UNews - final product

Online payment comes to SOS

trevor.kenney — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:20:04 +0000

Other than the birds, there is not much activity on campus at 5 a.m., and yet one ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge faculty or staff member was already making a difference by contributing to Supporting Our Students (SOS). This early morning act of generosity was made possible by the new online payroll deduction form launched last month.

"This is exactly the type of support we wanted to enable," says Jamie Chinn (BSc '03), business systems analyst in information technology services enterprise systems, who was the driving force behind the new form. "We needed to capture the people who are motivated to make a gift but want the process to be simple and immediate."

Pictured (l to r) are Rahim Kanjiyani, Jamie Chinn and Darin McGee, the IT team that created the new online deduction form for the Supporting Our Students campaign.

As an SOS volunteer, Chinn actively promotes the campaign. In talking to faculty and staff across campus, it became clear that the paper form was a problem.

"We wanted to remove that barrier and make it as easy as possible for faculty and staff to make their gift through payroll deduction," says Chinn.

While developing an online form may seem simple, there was a lot of activity behind the scenes. Chinn worked with people in departments across campus, such as Anna Linville in advancement, Joel Makin in financial services and Deb Robb in human resources to make sure that the final product would meet everyone's needs.

"Everyone really came together over this project," says Chinn. "I think that shows the commitment of U of L faculty and staff to our students. We are not only contributing money to a scholarship campaign, we're giving of our time and our expertise to make sure that campaign is successful. It's a strong statement about the community here."

Once a plan was in place, Chinn passed the project off to Darin McGee (BSc '09) and Rahim Kanjiyani to build. The two programmer analysts donated their time on evenings and weekends to complete the project.

"I'm still paying for my own education, so this was a different way for me to get involved and give back," says McGee, who is happy to be able to contribute in a meaningful way.

It is difficult to calculate the total number of hours spent on this project but the trio of volunteers agrees it was more than originally estimated. Despite the challenges, they all see it as time well spent.

"I was happy to pay it forward," says Chinn. "I donate to SOS but one person can only do so much. By making giving that much easier, this tool will hopefully help enhance the culture of support at the U of L and perpetuate faculty and staff giving across campus."

To make your gift through payroll deduction, simply log in to the Bridge (www.uleth.ca/bridge/sos), click the Employee tab, click Supporting Our Students and follow the instructions.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

Roloff Beny Award winners have big plans

trevor.kenney — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:16:56 +0000

Nicole Lalonde and Arianna Richardson were recently named the winners of the 2012 Roloff Beny Awards.

The duo was selected from a group of high quality and competitive applications, earning scholarships of $5,000 each.

Lalonde is in her fifth year of an art degree program and is excited about the opportunity the scholarship affords.

"Although I typically work with video, both photography and video/film share similar histories and technologies; thus, the distinction between the two is often blurred," she says. "Additionally, while the moving image offers a medium for my explorations, it builds upon slow transitions – durational in nature – of a fixed image. As I am already working within the realm of photography, I would like to explore this medium further."

Arianna Richardson and Nicole Lalonde are the 2012 Roloff Beny Awards recipients.

Her project will take place in a Red Deer swimming pool, where she will practice different methods used to save a drowning victim.

"These maneuvers can appear both serene and hostile. Consequently, the interaction can be seen as both an act of violence and a rescue. This scenario is how I envision a video and photographic work of my twin sister and me," says Lalonde.

Richardson, in her fifth year of an art degree program, has an interest in national, provincial and regional identities. With these interests in mind she is in the process of constructing a personal archive entitled The Hobbyist.

"I want to travel to and document nine of the 14 annual fairs occurring in Alberta and Saskatchewan. As an inhabitant of the region, I feel it is necessary to discover how The Hobbyist relates to such goings on," she says. "To ensure a variety of representation, the locations range from small townships to capital cities. In each location I will attend the opening day parade or the closing day fireworks as well as explore the fairgrounds. The final product is the creation of a travel-guide type document where all my findings will be recorded and published alongside the release of a photo collection. This will make a significant addition to the archive, adding greatly to the expertise and dynamism of The Hobbyist."

In 2005, the Roloff Beny Foundation endowed $860,000 to the Department of Art to generate ongoing funding for student scholarships and infrastructure costs in traditional and digital photo-arts. In recognition of excellence in art instruction and research, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was one of five institutions across Canada selected for such an endowment. Since then, more than $70,000 in scholarships have been awarded to fine arts students, providing research based travel opportunities in conjunction with their studies in photo-arts.

The Roloff Beny Foundation Photographic Awards in the Fine Arts provides outstanding fine arts students who have a concentrated interest in photo-arts with a travel opportunity in relation to their photographic activity. Any new or continuing students enrolled full-time in any BFA degree program who have a focused interest in photo-arts are eligible to apply for this competitive award.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

Roloff Beny Award winners have big plans

trevor.kenney — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:40:26 +0000

Nicole Lalonde and Arianna Richardson were recently named the winners of the 2012 Roloff Beny Awards.

The duo was selected from a group of high quality and competitive applications, earning scholarships of $5,000 each.

Lalonde is in her fifth year of an art degree program and is excited about the opportunity the scholarship affords.

Arianna Richardson and Nicole Lalonde are the 2012 Roloff Beny Awards recipients.

Her project will take place in a Red Deer swimming pool, where she will practice different methods used to save a drowning victim.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

Online payment comes to SOS

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:46:42 +0000

Pictured (l to r) are Rahim Kanjiyani, Jamie Chinn and Darin McGee, the IT team that created the new online deduction form for the Supporting Our Students campaign.

As an SOS volunteer, Chinn actively promotes the campaign. In talking to faculty and staff across campus, it became clear that the paper form was a problem.

"We wanted to remove that barrier and make it as easy as possible for faculty and staff to make their gift through payroll deduction," says Chinn.

"I'm still paying for my own education, so this was a different way for me to get involved and give back," says McGee, who is happy to be able to contribute in a meaningful way.

To make your gift through payroll deduction, simply log in to the Bridge (www.uleth.ca/bridge/sos), click the Employee tab, click Supporting Our Students and follow the instructions.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

SU events; there's an App for that

trevor.kenney — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:34:04 +0000

By KYLE DODGSON

As the halls of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge fill with both new and returning students, a familiar, incessant hum accompanies them – the tunes and tones of mobile devices.

Smartphones and mobile devices have become an integral part of campus life and this month, looking to capitalize on this trend, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students' Union (ULSU) unveils its new mobile application.

The brainchild of SU vice president academic Andrew Williams, the mobile application traces its roots back to December 2010 when Williams was a member of the ULSU General Assembly.

"I noticed that an increasing number of universities were building and releasing iPhone applications that allowed students to access maps, news, events and other informational items on the go. It was something I really wanted to bring to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge," says Williams.

Over the ensuing months, Williams researched numerous application developers and created a detailed document covering all aspects of development and implementation. He then presented his proposal to the Executive Council and General Assembly. Despite initially receiving a lukewarm reception, Williams continued developing the project.

Once he was elected to the VP academic office, Williams received an offer from Canadian developer CollegeMobile, who sought to develop the proposed application for a much lower cost than other competing developers.

"I worked together with the incoming council and the SU staff for about a month on the final details of the application until we had something we were all satisfied and comfortable with," says Williams. "Since then, I've been beta testing each version of the application to make sure there are no errors in the final product."

The mobile app delivers up-to-date information on ULSU events and news, information on every council member, Pronghorns athletic events, an interactive campus map and it integrates both Moodle and Facebook.
"I think that most students will be surprised at how much information it contains and how easy it is to navigate," says Williams.

The ULSU Mobile App is another building block in the Executive Council's strategic initiatives, reinforcing its aspiration to boost the ULSU's on-campus presence, improve communication and promote sustainability on campus.

"The goal of the application is to allow the ULSU to communicate with students through a medium which has become a part of everyday life for most of them," says Williams. "Best of all, the application is free, and I think students will find it to be extremely useful and convenient."

The ULSU Mobile App is available for download from the Apple, Android and Blackberry App stores.

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Online payment comes to SOS

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