June 9th is World Accreditation Day. Established in 2010, the day aims to highlight the value of credential assessment and accreditation for individuals and for the global community.

Credential assessment in Canada is the process of evaluating foreign educational and professional credentials to determine their equivalency to Canadian standards.

For communities, accreditation means they can benefit from the skills newcomers to Canada developed in their former countries. For newcomers, accreditation can help them get one step closer to their career and learning goals in Canada.

This year’s theme, Accreditation: Supporting the Future of Global Trade, also focuses on how accreditation supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Wondering how accreditation could help you reach your goals? Here are five reasons to have your educational credentials assessed in Canada:

1.    Job opportunities: Many employers in Canada require a credential assessment to ensure that their employees have the necessary qualifications and skills for the job.

2.    Educational opportunities: Credential assessment can help you gain admission to Canadian universities and colleges.

3.    Immigration: Credential assessment is often required for immigration to Canada, particularly for Express Entry programs.

4.    Social integration: Having your credentials assessed can help you integrate into Canadian society and identify new opportunities for personal and professional growth.

5.    Professional Licensing: Credential assessment can help you to gain a professional license to work in a regulated profession, such as nursing is some provinces, in Canada.

If you’re looking for financial assistance to have your credentials assessed, Windmill Microlending can help. Windmill Microlending is Canada’s only national charity offering affordable loans to skilled immigrants and refugees. Their microloans help clients pay for the costs of accreditation, training and career development.

And, when you’re ready to have your credentials assessed, the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Comparative Education Service is here to help you reach your educational and career goals in Canada.

The Comparative Education Service (CES) was established in 1967 and is Canada’s only university-based academic credential assessment agency. We are trusted by employers and professional agencies throughout Canada, and our assessment reports are recognized throughout Canada and beyond. CES also supports clients’ continuous learning with a special offer — a one-time $200 tuition discount — that can be applied towards one of hundreds of courses and certificate programs available at the School of Continuing Studies.  
 

Mindfulness, and how it can help you succeed in the workplace, was the most recent topic covered by the latest installment of the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies free Knowledge Hub webinars.

Mindfulness expert and SCS instructor Michael Apollo joined us to discuss current workplace trends, demonstrate a mindfulness pause practice, and demystify mindfulness for those new to the concept.  

To begin, Apollo dug into some of the reasons why an interest in mindfulness has been growing, particularly in the past few years, using the acronym VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). “These are some of the most stressful things that a human being can endure in the moment,” Apollo explains. “This acronym was created around 15 years ago to articulate the type of experience that an individual goes through in the midst of the fog of war. It has become more and more prominent over the years.”

Apollo asked webinar participants to consider whether most people have had more or less of a VUCA reality over the past five years. “Our landscapes are becoming more turbulent than organizations are becoming resilient to this type of change,” he says. 

“This has a definite effect on us. We know there is change happening around the world. You look at political strife, and there are economic realities coming up, it seems with greater rapidity. These changes are affecting us at work, the decisions we make, they’re affecting our stress levels, and affecting the amount of work that we have to do.”

To his point, statistics have shown that about ¾ of people across North America have reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the last year. “About 80-90% of staff and workers have found that the past few years have been the most challenging and stressful in their lives,” Apollo says. “For some people, especially those who are knowledge workers, and perhaps in greater positions of privilege, they maybe had a better experience during this time, but for the vast majority of us, it has been a very challenging time. “ 

At the same time, Apollo adds, there has also been a large migration to people working online or in hybrid work environments. For many of those working online, this has led to an increase in the number of hours on average that they are working. 

“I’ve worked with thousands of people since the beginning of the pandemic in different organizations delivering mindfulness programming and something I’ve always found fascinating is, we’ll be working through this training over a period of time and I continually hear about how people feel like they’re not doing enough and feeling bad about the fact that they’re not doing enough when in reality they’re actually doing more,” he says. “And so, this work-life balance as well has shifted and changed and it’s more like work-life blending.”

So how can we manage a work life that is blended into our home life? 

Apollo says that to deal well, be well, and work well in the current reality of demanding workplaces where the line between work life and home life might be increasingly blurred, we need to develop our skills in empathy, conflict management, influence, and self awareness. 

“Research shows that when we’re faced with stress, these are the first skills that start to degrade,” he explains. “So, what do we do? How can we support ourselves during this time?”

Apollo goes on to reference a study that found that the best predictors of leaders being able to successfully navigate times of crisis or change was not a predefined response plan but behaviours and mindsets that would prevent them from overreacting to yesterday’s developments and help them look ahead. 

“We need to be adaptable. We need to be able to respond in the moment. And there are some key aspects to this: being able to be resilient, flexible, and to have bounded optimism. So, look to the future with a sense of hope, skillfully, so not being blinded by positivity. And also having the ability to not get caught up into the ways we’ve been doing things in the past. So how do you develop this ability?

Apollo says this is where mindfulness comes into play. “Mindfulness is one of the most studied behaviour-change training methods. That has evidence-based outcomes, which means the research is showing it’s as effective as coaching, cognitive behavioural therapy, the gold standards that are out there, in cultivating a whole host of benefits within people. 

Apollo lists improved resilience, communication, decision making, productivity, negotiation, engagement and decreased sick days and healthcare costs among the evidence-based outcomes of mindfulness. 

He goes on to walk participants through an exercise he calls a “mindful pause”, a brief mindfulness exercise, and explains how taking a pause like this during your workday can help to reset, restore and sustain your focus, to cope with stress, and to be more present during tasks and conversations. 

“Another great thing is you can always do it as a pause before stepping into work mode and as a pause before shifting out of your work mode.” 

Watch the full recording to try out the mindful pause exercise yourself and to learn more about mindfulness and how you can apply it in your workplace by visiting the free SCS Knowledge Hub. 

The University of Toronto Summer Writing School is hosted by the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) every year at the Mississauga and St. George campuses. 

The popular five-day intensive writing workshops give emerging writers the opportunity to connect with a writing community and learn from some of Canada’s most successful writers. Workshops include daily roundtable and panel discussions on an array of genres, as well as instructor and student readings.

This year the U of T Summer Writing School also features a special panel discussion and Q &A designed to give participants helpful insight and advice about getting their work published:

The Long and Winding Road to Publication panel aims to demystify the road to publication by sharing the experiences of recent SCS Creative Writing learners Tsering Yangzom Lama, Saeed Teebi, and Anuja Varghese, and editor Shirarose Wilensky. Learn how to find a publisher, what it’s like to work with an editor and more. The panel will be followed by a Q and A session.

• Tsering Yangzom Lama’s novel We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies was published by M&S and shortlisted for the 2022 Giller Prize. It was also longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize.

• Saeed Teebi’s story collection My First Palestinian was published by House of Anansi Press and shortlisted for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize.

• Anuja Varghese’s story collection Chrysalis was launched this spring by House of Anansi Press.

• Shirarose Wilensky is an editor at House of Anansi Press. 

To learn more about the program or to register for the workshops, please visit the U of T Summer Writing School page. 

The latest free Knowledge Hub webinar featured public speaking expert and SCS instructor Adam Lazarus, who shared valuable insight into how anyone can begin to improve their presentation and communication skills. 

Lazarus kicked off the webinar by asking participants to picture someone who they think of as an excellent communicator and then share or make a note for themselves about what makes that person great at communication.

“It’s very important to articulate for yourself what you think is great so that you have a measure for yourself of what you want to emulate,” he explained. 

“I’m going to take a guess and say somebody picked Obama. And I’m going to also say, I’m sorry, you cannot be the next Obama. You can only be the next you. I’m not interested in who you choose, but why you choose who you choose. So you can take those qualities and figure out how you present them.”

Lazarus then asked participants what stands in the way of excellent communication and questioned how many people feel nervous speaking publicly, whether in one-on-one interviews or speaking in front of a boardroom full of people. 

“It’s considered the number one fear amongst human beings, even above death, according to The Book of Lists,” he said.

“Now I hope it’s not your case that you feel like you’d rather be dead than communicating,” he added.  “And I don’t say that to diminish the experience of feeling really bad and uncomfortable, anxious, sweaty and tired – all the things that happen…but the good news is that public speaking and communication is a skill that can be learned.”

Lazarus went on to share his approach to effective public speaking and communications, which includes, five main aspects: 

1. Pleasure: “You need to enjoy doing what you’re doing, and if you don’t it reads. Something in you needs to stand behind what you say or the audience will turn off,” Lazarus explains. “Often what happens because we’re nervous, is we diminish our own enthusiasm towards what we say. We can’t begin there.”
2. Complicité (or connection): Lazarus says that despite advice some people may have received to look above the audience instead of directly at them to alleviate nerves, it’s actually important to do the opposite. “We need to look at the audience and read what’s happening back.” When you’re paying attention to your audience and their feedback, you can adjust to keep them engaged.
3. Authenticity: You are who you are and you cannot be anyone but who you are. You are dynamic in front of somebody in your life, whether it’s your partner, your dog, or your friends, where you light up and sound like you care. And what we want to do is pull that person up in front of the room, appropriately.”
4. Mistakes or failure. “I promise you, you are going to make mistakes,” Lazarus said. But he explains the important thing is not to get hung up on mistakes or convince yourself the audience has been greatly upset by a fumble you might make during a presentation.
5. "Today I was good, tomorrow I hope to go on. Today I was bad, tomorrow I hope to go on.” Inspired by a saying from a teacher Lazarus studied under, the quote refers to the idea of communication improvement being a lifelong process. Lazarus says we don’t need to limit working on these skills to when we have a formal presentation or communication to prepare. We can take everyday communication as an opportunity to practice and improve our skills. He says: “We’re always working at communicating, getting our message across, being impactful, and dynamic.”

See the full webinar recording, including a follow-up question and answer session, below.

Visit our Workplace Communications page for more information about our courses related to communications and presentations.

1. While the United Nations adopted International Women’s Day in 1975, the day was first recognized over 100 years ago.

According to the UN, The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States in 1909. It was held to commemorate the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against poor working conditions following the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 123 women and girls, and 23 men who were employed there.

As part of the peace movement during World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day in 1913. On March 8th of the following year, women across Europe held rallies to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.

Today, March 8 is a global celebration of social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It is also a day for activism to continue to organize and work towards women’s equality.

2. International Women’s Day is recognized around the world in different ways. 

For some, it is a day of protest and organizing for change, while others use the day to focus on women’s achievements or celebrate the women in their lives. It is is an official holiday in several countries worldwide, including Afghanistan,] Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Germany (Berlin only), Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Zambia. 
In other countries, including Canada, it is not an official public holiday, but is widely observed.

3. International Women’s Day colours are purple, green, and white. 

According to InternationalWomensDay.com, purple signifies justice, dignity, and loyalty to the cause. Green represents optimism, while white symbolizes purity (a more controversial concept now than when the colours were assigned by the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1908).
 

It seems Daniel Fadelle was meant to work in the world of online business and ecommerce. 

The Merchant Success Manager at Shopify Plus says he loves being at the forefront of the latest technology and trends; connecting with the entrepreneurs and business owners behind the brands whose accounts he manages; and solving complex business problems where he can meet merchants at the intersection of business and technology. 

So when he came across the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) Ecommerce and Online Business Management certificate, he knew the courses would be right up his alley. 

“The course material was relevant to the work that I was already doing and the fact this it was remote was great. I started in September of 2020 during pandemic lockdowns,” he says. 

“It seemed like a good time to upskill.” 

Right from the first course in the certificate, Ecommerce/Online Business Fundamentals, Fadelle found the material was indeed relevant to his work. 

“Every day I get to apply what I learned,” he explains. 

“It started with an understanding of the fundamentals, and moved on to identifying pain points using Analytics, data, understanding what businesses may be focused on outside of the Shopify platform, and using KPIs to tell a story to form strategies that can be impactful in a positive way. Case studies from the program really prepared me for this.”

Fadelle says his that in addition to sharing their own expertise, all his SCS instructors were excellent at creating a learning environment where he and his classmates also had opportunities to learn from each other. 

“All the instructors made room during lectures for us to participate,” he says. “It was a space where there were professionals from different industries, so hearing the varied perspectives was valuable, especially around open discussion on case studies.”

The biggest challenge Fadelle faced in completing the courses was simply carving out the time to get readings done in between the classes, but he said the online format of the courses really worked for him. “If you were on the road, at dinner, in a study, felt sick, you could show up however was comfortable for you. Speak up, or not, whichever,” he explains. “So whatever your style of learning, you had a chance to participate.”

Fadelle says he thinks the courses in the Ecommerce and Online Business Management certificate would be helpful for anyone who has some basic knowledge of ecommerce and digital marketing, or for anyone who has worked in the field in some capacity but wants a more well-rounded education, to build their confidence, and to formalize what they’re learning on the job. 

He advises anyone taking these, or any other SCS courses to approach their learning with a clear objective in mind. “I don't think achieving any certificate or degree automatically gets you a job,” he says. 

“But it certainly equips you to better understand the requirements of what employers are looking for, or what you may need to consider when starting or operating your own business.”

SCS recently launched a new season of free Knowledge Hub webinars. Presented in partnership with the school’s new Blueprint Career Services, the first webinar delved into some of the keys to identifying your strengths and designing the career you want in 2023.

Panelists Career Development Officer Yoyo Eto and Career Strategist Ann Park introduced some of the basic concepts behind Blueprint’s new in-depth, interactive workshops: CliftonStrengths and Designing Your Life’s Work. 

Park kicked things off by pointing out that Canadians are currently experiencing an “employees’ market” with plenty of opportunities for people who are hoping to change or pivot in their careers. 

She went on to illustrate the natural tendency people can have to focus on their weaknesses, rather than their strengths, by asking webinar participants to compare what it felt like to write their names with their dominant and non-dominant hands. By changing this mindset and focusing on our strengths, we can achieve greater results and personal satisfaction, she explained. She noted that this is where concepts developed and inspired by Donald Clifton can help. 

“Donald Clifton was the father of positive psychology,” she said. “And he posed the question: What would happen if we studied what was right with people instead of what was wrong with people? In the 1950s he conducted a series of interviews with highly successful people to find out what made them successful. Were they born into certain circumstance or privilege? Was it just luck? What was going on? What quickly became evident was that these people used their greatest strengths and talents, things that were natural, to achieve excellence.”

Beyond reflecting on and identifying your innate strengths, something Park said the SCS CliftonStrengths workshops can help learners to do, it is also vital to take actions that will allow you to harness and express those strengths effectively. 

Park said first it is important to focus on what you enjoy most and do best. 

“Don’t waste your time trying to do things because other people say ‘Oh you should do this. If you do this you’ll make more money or there’s more prestige.’ No. Focus on what you do best and what you enjoy.”

Next, Park said, you must take an active role in individual development. 

“So this means it’s not just about recognizing your strengths. It’s about seeing that this is just the beginning,” she explained. “Real change takes place when you nurture and cultivate those strengths. Don’t passively wait for things to happen to you. Go out and engage in activities which elevate your strengths.”

Thirdly, Park said it is important for those who are currently working, to engage in active dialogue with your managers about your career and skills development.  if you’re currently working, engage in dialogue with your manager about it. 

“Ongoing dialogue such as quick check-ins create a perfect setting to set expectations, review successes and recalibrate processes. And ask for feedback! That’s how we learn and we grow,” she concluded.

Eto joined the conversation to share how, in addition to Park’s tips, people can use the principles of design thinking to advance their careers. 

“Design thinking is commonly used when we are working maybe in the tech industry, designing a product or a program…It involves problem-finding so you can understand what the problem you’re trying to solve is, and then prototyping your way into better and better solutions in little steps. So in essence design thinking, or building your way forward, is a way of thinking and approaching problems.”

In design thinking, once you have defined a problem’s scope and its shape, it is time to move on to ideation, the phase of the process where participants are encouraged to brainstorm any and all ideas to solve the problem. 
No idea is too impractical, explained Eto. “Designers use this technique to get past our brains’ tendencies to block good ideas. In life design it’s the same thing. Coming up with as many ideas as we can to solve our problem and then we can choose.”

Once you’ve selected one or two of your best ideas, it’s time to pick a prototype, said Eto. “In product design this looks like a sample. But in life design prototypes are designed to ask questions, test things out, get a feel for what things are,” she added. “So they require questioning, talking to people, gathering data to figure out will I like this career? Will I like this role? Will I like retirement?”

Eto also highlighted that acceptance of where you are now, and reframing problems are important aspects of life design. “So for example, when the pandemic first started a belief a lot of people had was ‘I spent the last few years preparing for my dream career but COVID-19 sent me on a new path and now I have no idea what to do and I’m absolutely stuck,’” she said. 

“A reframe of that would be ‘Yes COVID-19 has required me to pivot from my original career goal, but what does this provide me? Opportunity to reflect, reorient, better understand my values, and come up with what my life purpose is.’ So it really does look at what does a pivot look like, where do I go next, now that there has been a change or I want a change.”

See the full webinar recording, including a follow-up question and answer session, below.

While Paulina Morgan’s focus in her undergraduate program was economics, she was always interested in the world of marketing. So when she graduated in 2018, that’s the direction she struck off in. Initially diving into a job as a marketing analyst, she quickly moved into the field of marketing automation. 

She enjoyed the combination of technology and creativity her work demanded, but she wasn’t content to settle in for the long haul. “My motivation has always been to keep learning,” she says. 

When she discovered her company at the time had a budget for employee learning and development Morgan jumped at the opportunity to register for a Customer Experience Management course at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. 

She was drawn to the course because while it had some overlap with the marketing automation work she was familiar with, it also offered a new, complementary set of skills and knowledge she knew she could use to propel her career forward. 

“I use marketing journeys in my own role for planning campaigns from start to end for the customer, but I realized that that can also be applied to customer experience as a whole within companies to help look at the customer’s journey from becoming aware of a brand to purchasing to becoming a loyal customer,” she explains. 

“So I was like this isn't exactly what I do, but I wanted to learn more because I saw a lot of overlap with the marketing that I was doing,”

Even with the overlap between customer experience and her own marketing automation work, Morgan says she was surprised to realize just how pervasive customer experience is. 

“It’s mind-blowing how much customer experience is in everything from a streaming platform testing out their content with their audience to a big bank looking at how they can increase loyalty and increase retention among their customer base,” she says. 

“This class really did open my eyes to something that I don't think I would have been aware of, even though it was touching all aspects of my life the whole time.”

Morgan also recognized that in a constantly rapidly evolving field like marketing, she would need to keep learning to keep up. 

“It is an area that's developing all the time with all these new technologies. We really don't know what it's all going to look like in 10 years,” she says. 

“Marketing now is very different than it was before, and it's going to keep changing.”

To that end, she was pleased to be learning from instructor Sandra Pacitti, who not only teaches, but currently works in the field. She also found that her classmates had valuable insight and experience to share. “It’s kind of rare to find yourself sitting in a group of people who think about the same topics, because think about your friend group. You're not likely going to be friends with a bunch of marketing automation people or customer experience professionals,” she says. 

“So it was really cool to have that community to bounce ideas off of and learn from. A lot of us worked in different areas and had different experience and I think that kind of diversity of people within the group is definitely a strength.”

After her course ended, Morgan kept in touch with her classmates via LinkedIn and reached out to Pacitti when she was ready to take the next step in her career. She wanted to continue to work in marketing automation, but was also eager to continue exploring the customer experience industry. 

Her strategic job search paid off and she now works for Alida, a customer experience management platform, where she was able to apply the knowledge from her SCS course immediately. “The company deals with customer experience, employee, experience, brand experience, and product experience. So it provides what we call Total Experience Management,” she says. 

“During our onboarding, they were teaching us about customer experience, and I was so excited to realize this was literally what Sandra taught us! This is one of those moments where what you learn in school actually applies to what you’re doing at work in the real world.”

Aside from the new skills and knowledge she acquired in the classroom, Morgan says her SCS experience reinforced her instinct to make learning a continuous part of her life, and that she would recommend other recent grads take the same approach when thinking about how to advance their career or take it in a new direction. 

“I would say, never stop learning. Stay curious and be open-minded. Even if something isn't directly exactly what you're already doing, if it interests you, or you see some overlap, try it!” she says. 

“Go ahead and pursue it, because you never know where it's going to lead.”

Making resolutions is one thing, but we know keeping them can be quite another. Our courses and services are designed to help you find the structure, support and motivation you need to reach your goals in 2023. 

Here are just a few of the resolutions we can help you keep this year: 

1. Make new friends

We know it can be challenging to make new connections as an adult. We’ve heard time and time again from our learners that they were thrilled to find, in addition to learning a new skill or exploring a long-held interest in depth, they also made true, lasting connections in class. So if forging new friendships is on your list of goals for this year, consider taking a class! 

2. Uncover your strengths and plot a path to your career goals

If you are determined to make 2023 the year you dig deep into your strengths and passions to discover meaningful work for yourself, or if you are ready to begin, advance or change your career, our Blueprint Career Services can help. Join the Blueprint portal to register for in-depth, interactive workshops and to gain access to free resources designed to help you create and navigate your career path. 

3. Learn a language 

Whether you’re starting from scratch and looking to master the basics of a new language, or you’re ready to take your skills to the next level, our expert language instructors are ready to help you open a whole new world of communication. You can find information about our language courses here.

4. Write your novel

If this is the year you’re determined to finally get your brilliant idea down on paper, connect with the supportive instructors and community of writers in our creative writing courses to help you find the perfect words to bring your story to life. 

5. Earn a professional designation 

Whether you are working towards earning a professional designation or certification, or need to maintain your credential with continuing education requirements, we have partner-recognized courses and certificates to help you succeed on your journey forward. 

6. Improve Your Marketing and Communications Skills

As the world and technology have rapidly evolved over the past decade, so have effective marketing strategies and techniques. If it’s time for you to update your skills and learn new strategies, our dedicated marketing, communications and pr instructors can help you thrive in today’s competitive landscape. 

7. Incorporate Mindfulness into your Life

If your goal this year is to seek more discipline, tolerance, calmness, and mental clarity, the courses and certificates in our mindfulness program can help. 

8. Brush Up on History 

If your knowledge of history is starting to feel ancient, let our passionate, expert instructors refresh your memory or introduce you to fascinating parts of history you’ve never explored. 

9. Launch your career in Canada with an Educational Credential Assessment

Whether you need your credentials assessed for immigration purposes, to achieve permanent residency or to further your higher education in Canada, we have services to support you. Visit our Comparative Education Service page to get started. 

10. Bring out the best in your team

Organizations with strong learning cultures support their team’s growth and are more likely to see gains in areas that positively impact their business. This year, invest in your team and unleash their full potential with the help of our corporate and organizational training program. 
 

In her twelve years of healthcare administration, Haleh Rahimi has never been short of projects to keep her on her toes. 

Over the years, colleagues who recognized her skills encouraged her to work towards earning her Project Management designation. Haleh knew that honing her instinctive project management abilities would be the key to propelling her career forward. She just needed to find the time. 

“The reason I decided to finally do this was because I found the SCS Foundations of Project Management course and it was so flexible. The whole program was doable while working full time and managing my other responsibilities,” she explains.

Haleh was also thrilled to find that when she shared her plans to take project management courses at SCS, her employers at Sinai Health were happy to invest in her professional development by helping to fund her tuition.

She began her first course during a pandemic lockdown, and so was limited to online classes, and she was impressed to see that once in-person classes returned, they took place in the evenings, making it possible for her to attend after work. 

“I couldn’t believe it, how flexible it was,” she says. 

“I did my first two project management courses online and for me it was even better than being on-site. The lectures are recorded so even if you miss them you can go and watch them after. I didn’t miss any lectures but I did go and watch some of them twice even just to get a good, in-depth understanding of them.”

It took no time for Haleh to begin using what she learned in class at work. 

“We’re working in a society now that it doesn't matter what industry you're in, whether it’s healthcare, marketing, or finance, project management is in high demand,” she says. 

“So project management has always been a part of my job, and I started applying these tools, techniques, processes, and strategies on the spot.”

Haleh’s instructor, Peter Monkhouse, also ensured there were plenty of opportunities for her and her classmates to put what they were learning to the test in class. “He gave us in-depth, hands-on experience so I felt like a project manager right from the foundations course,” she explains.

“We were in teams working on actual projects and came away with a good understanding of the different approaches to project management. Not all the approaches are going to work well for all the projects that you are given. We learned how to decide why one is better than the other one and how you can use a combination of approaches.”

In addition to sharing his expertise during class, Haleh says Peter took the time to explain the 11 different certificates students could apply the Foundations of Project Management course to, and was always happy to go above and beyond to answer learners’ questions and share expert advice when asked. “You’d email him and have a response back before you’d even hit send,” she jokes. 

As she continues to work towards her project management certificate at SCS, Haleh’s new skill set is already having a positive impact on her career. She is currently the executive assistant for medical affairs at Mt. Sinai hospital; the dept of obstetrics and gynaecology at Women’s College Hospital; and Toronto General Hospital, in affiliation with U of T medicine. And recently, she shares, her managers have taken note of her increased efficiency and ability to streamline processes within her department. 

Haleh has even used her newfound skills to help a colleague manage a home renovation project, which she says just highlights how useful project management skills can be to anyone, regardless of the field they work in. “This is the course you want to take if you want to get a good, in-depth understanding of project management. The skills you learn in the Foundations of Project Management course can be applied to any industry. Whether you’re doing construction, working in retail, or in a hospital setting, it doesn't matter,” she says.

“Everyone can benefit from this course.”

Workplace harassment investigators have a mandate to investigate complaints, make factual determinations about what likely happened, and decide whether those facts add up to a violation of the company’s harassment policy. It’s an important job with serious ramifications. After all, at the end of the investigation, the investigator will decide whether one employee likely harassed another, and significant consequences will attach to whatever conclusion the investigator reaches.

The success of such a high-stakes process depends in large part on the investigator gaining trust and establishing rapport with participants. Research shows that people provide more detail when the interviewer is encouraging, and people actually remember events better when they feel comfortable with their interviewer. Here are 5 top investigator strategies for doing just that:

1. Be respectful to every investigation participant throughout the process. Workplace harassment investigations are not criminal investigations and the investigator’s job isn’t to browbeat someone into a confession, cross-examine or make moral judgments. Not only is the old adage about honey and flies appropriate here but, even when harassment is found to have occurred, parties often have to work together again later. This will already be a difficult ask without adding the indignities of being treated poorly by the investigator into the mix.
2. Check your neutrality, check it again, and keep checking it throughout. It’s essential that the investigator is neutral. This means a range of things. It means that the investigator should never be in a conflict of interest as it relates to the investigation and the people it involves. It also means that the investigator must not be biased, nor should there be a reasonable apprehension of bias. This includes hidden prejudices and unconscious and psychological biases. If a participant doesn’t experience and perceive the investigator as neutral, they may be less forthcoming and detailed, negatively impacting the quality and reliability of the information the investigator gathers.
3. Create safety. Investigations are hard on all participants. They are stressful, sometimes trauma-triggering and scary. By starting interviews with a polite greeting using a pleasant tone of voice, eye contact, leaning in and open body language – whether in person or in virtual interviews – investigators can create a sense of safety and comfort for participants.
4. Demonstrate active listening during interviews. Investigators can do this with their body language, including maintaining eye contact, as well as with their questions. Periodically repeating back to the participant what the investigator has heard them say in order to confirm understanding also shows active listening.
5. Be transparent throughout. Most participants have never been through a harassment investigation before and have no idea what they are in for. Investigators who spell out the process clearly and transparently throughout, provide status updates to the parties, and check in with them during the course of the investigation build rapport and trust. Investigators should carefully introduce themselves, their role and mandate, and clearly explain the investigation process. Investigators with excellent training and/or fulsome experience can anticipate the likely questions that the parties will ask at an interview. By pre-empting those questions and supplying clear answers in advance, the investigator demonstrates their knowledge, experience and commitment to process; provides an opportunity for the party to settle in; helps put participants at ease, and improves the overall process.

Jennifer Wootton is a lawyer, workplace investigator and speaker. She has more than 28 years of experience in the workplace human rights law field in Canada. Jennifer’s law practice focuses on the proactive and compassionate resolution of internal workplace complaints through investigations, assessments, training and policy development. She is a pioneer in the field of workplace harassment investigations in Canada and has investigated thousands of workplace harassment, bullying and violence allegations as an external investigator since 2000.

Learn more about how to successfully conduct workplace harassment investigations in her upcoming course, Conducting Workplace Harassment Investigations. 

SCS recently celebrated our creative writing community with a return to our annual in-person awards ceremony at the Toronto International Festival of Authors. 

Members of the SCS writing community, along with their friends and family gathered to share their work, celebrate this year’s award winners, and connect with other writers and publishing industry professionals. 

Over $10000 in prize money was awarded to the winning writers, including: 

Bradley Alvarez, Janet Lamb, and Jessica Lapp, winner and finalists of the The Janice Colbert Poetry Award.

Sahar Golshan, Christina Strasbourg, María Fernanda Rodríguez Aguilar, and Basia Gilas, winners of the The Marina Nemat Award for top Certificate Final Project in Creative Non-Fiction, Children’s Writing, Writing in Spanish and Multi-Genre.

Alexis Patoine, Sheila Burpee Duncan, and Alison Stevenson, winner and honourable mentions of the Penguin Random House Canada Student Award for Fiction.

“Our Creative Writing Awards is one of my favourite nights of the year. It’s a privilege to see how, with the help of our amazing instructors, our learners’ have nurtured their talent and used it to bring to life these incredibly compelling stories. It’s no surprise that many of our award-winners go on to find publishing success.” said Creative Writing Program Director Lee Gowan. 

“I also love to see the connections they’ve made with their fellow writers. It’s a lot of creative energy and excitement in one room!”