Headlines/Nov. 12,1992

Connections, continued

difficult situations, and reinforce things
that they ’re doing right.”

Catherine Sorenson of Continuing
Education, a department that’s very
customer-focused, gave a lunch-hour
keynote address to the group.

The workshop content wasn’t the only

valuable part of the training, according
to Vike. “Just getting new staff members
from different areas together helped
them gain a better understanding of
UCFY as a whole, and to become
familiar with one another. I think this
group will always be close.”

Several participants pointed this out
in their evaluation forms, saying that it
was nice to be able to compare notes and
share experiences with other people
doing similar work. Other aspects of
Connections that they liked included
learning about conflict resolution, the
effects of a positive attitude, and the
different categories of negative
communication,

Karen Hill, who joined UCFV as an
data entry clerk in Accounts in August,
thinks the workshop was “very good. It
should be available to all staff. It helps
you with social skills and integrating
with other people, and gives pointers of
things to watch for. It’s things you

know, but may need a reminder about
sometimes.”

Deirdre McGroarty, a word
processing operator in Chilliwack,
found Connections, “valuable as a
refresher because I sometimes find
myself slipping into bad habits, like
forgetting to smile, or forgetting that the
person coming to see you doesn’t care if
you're having a rotten day. It was nice to
talk to other people who work in similar
settings. Connections places a lot of
emphasis on the student as a customer,
and the college as a business, and I think
that’s a good way to think about it.”

More Connectio< workshops are in
the works, and Vike says she hopes that
current employees, mot just new ones,
will have the option of attending if they
wish.

United Way deadline
extended

The deadline for submitting United Way
donation cards has been extended to
Nov. 15.

Total donations so far have reached
approximately $12,000, more than last
year’s total of $8,000, but below this
year’s goal of $17,000.

The breakdown of participation rate
by divisions is: Academic, 18.9%;
Careers, 19.3%; CE, 193%; Ed.
Support, 10.2%; President’s office,
72.2%; Bursar’s office, 15.2%.

The overall participation rate is
approximately 20%. The goal set by
organizers is a 40% participation rate.

10-year employees

Four more employces reached the
10-year mark in 1992. JoAnne Higgs,
Garmet Brown, Greg Buck, and Marlene
MacDonald all joined Fraser Valley
College in 1982.

They celebrated their anniversary ata
special dinner at the Versailles
restaurant in Abbotsford on Oct. 20,
with President Peter Jones and members
of senior management and the UCFV
board. Congratulations folks.

Survey results shape equity conference

Results of a survey by the Year of Equity committee have begun
to focus plans for the conference on “Celebrating Diversity”’

scheduled for January 29.

Committee co-chair Carole Hardy reported that 125 of 350
surveys were returned, which she described as “quite
remarkable” considering how busy mosf people are.

The surveys indicated strongest support tor about a dozen of
the most popular workshop topics. Among them were
“Male/Female Communication Patterns”, “Cross Cultural
Communication”, “First Nations issues of land claims and
self-government”, “The Marginalization of Employees”,
“Sharing Power’, and “Learning Disabilities”.

As well, a number of additional topics and possible

facilitators were: suggested.

Individual committee members volunteered to develop
specific workshops, often by integrating several suggestions
around acommon theme, and identify presenters.

The survey results were split evenly on whether to launch the
conference with a keynote speaker or a panel. The committee

2

will pursue a panel, which will be charged with provoking
debate by addressing the issue of how UCFV has failed to

achieve equity and what must be done to reach this goal.

people.

Hardy said that some people are concerned that an equity day
is about women’s issues and will not be of interest to many

After reviewing the variety and range of topics, the
committee agreed that many different perspectives will be
explored and the conference should have a broad appeal.

The format for the conference was discussed. At this point
the program will include a panel presentation, then a variety of

concurrent workshops, followed by an extended lunch (to give

more opportunity to meet with people you never scem to find

time for any more), then another round of concurrent

workshops. The conference will wrap up with some social time
and an opportunity to view a number of related displays.

The initial panel presentation and lunch will be at King’s
Crossing, while the workshops, social and displays will be at the
Abbotsford campus.