First Aid Class

Spend a day this Fall reading week learning something potentially life-saving. Registration for the Emergency First Aider 1 training class was so high that Brandon University has arranged for a second session for Thursday, November 15, 201 from 8:30am to 4:30pm. 

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The course is intended for individuals who within 30 minutes of a medical facility (essentially everyone that lives in Brandon), the course is useful for anyone wanting to learn how to respond efficiently and safely to emergency situations. The focus of the class is CPR Level C which includes adults, infants, and children, as well as using a defibrillator, and general responses to emergency situations including choking, bleeding, asthma, or allergies. 

St. John’s Ambulance has generously offered a reduced price for BU students and staff at $75.00 per person. You must RSVP to the course as space is limited (and apparently fills fast!) by going to https://events.brandonu.ca/event/emergency-first-aider-1/ and registering for the course. 

Building Your Personal Resilience

On Thursday, November 8th, BU is offering students and staff a ‘Building Your Personal Resilience’ workshop. Most people aspire to meet life’s inevitable conflict and demands with optimism and elasticity, but maybe aren’t sure how and end up feeling stuck or overwhelmed. This workshop aims to teach the skills and attitudes necessary to be resilient during times of stress, both short term and chronic. 

The session will use reflective and interactive exercises to teach you to recognize patterns of reactivity and potential adverse impacts of stress, as well as teach self-regulation that fosters a grounded body, a calm mind, and a strong sense of self. 

The workshop will be facilitated by David Falk, of Facilitated Solutions, an organization that specializes in mediation and conflict management. The event will take place on November 8th, from 9am to 4:30pm in the Louis Riel Room in McMaster Hall. 

Academic Workshops

Academic workshops are offered through the Academic Skills Centre and area intended to provide support in order to help students become more efficient and confident learners. Within the Academic Skills Centre are three related offices for learning, math, and writing. The goal of the learning office is to help students transition to university and learn the skills needed for success in university. Workshops for this semester are as follows: 

Tuesday, November 6th 12:40 to 1:30pm in McKenzie Building, Room 005: “Strategies for Success: The Study Cycle”- Effective strategies to study smarter not harder.

Tuesday, November 6th from 2 to 3 pm in McKenzie Building, Room 005: “Midterm Recovery: You CAN Do This!” - How to review a past test to be able to do better on the next one. 

Thursday, December 6th from 10 to 11am in McKenzie Building, Room 005: “Final Exam Prep” - Emergency exam prep strategies to make the best of cram time before finals.

Thursday, December 6th from 11am to 12pm in McKenzie Building, Room 005: 

 “Strategies for Multiple-Choice Tests” - Multiple-choice strategies to improve performance on tests. 

Walk ins are open on Fridays from 9am to 12pm in McKenzie Building, Room 102. These sessions are focused on learning how to learn; this includes, making a study schedule, reducing procrastination, reading textbooks effectively, preparing and writing exams, and improving memory. The last day for learning skills walk-ins this term is December 14. The ‘Learning Coach’ also offers walk ins on Mondays from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in McKenzie Building, Room 002. The learning coach specializes in helping with, best study practices, reading textbooks to remember what you read, writing multiple-choice tests, getting better connected with campus resources, reviewing midterms to improve on the next, and how to calculate your GPA. The last day for learning coach walk-ins this semester is November 26. The learning skills center also offers online resource guides about reducing procrastination, reading textbooks more effectively, taking better lecture notes, preparing for tests, writing essay exams, and improving memory. 

The math skills center is here to improve your comprehension of basic mathematical concepts. Offering workshops, individual and group appointments, and walk in peer tutoring hours. The schedule for peer tutoring can be found online at brandonu.ca/academic-skills/math-skills/math-peer-tutors-schedule/. All workshops are held in Brodie Building, Room 1-53, this semesters workshops are as follows; 

Tuesday, November 20th 12:40 to 1:30pm: “Calculus I”. 

Tuesday, November 27th 12:40 to 1:30pm: “Two Sample Test for Mean and Proportions”. 

Tuesday, December 4th 12:40 to 1:30pm: “Linear Algebra”. 

Tuesday, December 11th 12:40 to 1:30pm: “Introduction to Statistics”. 

The writing skills center works with students to develop writing skills and assist them at any stage of the writing process. Writing workshops are designed to help in a group setting where students can benefit from hearing other students questions and collaborate in finding solutions. Individual and group appointments are also possible. 

Wednesday, November 7th from 1:40 to 2:30pm in McKenzie Building, Room 005: “Essay Basics” – Students will learn to identify basic parts of the essay and what goes into each, as well as purpose of the essay, selecting and narrowing topics, scholarly language, thesis statements, use of evidence, and how to access resources on campus and online. 

Friday, November 9th from 11:40am to 12:30pm in McKenzie Building, Room 005: “Citation and Reference Basics” - Students will learn the basics of APA, MLA, and Chicago in-text citations and Reference/Works Cited/Bibliography. 

Women ’s Collective on Campus!

            Brandon University’s Women’s Collective is a group of exceptional women motivated to improving life on campus for everyone. The Women’s Collective president, for the second consecutive year, is Jenna English, a passionate intersectional feminist dedicated to representing self-identifying women’s rights on campus. Vice president this year is Jenna Murray, a feminist focused on bringing together like minded people and promoting awareness of social issues.

            Every year, the Women’s Collective offers a resource library, free condoms, sanitary supplies, discounted pregnancy tests and diva cups, sexual health resources, as well as access to phone and internet services. The Women’s Collective is also involved with the “No Means No” campaign for the promotion of positive sexual relationships. (Let’s make one thing clear: Consensual sex, is just sex. The idea that there is any other type of sex is ludicrous. Non-consensual sex? The word you’re looking for is rape. Respect all people’s choices and their dignity.)

            Some of this year’s goals include; promoting awareness of sexual health through a day dedicated to reproductive health, as well as events that foster social relations including paint night and trivia night. The annual event “Take Back The Night” – a march to end violence against women with the intention of feeling safe at night – will not run this fall semester, but will hopefully take place in the spring.

            If there are any causes or events that you are passionate about and would like to see the Women’s Collective take on, please consider joining to make them happen. More members make planning and implementing events easier and more enjoyable. Membership in the Women’s Collective is open to the entire BU community, including men. Although male members do not have voting rights (sucks doesn’t it) their input is valued and appreciated.

            You can connect with the Women’s Collective on Facebook (Brandon University Women’s Collective) and Instagram (buwomenscollective). The Women’s Collective office is located on the 2nd floor of the Knowles-Douglas Building. Office hours will be announced soon. The next collective meeting is Wednesday October 3rd at 5pm in the KDC boardroom – all are welcome.

            And finally, to answer the burning question that may be distracting you from taking any substance from this article; yes, we’re all feminists here. To quote Beyoncé quoting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “feminist: a person who believes in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes”.

History of Brandon University

The first Baptist settlers arrived in southwestern Manitoba in 1871, and soon after, decided they need a denominational college for Manitoba’s youth. After a failed attempt to open Prairie College in Rapid city, Professor S.J. McKee took over the endeavour but sought to open the college in Brandon after the Canadian Pacific Railway had been established through the Assiniboine Valley. At the same time, a Toronto industrialist, Mr. William Davies and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Emily Davies, pledged $25,000 in support of opening a Baptist College in Brandon. The two enterprises were merged into one institution. Headed by the Baptist Convention of Manitoba and the North West Territories, and affiliated with McMaster University, Brandon College was born in 1899, and classes began in the same year. The college focused on liberal arts, offering studies in Theology, and had both a high school department, and a commercial department; the school of music was added in 1906.  

Enrolment sharply decreased in 1916, as more than 200 students served in the first world war. Citing financial reasons, the Baptist Church withdrew their support in 1938, and the college became non-denominational. Brandon College established a Bachelor of Science degree in 1939, and went on to offer the first Bachelor of Music program in Manitoba, added in 1963.

Brandon College ended their affiliation with McMaster in 1939, and became instead associated with the University of Manitoba. On June 5th, 1967, Brandon College received its charter and became Brandon University. The occasion coincided with the visit of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra and the Honourable Angus Ogilvy, while the charter was dated July 1, 1967 to commemorate the centennial of Canada’s confederation.  

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BU’s Interim President Dr. Steve Robinson reflected on this transition in 2017; “When we were chartered as Brandon University, we took a significant and ambitious step in our continuing growth. It was a period of progress, with new buildings and new programs laying the foundations for today’s success.”

Last year, homecoming weekend welcomed back over 200 alumni from many graduating classes, particularly Brandon College’s last graduating class, the class of 1967. The year honoured the milestone of the 50th anniversary of Brandon University’s charter. This year’s homecoming will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first class of graduates to convocate from the newly-charted Brandon University. 

Last year’s 50th anniversary allowed for discussion of BU’s lasting impact on the community; “This goes far beyond the hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact produced by BU every year. Research here advances and create new knowledge, creative and scholarly works both delight and inform us all, and our graduates enrich our culture and our communities as engaged citizens with meaningful careers.” Dr. Robinson says, “Brandon University makes a tremendous impact every single day. Our students, faculty, staff and alumni make essential contributions here on campus and to the vibrancy of our communities”. 

The Interim President added that, “becoming a chartered university brought with it the benefits of autonomy, allowing us to govern and award our own degrees and to nimbly respond to community needs through research and new programming. It was a time of tremendous change and growth for post-secondary education in Canada, and Brandon University is embracing similar change right now.” With the acquisition of new property downtown, and a new Campus Master Plan, Brandon University will continue to grow and thrive.  

New Program At ACC

Assiniboine Community College (ACC) and Long Plain First Nation are partnering to provide an Applied Counselling certificate program in the Long Plain First Nation community located southwest of Portage la Prairie.

The program curriculum covers everything from children, youth, and family counselling skills, to trauma and crisis. “Community-based education offers many advantages to students who are unable to relocate for post-secondary studies for extended periods of time,” said Assiniboine president Mark Frison.

The curriculum is intended to expand on the knowledge and skills in their current field, such as family services, healthcare, youth services, education, and caregiving. To integrate theory and practice, the program concludes with a practicum – an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned. A total of twenty-five students will begin the twenty-month program in late January.

Chief Dennis Meeches describes the collaboration as “an exciting program that will benefit Indigenous people. We look forward to the Applied Counselling Program and wish our participants all the best in achieving desired outcomes”. 

The program will be offered part-time to accommodate the many students enrolled that are currently working in support-oriented positions like Long Plain Employment and Training, Long Plain Health, Long Plain School, Long Plain Daycare, Long Plain Jordan’s Principles, and Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services.

Elder Ernie Daniels will play a key role in contextualizing learning and offering guidance and support to students and staff throughout their journey through the program. In Long Plain First Nation, it is common for community elders and knowledge keepers to be involved in such programs and their delivery.

ACC is accustomed partnering with communities to develop and deliver place-based education. A group of First Nations, including Long Plain and the Manitoba Métis Foundation have collaborated with ACC to offer the Enhanced Aboriginal Practical Nursing program in Southport, Manitoba. In addition, twenty-two students graduated last April from the Applied Counselling program, the result of a partnership between ACC and Ebb & Flow First Nation.