October 23-25, 2022, Moose Jaw, SK.
Conference Theme = Check in and check up!
Health and wellness are on everyone’s mind. How can we keep ourselves, our advising programs, and our students healthy?
We are planning to hold the conference at Grant Hall in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. You can, of course, stay at Temple Gardens, it’s only one block away.
Early Bird Fees: $300 for current AASK members; $400 for non-members if registered by October 1st. (+$100 on Oct. 1st.)
October 23 – evening
- arrive in Moose Jaw
- conference check-in at Grant Hall hotel
- welcome social with samples from Prairie Bee Meadery
October 24
- breakfast
- plenary
- breakout sessions
- lunch
- breakout sessions
- optional social activity at Tunnels of Moose jaw
Plenary Session. Your Cup is Full: Trauma Informed Care in the most difficult of professional settings
How can staff maintain compassion and understanding for clients while preventing burnout? Choices and consequences affect both staff and clients, thinking through boundaries and the interpretation of policy with the full understanding of the power positions you are in.
Presenter Jason Mercredi is the Acting Director of Housing at Metis Nation – Saskatchewan and was previously the Executive Director at Prairie Harm Reduction. He established Saskatchewan’s first Safe Consumption Site & Saskatchewan’s first Overdose Prevention Site, successfully advocated for the provincial deregulation & expansion of the take-home Naloxone program, co-founded Canada’s National HIV Testing Day, wrote the policy and conducted the cost analysis which resulted in safer smoking supplies being funded in Saskatchewan needle exchanges, Canada’s first Indigenous language condom campaign, wrote the policy and return on investment for Saskatchewan’s SAID program to double the earnings exemption, established Oski-Kisicow semi-supported apartments for families at-risk of having their children apprehended, opened Michael’s Place PHR’s first youth home for 16-21 year old male identifying youth living with addictions, worked with the Government of Saskatchewan to establish the first drug checking sites and the take home drug-checking program. He is a member of the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation and is of Denesuline, Metis and Scottish ancestry and was born and raised in Treaty 6 Territory and the Traditional Homeland of the Metis
October 25 morning
- breakfast
- plenary session
- breakout session,
- AGM
- lunch
- departure
Plenary Session: CSSIC Presents: An Introduction to Psychologically Attuned Communication
The College Student Success Innovation Centre (CSSIC) at Mohawk College has found Psychologically Attuned Communication (PAC) to be an effective intervention at our institution, and at other colleges and universities across North America.
Based off the work of Dr. Shannon Brady and her colleagues at the College Transition Collaborative (CTC), PAC occurs when institutions modify the way they communicate “bad news” to students in a way that is more sensitive to students’ feelings and experiences. Within the CSSIC, we’ve used PAC to communicate academic standing to students (i.e., academic probation, compulsory withdrawal), to reduce the “summer melt” phenomenon (i.e., decreased registration in study gap periods), and in outreach initiatives to faculty-identified “at-risk” students (i.e., low attendance, missed assignments). Results of implementing a PAC as compared to a standard communication at Mohawk College have been promising. These include:
- Students on academic probation having reduced feelings of shame about their status at the institution
- Students on academic probation having increased feelings of hope about their future at the institution
- Increased re-enrolment in the Fall 2019 following a summer melt PAC communication
- Improved quality of at-risk communications sent by advisors
In this keynote, you will learn about Psychologically Attuned Communication (PAC) and how the concept can be applied in various ways at your institution. The session will include an overview of PAC research on academic probation letters, details of how Mohawk College implemented PAC to address the summer melt phenomenon, how we have supported other institutions in their unique applications of PAC, as well as an overview of the toolkit we have created to facilitate adoption in novel communications.
Presenters: Tim Fricker, PhD., Dean of Students, Conestoga College; Michelle Turan, Ph. D., BCBA, Professor, Behaviour Analysis (Mohawk College/McMaster University); Pamela Ingleton, PhD., Director, College Student Success Innovation Centre (Mohawk College); Megan Waltenbury, M.Ed., Coordinator, Research and Special Projects (Mohawk College)