismaili community in 2010, with a
philanthropist, and head-of-state. When,
goal to deliver new programming within
in 1972, all of Uganda’s Ismailis were
two years. Apropos of the Aga Khan’s high
given 90 days to evacuate the country by
value for private-sector enterprise, entre-
order of Idi Amin, the Aga Khan asked his
preneurship was chosen among many as
friend, Pierre Trudeau, to open Canada’s
the most appropriate educational area to
doors to his displaced people. The Prime
the Ismaili community.
Minister accepted, welcoming thousands of Ismailis into communities throughout Canada.
ed a new citation program in business management (currently in progress). More, the Faculty of Extension has expanded the with other potential Canadian locations
search, consult with international experts
also being considered.
committee, conduct focus groups, draft
President Indira Samarasekera signed an
syllabi, review the curricular outlines with
historic memorandum of understanding to
Ismaili community members, consult with
advance their common goals of increasing
local business leaders and community
global engagement and promoting human
groups, interview and select instructors,
“…despite many of our participants having varied entrepreneurial experience and English language skills, they all completed the knowledge and skills assessments and graduated with confidence in their new abilities.”
advancement throughout the world. The
conduct workshops for potential students,
Aga Khan, well-known for his efforts
finalize and review content, and, in the
toward improving ismaili living standards,
Spring of 2012, launch the program to the
asked the University to reach out to the
first cohort of students.
– Dr. Corey Wentzell
ful that the Ismaili community has request-
program to the Calgary Ismaili community,
where he and University of Alberta
capacity within their communities.
in entrepreneurship has been so success-
remained was to conduct extensive rein entrepreneurship, form a steering
local Ismaili population to help them build
Faculty of Extension, the citation program
Once the subject was chosen, all that
In 2009, the Aga Khan visited Alberta,
Dr. Corey Wentzell Director, Professional Programs and Government Studies
Now available to all students through the
Thirty years after of the Ismaili exodus from Uganda to Canada, the Aga Khan returned to Alberta to sign an agreement of cooperation with the province of Alberta, each pledging the other to work together to improve the lives of people in the developing world. His Highness said that these partnerships gave him “a sense of hope, a sense of confidence, a sense of not being alone in trying to achieve the goals that
“We’re extraordinarily pleased with
one sets for oneself as an individual or as
the results,” said Dr. Wentzell after the
an institution.”
With extensive experience in community
first session of the program concluded.
engagement, research, and instructional
“Responses from our students were very
design, Extension was in a unique position
positive, and despite many of our par-
to help design new educational program-
ticipants having varied entrepreneurial
ming of relevance to the Ismailis. The
experience and English language skills,
UPLIFTING LIVES
EXTENSION TO HOST ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP CONSORTIUM CONFERENCE 2014 The Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) aims to promote and develop strong university-community partnerships anchored in rigorous scholarship. Its membership is comprised of higher education institutions that endorse this aim. The ESC has a broad scholarly agenda that includes: •
Emphasizing that the scholarship of engagement is critical to university responsibility
•
Promoting and disseminating scholarship on the impact of community-university partnerships on the
social, cultural, and economic development of a community
•
Studying the scholarship of engagement throughout the world
•
Conducting meetings, workshops, institutes, symposia, and
conferences throughout the world
•
Facilitating international cooperation among individuals concerned with including engaged
scholarship as a criterion of higher education faculty performance evaluations
The 2013 conference will be hosted by Texas Tech University, October 8-10, with Pre-Conference Workshops October 6-7. The conference theme is Boundary-Spanning: Engaged Scholarship across Disciplines, Communities, & Geography. For more information visit: engagementscholarship.org.
15th Annual Engaged Scholarship Consortium Conference University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension October 5-8, 2014 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada The University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension invites engaged scholars throughout the world to the 15th Annual Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference, to be held October 5-8, 2014 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Our conference themes and session topics will challenge scholars, students, and community partners to discuss international advancements in the scholarship of engagement.
ENGAGING MINDS
Photos of the 2012 Conference courtesy of University of Alabama Staff Photography
EXTENSION PROGRAMS Graduate Master of Arts in Communications & Technology
Information Technology Management
Community-University Engagement Showcase
Languages
Professional Association Accreditation Affiliations
(MACT)
Management Development
Graduate Certificate in Community-Based Research
Management Development for Police Services
& Evaluation (CBRE) Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Certificate, Citation and General Interest Programs Aboriginal Health Promotion Adult & Continuing Education (CACE) Applied Geostatistics Applied Land Use Planning Business Analysis Business Seminars and Short Courses Community Engagement Studies Construction Administration
Management Development for Professional
Canadian Institute of Management
Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists
Fellowship in Risk Management
National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority
Insurance Institute of Canada
Administration (NACLAA)
Management Accountants
Occupational Health and Safety
Purchasing and Supply Management
Residential Interiors
Qualified Administrative Assistants
Social Media Spanish Language Supervisory Development Teaching in English
Association Non-Credit Spring Session for Adults 50+ Edmonton Lifelong Learners Assocation (ELLA)
Visual Arts Writing & Editing
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA | FACULTY OF EXTENSION
RESEARCH REPORT 2012 discovery
Institutes and Centres
engagement
citizenship
A Century of Research in the Faculty of Extension respectively the second and third Directors of Extension, waited until they had left office before publishing historical reflections on the important accomplishments and lessons learned during their terms. A.E. Corbett’s interesting and amusing reflections on extension
English Language Program (ESL) Entrepreneurship Environmental Resource Management
work at the University of Alberta and elsewhere are published in his book We Have With Us Tonight (1957), as well as in various articles
City-Region Studies Centre
in the journals of the day. He had previously published a broader (and more serious) survey titled University Extension in Canada (1952), which shows some similarities to Ottewell’s survey for his thesis done four decades earlier. But what is possibly Corbett’s most significant contribution to the history of higher education in frontier contexts is his biography of his colleague and friend President Tory, titled Henry
Community-University Partnership for the Study
Marshall Tory, Beloved Canadian (1954). The third Director of Extension at the University of Alberta, Donald Cameron, chose to focus his historical writing on the major accomplishment that best characterized his tenure as Director, the creation and early development of the Banff School of Fine Arts—now
of Children, Youth, and Families (CUP)
known as The Banff Centre. Cameron published his history of this famous extension program in a book titled Campus in the Clouds (1956). This book was completed just as he was about to resign as Director of
Dr. Katy Campbell, Dean
HIV/AIDS Nursing
Centre for Public Involvement
A
century ago President Henry Marshall Tory created a Department of Extension at the fledgling University of Alberta—the
first such Department at a Canadian university. The first significant piece of research to come out of the new Department was complet-
Humanities
For current program and course information, request a free Course Guide or visit our website: www.extension.ualberta.ca
Conferences
ed in 1915. It was the master’s thesis of the first Director of Extension, Albert Ottewell. Titled The University Extension Movement, it
To learn more about Extension research and engagement activities, request a copy of the annual Research Report, or download it from our website.
was a summary and analysis of what Ottewell had learned about the practice of university extension elsewhere, particularly in Britain, Australia, and the United States. It was clearly related to what he needed to know in order to make his new Department grow and flourish.
Human Resources Management Information Access and Protection of Privacy
This set the pattern for research conducted by the leaders of the Department of Extension and its successor the Faculty of Exten-
Health Information Privacy and Security Summit 2012
sion (from 1975) over the next century. Changes in the type of research produced in Extension were closely related to changes in the mission of Extension within the University and within the Province of Alberta. Ottewell, the first Director of Extension, did his research very early in his tenure and focused on what his Department should be doing in the future. A.E. (Ned) Corbett and Donald Cameron,
Information Access & Protection of Privacy
A.E. Ottewell Director of Extension 1912 - 1928
Extension Publications: (780) 492-1218
UPLIFTING LIVES
FACULTY OF EXTENSION STATISTICAL OVERVIEW Course Registrations: 13,960 Number of Individual Learners: 7,175 Number of Instruction Hours: 622,198 Number of Courses: 851 Number of International Student Registrations: 1,200 Professoriate: 22 Number of Instructors: 357 Total Research Grants Awarded (2012-2013): $7.83 Million 2012-2013 Research Activity Expenditure: $3.17 Million 2012-2013 Fiscal Year Research Grant Budget: $4.66 Million Individual Learners, un-duplicated headcount
ENGAGING MINDS
FACULTY OF EXTENSION PROFESSORIATE Marco Adria, PhD
Dennis Foth, PhD
Rob Shields, PhD
Helen Madill, PhD
Professor
Professior Emeritus
Professor
Professor Emerita
Academic Director, Centre for Public Involvement
Special Advisor to the Dean
Henry Marshall Tory Research Chair,
Office of the Dean
Walter Archer, PhD
Lois Gander, Q.C., LL.M.
Professor Emeritus
Professor
Academic Director, Teaching and Learning Thomas Barker, PhD Professor
Rebecca Gokiert, PhD Assistant Professor Gordon Gow, PhD
Mary Beckie, PhD
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Academic Director, Communications and
Cindy Blackstock, PhD
Technology Program
Academic Director, City-Region Studies Centre Billy Strean, PhD Professor
Vice President, University Relations, University of Alberta
Academic Director, Evaluation and Research
Communications and Technology Graduate Program
Services
Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies
Associate Professor
University of Alberta
ADJUNCT PROFESSORS:
Jane Springett, PhD
Associate Professor
Caring Society
Academic Director, English Language Program
Katy Campbell, PhD
Yoshitaka (Yoshi) Iwasaki, PhD
Chair, Psychology, University of Alberta
Professor
Professor
Community-University Partnership for the Study of
Dean, Faculty of Extension
Associate Dean, Research
Children, Youth, and Families
Ann Curry, PhD Professor Fay Fletcher, PhD Associate Professor Academic Director, Aboriginal Health Promotion Citation, Community Engagement Studies
Jeff Bisanz, PhD,
ship for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families
Martin Garber Conrad, CEO
Heather McRae, EdD
Community-University Partnership for the Study of
Associate Professor
Children, Youth, and Families
Associate Dean, Engaged Learning Maria Mayan, PhD Associate Professor
Jorge Sousa, PhD
Kyle Whitfield, PhD
Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family
Assistant Professor
Debra Pozega Osburn, PhD
Faculty Service Officer IV
Martin Guardado, PhD
Academic Director, Community-University Partner-
Community Engagement Studies
Stanley Varnhagen, PhD
Associate Professor
Sherry Ann Chapman, PhD
Patricia Makokis, PhD
Edmonton Community Foundation
Director, Centre for Health Promotion Studies School of Public Health, University of Alberta Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families Mark Wolfe, PhD Communications and Technology Graduate Program
Kalina Kamenova, PhD Centre for Public Involvement Susan Lynch, PhD
Laurie Schnirer, PhD
Research Project Director
Assistant Professor
Early Child Development Mapping Project, Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families
UPLIFTING LIVES
Enterprise Square 10230 Jasper Avenue NW Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6 Tel: 780.492.3116 or 780.492.3109 Fax: 780.492.0627 www.extension.ualberta.ca
WRITING:
Matt Steringa
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Michael Lewcio, staff photography
DESIGN:
Michael J. Cooke