NSAC Forums

Please forward your submissions to the NSAC E-Bulletin to the newsdesk at (news@nsac.ca). for inclusion in the next edition, which run on Monday and Thursday of each week. Remember you can post notices anytime on the NSAC Forums at http://nsac.ca/forums

March Wellness Tip

Healthy Travel
Make air travel with children easier - anticipate your child's need to move! If possible, let your child walk to the gate. Allow children to move around while waiting in the terminal. Take a walk and check out the terminal displays/posters. Have a look out the windows at the airplanes, fool around at the kiddie corner if the airport has one.

Upcoming Rock Garden Lecture

Click here for the poster with the details about the event and about local rock garden clubs and societies.

Print Centre Moves into 21st Century

NSAC’s print centre has recently upgraded its software and computer systems to make your life easier. You can use us as your full service printer.

We’ve added graphic design services so you can get a good quality fact sheet or brochure done quickly and with style. And we can handle all file types too. Plus, colour copies are now available at 25 cents each. Shop around town and you’ll see how good a price this is!

As always, the full range of finishing options like stapling, binding and booklet-making is available for both black and white and color documents. And we’ve put in a system where you can print that document but customize it for the individual recipient, no matter how long that recipient list is! Imagine being able to send that important partner one of your fact sheets and include only the information that interests them most.

Gone are the days of having to get three quotes and hearing us say, “We can’t do that here.” Just send your files to Michael at mbartz@nsac.ca with your cost centre and G/L, or give us a call at 4737 for pricing details. We’re still located on the ground floor of Cumming Hall with the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Isn't it time to give us another try?

End of Semester Faculty & Staff Social

This casual gathering is an excellent opportunity to interact with colleagues and engage in informal discussion and networking. Make time in your schedule to wind down the week, relax, share humor and laughter and enjoy a beverage and snacks with friends and colleagues. Light snacks and a cash bar will be provided.

Seminar: BioProducts Faculty Position

The Department of Environmental Sciences has received approval to create a new faculty position that addresses the area of agricultural BioProducts. Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe, who is presently an NSAC Research Chair working primarily with the apple industry, is a candidate for this position and will be presenting a public seminar on Monday, April 7 at 10:30 a.m. in C24 titled "Flavonoid-based value-added fruit products for human health & wellness".

Everyone is encouraged to attend this presentation and to learn more about this expanding field of research. For more information contact Glenn Stratton at gstratton@nsac.ca

A Message from the VP Academic - Course Evaluations are Important!

At the end of each course, instructors ask students to fill in course evaluations - these are very important to current students, to future students, and the instructors. For current students, they give a chance to provide honest and anonymous feedback on course and instruction quality. For future students and the instructors, the feedback contributes to continuous improvement of the quality of our courses.

Course evaluations are submitted to the Office of VP Academic or the Registry, where they are not opened but are forwarded to independent consultants. The written comments are typed, and the scores on the evaluations are summarized for each question. The original evaluations are destroyed. The score summary and typed written comments are returned to the instructor well after the end of the semester. If there are fewer than 5 responses for a particular class, nothing is sent to the instructor until future years, when at least 5 responses have been obtained and anonymity can be ensured.

Instructors use the course evaluations to help improve their courses - it is important to consider the intent of each question carefully and provide thoughtful feedback. Most instructors encourage and receive feedback throughout the semester from their students, which also is important and may give a chance for the instructor to improve the course midstream. However, the end-of-semester formal course evaluation is the best opportunity for anonymous feedback if the student feels reluctant to be critical of a particular class exercise or style of teaching. Please note that instructors like to hear what is working well in the classroom too!

We are proud of our teaching at NSAC and work hard to continuously improve it. Thank you in advance to all those students who take the time to fill in all their course evaluations in a thoughtful and constructive way.

44th Annual Athletic Awards held March 28

The 2007-2008 44th Annual Athletic Awards banquet was held on March 28. For a complete list of winners click here. Congratulations to all athletes.
KS Marchant Award (L-R): Marissa Lynch, Dr. Bernie MacDonald, NSAC Co-President, Vice President Administration, Maryelle Maynard

Athletes of the Year (L-R): Corey McDonald, Dr. Bernie MacDonald, NSAC Co-President, Vice President Administration, Janette Archibal

Scholarship Spotlight

Kings Mutual Scholarships Presented at NSAC
Don Cox, Princeport, NS, representing Kings Mutual Insurance, attended the Scholarship Banquet at NSAC last October to present Kings Mutual Insurance scholarships. The recipients of three $1,000 scholarships were – Keltie MacIntosh, Antigonish, NS, a second year Diploma in Enterprise Management - Dairy Farming, student; Krista Brouwer, Truro, NS, a second year B.Sc.(Agr.) Animal Science student; and Travis Esau, Debert, NS, second year Bachelor of Engineering student. The scholarships are awarded to NS students based on financial need, academic performance and demonstrated interest in a career in the agri-food industry as reflected by summer employment and/or extra-curricular involvement.