Stella Chan is relieved to know that UVic's ceremonial mace isn't quite as heavy as it looks. The petite recent-retiree's eyes sparkle as she considers the task ahead of her鈥攕erving as mace-bearer at convocation on the morning of June 14.
Rob Johns has seen first-hand the destruction and chaos that large-scale disasters can cause. In his previous role with the City of Victoria, UVic鈥檚 new manager of emergency planning visited Louisiana and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina, and Christchurch, New Zealand after its major earthquakes. 鈥淪eeing such massive damage really drives home the importance of emergency planning,鈥� Johns says. 鈥淓specially in Christchurch, with its similarities to Victoria in terms of earthquake risks and impacts, I was forcefully reminded that, while we can鈥檛 prevent these disasters from happening, we can and must prepare for them.鈥�
Few members of the UVic community, past or present, could claim the level of dedication to鈥攁nd impact on鈥攖he university as Bob McQueen, who passed away March 18 at the age of 81. McQueen arrived before we were UVic, joining Victoria College as its chief accountant on March 1, 1962, then becoming the newly-minted 番茄社区鈥檚 first Bursar in 1963. In the early 1980s, he was appointed UVic鈥檚 vice-president of finance and chief financial officer (CFO), where he remained until his retirement at the end of 1992鈥攁fter over 30 years at UVic鈥檚 financial helm.
The celebration of this year's President's Distinguished Service Award recipients, hosted by President Jamie Cassels, took place on March 31 at the University Club. Before the recipients were named, Valerie Kuehne, UVic's vice-president academic and provost, recognized and congratulated all those who had been nominated.
Becky Cory鈥檚 office is surrounded by organized chaos, as people pop their heads in to say hi or ask a couple of questions about current class events. When someone knocks on the door of her office, Becky doesn鈥檛 hesitate to respond. Cory started working with University 101 two months before the first course began, back in 2006. The program offers free, non-credit university courses to people who聽 face significant barriers to post-secondary education.
The moment she walks into her office, Juanita Shorkey can 鈥渇eel the love.鈥� The room is full of Hello Kitty memorabilia, from money banks to plush toys to candy dishes, and nearly all of the items have been gifts from friends, family members or colleagues鈥攊ncluding the tour guides Shorkey coordinates. It doesn鈥檛 take long to understand why; Shorkey鈥檚 positive energy and enthusiasm for her work is practically contagious.
Surrounded as we are by the Pacific Rim鈥檚 temperate rain forest, it鈥檚 only natural that the field of forest biology would flourish at UVic. At the program鈥檚 roots is Brad Binges, a problem solver with a green thumb, who has helped to nurture and grow forest biology at UVic over the past two and a half decades.聽 Binges manages the Bev Glover Greenhouse Facility and field research compound for the UVic Centre for Forest Biology.聽
The university鈥檚 heart is its students鈥攁nd Shauna Underwood finds both meaning and joy contributing to their success as an Indigenous student advisor in the Faculty of Human and Social Development (HSD). Underwood sees herself as a traditional person; valuing her Coast Salish culture, she is from the Tsawout Band in W瘫S脕NE膯 (Saanich), is a member of the Samish Tribe in Washington, and has traced her roots to the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho.聽 At HSD鈥檚 Indigenous Student Support Centre (ISSC), Underwood works within the only faculty-based centre of its kind on campus with a large Indigenous student cohort, faculty and relevant programs. A day in her life is a mix of the routine and the unexpected. 鈥淚 never know what鈥檚 going to come up,鈥� she says鈥攁nd that鈥檚 okay with her.
Paula Ceroni probably knows how to say 鈥渉ello鈥� and 鈥渨elcome鈥� in more languages than just about anyone else on campus. That鈥檚 one of the perks of her job in the English Language Centre, managing UVic鈥檚 homestay program. Each year the program places over 1,600 students from as many as 30 countries into 600 host families (and they are always looking for more hosts).
Get ready to do some skill-sharpening: UVic staff and faculty now have free access to vast and ever-growing sets of online video tutorials from lynda.com.
Carmel Chamberlain, of UVic鈥檚 School of Public Health and Social Policy, knows full well the healing potential and importance of having a network of different types of support during times of struggle. This is especially true when the safety and happiness of one鈥檚 family is on the line. Carmel has been on both sides of the United Way鈥檚 efforts, both accessing United Way funded programs and services, and recently working with United Way as a Loaned Representative during the 2014 Greater Victoria fundraising campaign.
UVic is inviting applications from across campus to select a staff member who is interested in assisting with the Greater Victoria United Way fundraising campaign this fall as UVic鈥檚 鈥渓oaned representative鈥� to the 2015 campaign.
With more than 190,000 square feet of space, there鈥檚 so much waiting for you to discover in CARSA. Faculty and staff tours: May 1 On May 1 from 2-4 p.m., faculty and staff are invited to an exclusive sneak peak of CARSA. Athletics and Recreation will be offering drop-in tours at the following times:
You would be forgiven if you believed that Daphne Donaldson had invented the phrase 鈥渒eep calm and carry on.鈥� 聽After a 30-year career at UVic and many years as the university鈥檚 emergency planner, she concedes that 鈥渢he moment I hear a fire truck I hesitate because I wonder if something has occurred. I鈥檓 attuned to those sorts of noises.鈥�
UVic鈥檚 new Chancellor is certainly no stranger to being in the public eye鈥攐r ear, as the case may be. Over her many years as a journalist and CBC Radio host/producer, Shelagh (after speaking to her for a few minutes, you really can鈥檛 think of her as 鈥淢s. Rogers鈥�) has travelled all over the country, gathering and sharing the stories of thousands of Canadians.
Celebrating exceptional staff The celebration of this year鈥檚 President鈥檚 Distinguished Service Award recipients, hosted by President Jamie Cassels, took place Feb. 25 at the University Club. Before the recipients were named, Valerie Kuehne, UVic鈥檚 acting vice-president academic and provost, recognized and congratulated all those who had been nominated.
