Douglas College delivers Christmas cheer

Members of the Douglas College Business Association prepare
gifts for families in need.

If the holidays are indeed a time of giving, then Douglas College is getting it right.

This year different departments and individual sponsors at the College are providing 34 student families –  including 63 children –  with hampers of food, clothing, toys, books, grocery gift cards and more.
 

Students in the Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) Program alone raised $1,500 to sponsor three families. This is the third year BSN students have participated in the program, where they select unique gifts for each child on their list.
 

The Registrar's Office raised $500 for the Union Gospel Mission's Christmas Campaign, which provides hot meals to hungry people. Meanwhile, the Douglas College Business Association "adopted" a family through a Fraserside Community Services Society program. Thanks to their efforts, a nine-year-old boy and his mom will have a happy Christmas.
 

Finally, students from across the board donated blankets, clothing and food to be distributed by students in the Community Social Service Worker (CSSW) Program to needy individuals at homeless shelters, transition houses and other agencies.
 

Good deeds, everyone! Santa would be proud. 

Read more...

Thespians raise money for performing arts students

Ta-da! Senior thespians from the Society for the Preservation of Vaudeville present a cheque for $3,800 to Douglas College to be used to support performing arts students. L to r: Meg Stainsby, Interim Dean of Language, Literature & Performing Arts, Doris Carruthers and Pam McKinnon of the Vaudevillians, and Hazel Postma, Associate Vice President, External Relations. Read more...

Quilt brightens Christmas for newcomer

Wendy Davies (l) stitched this quilt, which Leda Reaume won
and gifted to one of her students, a new Canadian.

Wendy Davies, Employee Relations Advisor, stitched a queen-sized quilt in honour of Douglas College’s 40th anniversary and gave it to the Foundation for a raffle to raise money for student aid.

When it came time to draw the winning ticket, more than $600 had been raised – but the story gets better. The winning ticket was held by Leda Reaume, an EASL instructor. Leda loved the quilt but knew others needed it more than her – within minutes of winning the quilt she decided to use it to brighten the Christmas of one of her students – a new Canadian.

Foundation staff are fortunate in that we hear stories like this every week. We experience the passion of our donors – internal as well as external – as they generously give the gift of a post-secondary education. And it is not always about money – the story above illustrates one of the many ways our employees care about our students, inside and outside the classroom.

With warm wishes from all of us at the Foundation. Read more...

Podcasts open up new world for Douglas instructors

Peter Wilkins (l) and David Wright believe podcasts can help create
a more intellectual community for the College.

When David Wright and Peter Wilkins discovered their mutual love of graphic narrative, the two Douglas English instructors didn’t just sit down and talk about it – they broadcast their conversations to an audience of potentially millions of listeners through a series of podcasts.

“We just sat down one day with the microphone and found a subject we were both interested in,” David says. “We liked the idea of every so often sitting down and having a conversation about it. It serves as a kind of basis for other projects we’re working on. We have a blog called Graphixia on the same subject.”

A few months ago David hit on the idea of creating a forum for faculty to talk about their interests outside the classroom through podcasts. After their first podcast on graphic narrative – the series is called The More Trivial, the Better – he and Peter discovered it was also a good way to have a focused conversation about a specific topic.

“It’s the presence of the microphone,” David says. “This is not how we normally talk, but because the microphone is there, it’s a welcoming presence in the room that’s telling you to stay on track.”

But more importantly, the platform of the podcast itself got them thinking.

“We began asking ourselves: How do new technologies change discourse? How does the medium change the message? How do different formats produce different kinds of discussion? Peter says.

They took the idea a step further: as both instructors teach classes in graphic narrative, it could be possible to use the podcasts as another teaching platform, a kind of supplement to classroom lectures. Or perhaps students could make a podcast as part of an oral presentation.

“That’s part of what Peter and I are doing,” David says. “The experimentation, the groundwork for what could come out of this. So we’re kind of less interested in the conversation we’re having than in what it can do.”

The pair also believes that this type of podcast – where faculty members showcase their different interests and passions – will create more of an intellectual community for the College.

“The idea is that faculty from different disciplines will sit down together and talk about certain subjects, and in that way you get different takes,” Peter says. “The result is that you get people to talk casually, you get to hear how intellectual practices are brought to bear on ordinary things.”

Listen to The More Trivial the Better – there are three podcasts so far – on iTunes. Check out David and Peter’s graphic narrative blog, Graphixia. Read more...

Speak up on the future of transportation in Coquitlam

The city of Coquitlam wants your two cents on the future of its transportation. Share your thoughts on how Coquitlam can enhance its streets for walking, cycling, vehicle traffic, public transit (Evergreen Line, anyone?) and transportation of goods, by taking this online survey.

Your answers will help identify and prioritize opportunities for Coquitlam's Strategic Transportation Plan Update. This survey will supplement comments received at a public workshop held last month.

Please share the survey with any others you feel would be able to contribute some ideas! The survey closes  Friday, December 17.

For more information on this project click here.

Read more...

Win 2 tickets to see Lance Ryan in concert tonight!

Opera lovers take note: Lance Ryan, Europe's fastest rising dramatic tenor - and a former Douglas College student - takes to the stage at the New Westminster Campus tonight to sing German romantic art songs by Beethoven, Wagner, Mahler and Strauss; and arias from the operas of Bellini, Berlioz, Wagner and Verdi.

This is your chance to win two tickets to see Lance perform. Just send us an email and put "Lance Ryan tickets" in the subject line. The first person to respond receives both tickets.

The concert takes place tonight, 7:30pm, Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre, New Westminster Campus. More details here. Read more...

Douglas College television commercial debuts on Glee

How do you put lightning in a bottle? Can you capture the essence of a place and share it?

You can try.

The Marketing and Communications Office is trying something new. We created a television commercial designed to help give prospective students a taste of what the college is all about.

Now, Douglas College is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So we tried to capture the spirit of the College – the energy – using real students and staff.

Did we succeed? You tell us.

The commercial debuts on Glee, Tuesday Dec. 14. Then again on the Survivor season finale, Sunday Dec. 19. It will also play before every movie on the big screens at all Cineplex movie theatre locations in Burnaby, Coquitlam and Surrey from Dec. 17–Jan. 6.

Can’t wait to see it? OK, OK – you can watch the extended version right now. Just make sure you’ve got your headphones on or your speakers cranked. The feed is from YouTube so it should play on most machines.

After you've watched it, fill out this short survey and tell us what you think.

Read more...

Theatre students thrive in Wales

On the scene in Wales: from left: Hazel Postma, Associate VP, External Relations;
Theatre students Katherine Ince and Meghan Dube;
Angela Muir, LLPA's Performing Arts and Event Liaison officer

Katherine Ince and Meghan Dube are the first Douglas College students to study in Wales under a partnership agreement that allows them to complete two years in Performing Arts (Theatre) at Douglas and then complete their bachelor’s degrees in one more year at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David  in Carmarthen, Wales.

Settled into the university residence in the rolling hills of southwest Wales, Katherine and Meghan are enjoying their immersion into the Welsh culture. According to Roger Maidment, Head of School, Theatre and Performance at Trinity Saint David, they are contributing a unique perspective to their classes and enriching the learning experience of their fellow students.

They recently had key roles in Trinity Saint David’s fall production of The Bacchae and were delighted to meet up with Angela Muir, LLPA’s Performing Arts and Event Liaison officer who is on leave while she completes her master’s degree at nearby Swansea University.

The two-plus-one degree option currently available to performing arts students allows them to complete a bachelor’s degree in three years, instead of the current local option of completing two years at Douglas and then another three at UBC. Douglas is currently finalizing a similar option for Creative Writing students, with one for English also under development.

Trinity Saint David is the destination of the popular Wales Field School that has been operating during the Summer Semester since 2009. For information on the 2011 Wales Field School, call Karen Ng at Douglas International at 604 527 5844, or any of the following instructors: Marni Westerman (Sociology) 604 527 5329; Roger Holdstock (Performing Arts) 604 527 5595; Jasmine Nicholsfigueiredo (English) 604 527 5288. Read more...

Trees for basketball

If you're itching to buy a Christmas tree, look no further than your own backyard. The Douglas College Royals Men's Basketball team is raising money this year by selling high-quality noble firs from Spring Nursery in Mission.

Known as the Cadillac of Christmas trees - we hear the Obamas have one -  nobles have soft blue-green needles that are evenly spaced along strong branches perfect for heavy ornaments. Nobles have good needle retention and a mild, pleasant scent.

Trees from 5'-10' are available for $10 a foot. Choose to have it delivered or pick it up.

Monies raised will pay for travel expenses for non-conference tournaments, improved equipment for the team, gym rentals for regular practice time of high school facilities when our gym is booked and any potential physiotherapy costs that fall outside the Douglas student benefits

For more information email or call 778 886 5580. Read more...

Recognition Reception honours Douglas employees

Al Hyland (c) received the President's Distinguished Service Award
from President Scott McAlpine (l)
and Paul Wates, College Board Chair.

Gert Van Niekerk, recipient of the
President's Distinguished Service Award

About 200 attendees turned out to cheer their friends and colleagues on at the 13th Annual Recognition Reception Thursday. Blaine Jensen, VP Educational Services, was master of ceremonies.

Presented by Scott McAlpine, President of Douglas College, the President's Distinguished Service Awards went to Al Hyland, Media Buyer, Marketing and Communications Office, and Gert Van Niekerk, Instructor, Sport Science (and Chair of Sport Science for 38 years).

The Team Award, also presented by McAlpine, went to International Education, whose members include Betty Mitchell, Melanie Yip, Cecilia Lascano, Jay Baik, Jenny Shin, EK Kim, Gail Johnson, Hiroshi Yasuoka, Laura Kim-O'Brien, Karen Ng, Monica Xu, Sandra Enns and Clarissa Scarelli-Wuertz.

President McAlpine and Paul Wates, College Board Chair, presented the awards to the long-service recipients, who were honoured for contributing 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15 and 10 years of service to the College. For a list of the recipients, click on the program below.

Read more...

This week at Douglas: Montreal memorial, classes end, fun in the concourse and more!

Here's what's happening on campus Dec 6-31:

Montreal Massacre Memorial
Mon, Dec 6
Join theDouglas Students' Union at 11:30am in the atrium at the David Lam Campus for a short memorial service in memory of the victims of the 1989 massacre at Montréal's École Polytechnique.

Holiday Fun 
Tues, Dec 7
Celebrate the last day of classes and the beginning of the holiday season in the concourse at New West, with candy cane hockey and a bake sale (to help support a family in need for Christmas). Hosted by the Student Ambassadors (Office for New Students).

Last Day of Classes
Tues, Dec 7

Community Music School Student Recitals
Fri, Dec 10 & Sat, Dec 11
Friday evening show (6pm) and Saturday matinee (2pm) at the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre (New Westminster Campus). For more info, see the Douglas College Arts Events page.

Lance Ryan in concert
Mon, Dec 13
See Lance Ryan, one of Europe's  fastest-rising dramatic tenors and a Douglas College Alumni, in concert Monday, Dec 13. Lance finished his Bachelor of Music degree in  classical guitar at UBC, then moved to Italy where he furthered his  voice studies with Carlo Bergonzi, and met his future wife, soprano  Viviana Maria di Calro, who will also be joining him on this program.   For tickets and more information, see Lance Ryan in Concert.
 

Lance Ryan Master Class
Tues, Dec 14
Opera star Lance Ryan will lead a Voice Master Class in the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre from 12:30- 2:30 pm, where he will share his experience and insights with students from the Douglas College Music Department. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. For more info, see Lance Ryan in Concert.

Professional Development offerings
Click here to see the calendar.

Note: this will be the final events listing post for the 2010 calendar year. Happy Holidays!

See more Douglas College upcoming events in the Douglas College Events Calendar.

Got an event you want listed? Email your info to events[at]douglascollege[dot]ca with 2 weeks' notice.

Want more timely updates? Join Douglas College on Facebook!

Read more...

We remember the victims of the Montreal massacre

By Scott McAlpine, President, Douglas College

December 6 is the 21st anniversary of the massacre of 14 students, and the wounding of 13 more, at Montréal's École Polytechnique.

We remember those killed and mourn their loss. And we honour their dreams of completing their education and entering the engineering profession, where they would have contributed enormously to Canadian society. (Read more about this anniversary date on the President's blog.)
If you are at David Lam Campus on Monday, please drop by the atrium from 11:30-noon, when the Douglas Students' Union will hold a short memorial service. Read more...

Student Award for Educational Excellence

Got a student who bowled you over this year?
The time has come to submit nominations for the 2010 Student Award for Educational Excellence. The award is in recognition of the best Douglas College has to offer the world - an individual who is striving for excellence in learning and is passionate about the community.
Nominations are now being accepted by the Standing Committee on Educational Excellence. Three letters of reference that speak to the award criteria are required. One letter must be from outside the nominee's Faculty/Department. A copy of the nomination form can be found here.
The nomination deadline is December 22, 4:30pm. Nominations can be left with Jo-Anne Bilquist, Education Council Secretary, Administration, New Westminster Campus.
If you have any questions, please contact Rosilyn Coulson or Gerry Gramozis. Read more...