On November 20-21, Climate Reality is presenting 24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action, a global conversation on the truth of the climate crisis and how we solve it. For one full 24-hour period, Climate Reality Leader volunteers trained by former Vice President Al Gore will hold public presentations and conversations on our changing climate in schools, community centres, workplaces, and more across Canada and in countries worldwide. On November 20, this important initiative is coming to Sheridan!

For each audience member who attends the presentation (and fills out our form), we will plant one tree on their behalf, thanks to our friends at One Tree Planted.

It’s going to be a great opportunity to talk about what the climate crisis means for this community, as well as the solutions and actions we can take to make a difference. I hope you’ll join us!

When: Wednesday, November 20, from 4:30 – 6:30 pm
Where: J102 – Trafalgar Campus
Who: Todd Barsanti, FAAD Faculty, Climate Reality Leader

To celebrate Mike Emery, his contributions to Sheridan, and wish him well as he embarks on his new journey as the Director of Admissions at Ryerson University, you’re invited to his farewell celebration:

When: Thursday, November 21, 2;30 – 4:30 p.m.
Where: The Marquee, Trafalgar Campus

Mike’s last day at Sheridan is Friday, November 22. We hope you can drop by!

Office of the Registrar

Dear Colleagues,

This is to share double news which will have a big impact for all of FAAD. Angela Stukator, Associate Dean for Animation and Gaming, will be leaving Sheridan as of December 13 to take on a new role as Dean of Fine Arts at Haliburton College. We are thrilled for Angela’s new challenge, but sad to see her go after 17 years in her role as Associate Dean at Sheridan. She will be truly missed.

In addition, Susan Anderson-Wilcox, who has been at Sheridan for almost 40 years in a number of roles, has decided to retire. Susan has supported Angela and her suite of programs as an Administrative Portfolio Administrator while gracefully and generously juggling a legacy position for FAAD as Office Manager. Susan will be almost impossible to replace, once she departs Sheridan on February 21.

We will be celebrating Angela at our December 10 Faculty Holiday Lunch in the Lower Cafeteria, but invite Sheridan community to join us at 2 pm for dessert and remarks.

Stay tuned for further plans to celebrate Susan Anderson-Wilcox!

We are delighted that Catharine Tamas, faculty in BFTV and Journalism programs, has agreed to step in as interim associate dean for the Department of Animation and Game Design, from December 16 to April 26, while we formally recruit more permanently. Please help us welcome Catharine!

Ronni Rosenberg, MFA, MArch
Dean
Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design

On November 7, the Centre for Equity and Inclusion (CEI) hosted practitioners from CEI, the Centre for Indigenous Learning and Support, Human Resources, and the Student Rights and Responsibility Office for a day of interactive learning targeting people leaders.  Attendees were exposed to some of Sheridan’s salient internal codes and policies fundamental to maintaining a respectful workplace for employees and a supportive learning environment to enable student success.

Managers left the training equipped with knowledge and tools to navigate the roles and responsibilities of all members of the Sheridan community as they relate to accessibility, human rights, equity and inclusion, employee relations, health and safety, student conduct and matters of importance to our Indigenous communities.

New managers, watch out for the 2020 Spring Training that will be posted on the PD Connect learning calendar and contact equity@sheridancollege.ca for more information.

Sheridan’s President & Vice Chancellor, members of Senior Leadership and the Board of Governors hosted the annual long service event “A Celebration of Time” on Thursday, November 14. Each year this memorable event recognizes Sheridan employees with full-time service of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years and also celebrates Sheridan retirees from the past academic year. This year we recognized over 150 employees.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event and to all those who helped make it possible. Please take some time to congratulate and celebrate your fellow colleagues! For more information, please visit the Centre for People & Organizational Development’s recognition webpage on AccessSheridan to review the list of this year’s recipients.

Congratulations once again to this year’s recipients!

Professor of Art Fundamentals and volunteer Climate Reality Leader, Todd Barsanti, hosted a campus presentation and discussion on climate change as part of 24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action. Spearheaded by the Climate Reality Project – an organization founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore aimed at turning awareness into action on climate change – the global initiative took place over a 24-hour period, with Sheridan’s event taking place on Nov. 20 at its Trafalgar Campus.

24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action presents an opportunity to have meaningful conversations on the climate crisis and discuss ways to take action to solve it. Climate Reality Leaders, who are personally trained by former Vice President Gore, lead the discussions. Barsanti was trained in July 2013 in Chicago, Illinois and has since presented at multiple elementary and high schools in the Greater Toronto Area.

Sheridan faculty, staff and students were in the audience for Barsanti’s sobering presentation, which spotlighted the science of climate change and examples around the world of extreme weather events and their devastating human, environmental and economic impacts. Barsanti challenged audience members to take action today by considering their transpotration and purchasing choices, asking local candidates to prioritize renewable energy and not letting climate denial go unchallenged.

Each audience member who attended a 24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action event had the opportunity to fill out an online form to have a tree planted on their behalf by the organization One Tree Planted.

After 20 years of dedicated service, FAAD professor Sherry Lawr will be retiring in December. Sherry has made a huge impact on so many students over the years in Media Arts, BFTV and Journalism. Please join her colleagues, students and alumni from the Department of Film, TV and Journalism for a celebration in Sherry’s honour as we wish her the very best in this new chapter.

If you’re not able to attend but have a story or photos you want to share, please send them to cheryl.vallender@sheridancollege.ca.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Date: December, 11, 2019
Time: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Trafalgar Campus, The Marquee (Student Pub)

Retirement: A time to look back with admiration as well as a time to look forward with anticipation.

After 37 years of service to Sheridan, Susan Johnston has decided to retire. Sue will start her well-earned retirement on December 31, 2019.

Employees in various departments across the College have benefited from her knowledge, training, and support over the years. Her contributions will surely be missed!

We would like to wish Sue a healthy and happy retirement!

Please join us to celebrate Susan’s retirement:

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Time: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Location: B-Wing President’s Boardroom, Trafalgar Campus

Warm Regards,
Financial Services Department

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) Canada – Toronto section, recognized FAST Professor, Dr. Mozammel Khan with two awards at their annual honours and award gala dinner event, held at Novotel Hotel in Vaughn on December 11.

Dr. Khan was presented with an Achievement Award and an Appreciation Award for enhancing the Quality profession in Canada, transforming the lives of many through Sheridan’s Quality Assurance Manufacturing and Management (QAMM) program, and for his dedicated collaboration with ASQ Canada – Toronto Section.

The achievement award was presented for the first time in ASQ’s 53-year existence in Canada.

Congratulations to Dr. Khan!

Amjed Majeed
Associate Dean, School of Engineering
Faculty of Applied Science and Technology

Sharing work in an open access repository like Sheridan’s SOURCE can increase citations by as much as 250%. In 2019 your colleagues shared 200+ new scholarly and creative works in SOURCE and readers came from 144 different countries.  Here are the most popular downloads of the year.

2019 Top 10 Downloads in SOURCE

1. On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-profound Bullshit co-authored by Nathaniel Barr (FHASS)

2. The Schillinger System of Musical Composition and Contemporary Computer Music by Bruno Degazio (FAAD)

3. What Factors Contributed to the Success of Apple’s iPhone? co-authored by John Laugesen (PSB)

4. Discrimination at Work: Comparing the Experiences of Foreign-trained and Locally-trained Engineers in Canada co-authored by Ferzana Chaze (FAHCS)

5. The Employee Engagement Framework: High Impact Drivers and Outcomes by Amena Shahid (PSB)

6. The Politics of Podcasting co-authored by Michael Brendan Baker (FHASS)

7. The Social Organization of South Asian Immigrant Women’s Mothering in Canada by Ferzana Chaze (FAHCS)

8. Halton Region Youth In/At Risk Research Report by Ferzana Chaze, Bethany Osborne, Thomas Howe (FAHCS)

9. The Sheridan Notebook by Brandon McFarlane, Kristine Villeneuve, Devin Murray (FHASS)

10. The Animator: The 26th Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference (FAAD)

Want to see your own great work in SOURCE in 2020? We invite you to submit your c.v. or a list of your scholarship/creative works to source@sheridancollege.ca to disseminate your work globally and boost your impact.

It is with mixed emotions that I write to share the news of Jan Sylvah’s retirement. After devoting 20 years of service to Sheridan, Jan has decided to retire on February 28, 2020.

As Communications and Editing Coordinator, Jan created, reviewed, edited and prepared communications for the OTR. All who know Jan will appreciate her sincere dedication to her work, her impeccable attention to detail, her unwavering attention to the applicant and student, and her reliable ability to connect a variety of communication sources to one another always maintaining consistency in the message.

You will also know her as a wonderful colleague with a great sense of humour and generous spirit.

Jan began her career part time in March 1997 working in Distribution at the Trafalgar campus. Her skills were recognized, and she was quickly promoted. Jan became a full-time staff member in the fall of 1999. She worked for many years at STC in addition to the Trafalgar campus.

Jan will be missed by many. Please join me in wishing her well as she begins her well deserved retirement with her husband Paul by her side. Details of a celebration planned at the end of February will follow soon.

Best regards,

Michele Convery

Congratulations to Michael Kennedy, professor in the Honours Bachelor of Film and Television program, for his Kidscreen Awards nomination! Michael is the director of the feature film #Roxy, which was nominated in the Tweens/Teens Programming –  Best one-off, special or TV movie category.

Winners will be announced at a special presentation event to be held during Kidscreen Summit in Miami on Tuesday, February 11. Click here for a full list of nominees. 

Congratulations, Michael!

After 18 years at Sheridan, our knowledgeable and hardworking technologist for Interior Design and Interior Decorating – Julie Nichols – will be retiring! Her energic and positive attitude carried these programs through some big transitions. But we haven’t lost Julie completely. She will be working part time for the Co-op office and continuing her role working to place Interior Design students.

With this, we are thrilled to announce Karen Kritzer is the successful candidate to replace Julie. We have revised the Technologist job description to focus primarily on field placement for Interior Decorating and Visual Merchandising. She will be actively involved with making strategic connections with industry partners to increase work opportunities for students and at the same time develop industry sponsored awards and grad show sponsorship for all three programs. Karen will be engaged outside the college at conferences and events developing new partnerships for these initiative and others.

You are welcome to drop by the FAAD HMC office (B520) on Tuesday, February 4, between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, for coffee and cake and to wish Julie and Karen the best on their new adventures!

Heather Whitton
Associate Dean, Faculty of Animation Arts and Design