Caucus Member Profile: Lisa Allen

Caucus Member Profile: Lisa Allen

Many FSA members are active in our Caucus on Part-Time Studies (COPTS), Caucus on Applied Research & Advanced Studies (CARAS), and our Equity Caucus (EC). Descriptions and terms of references for each caucus can be found here. This is a profile of one of the members of COPTS.

Name

Lisa Allen, FSA member and a member of the FSA Caucus on Part-Time Studies (COPTS)

Department

BCIT Communication

How long have you been at BCIT?

Since August 2017; three years.

What do you wish everyone knew about BCIT?

I wish everyone knew how committed all faculty are to delivering excellent courses to their students. This last summer, in particular, faculty in all departments tirelessly redesigned their courses so that their courses can be offered online and in accordance with social and physical distancing recommendations from Dr. Bonnie Henry. All the planning, creating, technological learning, and pivoting that the faculty managed to do over the summer to prepare for a fall semester like we’ve never seen before is a testament to our faculty’s “excellence” and dedication to BCIT’s students.

What is something interesting happening in your Program or Department work right now?

Because the Communication Department prepares students for success in industry through the development of communication skills, faculty have put a lot of work into making sure that the communication skills learned in class today will prepare them to communicate successfully in a post-pandemic society; perhaps a society that sees more people working out of their homes in a virtual capacity. Since the pandemic has changed the ways in which we work and communicate with one another, many of the faculty in the Communication Department have been working to adapt the ways in which Communication courses are being offered in order to best prepare students for industry once they graduate.

Why are you a member of the FSA Caucus on Part-Time Studies (COPTS)?

Because part-time studies instructors are a large group on campus that often go unnoticed, unrecognized, and undetected, it’s important that we all work towards building a more inclusive community.

What is important for you about the FSA focusing on the realities of Part-Time Studies?

History shows that part-time studies were initially created to fill an auxiliary demand in post-secondary education. However, today, part-time studies is now one of the largest groups on campus. It’s critical that, when we have departmental and institutional-wide conversations about BCIT, part-time studies faculty are included and encouraged to participate in departmental and institutional wide governance conversations and decisions. We need all voices at the table.

What would you improve about the conditions of Part-Time Studies at BCIT?

Like “regular” faculty, I would like to see some kind of job security offered to part-time studies faculty. Rather than term-length employment contracts, I’d like to see part-time studies faculty have opportunities for longer term contracts that would give them access to benefits and more job security.