¢
S e August 2004

The Douglas College Newsletter

m New Westminster Campus and David Lam Campus

IN

Douglas College

 

myDouglas coming soon to a computer near you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

myDouglas Implementation Coordinator Keith
Ellis shows off the new portal.

 

For those who identify
with the saying, “I finally
got it all together but |
forget where I put it,” help
is on the way. The pilot
study of the new Douglas
College Web-based portal
will be launched in
September 2004, with the
full launch planned for
everyone in the College
community in the Winter

2005 semester.

my Douglas (from the same
company that produces
Banner) supports and
integrates other software,
allowing users to access all
Douglas College on-line
services (including Banner)
from one common area on

the Web.

“Many post-secondary
institutions in Canada and

the USA are now using or

developing their own
portals,” says Keith Ellis,
implementation
coordinator. “These portals
make it easy for all
community members to
access information they
need quickly and

conveniently.”

For faculty, the benefits
include a Web-space for
each class, where
instructors will be able to
upload their course
materials and post
announcements, such as
last minute class
cancellations. Says Ellis,
“The ability for instructors
to immediately
communicate with their
students is probably the
best thing about
myDouglas.” That and
never again trying to

decipher students

scribblings on the e-mail
sign-up sheet - myDouglas
will automatically generate
an e-mail class list for each

course.

For employees, the
convenient one-stop nature
of myDouglas likely will be
the most appreciated
feature. Rather than
hunting all over the
computer to access Banner
or Douglas Development
or committee groups, users
can quickly and easily
customize the portal to suit

their own individual needs.

For students, it will be the
consolidation of their
academic and social lives
that helps the most. In
addition to their own
Douglas College e-mail
account, students will also

be able to download course

materials, check the bus
schedule, participate in
group discussions, and
even view a calendar that
combines their course
events with their personal
schedule, all through

myDouglas.

‘To ensure a smooth launch
in the Winter, pilot study
participants reflecting a
diverse range of users and
program requirements will
be testing the system and
providing feedback.
Participating in the pilot
study are the faculty and
students in the
Accounting, CISY,
HORM, Print Futures,
Nursing Access 1, and
Sport Science programs.
Once all the glitches have
been worked out, Ellis will
give demos and training

sessions.

 

Registrar's Office notice: change to Late Registration

Asa result of the implementation of the Douglas College Minimum Language

Competency Standard, all students attempting to add courses during the Late

Registration period (September 7 to 18, 2004) are required to produce a Late

Registration Eligibility Card.

The cards are colour coded. Green cards are proof of eligibility for registration in any

course, providing students meet the course prerequisite as determined by the instructor.

Orange cards allow students to register in DVST or EASL courses only.

Ifa student is unable to produce a card, do not sign them into your course. Send them to

the Registrar's Office where we will check their status and issue a duplicate card. You will

still use the Add/Drop form to sign students into courses once they provide you with

their eligibility card. Please make sure that the name on the label of the card is the

same name on the Add/Drop form. This process is temporary for the Fall 2004

semester only. If you have questions, please contact Brenda Walton in the Registrar's
Office at 5354.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Late Registration eligibility cards are proof that students have met the
Douglas College Minimum Language Competency Standard.

Nursing instructor bowls them over

Nursing instructor Sherry
Soball lives in the fast lane.
When she’s not busy
teaching first-year n ursing
students at Douglas
College, the intrepid
instructor coaches teenage
girls on the finer points of

bowling.

It appears to be time well
spent: Soball and her
junior girls team took the
gold medal for BC in their
division this year, and then
went on to the nationals in
Newfoundland in May

where they took silver.

“It was a lot of fun!” says
Soball, who coaches out of
the Scottsdale Bowling
Lanes in Surrey. “This is
my fifth time at the
nationals as a coach. I’ve
completed my complement
of medals, and now have

one of each.”

Soball, who has bowled at
the national level herself,

got involved with the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nursing instructor Sherry Soball, front left, led
her team to capture silver at the national
championships this past May.

Youth Bowling Council of
Canada when her son went
to nationals in 1986.
That's when she says she
got “hooked.” From there
she took a coaching course
and is now a certified level
two coach in five-pin

bowling.

Her hard work has paid
off. In April, Soball won
the Grassroots Coach of

the Year for BC from the

BC Five Pin Bowlers
Association in conjunction
with the Master Bowlers
Association of BC.

Soball doesn’t mind being
busy. “You just set
priorities,” she says. “I’ve
always been involved in
volunteering, so this falls
into that category. I’ve
worked with kids a lot in
my nursing career so this

maintains that contact.”

 

Quote of the Month

“The classes were smaller and the teachers had time to give me personal attention. It gave me the

ability to catch up. If I had started college without those courses, I would have been broadsided.”

Sylvia Duffy, Douglas College Associate of Arts Degree graduate, discussing Developmental Studies courses