Education

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT • SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020 11 EDUCATION GUIDE By Geoff Kirbyson Jack Lindsay doesn't have to look far to see how his field of study applies to the real world. A s the chair of Brandon Uni- versity's Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies program, all he has to do for marketing is open up a newspaper or turn on the nightly news. Hello, COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, another disaster — the Flood of the Century in 1997 — was a major impetus in launching the program in 2001, making BU the first university in Canada to offer a bachelor's degree in the disaster management field. A week after teaching his first class, terrorists crashed a pair of commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York. "That changed the focus of high- er education and disaster manage- ment," Lindsay said. "The number of programs in the U.S. more than tripled. We were ahead of the curve, and our depth of experience con- tinues to make our graduates lead- ers in the field across Canada." The BU program covers the prima- ry areas of emergency management: pre-event mitigation, preparedness, and response, which includes risk communication, issuing warnings and evacuations, and the longer- term phases of recovery, such as re- settlement and economic revival. "We take an all-hazards ap- proach. We don't focus on one event like flooding, we look at them all, how circumstances can change and how an event is managed," he said. "Disasters are really a social prob- lem and we need to be prepared for how they impact everyone and ev- ery sector differently." Lindsay is proud to say there are about 125 graduates of the program currently working in the field across the country, including in hospitals, with Manitoba Emergency Measures and the Red Cross. Many have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Lisa Gilmour, emergency man- agement co-ordinator for the City of Winnipeg, is one of them. The 1997 flood played a big role in where she is today because she and a bunch of her fellow junior high school students lent a hand by fill- ing and laying sandbags. "It really left me with a feeling of community and how the commu- nity pulls together during a disas- ter. It was a fantastic thing to be a part of and I still have the desire to keep doing that today," she said. Much of her role is focused on planning and preparedness but she admits things get amped up during a disaster. "All emergency management people in the field are doing it to help people," she said. There are anywhere between 25 and 30 students majoring in the program in a given year but Lindsay thinks there could be more this fall. The plan in September is to teach all classes remotely via Zoom, Microsoft Teams or on other online platforms. A decision about the winter term will be made in October. "I hope organizations start to re- alize they have a responsibility for (dealing with disasters). Local gov- ernments are realizing there's a real skill set around this kind of plan- ning," Lindsay said. For example, he cited the con- tamination of the drinking water supply in Walkerton, Ont. in 2000 resulting from improper water treatment following heavy rainfall. More than 2,000 people got sick and six died after bacteria from the manure of nearby cattle contami- nated well water. "Municipalities got more serious about water-quality testing after that," he said. Lindsay says the program is still relatively unknown to the general public and isn't usually the kind of career path high school counsellors recommend to students. "The fact of the matter is, when emergency managers do a great job, you won't necessarily see them," he said. "Our work starts before a di- saster even occurs and continues long afterward." So, have the federal and provin- cial governments done a good job with COVID-19 thus far? Lindsay gives them a passing grade. "I think we're managing fairly well," he said. "A lot of organiza- tions are realizing it's not just a health problem. A lot of the work is dealing with the consequences we put in place to deal with the hazard. When there's a flood, there are problems created by the flood. But when we order an evacuation, we create new problems. Where do we put people? How do we feed them? Disasters aren't just limited to where the dangers are." For more information, visit brandonu.ca BrandonU.ca Set yourself apart from the pack with small class sizes, an extensive and supportive co-op program, and undergraduate research opportunities not available at many larger universities. With campuses in Brandon and Winnipeg, you can find a quality, personalized education close to home. Visit us online today to start building your future! success is built in Brandon PROVIDENCE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE & THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Creative, collaborative learning By Todd Lewys Last year, Providence University College's four-year Bachelor of Health Science program was delivered 100 per cent in-class. T hat won't be the case this fall due to the ongoing pres- ence of COVID-19, says as- sistant professor of biology, Rebecca Dielschneider. "We will be delivering the pro- gram half online and half in-person in class," she says. "You could call it a hybrid, or blended format." While administration at Provi- dence wasn't caught totally off- guard by COVID-19 — a portion of the course was already being deliv- ered online — professors are still working at adjusting their style to online teaching. "Science uses technology exten- sively, so it makes sense to integrate it into the classroom," Dielschnei- der says. "These days, online offer- ings are high-quality. We need to match that quality so students will feel like they're in class with us." That said, professors — who moved to online teaching at the tail end of the 2019-20 school year when the pandemic hit in mid- March — will be making a con- scious effort to put more energy into their presentations. "Professors benefit from in-per- son classes — we come alive when we have students in front of us," Dielschneider says. "At first, it was a challenge to have the same excite- ment and passion online. Now, as we head into the fall, I think we'll have that energy. But nothing re- places in-person interaction." For safety's sake, students will watch all lectures online. Lectures will in turn be supplemented by videos and PowerPoint charts. Dielschneider says certain face- to-face components of the program will be retained to ensure students get the hands-on learning they need. "There will be weekly tutori- als and wet labs — fortunately, we don't have to re-imagine all labs. They will be supported by online materials such as video demonstra- tions, interviews and discussions." While the manner of course de- livery has changed — the four-year Bachelor of Health Science Major program includes courses such as microbiology, biochemistry, ge- netics, ethics and the sociology of health in its curriculum — the blended approach figures to be en- joyable and effective. "I think it's going to be fun for fac- ulty members to use online teach- ing technology to do video chats, course discussions and collabora- tive annotations with students," says Dielschneider. "I think the blended approach will also be ben- eficial for students." Those benefits are many: a less- threatening presentation for shy students, reduced travel and the ability for students in isolated com- munities to access course content at any time. "We even have plans to put labs online," she says. "If, for some rea- son, a student can't attend, they won't miss out completely. They can then access online materials to get a fuller picture of what hap- pened in the lab." Dielschneider says she's proud of how Providence faculty has handled the teaching challenges due to COVID-19. "One thing that's really stood out is how collaborative our faculty has been. They've been talking and working together as a team, sharing to help each other get better at de- livering quality content in the new blended format. I think that will really benefit students in how well courses are presented." Providence is still accepting ap- plications for September, Diel- schneider says. "Providence is committed to be- ing very flexible with application deadlines — we're dealing with a new reality. With that in mind, we're going to be as accommodat- ing as possible." As difficult as things have been during the pandemic, it's forced Providence to become more inno- vative. "We've had to adapt during the pandemic and may have to do it in the long term — this probably won't be the last one we'll have to deal with," she says. "Technology is here to stay. We're confident we can balance it with in-class learning to keep students safe and deliver the best experience possible to them, even in the middle of a pandemic." For more information, visit prov.ca PROVIDENCE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE PHOTO Providence University College assistant professor of biology, Rebecca Dielschneider, says the college is offering its Bachelor of Health Science with a blended format of in-class and online learing. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba's Flood of the Century in 1997 was a major impetus in launching Brandon University's Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies program in 2001, making BU the first university in Canada to offer a bachelor's degree in the disaster management field. BRANDON UNIVERSITY Focus on preparedness at BU " Disasters are really a social problem and we need to be prepared for how they impact everyone and every sector differently. — Jack Lindsay, chair of BU's Applied Disaster & Emergency Studies program

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