continued >

December 2010

President’s Reportto the TRU Board of Governors

Newsu Nurse Educator receives national award for excellence – The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing

(CASN) Award for Excellence in Nursing Education was presented to Star Mahara on Nov. 15th in Ottawa. She was recognized for her expertise as a teacher, her commitment to cultural safety, the success of Aboriginal students who enter university nursing programs, and for being a willing and engaged mentor for novice faculty and graduate nursing students.

u Joint research centre established with the world’s largest university – Thompson Rivers University Open Learning and the Open University of China have signed an agreement to establish a Joint Research Centre on the premises of OUC in Beijing. With 3.5 million students, OUC is the world’s largest university. The two distance learning universities will collaborate in a broad range of academic endeavors including joint research, online and offline Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) training.

u Annual TRU Foundation Awards – At the 2010 Annual TRU Foundation Award Ceremony 280 donor sponsored awards were given to 530 students receiving awards. Close to half a million dollars ($448,178) was given out on Nov. 25. These awards are part of an expected $1,593,000 that students will receive throughout the year in the form of scholarships, bursaries, and awards from the TRU Foundation and internal university funding.

u Lt. Governor’s Silver Medalist – For the first time, a Culinary Arts student has been awarded the Lt. Governor’s Silver Medal at TRU. Lillie Turner, now admitted in the Apprenticeship Cook program, earned the medal for both her high marks and community service.

u Aboriginal Transitions Day – The 5th Annual Transitions Day for Aboriginal Students in School District #73 was held Thursday, Nov. 18. More than 150 Aboriginal high school students experienced post secondary education by touring the TRU Kamloops campus, engaging with academic faculties, participating in student-run leadership activities, and hearing from past and current Aboriginal students in a student panel discussion on their experiences with post secondary.

u TRU Unlocks the possibilities of education in Vancouver – The Open Learning Division held a grand opening for its Vancouver office, located at 1030 West Georgia Street. The Minister of Science and Universities, Ida Chong attended the event. There will be a limited complement of staff at the new office, which will be used for exam purposes as well as a space for OL staff and OL Faculty Members to conduct meetings and training. TRU-OL’s new Vancouver-based office will also provide information and serve the needs of people looking for information regarding their options for online and distance education.

u Funding supports centre for interdisciplinary research – A Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant of $102,000 was awarded to TRU professors Will Garrett-Petts (English & Modern Languages) and Rachel Nash (Journalism, Communication and New Media) reinforcing TRU’s national reputation as a centre for interdisciplinary research and the study of artistic inquiry.

u Business students gear up to offer their management expertise – For the sixth consecutive year business students in their final year of studies are looking to lend their expertise in human resource management, marketing and strategic planning for projects starting in January and winding up in April, with a focus on non-profits and small businesses. The clients get advice and support on the best and latest practices in management while getting hands-on experience and contributing to the community. Contact rroy@tru.ca for more information.

u United Way Campaign – TRU’s United Way employee campaign kicked off on Nov. 1 with a coffee with Alan Shaver. Other events included soup days at the Culinary Arts cafeteria, Coffee-break Monday, Tie-Pie Tuesday and a raffle for a garden shed built by the Trades students.

u New Chef-Farmer collaborative headed by Culinary Instructor – Ed Walker is President of the newly-created Thompson-Shuswap Chef Farmer Collaborative. The non-profit society is dedicated to celebrating local food. Through public and member events, the group plans to bring their communities better access and awareness of local foods to their communities.

TRU Unlocks the possibilities of

education in Vancouver

United Way Campaign

Star Mahara

Aboriginal Transitions Day

2 President’s Report

u Foundation Campaign – The Thompson Rivers University Foundation launched its annual campaign on Oct. 28, marking its 28th year of supporting students during TRU’s 40th anniversary year. Paul Wright, TRU Foundation campaign chair, introduced the nearly 300 donors and leaders of TRU faculties, many who are new this year.

u Sustainable Seafood Lunch – The Sustainable Seafood Lunch and Learn on Oct. 27th was a delicious example of interdisciplinary learning including the diverse groups of learners from Culinary Arts and Natural Resource Science (NRS). The classes joined forces to educate and nourish consumers.

u Forty Thousand strong – At the Convocation TRU awarded its 40,000 credential to Josephine Gambaretto, graduating from the Bachelor of Social Work program. She received a commemorative certificate from Dr. Roger Barnsley, President and Vice-Chancellor and his successor, Dr. Alan Shaver.

u TRU Career Mentor Program Event: Networking 411 – The Alumni Association and the Career Education Department hosted two extracurricular networking events to help students, learn the value of mentorship, connect with a personal mentor, link their education to a career, navigate today’s job market, network with industry professional and receive career tips and strategies. During the October 14 and November 4 events, over 70 industry professionals and 260 students from five faculties took part. As a result over 65 students have requested one-on-one mentor matches and additional industry professionals have volunteered to partner with students in their fields.

Achievements u Amy Berard, 3-year BBA – Amy Berard has been named TRU’s Co-op student of the year

in recognition of her co-op term at the Thompson Nicola Cariboo United Way, where she was a research assistant with the Kamloops Homeless Action Plan. She has also been chosen as one of 64 finalists in Canada’s first-ever Next 36 entrepreneurship program for the nation’s most promising and innovative graduates. She’ll be in Toronto for the National Selection Weekend, December 3 – 5.

Publications

News > continued

Amy Berard

Networking 411

Josephine Gambaretto

u Susan Duncan, School of Nursing – Duncan, S. & Whyte, N. (2010) – “Global leadership priorities for Canadian nursing: A perspective on the CN 24th Quadrennial Congress”, Durban, South Africa. Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, 23(1).

u Norm Friesen, Canada Research Chair E-Learning Practices

> Friesen, N. & Cavell, R. (Eds., 2010) – “Media Transatlantic: Conference Program”. (ISBN: 978-0-9865911-0-5)

> Friesen, N. (2010) – “Vision and the training of perception: McLuhan’s Medienpädagogik. Beiträge des interfakultären” Forums Innsbruck Media Studies. Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press. Pp. 75–85.

> Friesen, N. (2010) – “Practice Makes Perfect? The Practice Approach in E-Learning”. International Journal of Technologies in Higher Education. 6 (2–3).

> Friesen, N. (2010) – “Interaction Paradigms for Online Technologies: Shift Happens.” International Journal of Computing & Information Technology 2 (1).

> Friesen, N. & Cressman, D. (2010) – “Media Theory, Education and the University: A Response to Kittler’s History of the University as a Media System”. Canadian Journal of Media Studies. 7(1).

u School of Business and Economics, Belayet Hossain and Peter Tsigaris – “A Note on the Empirics of the Long Run Growth rate of a Nation’s Tax Revenue”, Review of Business Research 10(3), 2010, 219–223.

u Belayet Hossain – “Private sector Response to Public Capital Formation: An Impulse Response Analysis”, International Business and Economics (JIBE), Volume 10 (1), 2010, 107–117.

u Margaret Hohner and Peter Tsigaris – “Alignment of Two Grading Systems: A Case Study”, American Journal of Business Education, 3(7), 2010, 93–101.

u Derek Pyne, (2010) – “When is it efficient to treat juvenile offenders more leniently than adult offenders?”, Economics of Governance 11(4): 351–371.

u Warveni Jap, (October, 2010) – “Global Brands vs. Local Brands in Chinese Consumer Mind”, Journal of International Business and Economics (USA; ISSN: 1544-8037).

u Warveni Jap, (2010) – “Confucius Face Culture on Chinese Consumer Consumption Values toward Global Brands”, Journal of International Management Studies, 5(1), 183-192. (USA; ISSN: 1993-1034).

Thompson Rivers University • December 2010 3

u Belayet Hossain and Peter Tsigaris – “A Note on the Empirics of the Long Run Growth rate of a Nation’s Tax Revenue” International Academy of Business and Economics, 2010, Las Vegas, US.

u Belayet Hossain – “The Effects of Public Capital on Private Sector”, 44th annual conference of Canadian Economic Association (CEA) held in Quebec City on May 28 – 30, 2010.

u Belayet Hossai – “The Dynamic Impact of Macroeconomic Aggregates on Housing Prices: Evidence from Canada”, MTMI-TRU International conference held in Kamloops on June 12 – 13, 2010.

u Hasnat Dewan, (2010) – “A new index to measure group inequalities in human development for sustainability”, Review of Business and Technology Research, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 467–474, Proceedings of MTMI-TRU 2010 International Conference, June 12 – 13, 2010.

u Hasnat Dewan, (2010) – “Equilibrium and optimum city size with the presence of pollution,” 12th International Business Research Conference, Dubai, April 8 – 9, 2010.

u Belayet Hossain – “Effects of Aggregate and Dis-aggregate Public Capital on Private Sector”, IABE-2010 Annual Conference held during October 17 – 20 at Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

u Warveni Jap – “Global Brands vs. Local Brands in Chinese Consumer Mind”, International Academy of Business and Economics (IABE) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, USA: Research/Teaching Excellence in Business and Economics. October 17 – 20, 2010.

u Laura Lamb, (2010) – “Participation in Community Economic Development in Canada: An Empirical Analysis”, Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences, June 2 – 4 in Montreal, PQ.

u Amy Tucker (October 2010) – “Effective Practices in E-Learning: An Online Instructor and Learner’s Perspective”, AACE: E-Learn 2010 Conference. Orlando, Florida.

Symposium u Laura Lamb – “Issues and Challenges Facing Northern British Columbia in Face of Globalization”,

Steelhead Symposium at UNBC, May 17 – 18, 2010, Prince George, BC. A roundtable discussion and workshop on the impacts of globalization on the economy and society of northern British Columbia.

Invited Lectures to Communityu Laura Lamb and Peter Tsigaris – “Risk of Severe Damages and the Equity Issue in Climate Change Policy:

A Classroom Game”, International Days and Teaching Practices Colloquium, 2010, Thompson Rivers University.

u Peter Tsigaris – “Classroom Experimental Games in Economics”, South Sahali Elementary and Dallas Elementary, Kamloops, British Columbia, Grade 7, May and June 2010.

Booksu Laura K. Doan, Cindy Piwowar and Margaret H. Patten, Early childhood Education – Look at me …I’m learning

everyday: Tips for parents. This easy to read resource for parents, primary caregivers, family members and educators offers strategies to support the social and emotional learning of children. Topics include: attachment, communication, play, and challenging behaviours.

u Leigh Matthews, English and Modern Languages – Looking Back, Canadian Women’s Prairie Memoirs and Intersections of Culture, History, and Identity is a new book by Leigh Matthews with the University of Calgary Press. With this text Matthews has reopened for examination a substantial body of memoirs published after 1950 but now largely out of print. She engages critical and feminist theory to close the gap between our polarized stereotypes and the actual lived experiences of rural prairie women.

Presentations

u Thompson Rivers University Philosophy, History, and Politics Conference The undergraduate conference is January 13 – 15, 2011 and explores the past and present through undergraduate presentations in Philosophy, History, and Politics.

See www.tru.ca/phpconf

u Western Canada Campus Recreation Conference 2011 Running February 10 – 12, 2011, the WCCRC provides an opportunity for professionals and students within the post-secondary field of physical education, recreation and fitness to come together for valuable personal development, networking, and continuing education.

See www.tru.ca/wccrc

Inservice Week > February 21 – 25 Day 1u Seventh annual TRU Teaching Practices Colloquium

Monday, February 21, 2011

Keynote speaker Dr. Connie K. Varnhagen, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Alberta. She studies a wide range of development and learning issues, all centered on how children, adolescents, and adults develop and use cognitive strategies. Her interests also include how instructors integrate teaching and research in undergraduate instruction.

See www.tru.ca/tpc

Designed and produced by Creative Services, TRU • MC104156

www.tru.ca

Day 2u The Digital Future of Higher Education

Tuesday, February 22

The future of higher education is hotly contested: What do new forms and technologies, from the podcast to the iPad, mean for classrooms, textbooks, and student learning? How will universities survive in a world where content is free and teaching increasingly commodified? This one-day conference provides a forum for debating these questions and more.

See www.tru.ca/digifuture

Conference Keynotes: ANYA KAMENETZ is a Pulitzer Prize nominee who covers technology, design, sustainability and social entrepreneurship as a staff writer for Fast Company magazine.

MICHAEL A. PETERS is Professor of Education at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), and has written over 350 books and 300 articles and chapters.

Day 3u A Dialog on Student Engagement —

What does NSSE mean to me?Wednesday, February 23

George Kuh the author of the National Survey of Student Engagement will deliver a workshop to TRU staff and faculty. This year, 603 universities in Canada and the US used NSSE to measure critical features of post-secondary education.

Read more at tru.ca/hr

Upcoming Conferences

Upcoming Events TRU Actors Workshop Theatreu Tales of the Lost Formicans

Jan 13 – 15, 20 – 22

By Constance Congdon & Directed by Robin Nichol, this black comedy is a travel guide to Middle America as conducted by alien anthropologists striving to understand the culture.

Call 250.377.6100 for ticket information.

u Cultural EventsThursday, January 27 12:30 – 1:30 Alumni Theatre, Clock Tower Building

Kokoma African Heritage Ensemble is a Vancouver-based African dance and drum performance company made up of daughters and sons of African Heritage. Together, they promote cultural awareness, greater understanding, and appreciation for African culture through traditional songs, dance, and drum performances.

u International DaysFebruary 7 – 11

Everyone is invited to this five-day festival of World Cultures. Thompson Rivers University is truly a globally minded campus, embracing and encouraging diversity. This week-long celebration will focus and highlight TRU’s ever changing international learning opportunities.

More at www.tru.ca/internationaldays