¢ 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