Author: Mia Anhoury

Committee releases review with recommendations to improve health and wellbeing

Concordia’s Student Health and Wellbeing Review Committee released its assessment on Nov. 8. The committee’s action plan includes the development of a comprehensive mental health services plan and a mid-semester break in the fall. The review was requested by President Alan Shepard to ensure the university is supporting these practices on campus.

According to Lisa Ostiguy, the special advisor to the provost on campus life, Concordia is looking into the logistics of a fall break, although it will not be implemented in the upcoming academic year.

The assessment was largely based on interviews with 30 “subject matter experts,” which included specialists from the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities, the Department of Creative Art Therapies and Concordia’s Counselling and Psychological Services. The committee also spoke with an elder from the Aboriginal Student Resource Centre, the Multi-Faith and Spirituality Centre, and the International Student Office, among others.

The primary takeaway from these interviews was the need to promote health and wellbeing over the “survival of the fittest” mentality often present in classrooms. According to Ostiguy, the university can implement this change with simple steps, such as requiring that students be made aware of on-campus and off-campus services during their first class of the semester.

The focus is on changing the classroom environment and introducing wellness-based practices. “It can be a number of things,” Ostiguy said. “It could involve health breaks and things like that infused in what we do.”

The ability to foster conversations about health and wellbeing in the classroom depends on “the design of the course material,” Ostiguy said. “We heard a lot in the review about students becoming anxious around midterms.” Giving students  the opportunity to talk about the resources around the campus is key, she said.

Next year, the committee intends to expand their review to include an analysis of health and wellness practices in other universities, in the form of partnerships with the city, peer-to-peer offerings and group sessions. Although improving wait times for appointments with counsellors is one way to go about it, Ostiguy said “there are a lot of ways that we could address supporting students.”

In 2013, Concordia was among the 32 Canadian post-secondary institutions surveyed in the National College Health Assessment. According to the survey’s results quoted in the review, 33 per cent of Concordia students reported that stress had the largest impact on their academic performance in the last year. Additionally, 41.6 per cent of students felt their level of stress was above average.

Additionally, the committee’s review recommended centralizing all health and wellness information to ensure the university community is aware of all the available resources.

“If [students] are not in a program that addresses health directly, like exercise science, they may not have access in their whole degree to a course on health-related things, such as nutrition or stress,” Ostiguy said.

The review recommended the creation of non-credit courses for anyone in the university to improve their knowledge of health.

“We do need to look at mental health strategies,” Ostiguy said. “Even though we didn’t look at individual services as part of this review, there is a need for us to take a look at mental health [issues] because [they’re] on the rise in terms of North American universities.”

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

Indigenous Directions Leadership Group to release action plan in winter.

Concordia University has appointed two new senior administrative positions following the recommendation of the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group (IDLG).

From Simon Fraser University (SFU), William Lindsay will start his role on Jan. 3 as the first senior director of Indigenous Directions. Concordia’s own Research Chair in Indigenous Art History and Community Engagement, Heather Igloliorte, is the new special advisor to the provost on Advancing Indigenous Knowledges.

Although the IDLG’s final report and recommendations are only expected in the winter semester, the group made an early recommendation to create these new positions, according to the university’s spokesperson, Mary-Jo Barr. The group’s mandate is “to explore, identify and recommend priority areas in which Concordia can improve its responsiveness to the Truth and Reconciliation’s (TRC) Principles for Reconciliation and Calls to Action,” according to Barr.

Lindsay is currently wrapping up his position as special advisor on Aboriginal Affairs at SFU. “I’m looking forward to getting my boots on the ground,” he said.

As senior director of Indigenous Directions, a significant part of Lindsay’s job will be to implement the comprehensive plan that the IDLG is in the process of writing. “It is a university-wide plan, so [it] isn’t just concentrating on research or curriculum development,” said Lindsay.  “It covers the wide gamut of pretty much everything you’d want to be working on with regards to Indigenizing a university. It’s a community plan as well. Part of the action plan is to build upon and to create connections with Indigenous communities as well, so it goes beyond the doors of Concordia.”

Lindsay told The Concordian he is looking forward to meeting with Donna Goodleaf, Indigenous curriculum and pedagogy advisor at Concordia. Lindsay wants “to see what her plans are and how it ties in with [the] action plan and bring in my own experience to see what will work for Concordia,” he said.

“I look forward to working with them in advancing the IDLG’s Action Plan and the work I do with faculty training on decolonizing and Indigenizing their curriculum across the university,” said Goodleaf.

“When I was 13, we went on a field trip to come to one of the universities in the city and it was a life-changing day for me,” said Lindsay, who is a Status Indian of Cree heritage. Although at the time, Lindsay didn’t see many Indigenous students or faculty, he was motivated to attend university to become a teacher.  

Lindsay hopes to create policies that will attract Indigenous applicants. “It’s my experience, having worked at two big universities in British Columbia, that you need to create a climate within the university where it has a reputation for changing, where it has the reputation for being welcoming to Indigenous peoples,” said Lindsay. “You can’t buy a reputation. It’s something that has to be built up over time.” The goal for Lindsay is to have Concordia become synonymous with a positive reaction when mentioned in the Indigenous community.

While Igloliorte was only promoted to a tenure position this year, she has been working at Concordia since 2012. Igloliorte’s position is the first of its kind and “comes with a lot of new responsibilities and I’m excited to take them on,” she said.

Igloliorte said “I think that this position is going to provide me with some agency to do things that myself and other members of the [IDLG] see as really urgent for the university to undertake.”

Just like Lindsay, Igloliorte, who is from the Nunatsiavut community, knows what it’s like to leave a small town and come to a big city, as she did when she first moved to Halifax for school.

“Often times [with] Indigenous students, they are the first person in their family to go to university,” said Igloliorte. “That’s a whole new world with them navigating public transit, grocery stores and daily life, so I try to keep in mind what the experiences are like for Indigenous students and what kinds of needs they have.”

Igloliorte said her goal is to make sure Indigenous students feel supported. “I really hope that we become a destination for Indigenous students on the east side of Canada,” she said. “We have the only undergraduate First Peoples program east of Ontario and I think that we can do a lot of work in promoting this program throughout the maritimes [and] the Atlantic provinces.”

One of the goals for both Lindsay and Igloliorte is Indigenizing and decolonizing the curriculum. “You want to bring Indigenous ways of knowing, of doing, Indigenous peoples and Indigenous community members into the university to make it a place where Indigenous peoples have influence, where they are taught about and researched about and where they have a place of honour,” said Lindsay.

Changing the curriculum to make it more inclusive can be done in multiple ways, according to Lindsay, and he is ready to listen, ask questions and suggest what is best for Concordia.

Part of Lindsay’s and Igloliorte’s plan is to build direct ties with Indigenous communities in Eastern Canada. “I’m excited to find ways we can reach Indigenous students where they are. Not all of [them] are going to be young people coming out of high school and wanting to go to universities, they may be people who have started a family already and want to retrain,” said Igloliorte.

Igloliorte added “we have a lot of potential here, we’re in Tiohtiá:ke/ Montreal to build things.”

Feature photo courtesy of Klahanie K. Rorick, Tahltan Nation.

Nathan Leblanc always keeps a notepad and a pen on him and jots down his ideas when inspiration strikes. He just recently competed in the Individual World Poetry Slam from Oct. 10 to 13, representing Eastern Canada.

The competition was in San Diego, CA, and gathered 86 poets from around the world, mostly from the United States and Canada. The 22-year-old accountancy and finance major at the John Molson School of Business (JMSB) got into the competition through the storm applicants, meaning he applied as one of 12 independent poets at the event. There is no venue in Quebec that officially recognizes the international competition, so Leblanc couldn’t apply through a venue as most applicants do.

Leblanc started writing poetry in high school. “I would write poetry to my girlfriend at the time just cause, and she said it was pretty good so I kept writing,” said Leblanc. It wasn’t until he attended a performance in Vancouver two years ago that he discovered slam poetry.

His first slam, entitled “Is it okay?” was an assignment on homosexuality for a CEGEP english class on gender issues.

The slam that got him into the competition, however, is called “The sea of love.” “It’s a romantic love poem. Love poetry isn’t common in slam,” said Leblanc. “It’s about a boyfriend who loses his girlfriend—she passes away. He’s enlightened at the end and he’s able to remember her memory and continue through [life], involving the ocean and water metaphors,” Leblanc added.

The poems Leblanc writes are based off of his personal experience; rarely does he ever write intentionally. For “The sea of love,” Leblanc wrote about a breakup he experienced, but also the death of his cousin. “I had to write a piece about both of them. They both happened around the same time,” said the poet.

“I’m a number-based guy. At the same time, I’ve always loved writing and I always thought about doing poetry full time if I could make it happen financially. I grew up with the ambition of being a businessman, but I try to do both,” said Leblanc.

Leblanc doesn’t openly talk about his poetry at JMSB. According to him, the friends he has told about his poetry are generally neutral about his endeavours.

“Passionate, impactful, and heartfelt,” are the words Leblanc used to describe his poetry. “All my pieces that I use for competition are all about the themes of heartbreak and love,” said Leblanc. “A lot of it is very dark, very deep.”

Leblanc explained that the hardest part is starting and ending the slam. The beginning makes the audience want to listen. “I always try to keep it at least uplifting at the end; I always like to end with the idea life will get better,” said Leblanc. It’s his way of letting the audience leave with some hope.

As a musician as well, Leblanc can see himself incorporating music into his slam. He can eventually see himself going down a more comedic and uplifting route, the more he writes and explores his work.

Leblanc is planning a poetry tour for next summer, on the West Coast of Canada and in the United States, and will be meeting up with poets he met at the competition along the way.

Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

ASFA Deals app provides students with coupons for food around campus.

Whether you are craving pork dumplings with a side of rice noodles, or a 12-inch Subway sandwich to refuel after class, buying food can be expensive on a student budget.

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) created an application called ASFA Deals to provide Concordians and fellow Montrealers with daily coupons from a variety of restaurants near both campuses.

ASFA’s External Affairs and Communications Coordinator, Fatima El Gahami, started looking into a potential phone application for students when she was running for her position in the association’s last elections. Once elected, she worked alongside ASFA’s Communications and External Affairs Committee to develop the app during the summer.

It was important to El Gahami for deals to be available everywhere, especially at the Loyola campus because the majority of students there are arts and science students, and there is already a lack of food options.

The committee teamed up with Restoply, a company that develops custom apps for restaurants. The app was completed in July as a pilot test and was officially released during this year’s Frosh week.

The creation of the app did not cost ASFA anything. Restaurant owners make a profit in the form of clientele, and Restoply earns revenue whenever a coupon from the application is used.

“There was an app with CASA [Commerce and Administration Students’ Association] Deals and I really liked the idea,” said El Gahami, when asked what inspired the app.

“I wanted to bring this sense of unity between students, and [have] them recognize they are a part of ASFA,” said El Gahami.

“We’re all students. We pay tuition, we work. So it’s always a good idea to save money on food, especially the food around downtown,” said El Gahami. “It can be expensive buying everyday, so you get a deal. It’s flattering to save up money, and at the same time, it’s your association that is offering you these deals.”

The coupons vary day to day, and change based on your location, explained El Gahami.

She hopes the app will encourage students to become more involved with ASFA and student politics.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

An investigative committee will handle complaints under new policy.

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) unanimously approved its new anti-harassment and sexual violence policy during its regular council meeting on Thursday, Oct. 11. The policy was initially put under review in March.

This new policy is the result of a collaborative process that lasted eight months. Irish studies councillor, Margot Berner, said the policy was developed with the help of the Centre for Gender Advocacy (CGA), the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC), the Concordia Student Union (CSU), as well as ASFA’s task force.

Berner also consulted students from the University of British Columbia to write the new policy.

The new internal policy creates an investigative committee. Berner said it will be “made of people who have proven to have knowledge about these issues in the past. What that means is that they have either learned experience from their personal life, or are involved in advocacy.” A legal representative and a representative from either the CGA or SARC will also sit on the investigative committee.

“There will be a flowchart to take you through the process if you want to report someone for discrimination, or sexual violence, or racialized violence,” said Berner. Arts and science students who want to file a complaint using ASFA’s policy can go directly to the ASFA coordinators or simply give their report to ASFA’s front desk, Berner said.

The CGA and SARC will also inform students of ASFA’s new policy as an option for those who want to file a complaint. The organization’s representatives will be acting as an intermediary during the complaint process, Berner said, “So people who experience trauma won’t have to deal with us. We’re a lot of folks.”The new policy “explains how we’re going to act when people report to us rather than the university, and it specifies people are welcome to pursue multiple avenues,” said Berner. Under ASFA’s new policy, students will be able to pursue actions simultaneously through the university and the police, Berner said.

“We have proven multiple times in the past that the ASFA is not quite equipped to deal with these types of situations,” Berner said. “We are all students, […] we don’t have training in disclosure, we don’t have training in those things, so having the experts help us out on how we respond is really important.”

ASFA is currently facing its second lawsuit in the Quebec Commission of Human Rights and Youth Rights, filed by the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR). The CRARR filed a lawsuit on behalf of Harris Turpin for ASFA’s alleged failure to address Turpin’s sexual harassment complaints in 2018. The student federation also settled a case with the CRARR in 2015, after a biracial executive was subjected to racial and sexual discrimination.

According to Marguerite Rolland, ASFA’s advocacy and executive coordinator, a first draft of the policy was reviewed by the policy committee and lawyers but was found to be flawed. According to Jane Lefebvre, the women’s studies councillor who was also part of the task force, the first draft was not feasible in terms of the resources ASFA has.

All parties involved in its making—including Berner and Elliott Boulanger, internal affairs and administration coordinator—were working on it the whole summer, said Rolland. “It’s been very diligent.”

Logo courtesy of ASFA.

University warns students not to open spam emails during second cyber attack.

Concordia University sent a warning, on Sept. 25, to urge the Concordia community not to open phishing emails. The university’s Instruction and Information Technology Services (IITS) received several reports.

A phishing email is a fraudulent email sent from what seems to be a reputable company. The emails being received by members of the Concordia community are from “email addresses very similar to the email addresses of existing Concordia faculty and staff,” according to the warning sent by the university.

The warning specifies that the latest phishing scams are selling “services, products, gift cards and goods from Gmail/Hotmail/Outlook,” and fake Concordia addresses.

“Concordia takes matters of IT security seriously. IITS works diligently to ensure the online safety of the Concordia community,” said Mary-Jo Barr, the university’s spokesperson.

In the latest message, the university warned students to be vigilant. It also asked students to call the individual or company to ensure the validity of the product or service before making any payments.

Barr said a common sign of a phishing email is when the sender and replying address don’t match.

“If you receive a phishing email please do not respond, do not open any links and do not open any attachments,” Barr said. She also suggests deleting the email after it’s been reported.

Being vigilant and aware of where the software is coming from is also key, according to Barr. She suggests not installing applications sent via email from untrustworthy sources, and said it’s best not to give out any account information by phone, URL, or email. “This is not how business is normally conducted,” she said.

This isn’t the first time that Concordia has sent a warning to its students regarding phishing emails. As previously reported by The Concordian, phishing emails also circulated on Oct. 3, 2017. The emails were sent by newsonlineconcordia@concordia.ca, according to the screenshot in the university’s warning.

Cyberattacks and spam emails are becoming a trend. Hacking devices were installed at both Concordia libraries in March 2016. These devices, called keyloggers, record all computer activities, even keyboard activity.

EConcordia, the online course system was hacked in April 2017. According to The Link, 9,000 students were reached by the hack, but no financial or student records were affected.

Barr couldn’t share details about the measures the university takes to ensure its cyber security, as she said it would make the systems vulnerable. However, she assured The Concordian that security measures are in place, and anytime a threat arises, the community is made aware.

If you have received an email of this kind, report it to IITS at help@concordia.ca.