It is with great pleasure that we share the news that our Community-Campus Engagement Brokering (Ottawa) Working Group Academic Co-lead, Eileen O’Connor, has been appointed as the new Chairholder in University Teaching at University of Ottawa. The official press release announcement follows (reposted from University of Ottawa):
New Chairholder in University Teaching Seeks to Enhance Experiential and Work-Integrated Learning at uOttawa
The Teaching and Learning Support Service (TLSS) is proud to announce the recipient of the 6th Chair in University Teaching, Dr. Eileen O’Connor of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The Project – Building Effective Practices in Work-Integrated Learning at uOttawa
As part of the 3-year appointment, Eileen will be leading a project on building effective practices in experiential and work-integrated learning (WIL) at uOttawa.
Building on previous collaborative work to develop a WIL toolkit for Ontario Universities and Colleges (2016), this project will focus on adapting the toolkit template by consolidating and disseminating knowledge on effective practices within our wide range of work-integrated learning offered through programs, research and innovation at uOttawa.
Specifically, the objectives of this Chairship project are three-fold:
- collaborate on developing an inventory of uOttawa WIL opportunities;
- foster synergies through a forum for discussion and research on effective practices, challenges and opportunities for WIL at uOttawa; and
- create support tools for students to enhance their WIL experiences.
Taken together, this Chairship project will contribute to building capacity in WIL at uOttawa, and in partnerships with the community, government, and/or industry as we respond to the growing interest for students to acquire effective WIL in their programs of study.
This Year’s Chair holder
Eileen O’Connor is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Kinetics, and obtained her PhD in History at uOttawa. She is an engaged scholar in the field of experiential learning, currently Co-I on a SSHRC partnership grant to enhance community-campus engagement, and collaborates to develop capacity for work-integrated learning. Dr. O’Connor also pursues socio-historical research on sport, health and gender, and supervises graduate students in these fields.
Eileen has received a number of distinctions including the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2007; the uOttawa Community Service Learning, Outstanding Professor Achievement Award in 2009; an OCRI National Capital Educator’s Award in 2010, and a uOttawa Excellence in Education Prize in 2016.
The Chair in University Teaching Initiative
As part of the Destination 2020 strategic plan, the University of Ottawa’s Chairs in University Teaching underscore the University’s commitment to instructional excellence by:
- Promoting innovative teaching and learning practices that will benefit the wider University community as grounded in a scholarly framework/model;
- Recognizing the value of educational leadership and excellence in University Teaching; and
- Supporting professors committed to the scholarly investigation of teaching and learning, translating to University wide transformation of instructional practices.
For more information about the Chair in University Teaching initiative or to read about the projects led by current and former Chairs, visit: www.tlss.uOttawa.ca/site/Chairs.