UNews - Thelma Gunn

Board confirms appointments of Helstein and Gunn to associate dean roles

trevor.kenney — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 16:49:58 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors has appointed Dr. Michelle Helstein as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science.

Helstein, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, has extensive administrative experience across a wide range of activities at the U of L including curriculum design.

Helstein will serve a three-year term starting July 1, 2016.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors also reappointed Dr. Thelma Gunn as Associate Dean, Faculty of Education.

Gunn, a professor in the Faculty of Education, is a former junior and high school teacher who has worked extensively with students in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Master of Education program, both in terms of membership and supervision.

Gunn will serve a three-year term effective July 1, 2016.

Faculty of Education always keen on strengthening the program

trevor.kenney — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:49:00 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty of Education is embarking upon a unique partnership with students and alumni to better understand and further strengthen the Faculty's academic program.

"This teacher education program has always been successful," says Dr. Thelma Gunn, assistant dean, Student Program Services. Why it has been successful, however, has never been formally researched.

"We want to know specifically what components of the educational program had the most impact on pre-service teachers—and then how those components were eventually perceived out in the field."

Dr. Thelma Gunn and her colleagues recognize the Faculty's academic program cannot rest on its laurels.

Data collection will initially be survey-based, with interviews and possibly focus groups developing as the study progresses.

"We'd like to start with individuals who would agree, even in ED 2500, to be tracked as they go into PSI, II, III, and then out into the profession."

A major facet of the initiative will be feedback from graduates.

"We value what they know and understand about being a teacher. Now we want to find out more information about how our on-campus components contributed to their development as a teacher," says Gunn.

"Alumni can provide at least two important ideas for us," adds Dr. Craig Loewen. "One is reflection on what parts of their program had the greatest impact on their teaching career. The other is current experience in the field and advice on what new we might need to add."

Although the program has changed over time, the study isn't limited to recent graduates.

"It's mostly the academic portion that's changed, not necessarily the feeling," says Gunn. "We don't know specifically what people have valued. It might be the personal experiences they had here—the small groups, the collegiality, the professors who were committed to developing teachers."

Veteran teachers often see trends that newer teachers can't, she notes, and may have "something intriguing to state in terms of how the program could move forward."

"We're interested in anyone who was a graduate of the faculty," says Gunn, "even if they use their BEd in another capacity. Then there are people who've left the profession altogether. Why they left is equally interesting to us."

"We're just really interested in what students and alumni have to say about the overall program. If there was something good we want to keep it, and if there was something they think could have been done differently, we want to know. We're looking for genuine, authentic perceptions of the program."

For more information, contact: edu.sps@uleth.ca

U of L Long Service Awards

trevor.kenney — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:02:22 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is holding its annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, May 5, at 1 p.m. in the Students' Union ballrooms. A total of 116 employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service will be honoured, along with 20 retiring employees.

Following is a list of honoured employees.

Retirees

Hart Cantelon, Adrian Cooke, Hank DeRidder, Linda Gray, Rose Helmer, Bill Hennessy, Randy Joseph, Dave Kunimoto, Toni Nelson, Rita Nieuwenhuis, Fran Olivier, Joanne Overn, Frank Perrotta, Ralph Pollock, Kent Rolfson, Gloria Samuels, Jonathan Seldin, Dennis Thompson, Frank VandenHeuvel and Hafizah Yahya

Long Service Recipients

35 Years | Reg Bibby, Merle Christie, Richard Epp, Christina Lastuka, Leroy Little Bear and Ian Wells

30 Years | Lynn Arnold, Leslie Lavers and Timothy Pope

25 Years | Donna Court, Marion Eastman, Rita Law, Jennifer Mather, Ralph Pollock, Leslie Robison-Greene, Pamela Loewen and Charlene Sawatsky

20 Years | Scott Allen, Pat Anderson, Steve Calvert, Garth Copeland, Leslie Dawn, Karen Dow-Cazal, Barbara Dudley, Linda Embury, Kim Fowler, Rumi Graham, Ruth Grant Kalischuk, Linda Gray, Anthony Hall, Wendy Herbers, Pat Hodd, Shelly Hutchinson, Leona Jacobs, Tom Johnston, Cindy Kabelka, Stella Kedoin, Hadi Kharaghani, Al Kizuk, Vern Leckie, Patti Leeb, James McDowell, Ken McInnes, Mike McKenna, Glen Montgomery, Jane O'Dea, Fran Olivier, Joanne Overn, Debbie Payne, Margaret Rodermond, Catherine Ross, David Siminovitch, Jackie Slezina, Dan Sudo, Darlene Sutherland, Julie Tran, Nancy Walker, Wendy Westergreen and Pamela Winsor

15 Years | Nola Aitken, Heather Anderson, Katherine Chiste, Fred Del Cid, Susanne Garner, Linda Gilbert, Al Hill, Rebecca Johnson, Lyn Jose, Catherine Kanashiro, Terry Kirkvold, Marc Roussel,and Lorne Williams

10 Years | Amir Akbary-Majdabadno, Debra Basil, Michael Basil, Jasminn Berteotti, Brian Black, Jodie Black, Bill Cade, Jane Cahoon, Steve Craig, Brian Dobing, Anne Dymond, Richard Feenstra, James Graham, Arlene Grimes, Thelma Gunn, Erika Hasebe-Ludt, David Hay, Lynn Hopkins, Gordon Hunter, Tanya Jacobson-Gundlock, Mary Kavanagh, Dan Kazakoff, Abdie Kazemipur, Stefan Kienzle, Danny Le Roy, Becky Lore, Heidi MacDonald, Kevin Matis, Muriel Mellow, Richard Mueller, Brenda Nixon, Sam Ogita, Gail Postman, Drew Rendall, Kelly Roberts, Gongbing Shan, Kim Skura, Heather Stevens, Trent Takeyasu, Gwen Umeris, Paul Vasey, Cindy Venhuis, Mike Whipple, Ilsa Wong and Wei Xu

Celebrate Long Service Awards

trevor.kenney — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:01:14 +0000

Following is a list of honoured employees.

Retirees

Long Service Recipients

35 Years | Reg Bibby, Merle Christie, Richard Epp, Christina Lastuka, Leroy Little Bear and Ian Wells

30 Years | Lynn Arnold, Leslie Lavers and Timothy Pope

25 Years | Donna Court, Marion Eastman, Rita Law, Jennifer Mather, Ralph Pollock, Leslie Robison-Greene, Pamela Loewen and Charlene Sawatsky

Flexibility keys success

trevor.kenney — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:12:36 +0000

When it comes to choosing graduate students, education professor Dr. Thelma Gunn looks for smart, enthusiastic people willing to take the lead on their learning experiences.

Gunn's expectations are high, but she understands work and family demands on students. Sometimes life happens, and that's why flexibility in both the program and the supervisor is essential.

"In education, many people taking master's degrees are teachers. They need to work and they want to work – that's what they do: they're teachers," Gunn says.

A number of students in the program hold down jobs throughout the province and Canada. For example, Gunn's student, Krysta Wosnack, is completing the second year of her master's degree while working in St. Albert. Wosnack is the epitome of an independent learner, and one of four graduate students in the Faculty to earn the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Co-supervised by Gunn and Calgary-based resiliency expert Dr. Wayne Hammond, the Master of Education in Counselling student will spend the next year interviewing adolescents in foster care and residential treatment programs. Her thesis will explore better ways of fostering resiliency in these at-risk young people. Wosnack will ask the kids, as well as their caregivers, what they need to be happy.

"I think a lot of the time we only look at care workers and we don't get the youth perspective," says Wosnack.

The U of L's Master of Education program is offered both online and in an on-site stream, but even on-site students are allowed to complete their thesis year elsewhere. Fortunately, technology – like e-mail and video-conferencing – makes this possible.

"We have to be more flexible, but flexibility is inherent in all the technologies
we currently use," Gunn says.

UNews - Thelma Gunn

Board confirms appointments of Helstein and Gunn to associate dean roles

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