Centre for Learning and Teaching

New Academic Staff Orientation

Dalhousie University welcomes new colleagues to the academic community with our annual New Academic Staff Orientation (NASO). This year's NASO will take place on August 20 and 21 (in-person) at the Dalhousie Student Union Building, Room 303 and August 22 (online).  

Invitations have been sent to new academic staff, if you are a new academic staff and have yet to receive an invitation, please email clt@dal.ca. 

If you have any questions about NASO events, please email us at clt@dal.ca. 

Tuesday, August 20

All sessions will take place in room 303

9:20–9:50 am Registration (Room 302)
9:50–10:50 am

Welcome to Mi’kma’ki and Dalhousie 

Elder Ann Labillois
Dr. Rick Ezekiel, Vice-President Student Affairs
Dr. Leslie Phillmore, Associate Vice-President, Academic
11 am–12 pm

Supporting Dalhousie Students

Melissa MacKay, Assistant Vice-Provost, Campus Living and Student Well-being
Adam Donaldson, Associate Dean Scholarships and Programs
12–1 pm Sit-Down Lunch  
1–2 pm

Exploring Dalhousie’s Teaching and Learning Culture 

CLT Staff
Dr. Shawn Xiong, Instructor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Jennifer Van Dommelen, University Teaching Fellow, Department of Biology
2:10–3:40 pm

Libraries, Copyright, and the Writing Centre for Faculty and Students 

Lindsay McNiff, Lecturer & IM Subject Specialist, Dalhousie Libraries
Jaclyn Chambers Page, Copyright Librarian, Dalhousie Libraries
Scott MacPherson, Copyright Services Specialist, Dalhousie Libraries
Janice MacDonald Eddington, Coordinator of Operations, Writing Advisor, Writing Centre

Wednesday, August 21

All sessions will take place in room 303

9:40–10 am Registration (Room 302)
10 am–12 pm

Research Services 

Danielle Andres, Manager, Post-Award, Research Services
Veronica Bacher, Manager, Institutional and International Programs, Research Services
Shelley Brown, Director, Strategic Initiatives and Programs, Research Services
Nasil Nam, Associate Director, Dal Innovates
Catherine Connors, Director, Research Ethics, Research Services
Spencer Giffin, Executive Director, Lab2Market, Dal Innovates
Stephen Hartlen, Assistant Vice-President, Industry Relations, Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement
David Spurrell, Manager, Grants & Contracts
12– 1 pm Box Lunch & Networking Activities 
1–3 pm

Teaching Policies at Dalhousie: Fostering Effective Student-Professor Relationships 

Tereigh Ewert, Senior Educational Developer (Anti-oppressive and Transformative Education)
Jen Davis, Manager, Student Accessibility Centre
Lyndsay Anderson, Advisor, Sexualized Violence
Dr. Glenn Andrea, Director, Student Health and Wellness
Patricia Laws, Assistant Dean, Student Affairs, Faculty of Science
Hazel Ling, Social Worker/Case Manager, Student Health and Wellness/Student Affairs
Janice MacDonald Eddington, Coordinator of Operations, Writing Advisor, Writing Centre
Judy MacDonald, Director and Professor, School of Social Work
Karen McCrank, Director, Student Success
David Pilon, Director of Counselling and Psychological Services, Student Health and Wellness
3:10–4:10 pm

Health and Mental Health 

Orla McDevitt, Director, Accessible Employment
David Pilon, Director of Counselling and Psychological Services, Student Health and Wellness

Thursday, August 22 (Online)

Brightspace Bootcamp

9–10 am

Brightspace Refresher

Do you need help finding your course space?  Maybe you need to add a TA.  Come to our Brightspace Refresher hour to get set up for your Fall courses.
10–11 am

Panopto & Teams

Do you want to start recording your lectures?  Are you in a Panopto enabled classroom?  If so, start recording lectures and add them to your course space.  Going to miss a class due to a conference, record it prior to and leave it for the students to watch while you’re away.

Learn how to create a Teams meeting in your course space for your students.
11 am–12 pm

Top Hat

Top Hat will be on hand to talk to Instructors about using the Student Response System.
1–2 pm

Proctorio

Proctoring assessments, online or in-person, safeguards exam and course integrity. This is essential to protecting the value of certification and degree programs. Proctorio offers our users the opportunity and flexibility to achieve their educational and career goals.
2–3 pm

Turnitin

From innovations in assessment to prevent plagiarism, everything we do at Turnitin is focused on empowering educators to help students do their best original work.
3–3:30 pm

New Features & Questions

Find out what’s coming up in Brightspace for new features. Ask questions about our products and tools.