News
ONCAT's Oct 2019 newsletter features:
- ONTransfer.ca Refresh
- Funding Opportunities
- New Resources
- National Transfer Week
Learn more inside: https://mailchi.mp/oncat/2019oct7-2
ONTransfer.ca Refreshed
We are excited to be launching a new look for ONTransfer.ca! Based on student and stakeholder feedback, we have implemented some of the following improvements:
- Simpler navigation and layout, helping you better understand the steps in planning a transfer;
- Highlighting existing features, such as contacts for Transfer Advisors, the glossary of confusing transfer terms, and a free account option to save your transfer pathway searches;
- Mobile friendly pages. While the searches still function best on a desktop, the rest of our content is now mobile friendly.
Learn about the process we took here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/86503265/ONTransferca-Refresh. Special thanks to the leads on this project: Communications & Events, Sonia Chwalek and summer intern, Danielle Wong. This is Phase 1 of a larger ONTransfer.ca redevelopment. If you would like to be involved in this broader project, please contact operations@oncat.ca.
Funding Opportunities
Through funding and collaborative projects, ONCAT supports the development of targeted, in-demand pathways and the adoption of student-centred transfer processes and practices in Ontario. Now open:
- Faculty Fellows (Nov 11) – Supports faculty-led projects that build knowledge of transfer student experiences, improve transfer processes, and/or strengthen student mobility across postsecondary institutions.
- MapIt (Nov 13) – Call for institutions’ participation in mapping current transfer student processes at your school.
- Project RFPs:
- Pathway Development (Nov 25)
- Research (Jan 13)
- Seamless Transfer (ongoing)
- Transfer Student Action Fund (ongoing)
- Research Ideas Portal (Ongoing) – Capturing areas of research not encompassed in one of this year’s research RFPs.
Co-Chair Announcement
ONCAT is pleased to announce the appointment of Ron Common, President and CEO of Sault College, as its new college co-chair of the Board. “On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to welcome Ron as ONCAT’s new co-chair representing the colleges,” says Deborah MacLatchy, President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, and ONCAT Board co-chair representing the universities. “Ron’s 46 years of college and university experience will be a tremendous asset to ONCAT, particularly as the organization continues to build a seamless, fair, and efficient transfer system in Ontario.”
“We would like to thank Cheryl for her extraordinary leadership as the outgoing co-chair of the Board,” says MacLatchy. “Throughout her career she has been a strong advocate for student mobility, forging partnerships with other postsecondary institutions so that students can achieve lifelong success. We wish Cheryl well as she begins this next chapter in life.”
ONCAT Interns
There are a few key points of transition in a student’s post-secondary life—adjusting to a new school and environment, perhaps a transfer to a different school or program, and finally that bittersweet change from the world of academia into the launch of their careers. Internships can be a wonderful pathway to facilitate this next step. For the first time ever, ONCAT had the pleasure of bringing on three interns this summer, coming from three different and interesting fields.
New Resources
Previously titled ONCAT's General Brochure this resource has been updated to reflect our refreshed brand and to service a more focused audience. The brochure is now arranged in a step-by-step, checklist format, to better assist students in postsecondary studies who are considering a transfer. View the updated PSE Brochure. Additional resources now available:
Message from the Executive Director
Welcome back to the fall session. I hope that you all enjoyed the summer, gearing up for the new cohort of students, and all those returning. At ONCAT, we have spent the summer wrapping up our strategic planning as we look to develop the next phase of ONCAT, or as I like to call it, ONCAT 2.0. What that means for us is about finding creative and meaningful ways to serve the needs of students, especially as it pertains to the transfer student. We are finalizing all the details, and over the coming months will be sharing that more broadly. We are excited about what the future holds for the organization, and are eager to start the implementation.
In the meantime, we have been busy with many activities. Our biggest project right now is the refresh of the ONTransfer.ca website, part of the next phase of the branding strategy that was launched in 2016. With the ONCAT corporate site now complete, the communications team has been working on redesigning and restructuring the front end of ONTransfer.ca, the student site. One of the key functions has been to make it easier to navigate, easier to read, and more concise. Over the summer, we consulted with various stakeholders and students, and expect to launch the site shortly, just in time for all the fairs. While the communications team has been working hard on the front end, the operations team continues to explore the next phase of the branding strategy, which is the complete redesign of the database on the back-end. While it’s going to take some work and a great deal of stakeholder engagement, we are really excited about the possibilities.
We are also ramping up to launch our annual RFPs. Headed by the policy and programs team, we are introducing several areas of improvement that align with our new strategic plan, including changes to Faculty Fellows, Pathway Development, Research and Seamless Transfer (formerly Innovative Transfer) streams. In addition, we are launching a new funding stream to support transfer-student led projects, called STEP UP. In addition, since we are an organization that believes in collaboration, we are building on our committee and sector engagement models by developing more comprehensive strategies related to Northern, Francophone, Indigenous pathways, as well as Transfer Advisors and will soon be reconvening discipline-focussed committees.
Finally, there have been some changes on our board with the retirement of our co-chair Cheryl Jensen, who retired from her position of President and CEO of Algonquin College this past summer. We thank Cheryl for her extraordinary leadership. She has been a strong advocate for student mobility, Indigenous learners, and forging partnerships with other postsecondary institutions so that students can achieve lifelong success. She was also extremely supportive when I transitioned into the ED role last year, and for that I am forever grateful. With Cheryl stepping down, we are pleased that Dr. Ron Common from Sault College will be assuming the role. Additionally, there was a vacancy for a VPA (colleges) as a result of Lynn Casimiro, VPA of La Cité Collégiale stepping down. We are thrilled that Lyne Michaud, Vice-President, Academic Affairs at Collège Boréal has agreed to join the board. We thank David Fulford and his colleagues at Colleges Ontario for all of their assistance in this process.
I am, as always, looking forward to connecting with everyone over the coming weeks and months, especially as I continue my institutional visits.
Sincerely,
Yvette Munro
Executive Director
An ONCAT & Academica Project: How to improve university access in Ontario and beyond.
ONTransfer.ca will be at the Ontario College Information Fair this October 23 & 24. Come say hi!