We chatted with translation instructor Evandro Rodrigues about the challenges of learning a new language and where his love of teaching translation comes from. 

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What is your advice for someone learning a new language? 

My greatest advice for people who want to learn a new language is, first and foremost, to open their minds to a new territory. What I mean by a territory is a combination of the culture of which the language is part of and the values the language has in terms of different grammar rules, different vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, different sounds, different ways of expressing the language. So they can give themselves the opportunity to immerse in the language and learn the language more effectively.

What do you love most about teaching translation?

What I love most about teaching translation is that I have the opportunity to explore the differences and similarities of two languages and at the same time to help students to reflect on those differences and similarities by raising relevant questions and finding the right renderings for even the most complex segments of phrases, sentences and texts. With this opportunity that they have in the course they can express their own identities in their translation.

What makes someone commit to learning a language? 

People don’t really have to learn a language for work. They might have a passion about music, culture, arts in general and this might trigger their interest in language. I had this student who came to me one day and he wanted to learn the lyrics to bossa nova music and after a few lessons he decided to go to Brazil with his wife and when he came back he told me that learning a language is not only about the language but the culture that the language is involved with.

Evandro Rodriguez has been teaching ESL and Portuguese to people from all over the world for over 15 years. He teaches courses in the Translation into Portuguese certificate at the School of Continuing Studies. 

Instructor Michael Mladjenovic explains how Lean Six Sigma differs from project management, and the business challenges it can help address. 

Lean Six Sigma aims to improve business processes and reduce inefficiencies 

Project Management and Lean Six Sigma have some common elements. Both methods use a team and project approach in order to create value for their customers and organizations. Project Management is focused on how to get a project up and running while effectively and efficiently utilizing resources. On the other hand, Lean Six Sigma focuses on how to simplify and improve capabilities of business processes. It is based on the application of DMAIC framework and realized on a team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation. 

LSS can be applied to any industry 

Lean Six Sigma business improvement methodology has been applied to all industry sectors: healthcare, government, manufacturing, education, financial services, pharmaceutical and IT. We can say that Lean Six Sigma implementation can expand value creation, simplify processes, reduce non-value-added activities and waste, improve workflows, increase process efficiency and effectiveness, eliminate defects and rework, increase customer satisfaction, generate financial benefits, and increase employee engagement and satisfaction. 

LSS is a useful skill set for professionals at any stage of their careers  

Everything we do is a process and processes can be improved using Lean Six Sigma methodology. Over the 8 years I’ve been teaching Lean Six Sigma at UofT SCS I had the privilege of teaching hundreds of students. I had the pleasure to transfer Lean Six Sigma expertise to fresh graduates, new immigrants, people with high school, trade or university degree, aspiring managers, people in transition, people at president, senior VP, and director levels. After receiving a Lean Six Sigma training they were able to immediately implement the learned skills at their workplace. 

Dr. Michael Mladjenovic is a Master Black Belt, whose professional experience includes senior leadership positions in manufacturing, engineering, continuous improvement, and quality assurance. He teaches Advanced Lean Six Sigma Techniques, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Online. 

For Salima Mithani, coming to Canada from Pakistan was an opportunity to expand her educational horizons, help others, and immerse herself in a new and diverse culture. But before she could pursue these dreams, Salima needed to navigate the immigration process. 

As a nurse working in Pakistan, Salima was passionate about healing. “I was eager to transition from a clinical background and begin studying the preventative side of health,” says Salima.  “Working with underserved communities back home, I saw so much inequality, which inspired me to go beyond bedside care, and explore the preventative side of health. I wanted to know how we can prevent people, particularly women and children, from needing medical treatment in the first place.” She began exploring study options abroad, and decided Canada was the perfect place to continue her studies.

“My goal was to come to Canada, obtain my nursing license, and then apply for a Master of Public Health at Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto,” shares Salima. “But first, I needed to immigrate to Canada as a skilled nurse successfully, and that meant submitting an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to prove my credentials.” 

Time was not on Salima’s side: she needed to apply quickly to meet a strict deadline due to a cap on nursing applications. “I chose Comparative Education Service (CES) at SCS because I found the website easy to navigate, and the process seemed more straight-forward compared to other options,” says Salima, who was admittedly nervous about meeting her deadline. “My credential assessor knew my situation and constantly kept me in the loop about the status of my application. We were regularly in touch, and whenever I had a question, I always heard back within 24 hours, which was a huge relief. It was comforting to connect with my specific assessor, who cared about my file, and was working hard to ensure I would meet my application deadline.”

Not only did Salima submit her immigration application on time and move to Canada in 2016, she also obtained her nursing license, and was accepted into her program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. In June 2019, she graduated with a Master of Public Health, specializing in Health Promotion and Global Health, with a focus on maternal and child health. Today, she is living in Ottawa, working as a Clinical Research Coordinator for a Global Maternal and Child Health Project. Next, she plans to pursue online studies in Project Management at SCS, to grow her coordination abilities. 

“Coming to Canada and studying at the University of Toronto has been amazing,” smiles Salima. “So many doors have opened for me both personally and professionally. I feel proud to be part of such a diverse country that has so much to offer. Every day I keep learning new perspectives, and I’m excited to help promote health equity in Canada and abroad.”

CES offers a $200 voucher towards any course at SCS to all clients who take advantage of our Comparative Education Service.

"The army taught me teamwork, communication, and how to lead by example” reflects Larry Chan. “These skills shaped me into a soldier, the person that I am today, and the business professional that I’m aspiring to be.”

Larry started his military career as an infantry soldier in the reserves. After transferring from the infantry to become a medic in the army, he eventually joined the Special Forces. When his term of service came to an end, he decided to focus on spending more time with his family, and launching a new career. “I watched friends and colleagues struggle with their transition from the military to civilian life, and wanted to arm myself with the tools to succeed. That’s why I came to SCS.”

Larry decided to pursue his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation, taking CPA preparatory courses at SCS. “The program was very flexible and gave me the opportunity to learn quickly and efficiently. It connected me with expert instructors like Bartosz Amerski, who acted as a mentor to me and helped shape my career” says Larry, who won a 2018 Marilyn Booth Award of Excellence from SCS. 

Today, Larry is an Auditor in the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, and aims to complete his CPA in 2021. “I want to actively contribute to society by having a fulfilling career and continuing to serve” he says. In the  future, Larry aims to earn an MBA  and continue growing as the industry evolves. “The development and implementation of artificial intelligence and automation will change the future of accounting” he says. “People will need to bring deeper meaning to the numbers, and do what machines cannot do, in order to remain relevant.”

 “The  development and implementation of artificial intelligence and automation will change the future of accounting."

The skills and values Larry gained in the military are still in full force. He is now involved with Treble Victor, or 3V, an organization that connects past and currently serving soldiers to help ease the transition from a life of service to civilian life. “It’s important to turn around and lend a hand to the person behind you, to help them over that wall” he says. “Everyone hangs up their uniform eventually. We need to be reminded not to dwell on the end of one journey, but to focus on the exciting challenges ahead.”   

Ready to transform your career? Find programs and courses that align with your interests here. 

When the 2019 Governor General’s Literary Awards were announced at the end of October, two of the seven names were particularly familiar to the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (SCS) creative writing community.  

Former student Amanda Parris won the drama category for her play, Other Side of the Game, while current instructor Don Gillmor took top spot in the non-fiction category for his book To the River: Losing My Brother.

Awarded by the Canadian Council for the Arts, the Governor General’s Literary Awards celebrate the best in Canadian literature. Parris says that receiving the Governor General’s Award is an incredible honour as well as an affirmation that extends beyond her own craft to the subject matter of the play. “Other Side of the Game puts a spotlight on voices, stories, histories and cultures that are rarely seen on Canadian stages. It is humbling and exciting for it to receive this platform.”

Inspiration to write the play, which focusses on Black women who support incarcerated loved ones, came to Parris in pieces, starting with a visit to a friend who was incarcerated in the Don Jail. “While sitting in the visitors’ waiting room, I looked around and realized that it was filled with mostly women. I immediately became curious about their stories, wondering who they were there to see and how they were feeling in this moment.” She explains. 

Parris began informally interviewing women that she knew had supported a loved one who was incarcerated before poet and writer Keisha-Monique Simpson helped her see how much bigger the story could be. “She had a recurring dream that the two of us worked on a play about the experiences of Black women in activist communities of the past. In a moment of inspiration (which came while I was washing the dishes - as many great ideas do), I realized that we could bridge these two seemingly disparate stories… Although she went on to work on other things and I forged on alone with the play, I am forever grateful to her for sharing those recurring dreams with me.”

Writing Other Side of the Game was part of the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition for Parris, who says the first dream she ever had for herself was being a writer. Seeing her debut play brought to life on stage took that dream to another level. “It was incredible and torturous and magical and nerve-wracking all at once. I was blessed with one of the best directors working in theatre today - Nigel Shawn Williams…Nigel assembled an all-star cast and crew that together manifested a production that far exceeded what I had imagined and crafted on the page. I couldn’t have asked for a better and more talented and dedicated team of people.”

In addition to playwriting, Parris is a CBC television host and writes a weekly column for CBC Arts. She has also written a screenplay. While her processes for each of these forms of writing are distinct, she says one critical element that remains consistent across all writing styles is silencing her inner critic while writing her first draft and giving herself permission to write without judgement. 

SCS course offered a supportive sounding board 

In turning her sights from stage to screen, Parris attended the SCS Screenwriting: Introduction course. She says that the course offered value beyond providing her with a useful understanding of story structure and a formula for writing which she applied to writing her first short film. “It also gave me a class of peers who provided incredibly valuable feedback, asked great questions and also encouraged me to keep going when I was ready to throw my entire idea in the trash.”

A writing community is something Parris recommends any new playwright or screenwriter endeavor to find. “Writing is often a solitary craft but theatre requires a community. Find a circle of support that will give you honest and critical feedback on your work. Trust me, it will elevate your ideas and your practice.”

A good writing class can transform learners

Don Gillmor has seen this play out in the creative writing classes he teaches at SCS, with members of the class bolstering each other’s confidence and pushing each other to improve their work. “I think sometimes there’s a sort of alchemy in a class, especially with creative nonfiction, because people are often writing about very personal things and you don’t know any of the people in the class and you’re a little reluctant to put things forward,” he explains. “You sometimes see people really come to life in that environment…in a good class you see people kind of transformed in a fairly short period of time.”

As for his own writing, Gillmor is elated to have received the Governor General’s Literary Award for his most recent book, which delves into the life and death by suicide of his late brother. “I think it’s a thrill to win for any book but I think when it’s a book that’s so personal there’s something extra as well. So that was very gratifying.”

Putting such deeply personal and painful history to paper was a therapeutic exercise for Gillmor. “I’m one of those people who sort of works things out by writing about them and I find out more things writing than I do jus thinking or talking to somebody,” he says. “I had written a magazine piece about it and I thought that maybe I had kind of gotten it out of my system but it kept nagging at me. I thought if I sit down and do a book then that will maybe solve the problem and I think to some degree it did. I think I’ve laid it to rest as much as you can with something like this.”

The challenges of wading through sometimes difficult memories and determining how sharing these memories could affect his loved ones was balanced by the insights he gained into his musician brother’s life in the Yukon. “I talked to so many people when I was there and I was going to the places where he would have played.” He says. “I got a much better sense of his world, because we were separated by 3500 kilometers and so I didn’t really know that much about it, but that I think was one of the most powerful things I got out of it.”

Gillmor, who teaches Creative Non-fiction classes at SCS, advises any writer grappling with personal subject matter not to leave anything out, at least for their first draft. “I always counsel people to be as brave and bold as possible and to reveal more than they would like to, because if you’re too careful then the story won’t have the resonance that it might,” he expands. 

Teaching at SCS has helped Gillmor further hone his own considerable writing skills. “You don’t actually know what you know about writing until you have to tell other people about it and so you have to just sit down and articulate to yourself how you solve certain problems and how you approach things and a lot of that I realized was purely instinctive,” he says. “I had never actually sat and thought this is how you structure a book or this is how you conduct research. So by sitting down and thinking about it and putting together these lectures, it forced me to think more analytically and in a more technical way and I think it’s been very helpful actually.”

As for advice he would offer someone just getting started in writing non-fiction, Gillmor says that aside from trying to develop a practice of writing every day, he recommends being as honest as possible and not being afraid to tell your story. “Be ruthless with yourself - and sometimes you have to be ruthless with other people - but to put it all down as honestly as you can and then take a look at it. Maybe there are things you have to pull out but at least to know everything and be able to see it on the page, I think you have to be able to do that,” he says.  

“Sometimes you have students who think that their own story is too prosaic or mundane and they wonder who would want to read about it but there are dozens of examples of stories that are just about someone growing up somewhere and they’ve just rendered it so beautifully and hauntingly that that story becomes really meaningful to potentially a very large audience. So don’t deny your own experience.”

Agile Made My Team a Learning Tribe

Organizations today are confronted with rapidly changing technology, new competitors, and a diversified workforce. In order to succeed, they have to do things differently, find new ways to build performing teams, and get work done well. Becoming a learning culture is part of the story organizations are starting to write for themselves.

Building a learning culture 

When I led a team of developers and project management practitioners, my focus was on them. I knew that if we built a high performing team, we would be very successful in what we were doing. One way of keeping the team motivated and engaged was through lots of practical training that was customized for their needs. When we started working in Agile development- a different way of working that complements project management and helps projects deliver value to the customer- training was mandatory. Having the team trained as early as possible in our transition to Agile meant that they all learned the same concepts and methods, and decided together which ones to adopt first. 

They learned how to work as a team and, most importantly, how to rely on each other, take action, and make and own decisions for their tasks. The fact that they knew they had options and budget for training was very important to them, and I always encouraged them to sign up for any development opportunity. It brought the best out of them, and created a learning culture that fostered innovative and productive ideas. 

The right training for your organization

Project teams have become small learning organizations, and the ability to create teams who learn is the goal for every business leader. Agile training focuses on values, principles, and practices, therefore bringing learning to a more applicable level. You need to find the type of training that brings the most return on investment for your team, without feeling you need to make any sacrifices. As your organization gets more competitive, and the focus to create growth occupies most of our times as leaders, we forget we need to allow time for training. Putting training time in everyone’s calendar is part of the commitment to learning.

Top trends agile has created

Technology is a powerful driving force in our society and culture. The complexity of new technology models created a need for better and leaner delivery approaches, so Agile was born. Agile practices have created some trends in the working space that cannot be ignored:  

Safe space 
Genuine Agile teams operate in safe environments where new ideas are welcome, people are highly engaged, experimentation is mandatory, and failure is not sanctioned. The safe space encourages transparency and collaboration at all levels of the organization, making people more aware of their strengths and weaknesses. 

Tribe 
People work better and achieve more together, rather than at the individual level. Group training is always more powerful than one-on-one training because of interactions, shared vision, and positive competition. Learning and working as a tribe can strongly influence the culture of your organization to prepare it for rapid changes and disruption. 

Coaching 
Coaching provides an external perspective on your organization and makes you more prepared to learn, and receive guidance and advice. Organizations tend to stop learning when they get stuck in typicality and status quo. The coach can provide active awareness of a team to keep the focus on behaviours and practices that help achieve collective greatness.

The future of Agile

Agile implementations are driven by two forces: inspection and adaptation. That means the team will adapt their practices based on the learnings they accumulate while performing work. Agile is building an environment for learning and continuous improvement, and rarely does training needs to be enforced. The team decides on when and how they need training, and sometimes they are willing to pay for it because they want to learn more. 
My perspective on the future of Agile is around the team. Agile teams will continue to grow and mature much faster than traditional teams. We will see more agile teams wanting to work in environments that are transparent and open, that are focused on results and making value for customers, and less focused on waste and politics. Mature teams grow into self-organizing, predictable mini-companies, with the right blend of leadership skills, focus, and autonomy. These powerful teams will help organizations succeed in executing their strategies. Spotify is the best example, where these teams exist in the form of Squads, Tribes, Chapters, or Guilds. 

Build a learning organization

Peter Senge, founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL) and MIT Sloan senior lecturer, argues that learning organizations require changes in leadership practices. The traditional leader who used to set direction, make key decisions, and energize the troops, is now seen as operating from an individualistic perspective. This leadership model is based on assumptions that people lack personal vision, are unable to master change, and have no power to make things happen; deficits that can only be remedied by great leaders. 
In learning organizations, leaders are designers, coaches, and teachers. They are responsible for building organizations where people continuously expand their capabilities and understand complexity. Building a learning culture will foster a mentality of mastery, productivity, and creativity. That is “generative learning”: learning enhanced by the people’s own desire to store the information and apply the knowledge to different situations. The fact that people become owners of their actions toward learning, and sharing that learning with the rest of the organization, is a recipe for success. 
Learning gets to the heart of what we are as humans. We become able to re-invent ourselves and therefore re-invent the organizations we work for.

Joanna Tivig facilitates Project Management and Agile Project Management in our Corporate Training Program. She is a Senior Leader with more than 10 years of experience delivering major projects, mostly in the Financial Services industry. Currently, Joanna is AVP, Digital Channels, at Investors Group, and previously held numerous senior leadership roles at Scotiabank, most recently Director of Development - B2E Mobile Solutions. She has strong change management skills, influencing organisations to implement new technologies that lead to high efficiency and productivity. Joanna also acquired international business experience across different countries and industries in Europe, Latin America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

With people around the world feeling the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress levels are at an all-time high for many.  

Staying calm and maintaining focus during a time of crisis is especially difficult. Luckily, practicing mindfulness can help reduce stress, increase focus and cognition and combat burnout. 

Recent studies have found that mindfulness meditation can increase happiness, decrease anxiety, and even change people’s perception of time. In the workplace, mindfulness can also help team members to manage frustrations and communicate more compassionately, a skill that is more vital than ever with so many people dealing with employment instability or the challenges of suddenly working from home.  

Moustafa Abdelrahman, who instructs courses in the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (SCS) Certificate in Foundations of Applied Mindfulness Meditation, says part of the appeal of mindfulness is that anyone can incorporate mindfulness into their life or work.

“I’m passionate about bringing mindfulness to our community, including the corporate world” says Moustafa. “Mindfulness is so accessible. You don’t have to be rich, young, or experienced. It’s at the very core of us. Being aware, attentive, and compassionate is who we are as human beings.”  

Moustafa’s vision for the future of mindfulness is crystal clear. “My dream is that anyone who feels different or marginalized, anywhere in the world, can have access to positive and peaceful ways of being through mindfulness” he says. “I hope to offer safe spaces for people to experience and explore their true identities, and provide healing opportunities that I didn’t have when I was young.”

Moustafa, who in addition to teaching is also a proud graduate of the mindfulness program at SCS, says he is excited to see it flourish. “I would love to see it become a world-wide phenomenon, it has the potential” he says. “People from all walks of life, from all over the world, should flock to this program. Everyone is welcome.”

In addition to teaching at SCS, Moustafa, who holds an MBA and has a successful career at Johnson & Johnson, facilitates mindfulness workshops for a variety of large organizations (past clients include General Electric, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto Public Health, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre). He also provides one-on-one counselling, and leads the Mindfulness Meditation program at the 519, a City of Toronto Agency supporting the LGBTQ2S community.

 “This certificate has shaped the way I approach and teach mindfulness,” he says. “The courses integrate Eastern meditative techniques, scientific evidence, and practical applications of mindfulness. Together, they create a different way of seeing and being.”

Curious about what mindfulness can do for you? Explore our mindfulness courses here.

Industry insider and SCS instructor Joanna Tivig shares her expert perspective on the art of project management:

I started my career as a project manager, working in a newly formed Project Management Office (PMO) for one of the largest banks in the GTA. The PMO rapidly became a center of excellence, where the most critical and high-risk projects were assigned to the best project managers in the organization. We were the ‘A’ team, and training was a key ingredient. Through professional training, we were learning the right knowledge to apply in a constantly challenging environment. It allowed us to make the adjustments necessary to achieve success. 

Soon, we extended the training to the project teams as well as the leadership teams. We acknowledged the importance of aligning all levels of the organization to the principles of project management. That ensured everyone spoke the same language, targeted the same outcomes, and appreciated the effort that goes into managing projects. 

As I advanced in my career and became a leader of a digital development team, my team was my priority. I wanted to give them the support and the tools necessary to be successful. Project management training was a big part of this strategy, and it inspired a desire for continuous learning and improvement. I only had to give my team the opportunity to take the courses, and they brought the rest: motivation, flexibility, and the transparency of a learning team. Clearly, I am big advocate of project management training!

Project management is an art; it is the art of managing projects successfully for the benefit of the customer. It is about doing things right. It is not coincidental that each project is unique, and therefore it needs to be managed in a unique way. It takes a lot of talent, passion, and skill to manage projects successfully. Everything is done with a purpose: to deliver an outcome that in the end has the right ingredients for the customer. Project Management Alliance conducted a survey in 2017 that shows project management training boosts the success of projects by 26%, while 67% of project managers believe that training improves project performance. This indicates that having the right training for your organization is the key to successful project implementations. 

In today’s changing market, companies are facing a serious challenge: getting qualified people. Finding the right people to deliver the right things for your company is not an easy task. As an employer recruiting new talent, you demand prior experience, knowledge, attitude, availability, and differentiation. For that, you need to find a way to prioritize the ‘must-haves,’ and build the other skills another way. That’s what project management training is for. Good quality training is designed to teach a combination of hard and soft skills, to help people build the knowledge they need and apply it in real-life scenarios.

As a mandatory skill, project management needs to be continuously developed. New concepts are frequently introduced to facilitate the way we work as project managers while helping our project teams deliver better results. Whether it is Waterfall, Lean, or Agile, the way we are managing projects is constantly changing. We are asking for more flexibility, faster decision making, more continuous improvement through incremental experimentation, and better attention to the needs of the customer. All these new requirements are demanding different ways of working, new methods, and innovative processes.

During my last 10 years as an instructor at SCS, I’ve had the pleasure to watch learners transform themselves into better professionals by taking project management courses. Even after the course is complete, they still rave about how SCS helped them become successful in their careers, while applying the concepts they learned in real situations. This made me realize how impactful our job as instructors is, and how quality training can impact the professional lives of people in search of new knowledge.

Passing the CFA program instructor Michael Hlinka reflects on what it takes to succeed in his class, and why the Chartered Financial Analyst designation is so in demand. 

Success in Passing the CFA is a matter of time and commitment

To drive success in the CFA Exam preparation program, the most important thing that any learner can do is put in the requisite time. My estimate is that most students require between fifteen to twenty hours a week each and every week up until the examination day. Now I focus the students’ efforts. On a weekly basis I provide a very detailed study schedule that is telling each student what they should be doing and where they should be at each point along the way. So there’s definitely guidance, but guidance without time just doesn’t do it. You simply have to put in the time. You have got to make the commitment. And if you do, there’s a very high chance for success.

Open channels of communication with instructors help learners master material quickly

I believe that my accessibility contributes a great deal to student success. I make a real commitment, during working hours, to get back to student questions, whether by email or telephone, within hours if not minutes. What this allows a student to do is to get the questions that they need answered immediately so that they can move on and start mastering the difficult material.

Hundreds of short video modules support learning process

The course methodology goes something like this: I don’t want students to read the notes before they come to class. Rather, I want them to listen to an audio pre-lesson, which is about one hour in length. Then, if they are attending class, they’ll attend class. If they’re using the online option, they will review the notes.

What I’ve done in support of the most difficult concepts is prepared literally hundreds of short video modules that students can use to review the difficult content themselves. Then there’s always the opportunity to reach out for extra help if it’s needed.

Challenging content part of what makes the CFA a coveted designation

The CFA is a coveted designation because in a world where educational institutions are selling diplomas and selling degrees, the CFA is a pure merit-based system. The pass rates for each level are generally under 50%, which means that if you get through the CFA, you have demonstrated that you are an elite person, you are an elite candidate and that’s why CFA charter-holders are so much in demand in the marketplace.

Michael Hlinka received his MBA from the University of Toronto in 1986, became a CFA Charterholder in 2004 and is a tenured professor at George Brown. Michael specializes in industry licensing courses such as Canadian Securities, Derivatives Fundamentals and Portfolio Management. In addition to his teaching duties, Michael is a regular commentator on CBC Radio's Metro Morning is a nationally syndicated radio columnist, and writes a regular weekly column for Outreach Magazine, marketed by Toronto's homeless and unemployed.

Now more than ever, the issue of privacy is a major concern for any enterprise, and with online data breaches frequently making headlines, the subject is particularly important for those operating in the digital world today.

“I used to say that Privacy was Cinderella while infosec and risk management were the famous stepsisters. Not anymore!” says U of T School of Continuing Studies (SCS) instructor Amalia Barthel. 

“The amount of personal data breaches everywhere, impacting people's credit scores and their digital identification, plus a number of regulators passing strict requirements for mandatory data breach notifications brought privacy to the forefront.”   

It is essential for online businesses to get ahead of potentially devastating privacy issues. That’s where Barthel and fellow instructor Constantine Karnaliotis come in. The pair teach Developing a Privacy Management Program in the Digital Enterprise, the third course in the SCS certificate in Privacy Management in the Digital Enterprise. Barthel finds that learners working to earn their certificate are eager to take a practical approach to privacy, one that can be applied wherever they are in the world. 

“We keep it real, our students have their feet on the ground all the time, they are solving business problems while weaving in Privacy by Design and concepts related to data subject rights.”

This approach helps prepare learners to become internal ambassadors for privacy management, giving them a 360 degree view of personal data and information processing in a business context. The courses are designed so that learners from any industry and anyone new to the realm of personal data protection can benefit and be successfully “promoted” on to their next course to look at privacy issues from a new vantage point. 

“Anyone can be successful in our courses,” says Barthel. “They learn a lot, there is a lot of reading and self study rewarded with very challenging assignments and in the end .....they get promoted! So they can now make decisions with the knowledge they accumulated previously!”

Amalia is an Independent Privacy and GRC Advisor working with clients to support them in understanding IT, information security and privacy risks. She has started her career in IT prior to Y2K and evolved it into the realm of information security, privacy, audit, risk management, compliance and governance. Her industry expertise spans from pharma, financial, insurance and telecom industry  through to various levels of government.  Amalia has developed and delivered enterprise learning programs for project management, privacy and security for adult learners and is a frequent speaker at various conferences and symposiums. Prior to becoming an Independent Advisor, Amalia worked within IT and Compliance departments managing IT change control in the context of mergers, transformations, strategic risk management and compliance issues, conducting IT controls and privacy audits and providing management with dashboard reporting on compliance. Amalia is active on various boards, such as PMI Southern Ontario Chapter (past Director of the Board) , the IAPP Canadian Advisory Board, Executive Director for the KnowledgeFlow Foundation and she is a collaborator of ISACA and the ISACA Toronto Chapter. Part of Amalia's mandate on these boards is to create and deliver educational programs for the community to support an ongoing understanding and awareness of cyber and privacy risks, in particular for youth and seniors.

Back in 1995, Jack Welch famously turned General Electric around using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology. For a long time, GE’s transformation was the go-to example of why companies should adopt LSS. Guess what? The skills associated with LSS continue to be in demand in the Canadian workforce because organizations are still eager to find people with the skills to develop better and more cost-effective ways to deliver quality goods and services. 

Have you wondered if a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) certificate might be for you? To help you decide, here are our top three reasons why you should consider getting certified in LSS:

1. Help your organization reduce risk, and eliminate errors and defects 
Use the “Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC)” methodology and tools to improve product and service quality while at the same time, create value for stakeholders. 

2. Improve business processes and sustain quality improvement 
Building your capability in LSS can empower you to bring meaningful change to your organization through topics such as understanding quality and its relationship to business strategy, and statistical concepts associated with quality.

3. Learn skills that are transferable and valuable in many different industries
Understand the change management and leadership skills needed to achieve excellence.

If you are ready to position yourself for professional success, the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies has two new, intensive, 12-week online certificates in LSS: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. 

We invite you to see the future u and become what you believe.

The chemistry of consciousness

“I have devoted my professional life to analytical chemistry, to evidences, facts, and data quality. But I’ve always known there is more than the physical world” says Herman Lam, who recently completed our Certificate in Foundations of Applied Mindfulness Meditation, offered in partnership with the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.

After working in pharmaceutical development for over 20 years, Herman is now semi-retired, working as a consultant a few days a week. Having more free time inspired him to finally act upon his lingering interest in mindfulness meditation and Eastern philosophies. 

“I wanted to learn more about the life we live, about consciousness, and the history of Buddhist and Taoist philosophies. As I have aged, I have become more and more aware of the fact that our whole human existence is so short in comparison to that of the universe and nature; we have so much to learn” he says. “My whole career was based on precision and accuracy of measurements. Now it’s time to view the world through a different lens.” 

Applied Mindfulness Meditation courses at SCS provided just the lens Herman was seeking. He enjoyed connecting with his instructors and other learners, who came from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. “Hearing my instructors’ unique insights, and discussing how my classmates incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives was really eye opening. The environment at SCS was just so friendly” says Herman. This learning experience not only enhanced his inner peace, but improved his consulting work. “Mindfulness has helped me prioritize” he says. “When you are dealing with a complex problem, you can get lost and struggle to focus. With mindfulness, I bring clarity to my scientific work. I can attempt non-judgmental ways of looking at things, which leads to solutions and new discoveries.” 

When Herman reflects on the integration of science and mindfulness, he sees a future full of potential. “One of the workshops I attended focused on neuroscience and mindfulness, providing a solid scientific basis for the practice of mindfulness. In the future, science will continue to illustrate the power of meditation and awareness” says Herman. Next, he plans to take our Applied Specialization in Mindfulness Meditation Certificate to further grow his abilities. “Science and mindfulness, it’s the yin and the yang” he smiles. “They are interconnected, and I can’t wait to learn more.”