Our first webinar took place on March 29 with three panelists from Science Atlantic Member Institutions: Mount Allison University (Dr. Amanda Cockshutt), Saint Mary’s University (Dr. Colleen Barber), and the University of Prince Edward Island (Dr. Christian Lacroix) sharing their thoughts on academic service.
Panelists provided various perspectives and shared their own experiences related to their career paths and interests in various forms of service. An animated Q&A session followed the panel discussion. One main theme that emerged was meeting the challenges of achieving equity at our institutions. Specifically, the discussion zeroed in on the high demand for female and/or Indigenous representation in academic service thereby overburdening these faculty members.
This isn’t the first time members of the community have raised this topic. In the fall, members brought ideas to the table, and last week we initiated a call for volunteers for a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) group. The purpose of the group is to advise Science Atlantic on strategy and actions to help create a more inclusive Atlantic STEM community. More details are in our blog post, Join our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group, and if you’re interested in learning more, please sign up through our Broadening Horizons Information Hub.
Science Atlantic is looking at hosting more webinars/events like the one held on March 29. Topics could include facilitating undergraduate research experiences in the Atlantic region, lessons learned in teaching and learning during COVID, and much more. This is only a starting point. We would like to hear your thoughts on our proposed topics or any others you would like to see us address. Please email Christian Lacroix (lacroix@upei.ca) with your ideas or submit them on the Hub.
A huge thank you to the panelists for putting together this event and the participants for being a part of the discussions.