1 Volume M25, Issue No. 8, March 8, 2021 Intercom is published regularly and serves to inform Vanier staff and teachers of notices and special events. It is posted on the Vanier College Website and distributed electronically. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions should be in WORD, and sent as an attachment. No formatting or bullets. Photos are welcome. Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on the Wednesday preceding the week of publication. National Day of Commemoration on Thursday March 11, 2021 for Covid 19 Victims Premier François Legault has recently announced that March 11, 2021 will be a Day of National Commemoration of the Victims of Covid 19. On that day, flags will be flown at half-mast, and the Premier has asked that everyone, no matter where they are, observe a minute of silence at 1 pm that day. Please remind your students to do so, and if you are teaching at that time, please take a minute of silence with your class to remember the people who have passed away due to Covid 19. Because we are mostly working from home, we may not realize it, but some of our colleagues and members of our own Vanier Community have lost loved ones this past year. Let us remember them. Thank you. Marguerite Corriveau. Communications and Corporate Affairs Mid-Term Assessment - Day Division: 3rd Reminder Reminder that the Mid-Term Assessment online module is active on OMNIVOX. The deadline for submission of student ratings is at 11:00pm on Friday, March 12th, 2021. To complete the mid-term assessments, please login to your OMNIVOX portal, select Léa, click on Mid-term Evaluations and follow the instructions. If you have any questions regarding Mid-term Assessments, please email [email protected] Sylvie Tardif, Registrar 2 ATTENTION ALL BIKERS!! Spring is soon upon us… I would appreciate your input for the purchase of a bike repair station. If interested in voicing your opinion about the equipment purchased, please email me at [email protected] before the end of March. Have a great day, Arianne Duchesne, Manager, Health, Safety & Sustainability New RespectWorks Vlog: Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Hello everyone! I am excited to share this video on Vanier’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Efforts, that was produced in collaboration with Khadija Campbell, Social Service Officer (SVPR) in Student Services, and Kallie Davies, Administration Officer (SVPR) in Human Resources. Check out the video to learn more about the importance of cultivating consent culture on campus, Vanier’s upcoming mandatory training activities for employees and students, and resources available in the College for those impacted by sexual violence. Please feel free to share! More videos from the RespectWorks Vlog series are available on this page of the RespectWorks Website. A tremendous thanks to Giovanna Arcuri in Communications for putting these videos together! Thank you and wishing you a smooth start to the week! Anuska Martins, Respectful Learning and Workplace Environment Advisor, [email protected] Spring Break Discussion Circles: One Year Later This month’s reading week falls around the one-year anniversary from when the College first closed at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Words can’t begin to describe the mix of feelings that can come up when thinking about all that’s happened since! As we now look to the transition from Winter to Spring, we would like to invite folks to join us in holding space to unpack and reflect on how we are doing, what is still challenging, where we can seek support, and how we can cultivate hope. Wednesday, March 17th from 2:30pm-4pm and Thursday March 18th from 10am-11:30am Discussion Circles are co-animated by Krista Riley (PSI) and Anuska Martins (RespectWorks Advisor) and capped at ten participants each Please use this Registration Form to sign up. Thank you and we look forward to connecting with you in these spaces! Krista Riley ([email protected]) & Anuska Martins ([email protected]) 3 Academic Council AGENDA Friday, March 12, 2021, 1:00 p.m. ZOOM https://zoom.us/j/92859143743 Meeting ID: 928 5914 3743 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Approval of the Agenda 3. Approval of the Minutes of February 19, 2021 4. Business Arising from the Minutes a) IPESA Procedures (E. Cooperberg) b) DG Renewal: DG Visit and Survey Questions (in camera) 5. Main Business i. Items for Consultation a) Digital Competencies Development Committee (P. Rioux, H. Kavallos) b) Student Success Plan (E. Cooperberg) ii. Items for Recommendation iii. Information, Reports and Announcements a) Network News (A-C. Banville) b) Winter 2021 Validated Enrolment (S. Tardif) c) Fall 2021 Application Figures (S. Tardif) 6. Varia 7. Adjournment Olga Mardas, Office of the Academic Dean on behalf of Academic Council 4 Vanier College “Let’s Turn the Corner 2021 Campaign” We are raising money to help fifty students finish the semester with some additional financial assistance through our “Let’s Turn the Corner 2021 Campaign”. Our “Let’s Feed Fifty 2020 Holiday Campaign” recently raised $6,800 to help students in need during the holiday break. Now we can help students who are struggling to make ends meet by heling them turn the corner. The corner at this time of the year is the struggle that students face to support themselves during the last couple of months of the winter semester. Students often receive less money from government loans and bursaries; some are still struggling to pay off their school fees; and others are struggling to eat and pay rent. “Thank you so much for helping me. I truly appreciate everything you and Vanier have done for me throughout my different semesters, but mostly this one we have at the moment. I'm grateful”. -Jonathan Tshitenge Mpiana Thank you and Vanier College so very much for this. It is of great help. Have a joyful and fantastic Christmas! -Marin Gallien. (Student thanks from our “Let’s Feed Fifty 2020 Holiday Campaign”.) Please follow our fundraising thermometer (graphic) on the Vanier Website and help us reach our goal of $5,000.00 to help our students turn the corner. I have donated the first $100.00 and I challenge all members of the Vanier Community to give what they can. People or departments who donate can have their name attached to the campaign or they can chose to remain anonymous. Donations can be made directly online at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/14609 (and please choose the “Let’s Turn the Corner” Fund from the menu) Or Please make your cheques payable to the Vanier College Foundation and have them sent via courier to Vanier College, 821 Sainte Croix Ave, Saint Laurent, QC H4L 3X9 C/O Janelle Villanueva. Please help us make this student-centered event a huge success and please feel free to forward names of students in financial need (often teachers and other staff have built up relationships with our students and know that they are struggling so please let us know as well so that we can help them! Sincerely, Jim Atkinson, Socio-Economic Officer, Student Services 5 In Her Name Winners Congratulations to the winners of the In Her Name writing competition, held to honour International Women’s Week! 1st Place: Natalia Andrea Lucena 2nd Place: Anaissa Dauphin 3rd Place: Hanane Asout Most Creative: Ingrid Victoria Orrell To read the winning entries, please visit: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/learning-commons/in-her-name/ Kim Muncey, TASC and the Writing Centre The Writing Centre during March Break The Writing Centre teachers will be offering writing assistance during March break. Students can see the schedule and make appointments here: https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/learning-commons/writing-centre/ Kim Muncey, TASC and the Writing Centre Referral Form: Early Alert Support The Early Alert Support referral form is available online for teachers to refer at-risk students to a Student Success Advisor. Teachers are encouraged to fill out the referral form as soon as it becomes noticeable that a student is likely to fail and requires support beyond help understanding course content. I will contact referred students and invite them to meet with me via Teams, telephone or in person if the student’s schedule requires them to be on campus. Depending on a student’s situation, I will either work with them directly, or refer them to the relevant resource(s), and follow up to help ensure the student receives the necessary support. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you want further information: [email protected] Referral form: Early Alert Support: http://bit.ly/early-alert-referral Cari Clough, Student Success Advisor, Tutoring and Academic Success Centre, E-308 Vanier Walking Club We would like to announce and congratulate the Winners of the February Walking Challenge. The winning team is…drumroll please… SOLE SURVIVORS! Congratulations to Edward, Helena, Carl, Nora, Tania & Kelly! They walked a total of 992.37 km in 28 days! Congratulations to all the people who participated in the challenge. It was loads of fun. Our March Challenge which started on March 2nd is a Destination Walk. The first team to arrive at their vacation destination wins! Teams will be leaving from Vanier to travel 1010 km to their vacation haven They can walk, snow shoe, skate, x-country and swim to get there. Good luck to all the Participants and their respective teams. March Destination Challenge Teams Beach Bums Beer Bellies Nature Buff Happy Gilmore Bird Watchers Lani Kai Hotel Tatamagouche Louis Babel Bay County Golf Chincoteague National Resort Brewery Ecological Reserve Course Wildlife Refuge Happy Fitness, Shawna and Jessica If you are interested in joining our next challenge please contact Shawna [email protected] 7 THIS WEEK: International Women’s Week 2021: Intersections (March 8 to 12, 2021) For 42 years, Women’s and Gender Studies at Vanier has been pioneering courses, events, and activities to inspire change in our community.