Ten with Ken (Video)

Sheridan College, in the suburbs of Toronto, is world renowned for its creative programs, such as top-ranked illustration and animation degrees – and it has built its entire institutional brand on the slogan "Get Creative." This week, Ken Steele sits down with Janet Morrison, Sheridan's president and vice-chancellor, to discuss how higher ed can cultivate creativity, equipping students with crucial skills for the future, and preparing staff and faculty across campus to embrace innovation and change.

Janet begins by explaining that Sheridan's commitment to creativity goes far beyond the obvious creative programs. Creativity relates to people, process, product and space. CEOs and thinktanks agree that creative thinking will be an essential skill for graduates in the new economy, and AI experts anticipate that more creative functions will be the last to be automated. Creativity can a valuable "inoculator" against constant change and disruption, and provides tools to deal with ambiguity and complex problems. "The only certainty is that things are changing."

Post-secondary education is a transformative experience, both personally and socially, beyond the undeniable economic impact on graduate earnings. Higher education cultivates a sense of happiness, leading to more social engagement, political activity, and volunteerism. "PSE is a public service. It does good things for the public," Janet asserts. "How we foster engagement, teach and mentor them to be active citizens in a democracy really matters, maybe moreso today than ever."

At Sheridan, they believe that creativity can indeed be taught: "it is totally possible." More than 3,000 students, 300 staff, and 100 external community members have taken courses or workshops in innovation and creative thinking at Sheridan. Janet says the workshops "have fuelled creative thinking and innovation in not just our programs but our service delivery." Sheridan's mission is being "fuelled and accelerated" through training and development in creativity.

Sheridan is proud of its three "creative campuses," which Janet explains authentically reflect the institution's values. "Space matters… We want people to experience creativity from the minute they're on our properties." Sheridan has installations at its Creative Campus Galleries that challenge students, faculty and staff to reflect and rethink. An annual "creative speakers" series has brought Ken Dryden, Roberta Jamieson and others to campus, to cultivate curiosity and allow people to see the world through a different lens.

Janet emphasizes the importance of listening, consultation and collaboration, and "capitalizing on the contributions that students, faculty and staff can make to move the institution forward." She has led an Academic Planning and now also a Strategic Planning process at Sheridan that aim to be "the most open and engaged in Sheridan's history." If you hire the right people, she observes, "they're opinionated, well-educated, with great experiences" and inevitably disagree at times about the direction of their learning community. "When people care about the place, they're going to express those opinions with a level of enthusiasm." The task of the campus leader is to sift and sort, triangulate the input from across campus, and find "not consensus but a level of alignment and mutual agreement."

Dr Janet Morrison championed student success at York University for 17 years, ultimately as VP Students, before joining Sheridan College in 2016 as VP Academic, and 2 years later becoming Sheridan's President. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in History and Education.

Next week, Ken's conversation with Janet continues, with a look at Mental Health and Student Success. So you don't miss it, be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Special thanks to Sheridan College for the onsite videography. (If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.)

This week, Ken Steele continues his conversation with Larry Rosia, the president and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic, about the fourth industrial revolution, workforce changes, rising interdisciplinarity, and the strengths of polytechnic education – particularly, their close connections to industry. "We like to say we have industry in our DNA," Larry says.

The fourth industrial revolution, as the World Economic Forum calls it, is being driven by the rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation in the workforce. "The topic fascinates me… but it's one of the topics that keeps me awake at night as well," Larry observes wryly. "The economy is changing, and the jobs of tomorrow are going to be significantly different than the jobs of today. The trouble is that tomorrow is coming sooner than we think." Sectors are being disrupted, skill requirements are changing, and as the world of work evolves, higher education has to keep pace. Moreover, education itself is going to be disrupted by emerging technologies: "it's hard to believe that we're immune." Larry challenges people at Saskatchewan Polytechnic to "disrupt or be disrupted."

For 15 years now, the category of polytechnic institution has been gaining visibility in Canada, and many innovative college and university programs are hybrids of the two traditional approaches. Polytechnics are "the third way," Larry observes, with applied learning, applied research, and strong partnerships with business and industry. But all three types of PSE play a role in the higher ed ecosystem.

Work-integrated learning is crucial, and 75% of SaskPolytech programs have a WIL component. Students take classroom learning to the jobsite, but they also learn skills on the jobsite, including the soft skills that employers are looking for. Polytechnics offer degrees that universities don't offer, where industry is demanding advanced skills. Every program area has advisory committees of industry leaders, who review the curriculum for currency, skills and competencies. A growing number of college and university graduates are pursuing postgraduate education at SaskPolytech, to get the applied experience they need to get a job.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic recently reorganized its programs around industry sectors, to send the message that they are "open for business" and provide a clear point of contact for employers, and potential applied research partners. "If you want to be good in business, you have to make it easy for customers to do business with you." The restructuring aligned SaskPolytech's programs with industry, and as a result gave new momentum to interdisciplinary programs.

Some students are already pursuing polytechnic education, not to gain a traditional credential, but to gain the skills and competencies they need in their current job, for a new career, or to start a new business themselves. Larry uses the analogy of a music playlist to describe the sort of personalized education that will be coming soon: students are bundling courses together to prepare for careers that we're not even thinking about. Companies like Google and Amazon have stated openly that they are no longer hiring based on credentials, but are seeking skills and competencies. Higher ed institutions need to become more nimble, and unbundle traditional programs so that students can assemble their own career pathway. Larry doesn't believe that credentials will entirely cease to matter anytime soon, but unbundled learning will be critical for lifelong upskilling and reskilling.

Dr Larry Rosia (@LarryRosia on Twitter) has a background in telecommunications engineering, and holds a PhD in academic leadership from the University of Calgary. For more than 35 years, he has worked in higher education as an instructor, program chair, marketing manager, and senior administrator. Larry served as Dean of the School of Construction at SAIT from 1999-2012, and has been President and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic (formerly SIAST) since 2012. He authored a 2009 book, "The Successful College President: Strategies for Leading in a Complex Environment." Larry also sits on the boards of many organizations including Polytechnics Canada, Skills Canada Saskatchewan, the Chair Academy International Leadership Board, the International Mineral Innovation Institute, and the Saskatchewan Post Secondary International Education Council.

We have plenty more to come this year, so be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Special thanks to Saskatchewan Polytechnic for arranging the onsite videography. If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.

This week, Ken Steele "takes off" to Saskatoon to speak with Larry Rosia, the president and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic, about his institution's four pillars of internationalization. They sit down in SP's pilot training flight simulator for a conversation.

Internationalization has been a top priority for many institutions in Canada. Reports from the World Economic Forum and the Conference Board of Canada emphasize the importance of cultural competency as a workforce skill for the future, and it's especially important in a globally exporting province like Saskatchewan. In order to internationalize the whole institution, SP has a four-pillar strategy:

1) Faculty & Student Exchanges, sending representatives abroad to study, teach and engage in applied research and project work. Not everyone wants to travel abroad, and the institution can't afford to send everyone abroad, though.

2) Incoming International Students, recruiting students from priority countries to diversify classrooms in Canada. "Having a different lens, a different perspective, a different culture lend their ideas to a problem is really interesting," and helps to spark innovative thinking on campus. "The solutions to today's problems and tomorrow's problems are interdisciplinary and intercultural."

3) International Applied Research Projects engage SP with partners abroad, and students from various locations can collaborate and innovate via technology on a shared project.

4) International Project Work, such as providing pilot training to meet a country's needs.

Ultimately, internationalization is critical because Canada needs immigration to sustain its population, and our students need to learn how to work with diverse cultures. They will graduate and work with companies that do business internationally, and if they have global competencies they will be more attractive to future employers. Larry emphasizes that "Saskatchewan runs on Saskatchewan Polytechnic," and that cultural diversity is one of its differentiators and strengths.

Dr Larry Rosia (@LarryRosia on Twitter) has a background in telecommunications engineering, and holds a PhD in academic leadership from the University of Calgary. For more than 35 years, he has worked in higher education as an instructor, program chair, marketing manager, and senior administrator. Larry served as Dean of the School of Construction at SAIT from 1999-2012, and has been President and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic (formerly SIAST) since 2012. He authored a 2009 book, "The Successful College President: Strategies for Leading in a Complex Environment." Larry also sits on the boards of many organizations including Polytechnics Canada, Skills Canada Saskatchewan, the Chair Academy International Leadership Board, the International Mineral Innovation Institute, and the Saskatchewan Post Secondary International Education Council.

Next week, Ken's conversation with Larry Rosia continues. So you don't miss it, be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Special thanks to Saskatchewan Polytechnic for arranging the onsite videography. If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.

Ken's conversation with Mark Frison, president of Assiniboine Community College in Brandon Manitoba, continues this week as they explore ways that higher ed leaders can empower and inspire their people to take ownership and take initiative, to propel innovation on campus. (If you missed the first part of this interview, about encouraging PSE participation on the prairies, see https://youtu.be/-vksdjuMt2k).

Mark suggests 3 concrete ways to nurture a culture of innovation on campus:

1) Make Initiative an Explicit Value

ACC has adopted organizational values that encourage all staff and faculty to "Be Passionate. Take Initiative. Deliver Results." Specifically, the college values urge people to "challenge the status quo and take calculated risks without fear of failure." Mark believes it is critical to state explicitly to the campus community that risk is inevitable when you innovate.

2) Invest in Talent through PD

ACC's talent management action plan, instituted in 2011, has worked to increase its investment in professional development from 1.25% of payroll to almost 3%. Given the fiscal environment, colleges need to maximize the capabilities and training of all staff.

Ken observes that on most higher ed campuses, there is a disconnect between senior administrators who embrace innovation and seek transformative change, and front-line staff who are anxious about making mistakes, and focused on meeting the short-term objectives of their immediate supervisors. The further down the organizational hierarchy you go, Ken argues, "the more doing nothing is the safest course of action," and he wonders how best to transmit the entrepreneurial mindset throughout the organization. But Mark also observes that front-line staff and faculty are actually the ones most likely to have innovative ideas about serving the student, and thinks the more immediate issue is how to translate ideas UP through the organization.

3) Formalize the Idea Generation Process

That's why ACC implemented a system of written "decision notes" for middle managers, encouraging them to describe new ideas in detail, and make their business case. Training middle managers to write these briefing notes has been "incredibly helpful at dislodging these ideas," getting ideas onto the table and either moving them forward, or setting them aside.

Mark and Ken agree that there is a "double whammy" of risk aversion in a public-sector, academic institution. Committees tend to preserve the status quo, and often aren't even empowered to make decisions. Ultimately, Mark emphasizes, "you do need individuals to feel that they can take risks." In many colleges, Ken argues, there is a "learned helplessness" that discourages a sense of personal ownership of decisions or processes. Mark recalls a board member once asking him, "if you owned this thing, what would we be doing differently?" Thinking about your institution with a sense of ownership, and a willingness to take informed risk, engages everyone's ideas and passions, and encourages an entrepreneurial campus culture.

Mark Frison was appointed President of Assiniboine Community College in August 2010, after serving 5 years as president of Great Plains College and Cypress Hills College in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He holds a Masters of Industrial Relations from Queen's University, and undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Business from Cape Breton University (UCCB at the time). He has served as Executive Director of the Association of Saskatchewan Regional Colleges, and on the board of Colleges & Institutes Canada.

Every week, 10K explores a world of higher ed innovation and bright ideas. So you don't miss a thing, please be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Special thanks to Shaun Cameron for coordinating the onsite recording at ACC. If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.

Ken Steele visits Assiniboine Community College, in Brandon Manitoba, to talk with president Mark Frison about their beautiful new North Hill Campus, encouraging enrolment in a region with the lowest PSE participation rate in the country, serving Indigenous populations, aligning programs with provincial immigration policy, and growing international enrolment 1,500%!

ACC's North Hill Campus is taking shape on the pastoral grounds of the former Brandon Mental Health Centre, and is already home to the Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts, the Len Evans Centre for Trades & Technology, and sustainable greenhouses. Over the next few decades, ACC will preserve historic buildings, construct new academic and athletic facilities, and perhaps even build student residences. It will make ACC unique among Canadian colleges.

Many of the innovations in marketing, programs and services at ACC have been driven by the recognition that much of rural Manitoba is underserved by higher ed institutions, and the province has the lowest PSE participation rate in the country. The province is highly centralized, with 85% of public spending on PSE concentrated in the city of Winnipeg. ACC's 2013 plan set an ambitious target to double the number of graduates by 2025.

Another key constituency ACC serves are Indigenous peoples, and bridging the "prosperity gap" may be the biggest public policy challenge in Manitoba. About 15-22% of the students ACC enrols are Indigenous, and in a typical year the College runs programs on or near 20 First Nations communities.

The largest single change at ACC is the growth of international student enrolment: from 37 in 2013 to more than 500 in 2018! Early on, extremely low vacancy rates in Brandon meant that most international students wound up attending ACC's small Winnipeg campus – but thankfully that has eased, and eventually campus residences may be the best solution. ACC's international strategy is highly tied to provincial targets for immigration, and labour market needs – in fact, the need for immigration drives the strategy, not the desire for international tuition revenue (although moving to 5x domestic tuition has helped to make the programs sustainable). ACC also takes an integrated view of international enrolment, education of newcomers to Canada, and international development work.

Mark emphasizes that colleges and universities need to be "unapologetic" about doing all that they can to foster economic development, and coordinate their efforts at internationalization with their regional government's immigration strategies.

Mark Frison was appointed President of Assiniboine Community College in August 2010, after serving 5 years as president of Great Plains College and Cypress Hills College in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He holds a Masters of Industrial Relations from Queen's University, and undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Business from Cape Breton University (UCCB at the time). He has served as Executive Director of the Association of Saskatchewan Regional Colleges, and on the board of Colleges & Institutes Canada.

Next week, Mark Frison shares several ways campus leaders can inspire their people to take ownership and take initiative. So you don't miss it, be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Special thanks to Shaun Cameron for coordinating the onsite recording at ACC. If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.

From the high tech sector to higher education, one leadership challenge is similar: how do you nurture a culture of innovation in a hierarchical environment? It's probably tougher in the public sector, and especially in centuries-old academic institutions with bicameral, colleagial decision-making processes. But even entrepreneurial firms like Google or Adobe had to wrestle with similar challenges as they grew into tech giants. This week, Ken Steele continues his conversation with Jason Dewling, the president of LaSalle College Vancouver, who offers 5 ways that campus leaders can help encourage a culture of innovation.

1) Increase Risk Tolerance

To have the best ideas, you have to have a lot of ideas, which means some of them won't work. More innovative higher ed institutions will increase their tolerance for risk, allow people to pioneer ideas, experiment, and accept that some future tweaking will be required.

2) Let the Best Ideas Win

Cultivate your people according to their talents and strengths, and allow open debate and experiment to let the best ideas win.

3) Get Beyond Silos

Develop cross-functional teams so people can learn from diverse perspectives and fresh ideas.

4) Seek Talent Beyond PSE

Leaders need to be deliberate in talent acquisition and development. Instead of rewarding seniority and promoting from within, Jason believes higher ed will be increasingly hiring from other sectors (other sectors of higher ed, but also the private sector) in academic and non-academic areas. (Janet Morrison is a good example, a former VP at York University who was recently hired as president of Sheridan College. We'll share our interview with her in an upcoming episode. So you don't miss it, be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/ )

Jason's own background includes almost 2 decades of experience at public colleges in Alberta. He observes that the LCI Education Network includes 23 private for-profit institutions around the world, but it grew from the foundation of LaSalle College Montreal, part of the public PSE system in Quebec.

5) Structure for Flexibility

LaSalle's unique advantage frees it from historical structures that traditionally slow down progress in higher ed, so they can be much more responsive and market-driven. Like industry in all sectors, higher ed institutions need to be change-ready and adaptable.

Dr. Jason Dewling was appointed President of LaSalle College Vancouver in August 2017. Prior to that, he had 17 years of experience at public colleges in Alberta, as VP Academic and Research at Olds College, Associate Dean and Instructor at Olds College. Jason holds an M.Div from Acadia University, and a PhD in Education from the University of Alberta.

Special thanks to the LaSalle College Vancouver Media Arts students and staff, who stayed late to help make us look and sound professional!

If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/ for more information.

In the face of mounting budgetary pressure, colleges and universities are finding new collaborative approaches to achieve efficiency and economies of scale. Public institutions are sharing campuses and facilities, forming regional marketing groups, and even signing agreements to share course sections between different institutions using distance delivery. Some smaller colleges, particularly in the US, are merging with larger competitors, or finding financial strength in numbers through collaborative purchasing agencies. Some are joining global networks to provide corporate training to multinational clients, or share administrative infrastructure.

One such global network is the LCI Education Network, a global group of 24 institutions from Toronto to Melbourne, Barcelona, Morocco and Instanbul. It grew out of LaSalle College in Montreal, part of the public system in Quebec, and now includes some of the world's leading fashion and design institutes.

This week, Ken Steele chats with the president of LaSalle College Vancouver, Jason Dewling, about the benefits of shared Finance and IT services, amortized across a global network. Global networks give small colleges access to world-class talent and systems, like Ellicom, an online learning team with 80+ experts in augmented and virtual reality. Ellicom produces online training programs for corporate clients including simulations and assessments, and LCI institutions can access its team to support online program delivery too. Looking ahead to the future of education, Jason emphasizes that we will need to find meaningful ways to integrate technology while retaining the fundamentally social nature of learning.

Dr. Jason Dewling was appointed President of LaSalle College Vancouver in August 2017. Prior to that, he had 17 years of experience at public colleges in Alberta, as VP Academic and Research at Olds College, Associate Dean and Instructor at Olds College. Jason holds an M.Div from Acadia University, and a PhD in Education from the University of Alberta.

Next week, our conversation with Jason continues as he shares 5 ways higher ed leaders can help nurture a culture of innovation, and ensure that "the best ideas win." So you don't miss it, be sure to subscribe! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Special thanks to the LaSalle College Vancouver Media Arts students and staff, who stayed late to help make us look and sound professional!

If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.

Faced with tuition caps and declining government grants, public colleges and universities are becoming more entrepreneurial and seeking alternative revenue streams, often by selling off surplus campus lands to developers, or leasing campus space for retail or residential development. Simon Fraser University, built in a conservation area atop Burnaby Mountain just a 30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver, took its unique geographic opportunity and turned it into an exercise in city-building, literally "moving mountains" to establish a complete, walkable and almost self-sufficient town adjacent to its campus.

In previous visits to campus, we learned about SFU's community engagement strategy (https://youtu.be/EGWvfBqJEGs ) and the many ways in which the University uses its campuses in Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby to build communities (https://youtu.be/dujezn6_afg ). This week, Ken Steele talks with SFU president Andrew Petter, and SFU Community Trust CEO Gordon Harris, about "UniverCity," a development that is creating affordable housing for 10,000 people, adding two dozen shops and services for the campus community, generating a $90-million endowment for the institution, and exploring new frontiers in environmental and economic sustainability.

Built "in splendid isolation" atop Burnaby Mountain in 1965, SFU wanted to engage with community – but in this case, had to build its own community from scratch. The University negotiated with the municipality to transfer its zoning density from the entire mountain to a much smaller 65-acre parcel adjacent to campus, and built a suburban community with urban density, largely on lands formerly occupied by student parking lots. When fully complete, UniverCity will be home to almost 10,000 people, in apartment-style condos and stacked townhomes that meet the most ambitious environmental sustainability goals on the continent. UniverCity has won more than 30 national and international sustainability awards, including for its comprehensive stormwater management system. All developers aim to be 45% more energy efficient and 68% more water efficient than a typical code building, in order to quality for additional density. Many buildings have rainwater harvesting systems, solar arrays or geothermal heating. A new district energy system will use biomass to provide heat and hot water to two dozen buildings, in UniverCity and on the SFU campus. UniverCity's $3 million Childcare Centre is the "greenest childcare on the planet," and will soon have earned Living Building Challenge certification as a building that generates more energy than it uses, harvests more water than it uses, and is built from recycled and local materials. (It will be the first in Western Canada.)

UniverCity also strives for economic sustainability, creating affordable housing to help SFU attract faculty, staff, students and their families. (About half of the residents are affiliated with the University, and almost half have young children.) SFU leased some of the land to developers like VanCity at a 30% discount, so that residential units could be sold at a 20% discount in perpetuity (such as the "Verdant" townhomes). Standalone "green mortgages" amortize the cost of environmental upgrades separately from the purchase price of units. As urban planner Harris explains, "if it isn't economic, it isn't sustainable."

UniverCity had to provide more than just housing to its residents: it needed to establish all the infrastructure of a small town, including restaurants, a grocery story, pharmacy, childcare centre, an elementary school, and soon a medical centre. Residents also have access to campus facilities next door, including fitness and aquatic centres, art gallery, library and bookstore – and in return, the campus community can access shops and services in UniverCity. Someday it may also have an active seniors facility, where alumni and others could move in retirement.

The community has added life and vitality to the SFU campus, as well as $15 million worth of new infrastructure, from a town square to the new heating facility and underground pipelines. Ultimately, the UniverCity endowment will support teaching and research at SFU "for the rest of time."

Thanks again to Andrew Petter, Gordon Harris, and the SFU videographers who made this episode possible.

To learn more about UniverCity, visit http://univercity.ca, watch this beautiful documentary by France's EchoLogis https://youtu.be/jDdSaGcQvQw, or read Gordon Harris' new book, Building Community: Defining, Designing, Developing UniverCityhttps://living-future.org/product/building-community-book/

You can subscribe free to 10K by email or on any of a dozen channels: see http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/ for links.

And if you would like to host a 10K Site Visit at your campus, see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/ for further information!

Ken Steele is back with his 4th annual Holiday Special, and this time he's counting down the top ten higher ed holiday videos from last December, based on a rubric including production quality, acting, music, creativity and emotional impact.

The Holiday Top 10:

#10 – Elon University "Holiday Video" – A great sing-along video featuring 27 staff and student vocalists. https://youtu.be/0-pIVbnNxVM

#9 – The University of Virginia "Celebrating the Holidays" - Beautiful video of decking the lawn, baking cookies, and doing good deeds. (Featuring Holley Maher's "This December.") https://youtu.be/oS7rkgRjSvA

#8 – University of the Arts "Holiday Card" - Student musicians perform "Winter Wonderland" as we see artists, videographers and others. https://youtu.be/Q2tKXvdxW7o

#7 – Marquette University "Joy Is" - Freshman Ariana Madson performs "Joy to the World," as we see students demonstrating the values of shaing, caring and kindness. https://youtu.be/OWOpJWCJCzI

#6 – University of North Texas "Building Mean Green Holiday Spirit" - More than 15,000 Lego bricks and painstaking stop-motion animation went into this recreation of 4 campus buildings. https://youtu.be/YFm-63zKa2g

The "Behind the Bricks" behind-the-scenes video may be even better – https://youtu.be/c06G0CLHutY

#5 – York University "Re-Connect this Holiday Season" - Student Olivia is heartbroken that her sister won't make it home for the holidays, but gets a warm surprise after her exams. https://youtu.be/4KOYIhXz4JM

#4 – George Mason University "The Perfect Setting" - A diverse group of students brings together delicacies from all over the world to a shared holiday feast where they "pass the joy." https://youtu.be/bPCezNjKuuw

#3 – Otago Polytechnic "Merry Christmas" - A senior executive "Christmas Squad" comes to the rescue as a group of students suffers through noodles for Christmas. https://youtu.be/u8dbPeBMCgA

#2 – Azusa Pacific University "Christmas Lights" - Students in residence reach out with a puzzling gift: light bulbs. But the lights awaken fond childhood memories of stringing Christmas lights, and ultimately build a community based on a gift of hope. https://youtu.be/IVKg2umsFMI

#1 – University of Connecticut "Warm Holiday Wishes" - uConn mascot husky Jonathan travels the campus with mistletoe, kissing students and staff. https://youtu.be/EhObu7AruiA

Also worth a watch is the uConn blooper video - https://youtu.be/_83vNKE8Ubk

We missed "Happy Holidays from all Huskies at Heart" back in 2015 - https://youtu.be/FU6caXxn8Kg

Honourable Mentions:

University of La Verne – https://youtu.be/rje5PQCEL3Q

Branksome Hall "Spread the Love" – https://youtu.be/SHzSjig3280

Branksome Hall ARLA music video – https://youtu.be/dKSYkNDarKA

University of Toronto Mississauga "Holiday Chemistry" – https://youtu.be/tPlMZADyHUg

Southern Connecticut State University - https://youtu.be/VWC4Xy12Zpg

Other Notable Examples:

Georgia Tech Police Dept - https://youtu.be/_iDJ6J896Uo

Casper College – https://youtu.be/a66WuBupuMk

Carroll University – https://youtu.be/vFVmrw4IhoY

Newscastle University – https://youtu.be/dBhKdSX-V9w

Towson University - https://youtu.be/PGM7HWBqikk

Our Playlists:

Excerpts also appear in this episode from previous 10K Holiday Specials. Check out 2 hours worth at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYWOlX6xOJpuo5nloz1Q6dA1

Videos highlighted in this episode are all contained in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXThZ6t3KKp2dMYNAVdmZJY

Check out the full 9-hour playlist of 208 videos from 2017 at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYVmGMsmXoJqATfMohQ5cEYb

We're already compiling a list of 2018 higher ed holiday videos for next year's Holiday Special! Add yours to our playlist using this special link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYXZ7unDyH9cDK-lwTwGul7B&jct=FPMYWPTiiHTp94kpX6IzmfNKgQmYfA

We'll be back in January 2019 with more site visits, interviews, and episodes about higher ed trends and innovations. To be sure you don't miss a thing, subscribe today! http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

Happy Holidays!

Last week, Ken Steele sat down with Vianne Timmons, president of the University of Regina, to discuss why Indigenization matters to higher ed. (ICYMI see it at https://youtu.be/iLe1mxiT4rM).

This week, we turn from "why" to "how", and look at dozens of ways that colleges and universities can better accommodate Indigenous students, integrate Indigenous ways of knowing and learning, and introduce all students to Indigenous perspectives. This episode highlights more than 40 examples of ways in which non-Indigenous faculty, staff and administrators can help to indigenize the campus.

The examples are drawn from "100 Ways to Indigenize and Decolonize Academic Programs and Courses," a checklist developed for the UofR by Dr Shauneen Pete in 2015, when she was the University's Executive Lead of Indigenization. You can find the full checklist at:

https://www.uregina.ca/president/assets/docs/president-docs/indigenization/indigenize-decolonize-university-courses.pdf

or read Dr Pete's article in Aboriginal Policy Studies vol. 6, no. 1, 2016:

http://accle.ca/wp-content/uploads/Pete-100-Ways-of-Indigenizing-Decol.pdf

Because every Indigenous person and community have had very different experiences, it is important to work with elders, knowledge-keepers, and Indigenous staff and faculty to develop approaches for your own context. Without a doubt, we need to recruit more Indigenous staff, faculty, students, and graduate students. A big part of the challenge is to overcome financial and geographic barriers for prospective students in remote communities. Specialized cohort programs can encourage student success. Sessional hires can prioritize Indigenous candidates.

There are many small things that cumulatively can improve the campus experience for Indigenous students. We can recognize Indigenous names and symbols on campus, acknowledge traditional lands, display Indigenous symbols and art. We can honour Indigenous alumni, nominate Indigenous scholars for awards, and recognize Elders with gifts and honoraria. We also may need to revise criteria for faculty promotion, perhaps by recognizing relational capital.

We can also incorporate traditional celebrations and events on campus, from major annual pow-wows to traditional feasts, smudging, and round-dances. These events should engage all students, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and can be considered at the departmental level.

Every campus needs a gathering place for Indigenous students, where they can feel comfortable in their culture and share joys and challenges with each other and with elders. We can ensure that signage and promotional materials recognize Indigenous students' languages and contributions. "You must invest financially in supports for Indigenous students," says Timmons.

We can create some courses designed specifically for Indigenous learners, and make others mandatory on "shared work" such as settler-Indigenous relations and reconciliation. Professional schools need to insert mandatory courses, and pursue Indigenous language programs like First Nations University's Denee Teacher Education Program.

The biggest challenge for settlers is to recognize our biases. Many of us have been raised in a Eurocentric culture, and we take capitalism and the scientific method for granted. Whiteness isn't neutral, and we can help overcome students' limitations by naming the dominant worldview, and ensuring that alternative perspectives are visible. Administrators can ensure that workshops, release time and financial supports are available for faculty interested in Indigenizing their courses. Faculty can co-teach with Indigenous elders, alumni and community members. We can establish Aboriginal Advisory Circles within each Faculty. Instructors can move away from lecture and try a circle format in class, or land-based learning. Even nontraditional evaluation methods, like performance or artistic expression, could be considered.

Ultimately Indigenization can't just be the job of Indigenous people: it will only have succeeded when everyone on campus understands and advances it. Indigenous faculty and staff are already burdened with much extra work, and Indigenous students cannot be expected to fill in gaps in the curriculum. All of us know how to learn, and need to commit time and energy to the topic. Indigenous history is being written, and Dr Pete's checklist includes a helpful bibliography of sources. All faculty should consciously seek out Indigenous scholarship in their field, and every campus leader has a responsibility to learn more about Indigenizing the academy.

Vianne Timmons began her teaching career on the Babine First Nations Reserve in BC, and was appointed President of the University of Regina in 2008. She has helped advance Indigenization through dozens of initiatives, and two successive strategic plans. Vianne is one of 12 recipients of the national 2019 Indspire Award.

Shot on location at First Nations University, on the University of Regina campus, in October 2018, by campus videography staff – thank you again!

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