Tag: Teaching and Learning

Approved tag

Hands-on experience brings kinesiology theory to life

holding helping hand banner

By Elaine Smith

During the fall semester, students in the Faculty of Health’s Adapted Physical Activity course, run by Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Stephanie Bowerman, had the opportunity to put the theories they had learned about working with disabled clients into practice by working with students with varying disabilities from a high school in the nearby Jane-Finch community.

Stephanie Bowerman
(image credit: Kathryn Bain Photography)

“Most of my students have not knowingly worked with a person with a disability in a physical activity setting, so this was a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience,” said Bowerman. “These sessions provided opportunities to practise many of the Becoming YU competencies in a new context, such as communication, interpersonal connection and problem solving. Whatever field they choose after graduation, these skills are important.” 

Working with Paola Calderon-Valdivia, the Faculty of Health’s experiential education co-ordinator, and the York-TD Community Engagement Centre, Bowerman connected with Terry Douglas, special education department head at James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School, a short subway ride away from York University’s Keele Campus.

It was arranged for 20 students with varying disabilities to come to campus for three weekly physical activity tutorials to help the high schoolers prepare to participate in the Aspire Games, a competition in April that offers students with disabilities an opportunity to compete and shine in sports events. 

Bowerman’s students were divided into two one-hour sessions within which two-to-three York students were paired with one high-school student. In advance, the kinesiology students needed to plan and develop modified activities within the lesson plan provided to accommodate their student’s individualized needs. Andrea Haefele, a health and physical education curriculum consultant from the non-profit educational support organization Ophea, worked with the York students in preparation, leading a workshop called Disability Centred Movement: Supporting Inclusive Physical Education. Haefele collaborated with Bowerman in creating inclusive lesson plans and supported the York students while working directly with high-school students with disabilities in the physical activity tutorial setting.  

“She discussed making accommodations, how to support students with disabilities during activity, how to instruct students with visual aids and what kinds of behaviour management strategies to use,” Bowerman said. “The students took the lesson plan provided and made accommodations to the activities to meet the particular needs of their student. The York students all took turns taking the lead in the sessions.”

A small group of kinesiology and high school students are each holding and tossing a colourful scarf in the air. Each person moves to the right while the scarves are in the air and attempts to receive the new scarf before it falls to the ground, challenging their hand-eye co-ordination and movement skills.
A small group of kinesiology and high-school students are each holding and tossing a colourful scarf in the air. Each person moves to the right while the scarves are in the air and attempts to receive the new scarf before it falls to the ground, challenging their hand-eye co-ordination and movement skills.

They were able to practise using multiple forms of communication, because using strictly verbal instructions may not be the best approach for all individuals.  

Each week, the session began with a warm-up, followed by the groups rotating through four activity stations. During week one, the activities focused on sending and receiving objects: the transfer of skills to javelin or shot put. The second week’s activities focused on movement, emphasizing running skills and running over obstacles. The final week of activities highlighted track and field skills, such as throwing objects to targets (javelin, shot put), jumping, running relays and passing the baton, as well as overall fitness. All of the activities were designed to provide fundamental skills while exploring the joy of movement 

These sessions were valuable to the high schoolers, Douglas added, noting, “Any opportunities for skill acquisition into the community allows students to successfully transition into the community with a greater sense of personal capital and agency.” 

Following the experiential education (EE) sessions, the York students were asked to reflect on their experiences, and most found it eye-opening, Bowerman said. Some are now considering working with people with disabilities as a career possibility. 

Jessica Tan
Jessica Tan

Jessica Tan, a fifth-year bachelor of science student in kinesiology and health sciences, was among them. 

“I’d never worked with high-school students with disabilities, so it was nice to get exposure to a different demographic,” Tan said. “I learned that assessments don’t tell you everything about a person; you need to work with them to understand them.” 

Tan also found it was necessary to adapt her teaching approach in the moment to meet the needs of students.  

“I really had to make adjustments, think quickly and change the plan on the fly,” she said. “That’s something you don’t learn studying theory. You learn so much more through interactions than you do from slides.” 

Tan, an aspiring kinesiologist or occupational therapist, is also a part-time dance teacher, and her EE work and reflecting on it have caused her to alter her own teaching approach. 

“After this course, I understood that everyone has a different path to achievement and I began to appreciate the individuality of every student,” she said. 

Calderon-Valdivia, the Faculty’s EE co-ordinator, attended the sessions and was happy to see the learning taking place. 

“Engaging in community service learning fosters a sense of social responsibility and empathy, qualities that are highly valued by employers,” she said. “Through the practical application of specialized skills learned in this course, students gained social awareness and honed their adaptability skills. Ultimately, this type of EE helps shape individuals into well-rounded, ethical professionals.” 

The initial experiential education project was supported by a Faculty of Health Fund for Innovation in Teaching grant that allowed Bowerman to hire the consultant and to buy specialized equipment, such as foam javelins, for the students to use. Going forward, however, the equipment is available, and Bowerman plans to recruit kinesiology students for any assistance she needs to run the EE sessions. She is also excited about the relationship she has now established with teachers and staff at James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School. In fact, she created a fourth session to wrap up the program, providing the high-school students with participation certificates and snack bags for an enjoyable ending. 

Douglas, the special education department head, expanded on the importance of this community-service learning opportunity and said, “York University becomes an extended learning community for our students that affirms their strengths, worth and dignity.” 

Bowerman added, “I’m excited to see how this partnership will continue. The high-school teachers were excited about the collaboration and were pleased that York students could meet their own students where they were at. We can build on this relationship and see if there are opportunities for students to do independent study work.” 

E-mentoring a success for nursing students

hand holding heart near stethoscope BANNER

By Elaine Smith

A three-month pilot project to pair York University nursing graduate students with fourth-year nursing students for online mentoring has been a success, says Ruth Robbio, the assistant professor who led the project. 

Using an Academic Innovation Fund grant, in 2023, Robbio created a pilot mentoring initiative for fourth-year nursing students based on her own observations, research and knowledge of the profession – notably her doctoral work focused on e-mentoring for new nurses. She realized that the post-pandemic educational environment offered an excellent opportunity to use e-mentoring in a proactive way by providing support from experienced nurses for those entering the field. 

Ruth Robbio
Ruth Robbio

“New graduate nurses face difficulties in their transition to professional practice and many report being bullied in the workplace,” said Robbio. “This challenging transition to professional practice was compounded for nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in limited academic supports and clinical placements, alongside nursing staff burnout – leading to some nurses leaving the profession. 

“Socialization through psychosocial support and mentoring are critical to facilitating entry to practice. However, traditional in-person mentoring may encounter barriers such as unsupportive work environments, lack of mentor access, heavy workloads, and location and distance constraints.” 

The pilot launched with the assistance of a team of colleagues that included co-principal investigator Mavoy Bertram; Teaching Commons educational developer Lisa Endersby, statistician Hugh McCague from the Institute for Social Research; Helen Brennagh from Learning Technology Services; Stephanie Quail, acting director of the Open Scholarship Department at York University Libraries; and research assistant Doina Nugent. 

Ruth Robbio and her team
Ruth Robbio (top row, centre) and her team.

After receiving ethics approval for the pilot project in January 2023, Robbio recruited both mentors and mentees through the nursing program at York. Ten practising nurses doing graduate work at York volunteered to serve as e-mentors and 10 fourth-year students in the collaborative nursing program expressed an interest in e-mentorship. The e-mentors posted their profiles online and the e-mentees indicated their top three choices, allowing Robbio to match them. 

Before the program started, the mentees completed a questionnaire to identify their sources of stress, and they noted academic, work and financial stresses as the most pressing. Both groups also completed a self-reflective questionnaire about their current mental well-being. Mentors were generally more satisfied than their mentee counterparts. 

Robbio and her team fashioned the three-month pilot around six online modules that participants could review and discuss, addressing topics such as goal setting, conflict management and career advice. The real focus of the program was check-ins every two weeks between e-mentors and e-mentees. The e-mentors were able to provide psychosocial support and opportunities for professional networking and career support.  

“Nursing is often viewed as a sink or swim culture when you begin working, so this program showed e-mentees how to prepare for their careers and encouraged them not to bottle up their frustrations and anxieties,” Robbio said.  

The project has been an unqualified success, with 75 per cent of the mentees saying afterward that they would stay in touch with their mentors. Meanwhile, 80 per cent of mentors found the program helpful to them as e-mentors and 100 per cent would either participate in the program again or recommend it to a friend. 

The e-mentees were grateful for the support along the way. “I have found that in the few conversations that I have had with my mentor, she has been able to encourage me with ideas and advice about my career path,” wrote one e-mentee. “We’ve been able to connect on our passion for public health and I’ve been able to focus on the journey that I would like to take in my career as a health-care professional.”  

E-mentors found satisfaction in assisting future colleagues, too.  “It was fulfilling to share my knowledge and provide career and resumé advice to the next generation of nurses,” one wrote. “Witnessing my mentee benefit from my experience made me proud to be part of such an impactful program.”   

“At such a volatile time in health care, it is rewarding knowing that you are providing support and guidance to the next generation of nurses,” wrote another mentor. “It is an experience that benefits the experienced nurse, not just the student.” 

Some consistent themes emerged from the project, based on the post-program satisfaction survey. Participants viewed e-mentoring as a reciprocal relationship and as a commitment that takes time and engagement. The program offered a support system and provided support beyond career mentoring, occasionally venturing into the personal realm. E-mentees highlighted such benefits as “having a person with more experience guide you through new challenges” and seeing “a more practical experience of what nursing is like outside of school.” 

E-mentors mentioned their new role as “a reminder of the benefit and importance of supporting new nurses entering the profession” and indicated the value of “being able to learn about how I would like to mentor versus how others would like to be mentored.” 

Their study findings were presented last year at the Teaching in Focus Conference at York University, at the 8th World Congress on Nursing & Health Care in London, U.K., and at the University of New Mexico Mentoring Institute Conference in Albuquerque, N.M., where their conference paper was published in The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, the institute’s premier bimonthly online academic journal publication. 

Given the success of the pilot, Robbio is optimistic about its place in the nursing curriculum. She and her research colleagues are eager to share study findings with the School of Nursing leadership team to see if this program might be a good fit for existing leadership courses or as a stand-alone. 

“The program is very transferable to any area of study, but it is especially valuable in nursing because it’s not easy out there for new graduate nurses,” Robbio said. 

Thanks to this pilot project, mentees now know what to expect as they enter the workforce in 2024. 

Faculty of Health website highlights global learning

laptop with globe on screen

“Make our world a smaller place by being in it,” proclaims the new global learning page on the Faculty of Health’s website, which looks to further the Faculty’s series commitment to advancing global engagement, one of the University Academic Plan’s six priorities for action. 

Julie Hard
Julie Hard

Julie Hard, manager of international relations for the Faculty, views the page as “a hub for a diverse range of experiences such as student exchanges, faculty-led programs, internships, conferences and collaborative initiatives.” 

“When the site launched, we wanted to drive people to a one-stop shop: one place where students, faculty and the community could see themselves and how to work together to increase global engagement related to health,” adds Hard. “The global learning site provides a menu of opportunities for faculty and students, who can build global experience into their courses and their own learning journeys.” 

Now, there’s no need to hunt through multiple pages on the York website; not only does the Faculty of Health showcase relevant global learning opportunities in one place, it provides information about scholarships and testimonials from students who have dipped their toes in international waters and found the opportunities to be very stimulating. 

Among the interesting global learning opportunities the website highlights are: 

Faculty Bootcamp 

To encourage faculty members to offer global learning opportunities for health students, Hard runs a Faculty Bootcamp that offers a chance for faculty members to experience education in a global setting so they can readily understand the context and the available resources and can develop their own study abroad courses. Faculty members apply to attend a week-long experience and become students themselves, all while considering how they would lead a course in the designated setting. Hard usually leads an annual bootcamp at the Las Nubes EcoCampus in Costa Rica, home to numerous York study abroad courses, and is considering holding a similar session in Ghana, both places where the Faculty wants to enhance its strategic partnerships. 

“Faculty members have to have an idea about what they might teach and, if selected, go global with a mindset geared toward building a learning experience based on available resources,” Hard said. “Faculty members are introduced to community partners, educational programs, local businesses, and significant historical and cultural experiences that are relevant to proposed courses. They connect with other academic institutions with similar or complementary programs so they can build on York partnerships or create new ones.” 

FLIP for a global experience 

Faculty of Health students have always had myriad opportunities to gain global experience through general-interest study abroad programs run by York International or by University partners. Now, there are new health courses being offered abroad, called Faculty-Led International Programs (FLIPs). These courses, running from two to six weeks, are developed and led by professors in the Faculty. Registration for the two FLIPs scheduled for the Winter 2024 term quickly filled up. 

One of the new FLIPs will take place during Reading Week in February at the Las Nubes EcoCampus. Adrienne Perry, a professor in the Department of Psychology, created a course that uses an environmental psychology lens to examine people’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes, motivation, resistance and behaviour in relation to environmental factors.  

Jessica Vorstermans, an assistant professor of critical disability studies in the School of Health Policy & Management, is leading a two-week FLIP in Cuba in late April. Her course, Experience Cuba: Enacting the human right to health and health equity, demonstrates that these concepts are the predictable outcome of the ideological foundation of Cuban public policy, embedded in the socialist character of the Cuban state. Vorstermans will be working with faculty from the Universidad de Holguín, one of York University’s new partner institutions. 

Student enthusiasm for global learning 

Dylan Alega, a fourth-year student in the specialized honours psychology program, is one of those students who can speak about the benefits of studying abroad first-hand. Alega took the 12-day Community Psychology course offered at York University’s Las Nubes EcoCampus in Costa Rica in summer 2023.  

Alega, a Filipino who recently immigrated to Canada after living in Singapore, found that the course struck a real chord. As an immigrant, he found that many of his other psychology courses didn’t represent his own experiences and he found it hard to relate. His Costa Rican experience “was more representative of my own experience and it was cool that an alternative exists,” he said.  

“The highlight for me was visiting Indigenous communities in the struggle for their land. It got you out of your comfort zone regarding your world view in general.” 

He also enjoyed the opportunity to visit a Montessori school operated by El Salvadorean war refugees and Longo Mai, Costa Rica, a co-op with the goal of moving away from capitalism to become self-sustaining. 

“Costa Rica and the Community Psychology course have reoriented my path,” Alega said. “I want to work with marginalized communities who don’t have access to the usual mental health services, such as immigrant communities.” 

In fact, he and his fellow students were so taken with their Las Nubes experience that they applied to the Bold Ideas program for a grant to host a panel discussion called “Crossing Boundaries in Costa Rica.” Held in November, this session focused on the study abroad experience, its benefits, challenges, highlights and lessons learned. 

“We did a lot in 12 days, and this gave us the opportunity to reminisce and reflect,” Alega said. “It [the course in Costa Rica] was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” 

For Hard, who attended the student-led session, it was gratifying to see the impact of the Faculty’s Global Learning program on students. 

“We want to provide opportunities to learn about various aspects of health in different contexts,” she said.  

To meet students’ needs in programming, Hard will use the global learning website to host an annual Grow Global Survey that will allow the Faculty to assess student needs, interests and barriers as they plan for a future of advancing global engagement. 

Schulich breaks new ground in marketing education

presentation given on colorful board BANNER

Earlier this month, York University’s Schulich School of Business launched a Future of Marketing course intended to help undergraduate students stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving marketing landscape. Taught by Schulich professors David Rice and Martin Waxman, it is believed to be the first university course of its kind in the world.  

David Rice close-up portrait
David Rice

The course’s lectures and content focus on cutting-edge topics, including generative artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT, synthetic media, neuromarketing and biometrics, chatbots, augmented and virtual reality, and the metaverse. Living up to its name, the course will also delve into even more futuristic marketing concepts such as advertising in dreams and persuasion through brain-computer interfaces.

“The course challenges students to reimagine marketing and society in a time of rapid technological change,” says Rice. “While other universities are debating the use of ChatGPT in the classroom, we encourage its use so that students can learn first-hand what the potential and limitations are of generative AI technology, and imagine how it may alter the marketing future.”

Martin Waxman
Martin Waxman

To help ensure students are coming away with real-world skills, each class includes an experiential exercise where students have the opportunity to test their abilities and creativity with cutting-edge applications. Adding yet another practical element, the course wraps up with a pitch night in a boardroom format similar to CBC’s hit show “Dragons’ Den,” where student teams present their concepts for a new marketing technology, product or service to a group of senior marketing executives.

Later this year, Schulich is planning to expand the reach of this new course by offering it online through the Future of Marketing Institute, a global think tank based at the Schulich School of Business, of which Professor Rice is the executive director and Waxman is the associate director.

Schulich ExecEd expands health-care training partnership in Guyana

Schulich ExecEd Guyana group photo

Schulich ExecEd, an extension of the Schulich School of Business at York University, is building upon its existing partnership with the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana by launching a new Guyana-Schulich ExecEd Masters Certificate in Physician Leadership Program and kicking off a second cohort of the Schulich ExecEd-Guyana Masters Certificate in Hospital Leadership Program. Both programs are set to begin their virtual classroom sessions this month.

Representatives from Schulich ExecEd travelled to Guyana last month to celebrate the new program launch with members of Guyana’s government. The attendees from Schulich ExecEd were: Rami Mayer, executive director; Dr. Susan Lieff, program director; Jeff MacInnis, facilitator; Robert Lynn, associate director; and Ai Hokama, program co-ordinator.

“I am excited to announce the continuation of our partnership with the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana,” said Mayer. “Together, we are pioneering transformative learning programs focused on social innovation that are aimed at equipping health-care leaders with essential skills crucial for navigating the evolving landscape of health care in the Guyana region.”

The Schulich ExecEd-Guyana Masters Certificate in Hospital Leadership Program focuses on fortifying the administrative skills of health-care workers, equipping them with the knowledge to effectively manage health-care facilities, resources and personnel. Its sister program, the Guyana-Schulich ExecEd Masters Certificate in Physician Leadership Program, is a direct response to the needs of physicians in the region. The goal is to build up physicians’ leadership abilities, improve their decision-making skills, and sharpen their capacity to manage health-care facilities and resources. 

“These programs have been specifically designed to empower health-care professionals in Guyana and enhance the quality of health-care services they provide to their patients,” said Frank Anthony, Guyana’s minister of health. “We are grateful for the co-operation of the Ministry of Public Service and the Government of Guyana in delivering this training to the participants free of charge.”

Schulich ExecEd’s ongoing mission with this partnership is to transform Guyana’s health-care system to deliver more equitable, accessible and enhanced health care. The shared vision of these partners is to develop better health care and physician leaders in Guyana and to provide innovative health-care solutions to improve patient outcomes across the country. Program participants hail from all 10 regions of Guyana, including the country’s Indigenous communities.

“Our programs are meticulously designed to fill critical gaps in business education, addressing skill needs not traditionally covered in medical school,” explained Mayer. “We are committed to empowering physicians and health-care leaders with the tools to manage difficult conversations, solve complex problems, foster collaboration, lead effectively and elevate the overall quality of care in the country.”

Both programs are expected to graduate their current participants in September of this year.

For a closer look at the Schulich ExecEd team’s celebratory trip to Guyana last month, visit vimeo.com/901964260/c095aa81b2?.

Teaching Commons’ program joins forces with University of Guelph

books on grass rustling pages

By Elaine Smith

Participants in the Teaching Commons’ Reading for Teaching program at York University got a glimpse of the commonalities and differences in teaching practice at another institution thanks to a collaboration with a similar group at the University of Guelph during the Fall 2023 term.

Scott McLaren
Scott McLaren
Lisa Endersby
Lisa Endersby

Reading for Teaching is an informal opportunity for colleagues from across campus who are interested in reading and talking about teaching. A type of book club that focuses on works dealing with pedagogy, the program is the brainchild of educational developer Lisa Endersby and teaching and learning librarian Scott McLaren.

The two started the group pre-pandemic in 2019, building on early iterations of a Teaching Commons Journal Club facilitated by Endersby, and it has been running in the fall and winter terms ever since.

Members read works, both fiction and non-fiction, related to teaching and meet monthly to discuss the ideas set forth in the reading and how they relate to each individual’s experiences in the classroom.

Earlier this year, Endersby discovered that educational development colleagues at the University of Guelph in the Office of Teaching & Learning ran a similar group, and she suggested collaborating. She and McLaren talked with the two Guelph group leaders – educational developers Jenn Reniers and Christie Stewart – and tested the waters this fall.

Jenn Reniers is on the left; Christie Stewart on the right
Jenn Reniers (left) and Christie Stewart (right).

“One of the strengths of the group is that it brings people together from across the University and allows discussion among people at all levels of the profession, from teaching assistants to tenured, full professors,” McLaren said. “By reaching out to another institution, it takes the group to another level, making it even more diverse.”

Their Guelph counterparts agreed.

“Within the university, context is important, and it’s interesting to talk to people from different contexts,” said Reniers. “Our two institutions are different, in terms of commuter students versus students who live in residence, size and programs offered. We were interested in continuing our own club while connecting with others from different contexts.”

Stewart added, “Many of the books we read were based on research from the United States. By talking with each other, it helped us work through whether the differences were due to a difference in our own university and theirs or if it reflects differences between post-secondary education in Canada and the U.S.”

The leaders met in August to consider how they could work together and still maintain the individuality of their programs. Since Guelph faculty meet bimonthly and York’s monthly, they decided to make introductions asynchronously at the start of the term and meet as a group at the end of the term, separately discussing the chosen book in the intervening months. The book they selected was Relationship Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College by Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020).

“There are a lot of institutional structures that can facilitate or hinder connection,” McLaren said. “It’s interesting to talk about this across different universities and discuss what works and what doesn’t.”

The leaders of each group maintained a strict “whatever is said in the group stays in the group” policy to encourage openness and honesty and allow people to drop their guards when they met unfamiliar colleagues.

“In a group like this, you come face-to-face virtually with people you wouldn’t ordinarily meet and you don’t want to worry that you might be sitting across from them in a meeting,” McLaren said.

In September, the two groups used Padlet, a virtual bulletin board software, to introduce themselves to each other individually. Throughout the term, participants were able to post comments about the readings, although the groups met separately.

“Throughout the term, we updated each other about the conversations that were taking place,” said Stewart of the leaders.

The leaders also met to arrange December’s online joint session, creating reflection questions and planning for breakout sessions, as well as a large group discussion. The December gathering featured discussions about such topics as the impact of having a third space besides the classroom or home to meet and how to create a welcoming environment in large classes, even if one-on-one connections weren’t possible.

“It was very useful,” Stewart said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect when bringing in others after 12 weeks of building our own bonds, but I didn’t find reluctance. People were willing to contribute, and it offered validation of their experiences by people at another institution.”

Endersby agreed.

“Despite our sense of working in a York bubble, the Guelph participants felt the same way about some of the challenges and opportunities inherent in relationship-rich education. It was affirming for me.”

York’s Reading for Teaching program begins its winter term program on Jan. 16. For more information and to register your participation, complete the registration form.

Program helps students identifying as Asian soar

Composite of diverse range of Asian students

York University’s Asian Business and Management Program (ABMP) will launch the second series of its Career | Fit professional experience program, which aims to build upon its success in spring and summer 2023 helping Canadian and international university students who identify as Asian launch their careers.

The Career | Fit programs, sponsored by RBC through RBC Future Launch, seek to implement ABMP’s approach to meet the evolving needs of students who identify as Asian. It aims to do so in bridging theory and practice in financial, consulting and tech business environments by equipping students with real-world skills, theoretical knowledge, practical experience and industry insight.

RBC shares that goal in their collaboration with York and ABMP. “When young people succeed, we all succeed,” says Mark Beckles, vice-president social impact and innovation at RBC. “With partners such as York University, we’re working together to meet the evolving needs of students.”

The Career | Fit program runs over six weeks with 12 two-hour, online, non-degree, non-credit sessions and hands-on projects mentored by an experienced professional from a Fortune 500 organization that help accelerate student experiences. “Not only do students walk away with accelerated knowledge about how to solve real-world industry challenges but they develop core competencies that are in demand,” says Tammy Kim-Newman, associate director of employer and alumni engagement from the York University Career Centre.

In the spring and summer of 2023, the inaugural program saw applications double the available spots, indicative of interest in the program and its potential – something Elena Caprioni, ABMP program director, is proud to have met. “I am delighted that the RBC Career | Fit programs have already impacted almost 100 students who identify as Asian, helping them to achieve their career goals,” she says.

Looking ahead to Series 2 of the Carreer | Fit program, beginning in May 2024, Caprioni is excited to build on the success of Series 1. “We are eager to continue our journey, offering dynamic and innovative educational experiences to students, and helping to shape a brighter, more inclusive future for them,” she says.

Series 2 will once again offer five programs – focusing on business, data or financial analysis – for up to 120 students (an increase from Series 1) and help change their professional lives. “We aspire to empower students who identify as Asian with practical knowledge, enhance their professional confidence and foster valuable connections with industry experts, helping them to navigate the corporate world and figure out their dream career paths post-graduation,” says Caprioni.

For more information about Career | Fit programs, visit the ABMP website. Applications for Series 2 will open in February.

Niarchos scholarship brings students from Greece to York U

skyline of Greek town

By Elaine Smith

Students from Greece have an opportunity to study or conduct research at York University through a scholarship supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), an international philanthropic organization that honours the late shipping magnate.

Alexandros Balasis
Alexandros Balasis

In fact, Alexandros Balasis, a PhD student in history at York University, can trace his connection to York back to that scholarship. In 2018, when he was a fourth-year history student at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, one of his professors told him about the Niarchos Foundation scholarships that provided an exchange to York.

He applied, was invited for an interview and was accepted in November 2018 for admittance in January 2019. York International, the office that handles exchanges, assisted him with orientation, registration and other logistics. Balasis arrived on Jan. 2, 2019, in time for York International’s orientation for international students, and from there, he was off and running.

“I saw a university system that I really liked,” Balasis said. “I got hooked from the very beginning.”

A photo of Sakis Gekas
Sakis Gekas

At York, he met Sakis Gekas, an associate professor who holds the Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair of Modern Greek History, and they met every few weeks to discuss various aspects of modern Greek history.

“The scholarship gave me an opportunity to clarify my goals,” Balasis said.

He decided to pursue a master’s degree in history with Gekas, a degree that he obtained remotely during the pandemic. Gekas urged him to continue on to a PhD program and he has done so, studying Greek migration to Canada after the Second World War.

“The foundation changed the course of my life,” he said. “My experiences, both in Toronto and later with their Istorima project in Greece, gave me the opportunity to understand how much I like history. It made me decide to keep open to opportunities and take advantage of them.”

Grigorios Iliopoulos
Grigorios Iliopoulos

A Stavros Niarchos Foundation scholarship has also impacted Grigorios Iliopoulos‘s PhD studies, bringing his topic to life. Iliopoulos, a third-year PhD student in the American Literature & Culture Department at Aristotle University, is working on a thesis about contemporary literature that talks about the city of Toronto. However, until recently, he had never visited the city that is at the heart of his research.

“This was the perfect program for me,” Iliopoulos said. “I worked on material referring to Toronto, but this was my first chance to see the place.”

Iliopoulos’s work centres on literature depicting urban spaces. He chose Toronto because it is one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in North America and he has focused on novels and collections of short stories by authors of non-French or -British background, those less represented in the past.

“When I got to Toronto, I walked the streets and got a much better idea of how the city and the residents worked,” he said. “I got a sense of scale that is much different than in Europe and it felt like there was a huge difference in how we perceive space. I acquired a different understanding of the perspective of the authors I’ve studied, including David Bezmozgis and Dionne Brand.

“I was also able to access a wealth of library material that wasn’t available in Greece, so this opportunity will have a huge impact on my dissertation.”

Gekas, who serves as a liaison with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, is eager to see more students in Greece take advantage of the opportunity to study at York. The foundation provides funding for three or four undergraduates and one graduate student each year, and he would like to exploit York’s partnership with the University of Crete and connect with the University of Athens to provide broad national coverage in Greece.

Faculty members who collaborate with colleagues in Greece and want to promote this opportunity are encouraged to contact Gekas or Ashley Laracy, associate director of global learning at York International.

FGS enhances graduate supervision experience with support hub

Three women sitting and talking

York University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) is celebrating 60 years of knowledge creation and marking the milestone by creating a Graduate Supervision Support Hub (GSSHub) – a place where supervisors, committee members and students can gather to collaborate and build mutually beneficial relationships drawing on graduate supervisory pedagogy and capacity-building principles that acknowledge the pivotal role of effective supervision.

York University Faculty of Graduate Studies 60th anniversary banner

Established with the help of a three-year grant from York’s Academic Innovation Fund, the GSSHub will be rooted in principles of dignity, mutuality and effective supervisory practices. It will aim to enhance the graduate supervision process with effective practices, capacity building, a centralized platform for support and guidance, and a toolkit of resources to help foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement in supervision methods.

“Graduate education stands as a cornerstone in the academic landscape and the quality of the graduate supervisory experience plays a pivotal role in shaping the academic and professional trajectories of students,” said Tracy Bhoola, program manager of the GSSHub. “The dynamics of this relationship profoundly impact the quality of research, the development of professional skills and the overall academic experience.”

The approach of this new hub, explained Bhoola, acknowledges that good supervision is not innate, nor solely about overseeing research projects, but is a relationship that requires mentorship, guidance, ethics, mutual respect, collaborative goal setting and skill development.

At the core of the envisioned GSSHub is the promotion of supervisory relationships enveloped in mutuality. “Acknowledging the diverse needs and expectations of supervisors and students, we want to keep relationships at the centre, with an ethos of dignity folded into every aspect and an explicit regard for the inherent value of both the supervisor and the student,” said Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, FGS associate dean, academic. “By fostering a culture of trust and collaboration, the GSSHub will aim to enhance the overall graduate supervisory experience for everyone involved.”

To ensure the pan-university GSSHub aligns with the diverse needs of the academic community, FGS is extending a call to ­­graduate students and faculty members­ to actively engage in the development process by providing input and guidance.

“By participating in consultations and sharing invaluable experiences and insights,” said Wesley Moir, FGS associate director of graduate academic affairs, “the community can help shape the development, initiatives and effectiveness of the proposed GSSHub, which will empower supervisors and students to thrive in their academic pursuits, making it a true reflection of the collective vision for effective supervision support.”

In Winter 2024, FGS will share a survey for graduate supervisors, seeking input on the supports and services that the GSSHub should provide. For now, the Faculty is gathering names of those who want to be involved and planning one-on-one consultations. To contribute, contact Bhoola, GSSHub program manager, at tbhoola@yorku.ca.

Faculty of Graduate Studies looks towards the next 60 years 

Header banner for INNOVATUS

Graduate students in physics apply machine learning to predict the dark matter halos for a population of galaxies and to see the glowing cells in a mouse’s brain.

Health equity master of arts students challenge their preconceived notions of allyship as they apprentice themselves to Indigenous and racialized community organizations – harvesting sweet water (maple sap), protesting pipelines and supporting birth workers – as part of their experiential education component of graduate coursework.

Alice MacLachlan
Alice MacLachlan

A graduate student designer learns to engage with user communities as part of human-centred design, inspired in part by her family’s care for a grandparent with dementia.

Black research professors from across York University provide mentorship and training to Black graduate students, as part of the Faculty of Graduate Studies’ commitment to identifying and dismantling the barriers facing racialized and underrepresented populations in graduate research and education.

The stories in this month’s Innovatus give us a glimpse into the new faces and new pathways of graduate education at York University – exemplifying both our 60-year tradition of engaged, progressive teaching and learning, and our enthusiastic embrace of new frameworks, new methodologies and new challenges, as we look to the future. 

York’s Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) was established in September 1963 and opened its doors to York’s first graduate cohort of just 11 students one year later, in 1964. This academic year, we celebrate our 60th anniversary and, with it, a remarkable history of meaningful and challenging graduate research and pedagogy. 

York was the first university in Canada to offer a PhD in women’s studies and the first to accept doctoral dissertations written in an Indigenous language. Knowledge creation for a better world has always been at the heart of what we do. 

We continue to lead both in our commitment to engaged research and in the values at the core of York as a university: excellence, equity, access, sustainability, diversity and decolonization among them. These values guide the research that is conceived and created in collaboration between students and supervisors and – equally – the inclusive approach to graduate education and research that shapes that research, with an emphasis on engagement, collaboration, depth of thought, expanded conceptual horizons and broken boundaries. 

As we look forward to the next 60 years of graduate education at York, we face multiple challenges and possibilities, ranging from the need to decolonize how we conceive of intellectual property and authorial autonomy to the rapidly changing technological landscape of artificial intelligence and machine learning. We are adapting to these, as we rise to meet the needs of a changing graduate student population whose devotion to research and professional development is matched by other commitments – to their families, their communities and the world we share. The challenges and possibilities presented are vast and, as we face them, I am encouraged by the incredible innovations and new pedagogies already emerging in graduate studies: in the stories collected in this issue, and in other initiatives, from experiential education, like the Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom for graduate students, to professional development, such as our new Scholarly Skills brown bag workshop series, to best practices in supervisory relationships and pedagogies, as collected by the FGS Supervisory Support Hub.  

The task of FGS has always been knowledge creation as a collaborative enterprise. I invite you to read these stories and come join us to see where that enterprise takes us next. 

Sincerely, 

Alice MacLachlan
Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies 

Faculty, course directors and staff are invited to share their experiences in teaching, learning, internationalization and the student experience through the Innovatus story form, which is available at tl.apps01.yorku.ca/machform/view.php?id=16573.

In this issue:

Graduate physics professor shares machine learning knowledge with academic community
Joel Zylberberg, an associate professor in the Department of Physics at York, is expanding education on machine learning to graduate students in science across the province.

Graduate students see health equity in practice
Experiential education opportunities give graduate students studying health equity an opportunity to learn directly from those experiencing inequity.

Grad course teaches inclusive, human-centred design research
Inclusive, human-centred design methods have a big impact on product design and accessiblity needs, says grad student Rupsha Mutsuddi.

Professors help racialized grad students navigate academy
Roundtable discussions held by the Faculty of Graduate Studies have led to work that reduces isolation and builds community for racialized students.