President’s Report Highlights - November

I have had the opportunity to meet with the Acting President of the University College of the Fraser Valley and staff to examine ways that we can ensure smooth delivery of services in the valley, and to share expertise and experience in the use of technology in the delivery of courses. I also met with the president of BCIT and the Superintendent ‘of Maple Ridge School District to examine cooperative activities in the use of technology amongst our various institutions.

A dinner hosted by Douglas College to celebrate a new women’s studies curriculum was held at the College on October 26th. It was attended by academics and activists from the community and from our sister institutions. Dr. Lorna McCallum of English and Communications co- ordinated the activity, which included a pot luck dinner.

On November 8th, I had the opportunity to meet with the Executive of the Douglas College Faculty Association to discuss matters of interest and concern for the College. We had a lively exchange of ideas related to budget and working conditions at the College. I will be

MNsne_ convoy

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returning to a future meeting with the Association Executive to continue discussion related to the uses of learning technologies.

On November 15th, I met with representatives from IBM to discuss possible partnerships in the provision of technical services to the College, both for learning and for professional and operating use. The Vice President, Instruction was an integral part of these discussions, and was responsible for connecting IBM to my office. It is my intention to continue to explore possible working relationships with the corporate sector in assisting the College in its move to becoming technologically competitive in the post-secondary sector.

On November 1 {th and 12th, I attended the annual meetings of the Canadian Research Institute for Advancement of Women, held this year in Prince George, B.C. I was invited to speak on the issue of Cutbacks in Federal Transfer Payments and the Impact on Access for Women. I joined the Academic Vice Presidents from Brock University (Dr. Susan Clarke) and UNBC (Dr.

Internet nursing server taps global expertise

ome of the world’s leading experts

on psychomotor skills acquisition

and nursing instruction strategy got together at Douglas College to exchange questions and answers last September: they enjoyed it so much they’ ve yet to leave.

Authorities from across the continent and from such far-flung locations as Taiwan, Chile and Denmark began appearing when the College’s Nursing Learning Resource Centre went on-line with NurseLRC, the world’s first moderated electronic mailing list

Deborah Poff) in discussion of this critical issue. I also had the opportunity to initiate discussion regarding possible future collaborative activities between the College and UNBC.

Douglas College, Langara College and Capilano College, together with the Open Learning Agency are in the process of forwarding a concept paper to the Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour, to explore opportunities for the creation of the British Columbia Open University. We have appointed internal representatives to a working group to develop an implementation plan. If the Ministry approves our request to move forward, our vision will allow Douglas College (and our sister colleges) to become degree granting in niche areas by using the distance education delivery service of the Knowledge Network and OLA. The opportunity to serve learners in areas where Douglas College provides unique and excellent programming will be most advantageous to both learners (potentially across Canada and worldwide) and to our professional staff and faculty #.

specifically aimed at nursing instructors.

“The response has been excellent,” says Marilyn Lewthwaite, Nursing Lab Manager and one of the list’s five moderators. ““We’ ve already got over one hundred subscribers and a surprising amount of activity.”

The concept behind the mailing list is simple; people involved in nursing instruction - theory or practice - send in questions which the list’s editors post where all the subscribers can read them and send in replies. The replies are then edited and posted alongside the questions.

The topics discussed include care and maintenance of equipment, instructional strategies, computer and audio-visual resources, funding sources, and anything else the moderators feel is relevant to their occupation.

“We'll be offering a new program on computer technology next September,” says Lewthwaite. “Something like the NurseLRC is an ideal way of gathering information for it.”

For more information, contact Marilyn_Lewthwaite @ Douglas.BC.CA. &f