Embedded Files
Faculty Liaison to Student Groups
Faculty Liaison to Student Groups
This role is somewhat undefined, but all student groups have some faculty member volunteering to help them organise activities, facilitate access to resources in the college, and other aspects of running a group (such as learning basic group dynamics). My approach is to facilitate, but not direct the activities of the groups. They are entirely student-led. I provide them background knowledge, help the transition from year to year, and often shepherd them through the inevitable conflicts that happen through a year.
Indigenous Student Circle
Indigenous Student Circle
This group has had many names and incarnations over the years. For a long time, it was know as the First Nations Group, and then the Aboriginal Awareness Group. It was renamed Aboriginal Student Circle in the fall of 2016 after consultation within its executive and became the Indigenous Student Circle in the fall of 2017. The evolution of this group has more or less followed the changing situation of Indigenous students at the college, and has experienced a boost with the hiring of a full-time Aboriginal Liaison Coordinator in the spring of 2016. The group is mostly focused on organising social and cultural activities for its members, with an element of education of the student body at large about issues faced by Indigenous students at the college. It collaborates with the Aboriginal Liaison Coordinator and Student Life. I have mostly collaborated with this group in the areas of governance and helping them develop engagement strategies. Oh... and providing home-made goodies for their bake sales!
Pride on Campus
Pride on Campus
This group has had a long history at Red Deer College and it is well established. It organises both awareness and social activities for students; its advocacy level has varied over the years. One great victory for the group was the hoisting of the Pride flag at the main entrance of Red Deer College for the first time during Red Deer Pride days in August 2016. In recent years, it has also focused on increasing visibility for transgendered people in a province where the issue is extremely sensitive. This group has required modest involvement from me as a facilitator, but knowing that a faculty member is there as a resource is essential for many LGBTQQIA students in the college.
History Students Society
History Students Society
This student-driven group has had a mixed history of its own, as it is heavily dependent on the desire of the few students passionate about history to make it happen in an institution where there is no complete history programme (and therefore few students taking history as a major field of study). It has been relatively dormant in the past couple of years. In the past, however, its members have been the driving force of the History Colloquium, organised at Red Deer College in collaboration with three local high schools (Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive, Hunting Hills, and Notre Dame), an initiative that brought together high school and college students for a day of academic presentations. Its members have also organised peer-help sessions for essay writing and Chicago Manual of Style citations, for example. They have also helped several students participate in Mount Royal University's annual Foothills Colloquium in Undergraduate History. My role in this group has largely been one of helping the executive organise, to facilitate its access to college and other resources, as well as providing expert topic knowledge.
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