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    Apply now for Senate committee vacancies

    The Senate Governance and Nominating Committee encourages all members of the Queen’s community to apply for vacancies on Senate committees such as Academic Procedures, Non-Academic Discipline, Residence, and more.

    Applications are due March 20, 2015.

    Senate committees discuss issues of broad interest to the academic community and make recommendations on policy and practice that are essential to the university's operations and evolution.  Committee work allows you to directly impact the way Queen's functions as a teaching and research institution, and as a community of scholars, students and staff.

    Visit the Senate website to get more information and to download online application forms. You can direct your questions to senate@queensu.ca

    Building on the positive

    In all of her work as an organizational development consultant in Human Resources, Lisa Sansom strives to identify and work with a positive emphasis rather than focus on the negatives.

    “I am thrilled to be at Queen’s and sharing some of the insights I have gained from studying positive psychology,” says Ms. Sansom, who joined Queen’s Human Resources last year. “I am eager and passionate to help leaders and teams move forward based on what’s working well within their unit or department and identify areas of opportunity for positive change.”

    [Lisa Sansom]
    As an organizational development consultant in Human Resources, Lisa Sansom encourages leaders and teams at Queen's to take a positive approach to issues within the workplace. 

    Ms. Sansom earned her Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania five years ago. At the time, positive psychology was a relatively new field. Ms. Sansom, vice-chair of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, notes that awareness and understanding of positive psychology has expanded in recent years thanks to the work of researchers like Dr. Dean Tripp at Queen’s and others across Canada and around the world.

    “I see acceptance of positive psychology growing, which is exciting. I believe a positive approach to issues within the workplace has a lot to offer leaders and teams at Queen’s,” she says. “Too often we focus on one mistake or negative aspect that has the power to erase all of the good that has occurred. We need to start recognizing what works well a lot more.”

    Employing this positive approach, Ms. Sansom offers a variety of services and activities. For example, she leads organizational reviews, identifies and documents work flow efficiencies, provides leadership coaching, supports change management and designs and delivers new initiatives, facilitates leadership team development, and engages leaders in talent management initiatives like 360° assessments.

    Ms. Sansom had ties to the university even before joining HR last year. After moving to Kingston a decade ago, she started a consulting company. She provided team and executive services to the MBA and Executive MBA programs at Queen’s School of Business and facilitated leadership retreats with several other groups on campus.

    To find out more or access resources offered by Queen’s Organizational Development and Learning team, contact the HR advisor for your area

    FIT TIPS: 10 ways to stay active

    With the aim of helping faculty, staff and students "Get Your 150" (minutes of recommended exercise a week) to improve health and wellness, the Gazette and Athletics and Recreation will be offering Fit Tips each week.

    Here are 10 quick ways you can work toward getting "Get Your 150":

    1. Try to eat one green vegetable with every meal
    2. Bring your gym clothes with you to encourage you to work out at the ARC between classes. Skip the laundry - use the ARC's laundry service, you'll have nothing to carry but your shoes and nothing will be standing you between you and your 150!
    3. Stand on one foot when preparing dinner, and alternate feet throughout
    4. On nice days take your work down to the waterfront and soak up some vitamin D (don’t forget your sunscreen though!)
    5. Use technology to remind you to exercise
    6. Put sticky notes around your room/kitchen to remind you to eat healthily
    7. Start an eating diary and write down everything you eat and drink for a week
    8. Contract and release your abs while texting, only stop once you hit send!
    9. Substitute sugary lattes with tea
    10. Start a game of pick-up sports during open gym time at the ARC, or check out the Casual Recreation times for basketball, volleyball, badminton, soccer, and swimming

    Sexual assault working group gathers valuable feedback

    A series of four open meetings for feedback on sexual assault support and response at Queen’s concluded this week.

    The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Working Group (SAPRWG) hosted the meetings in late February and early March. The feedback provided in the meetings will aid in the development of SAPRWRG’s policy recommendations, which are expected by April 30, 2015.

    Meetings were moderated by Dr. Leslie Flynn, Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of Education in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and focused on support and response, prevention education, environmental factors, and policy.

    “We were pleased with the turnout to the meetings and received some valuable feedback,” says Arig al Shaibah, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs (Student Life and Learning) and Chair of the SAPRWG. “We noted everything that was said during the meetings and will take it into careful consideration as we continue drafting our final recommendations and the permanent sexual assault policy.”

    The consultation process will continue with confidential meetings and focus group discussions in March to obtain feedback from key campus and community informants and constituents, such as residence dons, AMS Peer Support Centre volunteers, Sexual Assault Centre Kingston, and Department of Gender Studies faculty members. 

    Dr. al Shaibah and members of SAPRWG presented the interim protocol and gave a report on the activity of the group and the consultation process to Queen’s Senate last week and will present this weekend to the Board of Trustees.

    “We value any feedback as it will contribute to the final recommendations leading to the development and implementation of sexual assault prevention and response policies, procedures, and programs at Queen’s,” says Dr. al Shaibah.

    A subcommittee of SAPRWG was established in late 2014 to work on policy recommendations. Both the policy committee and SAPRWG are expected to have progress reports and policy recommendations by April 30, 2015.

    If you would like to participate in an interview or focus group, please email vpdean.sa@queensu.ca. Feedback can also be provided through a confidential online survey.

    A taste of Peru

    [Chef Claudia Alvarado]
    Chef Claudia Alvarado of Sodexo Peru is visiting Queen's University as part of the Global Chef Program. (University Communications)
    [Queen's in the World]
    Queen's in the World

    The Queen’s community will have the chance to taste the flavours of Peru on Friday at Leonard Hall.

    Queen’s University Hospitality Services is hosting one of Sodexo Peru’s leading chefs, Claudia Alvarado, as part of the company’s Global Chef Program.

    Chef Alvarado will be serving up seven classic Peruvian dishes including Pollo a la Brassa al Estilo Peruana (Peruvian style chicken), Pimiento Relleno (stuffed red peppers) and Seco de Cordero al Estilo Norteno (leg of lamb in cilantro sauce with rice). There will also be vegetarian dishes and a vegan dish.

    For Chef Alvarado, the key to Peruvian cuisine is the variety of ingredients and the pairing of flavours.

    “What is good about Peruvian food is that you can mix all the ingredients and everything is going to taste really, really good,” she says.

    Combine peppers, potatoes, seafood, tomatoes, lamb and beef and throw in a mixed bag of cultural influences, including China, Africa and Europe.

    Chef Alvarado knew from a very young age that she wanted to cook as her whole family spent so much time in the kitchen together. At two years old, and looking to help out, she would bother her parents so much, she says, that her mother gave her a toy knife. She would then get busy chopping imaginary carrots, potatoes or whatever else was on the menu.

    “My whole family cooks. Every time my dad cooked I was in the kitchen with him, helping him. It’s a passion for me to be in the kitchen and to make really, really good food makes me happy,” she says.

    Chef Alvarado would go on to study at Le Cordon Bleu Peru and joined Sodexo, moving to various positions including North Arizona University in Flagstaff.

    But home would call her back and she returned to Peru where she is now the Head of Project for Sodexo Peru.

    While this is the first time she has participated in the Global Chef Program, she sees it as a valuable opportunity to gain experience, meet different people and learn new techniques as well as share hers with her hosts.

    “We are very fortunate to have Chef Alvarado join us on Queen’s campus,” says Colin Johnson, Queen’s Campus Executive Chef. “She has great skill in the kitchen, and it is a wonderful experience for our team to learn more about Peruvian culture and foods. We are always interested in expanding our menus for students, staff and faculty.”

    On Friday she’s hoping diners arrive ready to try something new and fresh.

    “I am hoping they are going to like the food, and come for more,” she says.

    The Classic Peruvian Menu by Chef Alvarado will be available at Leonard Hall on Friday from 11 am to 2 pm. Many of the menu items will also be available at Ban Righ Dining Hall from 11 am to 2 pm, and West Campus from 4:30 pm to 7 pm. The regular Staff and Faculty $5 Friday event will include the featured Peruvian menu.

    Current issue of For the Record

    Human Resources

    Amended 2015 monthly calendar

    Payroll has revised the monthly calendar that was posted in early January for calendar year 2015. Please note that there is only one change that impacts the month of May. The May monthly cut-off has been changed from May 15 to May 14.

    Successful Candidates

    Job Title: Governance Assistant 
    Department: Office of the University Secretariat 
    Competition: 2014-343 
    Successful Candidate: Brenda Batson

    Job Title: Financial Analyst (USW Local 2010) 
    Department: Finanacial Services 
    Competition: 2014-358 
    Successful Candidate: Michael Crawford (Finanacial Services)

    Job Title: Undergraduate Program Assistant (USW Local 2010) 
    Department: Civil Engineering 
    Competition: 2014-356 
    Successful Candidate: Angelina Gencarelli (Faculty of Education)

    Job Title: Senior Secretary (USW Local 2010) 
    Department: Environmental Health & Safety 
    Competition: 2014-286 
    Successful Candidate: Marilyn Oosten

    Job Title: Refrigeration Mechanic (CUPE Local 229) 
    Department: Physical Plant Services 
    Competition: 2014-109 
    Successful Candidate: Scott Ferguson

    Notices

    Nominations invited for grad student supervision award

    The School of Graduate Studies invites nominations of faculty members for consideration for the 2015 Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision. 

    The purpose of this award is to recognize those outstanding supervisors who demonstrate excellence in advising, monitoring and mentoring their graduate students. Two awards will be presented at the fall 2015 convocation: one in the social sciences and humanities, and one in life sciences, natural sciences and engineering.

    Award nomination forms and guidelines are available from the Office of the Dean, School of Graduate Studies (deansgsr@queensu.ca) or at www.queensu.ca/sgs. Nomination packages should be submitted to the Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Queen’s University, Gordon Hall 425, 74 Union Street, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 by 4 pm on Thursday, May 28.

    Nominations accepted for visitorships, lectures

    The Provost’s Advisory Committee for the Promotion of the Arts invites nominations for the Brockington Visitorship, the Chancellor Dunning Trust Lecture, the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund, the Robert Sutherland Visitorship and the Rosen Lecture Series. In order to encourage the broadest possible range of nominations, any person or group within the Queen’s community is eligible to make a nomination. The deadline for submission is March 31, 2015. Please send one electronic copy of submission to provost@queensu.ca

    Terms of references:

    Brockington Visitorship: “To invite a person of international distinction to come to Queen’s University to deliver a public lecture and to meet formally and informally with faculty and students.”

    Chancellor Dunning Trust Lecture: “The Chancellor Dunning Lecturer will be expected to deliver a public lecture that promotes the understanding and appreciation of the supreme importance of the dignity, freedom and responsibility of the individual person in human society.”

    George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund: “This fund provides grants to support public performances and exhibitions for the benefit of the Queen’s and broader Kingston communities.”

    Robert Sutherland Visitorship: “This fund provides grants to support public performances and exhibitions for the benefit of the Queen’s and broader Kingston communities.”

    Rosen Lecture Series: “The purpose of the series is to enable the wider community to better understand the living and vital tradition of Judaism, its relationship to other religious traditions and its role in the development of contemporary civilizations, and to explore the historical role played by Jews and Jewish thought.”

    Nominations now accepted for Distinguished Service Award

    Queen’s faculty, staff and retirees are invited to nominate candidates for a Queen’s Distinguished Service Award. Inaugurated by the University Council in 1974, this award recognizes individuals who have made the university a better place through their extraordinary contributions. Recipients become honorary life members of the council.

    Recent changes to the University Council bylaws now allow Queen’s employees and retirees to nominate recipients, who will be recognized at the University Council annual dinner on Saturday, Nov. 7.   

    The guidelines, the nomination form and additional information are available online.

    Please submit nominations to the University Council executive committee, care of the University Secretariat, by Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 4 pm. 

    Please contact the University Secretariat at ucouncil@queensu.ca or 613-533-6095 if you have questions about the Distinguished Service Award or the nomination process. 

    Film, talk take on body image

    A special screening and talk with the film’s director will further the discussion about body image at Queen’s University.

    [America the Beautiful]After a showing of America the Beautiful, students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with director Darryl Roberts.

    The documentary examines “America’s obsession with beauty” and the impact of the fixation on body image.

    The event is part of a campaign aimed at raising awareness and engaging Queen’s students in a dialogue about self-image, while promoting a positive and healthy body image and self-concept. A 2013 Student Health Survey (NCHA) found that 25% of Queen’s respondents reported personal appearance being difficult to handle in the previous 12 months.  

    “We know that conversation helps break the stigma that affects students living with a diagnosed eating disorder or struggling with unhealthy food and weight preoccupations, and can encourage students to reach out for help, or to support and encourage a friend, says Kate Humphrys, Health Promotion Coordinator at Health Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS). “Dialogue brought about by things like this movie screening also helps to promote a campus environment that supports positive body image for all members of the Queen’s community.”

    The event is organized by the Student Experience Office, in collaboration with HCDS Health Promotion, the AMS Social Issues Commission, and the ASUS AuthenticallyU. It is being held tonight at 7 pm in the Kinesiology Building, Room 100. Admission is free.

    PPS reaches out

    Physical Plant Services (PPS) are inviting feedback from all members of the Queen’s community through a new client satisfaction survey. The survey, which is open until March 20, will help PPS better serve their client base and the campus community.

    Along with the survey, PPS has launched a number of new online platforms to disseminate information and interact with campus stakeholders. Their new website is easier to navigate than its previous version, includes fillable online work request forms and has more in-depth information about PPS projects and operations. The website also incorporates new accessibility features, design best practices and is optimized for screen-readers and mobile devices.

    PPS has also started a Twitter account to provide up-to-the-minute information about what’s happening on Queen’s campus.

    Quick Links
    Client Satisfaction Survey
    Website
    Twitter

    “The launch of our new website and Twitter presence is a great opportunity for us to use technology to increase awareness of Physical Plant Services within the campus community and to improve communication with our clients,” says John Witjes, Associate Vice-Principal (Facilities).  “The Client Satisfaction Survey will help us better understand the needs of our customers and allow us to implement a more professional client service delivery model going forward.”

    Chair boosts mental health awareness

    Student leaders from the Caring Campus Project meet with the team’s principal investigators — Heather Stuart (middle row, centre) Shu-Ping Chen (middle row, left) and Terry Krupa (middle row, right). (Supplied photo)

    When Queen’s University researcher Heather Stuart was appointed the inaugural Bell Canada Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Chair in February 2012, she had no idea how many people would reach out to her with their personal experiences around mental health issues.

    “The sheer onslaught of response took me by surprise,” recalls Dr. Stuart, a professor of Public Health Sciences, with cross-appointments in Psychiatry and Rehabilitation Therapy. “The stories I heard – from students, parents, celebrities and people from all walks of life, including family members of those who had died by suicide – were heartwrenching. They all wanted to tell me how important it was that someone was finally looking into mental illness-related stigma.”

    The five-year, $1-million appointment – the first such research chair in the world – is funded by Bell Canada to build better practices in anti-stigma programming and to create rich student training opportunities. Dr. Stuart contributes regularly to the scientific literature on mental health and anti-stigma research; supervises and mentors research trainees; and aids knowledge translation through publications, reports, conferences, webinars and outreach, assisting community partners to create better anti-stigma programming practices.

    An important component of her outreach is to organize and present the interactive Annual Bell Lecture, to be held this year in Halifax.

    Now entering her third year as chair, Dr. Stuart and colleagues, Shu-Ping Chen (Mental Health Commission of Canada Post-Doctoral Fellow) and Terry Krupa (School of Rehabilitation Therapy) are partnering with Movember Canada to conduct the Caring Campus Project. This three-year initiative is aimed at first-year male students at Queen’s, Dalhousie and University of Calgary – a population where 65 per cent report risky or hazardous drinking patterns. The project focuses on reducing substance misuse (drugs and alcohol) and the stigma associated with it, and fostering student leaders to create a more supportive and caring environment on campus.

    “Conducting this project under the auspices of the Bell chair is raising awareness in the minds of students and others that substance use and mental health are integrally tied,” says Dr. Stuart. “Having my time freed up by the chair has enabled our team to leverage Movember funding to make this project possible.”

    The Caring Campus Project, which currently employs 24 student leaders, organizes educational outreach activities, responsible social events, an online chat room to discuss issues, and social media initiatives reclaiming the term “Queen’s For the Boys” to associate it with supporting each other in a positive, healthy way.

    Student comments posted on these websites underscore both the interest and the need being tapped by this project:

    "Keep up the mental health advertising. Talking about it during Orientation helped me find the courage to get help."

    "A lot of people I know are scared to seek help because they are afraid they will be ridiculed."

    "I experienced two incidents this year where my friend attempted suicide as a result of mental health issues as well as substance abuse, and Queen’s helped me deal with the situation in a timely and comforting manner.”

    For Dr. Stuart, this type of “implementation research” – partnering with others to deliver an intervention and then evaluating it – is at the heart of her anti-stigma work, and she is delighted to see it bearing fruit. In her remaining two years as Bell chair, she looks forward to expanding on this project and the many other initiatives made possible by her appointment.

    Donor-funded faculty positions  – chairs, professorships and post-doctoral fellowships – enable Queen’s to recognize and attract top researchers and scholars, both from within the university and from around the world. The terms of reference for these positions, which require Senate approval, outline how the funding will be used. This may include salary, equipment costs and other resources needed by the holder. Queen’s first chair was named for Sir John A MacDonald in 1899 and was held by Adam Shortt, the university’s first full-time professor of politics and economics. Since the beginning of the Initiative Campaign in 2006, attracting donations to support these positions has been a priority.

     

    Award winners make Queen's 'inclusive for all'

    Queen’s recently celebrated individuals and groups on campus that support the advancement of equity, human rights, accessibility and inclusion within the university community.

    Principal Daniel Woolf handed out the Employment Equity Award, the Human Rights Initiative Award, and the Steve Cutway Accessibility Award during a ceremony at Richardson Hall earlier this week.

    • [Queen’s Human Rights Initiative Award winners]
      Carissa Gordon, ConEd'16, and Stefanny Sanchez, Com'15, accept the Queen's Human Rights Initiative Award from Principal Woolf on behalf of the African and Caribbean Students Association.
    • [Employment Equity Award winner]
      John Witjes, Associate Vice-Principal (Facilities), receives the Employment Equity Award from Principal Woolf.
    • [Steve Cutway Accessibility Award winners]
      Principal Woolf presents the Steve Cutway Accessibility Award to Access Champions representatives Ellen Flanagan, OT'14, Nicole Krasko, OT'15, and Sam Wade, OT'15.

    “The contributions by these deserving recipients help ensure that individuals have the opportunity to achieve their full potential at Queen’s,” Principal Woolf says. “The recipients went above and beyond what was expected of them to build and nurture a university community that’s inclusive for all.”   

    John Witjes, Associate Vice-Principal (Facilities), accepted the Employment Equity Award for his commitment to creating a working environment that is supportive and welcoming of diversity and inclusion. Mr. Witjes played a leadership role in piloting the Equitable Hiring of Custodians initiative. The lessons learned from the initiative will help inform the equitable hiring of all staff across the university.

    The African and Caribbean Students Association (ACSA) received the Queen’s Human Rights Initiative Award for its annual Culture Show. As Kingston’s largest celebration of culture, identity, and self-expression, the Culture Show is an outstanding example of respect for diversity and community building. In producing the Culture Show, ACSA has formed lasting partnerships with groups such as the Queen’s Indian Students Association, Queen’s South American and Latin Students Association and the Great Panda Society to name but a few.

    Access Champions accepted the Steve Cutway Accessibility Award for its efforts to provide accessibility assistance to anyone or any event on campus. Founded by Ellen Flanagan (OT’14), Access Champions started as a one-off meant to ensure access and inclusivity for alumni and other visitors during Homecoming 2013. Under Ms. Flanagan’s tutelage, the program expanded to include Orientation Week 2014. Since then Sam Wade (OT’15) and Nicole Krasko (OT’15) have taken up the Access Champions baton with more than 16 OT students willing and able to provide accessibility assistance.

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