The people in my class are making a time commitment, and putting themselves out of their comfort zone to acquire new skills, as a way to enhance their efficiency on the job...this is very admirable in my opinion.
“For me, teaching is a means of giving back, and sharing the skills I’ve acquired throughout my training and career” says Christine Misquitta, a research scientist and project manager. This attitude towards teaching inspired Christine to join SCS to teach our new Project Management for Research course.
“A few years ago I sat on a panel discussion about large-scale project grants. I was the only project manager in attendance, and shared the observation that many investigators lack the administrative resources to put together these large projects, and manage them effectively. The Office of the Vice President – Research and Innovation at U of T worked with SCS and Alison Paprica (also an SCS instructor) to develop a course that would meet these needs” she says. “Now, as an instructor, it’s refreshing to see the many scenarios in which learners from various research backgrounds can use the project management skills I teach. It’s eye opening.”
Based at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research at the University of Toronto, Christine uses her project management skills to coordinate large, interinstitutional projects funded by organizations such as the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), and Genome Canada.
She is excited to bring her project management experience to SCS. “It’s encouraging to see project management becoming more widely accepted and utilized in non-traditional industries, such as education and research” she says. “In the future, I would like to see project management skills become core competencies that all members of a team can possess. When project management is embraced and used by an entire team or organization, it’s bound to lead to increased efficiency”.
Christine enjoys working with adult learners who are seeking novel ways to bring better organization and management strategies to their work. “The people in my class are making a time commitment, and putting themselves out of their comfort zone to acquire new skills, as a way to enhance their efficiency on the job” she says. “This is very admirable in my opinion.”
Despite a demanding roster of responsibilities, including her additional role as Vice President of Administration and Communications for the Centre for the Commercialization of Antibodies and Biologics (CCAB), Christine still finds time to stay in fighting form.
Literally.
She, her husband, and two sons all hold black belts in Taekwon Do, and all four of them teach the martial art in their spare time. “I love encouraging others to challenge themselves and take the next step, or hooking kick, forward.”