I am thrilled to announce that CTL has a new Associate Dean starting September 12, 2016. Agnes Gajewski will be joining us as the new Associate Dean, Program Development and Quality Assurance.
Agnes comes to us from Centennial College where she has most recently been the Academic Manager for the School of Advancement, departments of General Education, Liberal Studies, General Arts and Sciences, and Pre-Health where she led a faculty team in the development of a new Stackable Credential Program in Entrepreneurism. In her time at Centennial, she was a faculty member teaching in both degree and diploma programs, a faculty mentor, and the coordinator of global citizenship and equity where she led the comprehensive program quality review. Agnes has been extensively involved in curriculum development (face to face, online and hybrid) and served on numerous college committees in program, course, and quality review. In 2016 Agnes was the recipient of both the Learner Centered College Education Award and the President’s Spirit Award for Contribution to College Life from Centennial. An innovation spearheaded by Agnes was her establishment of a new community partnership with Community Living Toronto, I-OPEN (Individualized On-Campus Post-Secondary Experience Network), an initiative focused on post-secondary educational opportunities for individuals with developmental and cognitive impairments through Community First.
Agnes has her Ph.D. in Education and a Masters in Teaching, experience as a high school teacher before moving to post-secondary education, and is actively engaged in research and academic publishing. In 2015-2016 she received a grant to conduct a comparative study investigating best practices in teaching and learning in online and face-to-face teaching modalities. Agnes is the editor for the International Review in Inclusive Education, with a volume on ethics, equity, and inclusion scheduled for publication in early 2017.
Because of the complexity of the portfolio, Agnes will take on the program review portfolio immediately, adding the program development portfolio in January 2017. Elaine Ursel will remain as acting Associate Dean of Curriculum Development until January 1, 2017, mentoring Agnes, after which she will step back into her role as a Curriculum Consultant. I want to thank Elaine for the wonderful job she has done in the past year.
Agnes is delighted to be joining Sheridan. Please join CTL in giving her a warm welcome.
Joan Condie
Dean, Centre for Teaching and Learning