He has seen chickens scrambling across the JHE lobby, attended twenty-nine out of thirty Welcome Week concerts and has his own soul-rock and basketball radio show on CFMU. In his three decades at McMaster, Dr. Phil Wood has seen it all.

Dr. Wood celebrated his 30-year teaching anniversary on Jan. 2 this year, having arrived at McMaster in 1983. On Jan. 6, the SRA passed a motion to give Dr. Wood honorary MSU membership.

John McGowan, General Manager of the MSU, stated how rare a distinction this is; Dr. Wood one of only 16 honourary members of the students union since 1965.

Dr. Wood, who is revered in McMaster’s Engineering department, came from a teaching post at Michigan State University to join McMaster’s Chemical Engineering Department.

At the start of his career as a professor, Dr. Wood maintained a fine balance to ensure he was both a strong teacher and researcher. Along the way he was mentored by noteworthy professors, such as Don Woods, and went onto mentor generations of students, administrators and faculty members.

Dr. Wood first interacted with students teaching in Chemical Engineering, then later as Associate Dean of Engineering and in his current role as Associate Vice-President of Student Affairs.

Upon receiving a 3M Teaching Fellowship Award, Dr. Wood remarked that the key to his success was continuously “turning the crank,” churning out research while ensuring student success in the classroom.

Across the board, students and staff have whole-heartedly agreed: Phil Wood genuinely cares about students and the McMaster experience.

Elizabeth Edwards, Director of BioZone and Professor in Chemical Engineering at University of Toronto, recalled how effectively Dr. Wood engaged students in class.

“He once came into a class with a bucket of water and a power drill. The class burst into laughter as he proceeded to drill holes in the bucket and the water peed out the side in different arcs, which effectively showed the function of pressure. I co-taught with Dr. Wood when I first started and I am so grateful to have learned from him.”

Anecdotes from Dr. Wood’s colleagues and students are ripe with examples of his hardworking spirit, his indelible commitment to student success and his creative methods of engagement.

Don Woods, Professor Emeritus at McMaster, recounted how Dr. Wood used beer-cooling experiments in a heat-transfer course and looked at why golf balls are dimpled in a fluid mechanics course.

Former MSU President Vishal Tiwari (2009-10) jokingly recounted the easygoing nature of his relationship with Dr. Wood. “We had this saying, that ‘We’re Rolling with Big Wood,’ he said.”

“Dr. Wood has a genuine interest in students. Dropping by Union Market regularly to get coffee is just one example of small consistent gesture that makes him a quick friend to any McMaster student.”

When The Silhouette sat down with Dr. Wood, it was clear he, too, would miss the student-centred nature of his job.

While his career took off in the Faculty of Engineering, he quickly assumed more leadership roles at the departmental and administrative level. But his memories of these positions and the campus as a whole reflect a deeper evolution he has witnessed.

Wood proudly noted how in the last several years he has witnessed the growth of school spirit, partly due to the Vanier Cup win, and partly as a result of several years of individuals building the “Think Maroon” campaign.

As his term concludes on June 30, there are many things students may remember about him. Perhaps it will be hearing his voice over the airwaves on his radio show, “Soul in the Hole,” or his contributing music reviews for the Sil’s ANDY section.

“I’ll miss being somebody that students want to engage with,” he said. “I’ll still be the number-one fan out at the games and on campus … but I’ll miss having a chance to make a difference.”

Part 1 of an ongoing series

How is experiential education framed in Forward with Integrity?

It’s been just over a year since McMaster’s president Patrick Deane issued his visioning letter, “Forward With Integrity,” to the McMaster community.

The letter introduced new strategic priorities for the University. It planted notions of “a student-centred research intensive institution,” “internationalization” and “experiential learning experiences” in the forefront of the campus’ consciousness. FWI stated that McMaster had an obligation to engage with the community and enhance student experience by increasing self-directed and interdisciplinary opportunities.

Following the release of the letter last September, four task forces were formed to examine McMaster’s current environment. The task forces were responsible for making recommendations to improve the institution’s standing in the fields of Community Engagement, Student Experience, Internationalization and Research.

The task forces concluded their work in May 2012 and compiled their findings and recommendations into four separate reports.

Broadening Experiential Opportunities

The Student Experience Task Force report explored how to increase experiential opportunities. The term “experiential education” often implies a co-op or internship type experience that involves “learning outside the classroom.” The report sought to broaden this definition and re-envision how experiential opportunities could be offered to all students, regardless of faculty.

Several faculties already provide experiential opportunities. The Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Life Sciences program provide academic or co-op placements, while opportunities for co-curricular activities exist in Arts and Science, Integrated Science and Health Science.

Smaller programs and faculties such as Arts and Science and Integrated Science have had experiential components embedded in their curriculum since their inception. Both of these programs have also been at the forefront of submitting proposals for new interdisciplinary courses that feature field work and co-curricular experiences.

Carolyn Eyles, director of the iSci Program, spoke about the new ARTSCI/ISCI 3EI1 course, which was developed as a result of the renewed focus on interdisciplinary and unique experiential courses. Students taking the course participate in a field trip to the world’s largest known cave system in Kentucky.

For Eyles, courses like these are about being flexible in providing learning and research opportunities to students not normally available in lecture-based format.

“[It’s about] how to recognize and validate the student experience … and creating linkages between different groups,” she said.

But the Student Experience task force also aimed to fundamentally alter how McMaster understands experiential opportunities. In their findings, they proposed not only new systems to organize these experiences, but also looked to introduce a more reflexive approach to offering experiential education.

Dr. Susan Denburg, Associate Vice-President Academic Health Sciences and Strategic Advisor to the President noted that there are many forms that an experiential program can take on, whether it is inside or outside the classroom.

“We can create an experiential learning environment … by having [students] reflect on their learning goals … if we [make] it a habit of identifying learning goals, if students think about why they’re here and what they hope to achieve in their various courses or extracurricular activities or volunteer work they undertake,” she said.

Creating a “Made-in McMaster” Solution

Denburg stressed the need for a “McMaster-made solution” that incorporates experiential components into the entirety of one’s time at McMaster. She asserted that these opportunities could be delivered within the classroom.

Problem-based learning (PBL), another McMaster-made solution, is one specific method of incorporating experiential opportunities into the classroom. The teaching method, while impossible to define and open to various interpretations, advocates plunging students into issues with limited frameworks and allowing them to present their conclusions.

“In discipline-centered learning, the teacher has filtered the information, presenting a body of information they feel the student should know. In PBL … students wrestle with information themselves,” said Dr. Patangi Rangchari, Professor Emeritus of Medicine.

The PBL model is not discipline-centered, but has typically been associated with smaller programs and class sizes. However, Rangachari reiterated that PBL-type methods can easily be applied to larger environments.

Similarly, Dr. Denburg discussed the importance of engaging students in large classes and how opportunities in the learning portfolio can do this.

“You can change a large group experience into something very personal and very group-oriented with not that much difficulty,” said Denberg. “We’re seriously committing to a lot of faculty professional development … people are going to need help in new ways of teaching. It’s a question of how…we scale up.”

Developing a learning portfolio

A major recommendation to come out of the task force was the creation of “learning portfolios.” Learning portfolios are meant to encompass both the co-curricular and academic experiences that students complete throughout their degree. The portfolios would function as a holistic marker of a student’s “learning journey” through university.

What differentiates the learning portfolio from simply being a tracking mechanism is that learning portfolios would be self-directed and would include self-tracked learning goals.

Although in its infancy, the learning portfolio concept has spurred numerous potential initiatives. One example suggested by the task force was a learning goal journal, where students would track and reflect on their experiences. Other examples included a multi-year course that stretched across the duration of a student’s time at McMaster and implementing a mentorship network to aid in supporting students’ learning goals.

The learning portfolio and the push towards incorporating more experiential opportunities is compatible with what has already been going on for years in the institution, but could also kick-start some new ideas.

The University has put out a call for proposals related to programs that will provide self-directed or experiential learning opportunities. These projects are meant to be academically oriented and focused on advancing the learning portfolio.

Proposals from faculty, staff and students can be submitted to be reviewed by the FWI Advisory Group. The first deadline is Nov. 15 for pilot projects to tentatively be launched in the spring, and there is also a second-round deadline in January.

The prioritization of experiential learning was most recently re-iterated in the Sept. 28 submission of McMaster’s Strategic Mandate Agreement to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The letter specifically proposed a partnership with the province to establish an Experiential Learning Centre.

 

Next Week: Exploring more flexibility in the student experience and community engagement

(Infographic updated to account for new information)

This time next year, McMaster students could be off on their first-ever fall break, but so far, there have been few signs this will happen in 2013.

With sessional dates to be presented to the Undergraduate Council in December, MSU President Siobhan Stewart has limited time to determine whether her proposed fall break will get the nod from the student body. She will then need to convince University administrators to make a change to next year’s calendar.

Stewart won the MSU presidential campaign in April with ‘fall break 2013’ as a major platform point.

The promised break could manifest itself in several ways, from an extra day off before Thanksgiving weekend to a full reading week.

At this point, Stewart says she’s not sure what she could accomplish in time for 2013.

“I can’t say whether or not a full reading week could happen next year. Something can happen. What that something is, I don’t know yet,” said Stewart, who said she would not identify concrete goals before finding out feasible options and polling students.

“My role is to get student feedback and try to get all the factors. In terms of getting that into the calendar, all I can really do is present [what students want]. I don’t have approval power, but my hope is that with substantial student voice behind me, that will add more weight to whatever it is they’re hoping for,” said Stewart.

As of yet, the MSU has not held a public student forum on fall break. Stewart said a survey of student opinion will be released in early November.

The survey will ask students for feedback on what is possible for fall break next year and whether or not they want to move toward a larger-scale initiative like a fall reading week.

Given the tight timeline for administrative approval, a full week off during fall 2013 is unlikely.

Last week, Ryerson University joined several other universities in the GTA by having its inaugural fall reading week, giving students time off from classes between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12.

It was no easy feat, and Melissa Palermo, Vice President (Education) of the Ryerson Students’ Union can attest.

“We started work on getting a fall reading week in the 2010/2011 year,” said Palermo.

“We first wanted to get students’ opinions on whether or not it was something they wanted, and we got a mandate at our semi-annual general meeting in 2010. We did research on what happened at other campuses and wrote a proposal to the University Senate, and that proposal was passed in January of 2011. The whole process took about a year and a half.”

Phil Wood, Associate Vice President (Student Affairs) at McMaster said there are a number of administrative kinks to work out before a fall break of any kind could happen.

“There are several difficulties that must be worked through on our end. These include things like length of a term and exam schedules, which will need to be dealt with before we could consider even a pilot project,” said Wood.

As is the case for Ryerson, some professional programs at McMaster may not be able to reduce the number of weeks in the semester from 13 to 12.

In particular, engineering students need to spend a higher number of hours in class in order for their program to be accredited.

“Whether or not they would be able to take time off would depend on the steps we are able to take to replace these hours. This would not be a simple task,” said Maria White, Assistant Dean of Engineering.

At Ryerson, the faculty of engineering and architectural science was permitted to re-evaluate whether they wanted a reading week due to their accreditation requirements. Ultimately, the faculty decided not to participate.

“Their options were to find more class time or work through the reading week,” said Palermo.

The fall reading week debate has grown in popularity among Ontario universities over the past few years, with mental health concerns and student stress at the core of the discussion.

Debra Earl, McMaster’s Mental Health Team Nurse, wrote a proposal for fall break for submission to Student Affairs in 2009, to which she says she has received no response.

The report compares McMaster to peer institutions in Ontario and the U.S. and finds McMaster more stringent than other institutions in its scheduling accommodations for students.

The study shows the number of teaching days at McMaster was one of the highest in the province in 2009, with only two non-teaching days in the semester.

McMaster’s exam period (14 days) was also longer than nine other Ontario universities’ in 2009. McMaster had only one ‘study day’ before the start of exams.

“There might be a benefit to having exams spread out more, but what some schools do is have a condensed exam schedule and a longer study period beforehand,” said Earl.

At the time of Earl’s study, Laurentian, Trent, Nipissing and York had week-long breaks during the fall semester. Since then, the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University have jumped on board.

The University of Toronto offers a two-day mid-semester break in November, and Queen’s has a three-day study break in December.

At the moment, it is uncertain whether a fall break would be favourable to the majority of McMaster students, and in what capacity they would want it implemented. It also remains to be seen whether there is enough time to make it happen for the next academic year.

The Undergraduate Council will vote on next year’s sessional dates on Dec. 11. The schedule for 2013-2014 must be finalized before the printing of McMaster’s undergraduate calendar in March.

 

Dina Fanara

Assistant News Editor

 

The Student Life Enhancement Fund is making a new leap this year in order to provide students with services and campus improvements to better suit their needs.

The change was set in motion by Student Affairs and the Student Services Committee this academic year. The Fund gives students an opportunity to propose improvements that can be made on campus to improve student life and well-being. Additionally, an initiative of this sort will give students a chance to take an active role in the change they envision.

This Fund has been used in the past, but making it more accessible for students this year stands as a testament to the fact that students’ voices are not only valuable, but necessary in order to improve the quality of education that each student at McMaster is entitled to.

A strong driving force behind the implementation of this program is the improvement of the quality of education for McMaster’s full-time undergraduate students.

Applicants whose projects are chosen can partner with either an MSU service or a sub-section of Student Affairs that best suits the needs of the proposed change.

Students who submit their idea will be given the opportunity to suggest services which may be beneficial as partners in the initiative. If no suggestions are made, the student will be recommended partnering services upon acceptance.

The partnership with a campus service is beneficial to those applying and the entire student body, as it promotes the use of services already in place.

There will be essentially no upper limit for the funding of a project, noted Matthcw Dillon-Leitch, president of the McMaster Students Union (MSU). Submissions may be of any size and may require anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars to complete.

According to Dillon-Leitch, “no matter the size of your project, there are funds for this,” as long as it is seen as something that will benefit the student body at McMaster as a whole.

Previous student-lead initiatives funded by the Student Life Enhancement Fund include the creation of study space on the second floor of the Student Centre, the addition of new couches in the David Braley Athletic Centre, additions to the Queer Students Community Centre (QSCC) library and the development and implementation of the Residence Information System (RIS), among many others.

By utilizing student input to such an extent. the hope is to not only listen to students and offer  something that appeals to them directly, but to also give students an opportunity to come up with solutions to problems currently facing undergraduate education at McMaster that are perhaps often overlooked.

A strong supporter of student input and the power of the student voice, Dillon-Leitch explained that, “it will make us aware of all the ideas that students have to make this university better.”

Applications are being accepted until Feb. 17.