Camosun Chargers holding tryouts
From Saturday, August 31 to Friday, September 6, Camosun students can try out for the Camosun Chargers teams. The Chargers teams consist of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, and golf. Find more details at camosun.ca/chargers.
Camosun participates in environmental action
Camosun College is one of 12 Saanich-based organizations participating in the One Planet Cities project, organized by the UK-based non-governmental organization Bioregional. Organizations involved in the project will create action plans addressing issues of sustainability, including food and energy concerns. There are five cities around the world involved in One Planet Cities: Oxfordshire, UK; Durban, South Africa; Elsinore, Denmark; Tarusa, Russia; and Saanich. See this issue’s feature story on page 6 for more on Camosun’s environmental initiatives.
Camosun launches new web portal
Camosun has launched a new section of its website designed to have everything in one place that new and returning students might need to know to start the term. Details on CamFest, information sessions, Indigenous student orientation, and international student orientation, to name a few, can be found at camosun.ca/services/orientation/.
Camosun students showcase engineering projects
On Friday, August 23, Camosun College held its 2019 Mechanical Engineering Showcase at its Interurban campus. Fifty graduating students worked on 12 different projects; the projects were all focused on solving a real-world problem. Some of the projects this year included competitive wheelchair wheels, an automated ice skate sharpening unit, a car seat back support for truckers, a Lancaster bomber restoration project, hydroponic growing trays, and carbon fibre race cars.
Students to get refund for building codes
Online versions of the BC building codes, which are used by trades students to establish the construction and design of buildings, are now available for free. Students who purchased a building code on or after September 5, 2018 will get a refund. The total amount of all the refunds—which are being collected by almost 5,000 people—is $2.5 million. For more information, go to news.gov.bc.ca/releases.
BCFS holds semi-annual general meeting
On the week of July 22, the British Columbia Federation of Students, of which Camosun students are paying members, held its semi-annual general meeting. Issues such as student employment, decreasing and ending student debt, ending hate and fear in politics, and using technology to change post-secondary were discussed. See wearebcstudents.ca for previous meeting minutes.
BC university axes textbooks from program
Students enrolled in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s one-year certificate Design program no longer have to buy a single textbook for any of their six classes. This is part of the open textbook movement, which approximately 90 percent of BC universities are part of. Kwantlen, which has campuses in Surrey, Delta, and Richmond, says that it has saved students $2.2 million in textbook costs since 2018.
UVic searching for artist-in-residence
The University of Victoria is looking for an artist in residence who will work for one month in an art gallery on campus. The position comes with a $2,000 stipend, as well as another $1,000 to be used on transport and materials. The deadline to apply is August 31. A CV and a 500-word statement detailing artistic style, a project proposal, and ways that the applicant intends on engaging with art education, the department, and pedagogy should be sent to Alison Shields at ashields@uvic.ca.