This Week @ York for Week of October 6, 2020

Announcement

  • Announcement: Resumption of Paid Parking. On November 1, York will be resuming paid parking on both the Keele and Glendon campuses with a new contactless payment option from HONK Mobile to make paying for parking more convenient. For example, you’ll be able to tap to pay and extend meter time from class. A discounted payment program will be in place for the remainder of the Fall term, with regular parking rates and permit requirements restarting in January 2021. Learn more about these changes and the HONK Mobile app on the Parking Services website.

FYI

  • The Office of the University Registrar (OUR) is conducting an external review of its services and they want to hear from you. Please take 10 minutes to fill out the Student Feedback Survey and tell them about your experiences when working with units in the OUR – Recruitment and Admissions, Client Relations, Records and Scheduling, Student Financial Services and Student Systems. This will help the OUR better understand your experience and identify areas that are working well and what can be improved upon to serve you better. Survey Closing Date: Tuesday, October 20 at 11:59 p.m.

  • Fall Programming Survey. Let your voice be heard! Fill out this brief survey from Student Community & Leadership Development to assess what types of programming and events you would like to see in Fall 2020 to support your needs (Academic, Career, Health & Well Being, Connection & Engagement).

Connect with Community

  • Experiential Education (EE) Symposium 2021 Application. Did you work on a research project or field activity for a course with experiential education components that you are exceptionally proud of? If yes, you should become a Poster Presenter and show off your project virtually at the Experiential Education Symposium in January! Application Deadline: Tuesday, November 2.

  • Professional Development Opportunity: Becoming YU Student Success Mentorship Program. Are you a student leader or a student who holds a volunteer position and/or job on or off campus? Are you looking for a mentorship opportunity? If so, you might be interested in the Becoming YU Student Success Mentorship Program. The program helps you set meaningful goals and identify your skills for future job interviews, provides you with professional development opportunities to become a better leader and helps you build other important career skills. Not available to officially hired work/study students with an existing staff supervisor. Application Deadline: Sunday, October 11.

  • Panel Discussion: Women in STEM. Attend this panel discussion hosted by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and hear a discussion told through the lens of women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math. The panel features current undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and alumni. Tuesday, October 6, 2:30 to 4 p.m. Registration required.

  • Anti-Racism Workshop Series: Challenging Unconscious Bias & Microaggressions. Join this workshop and take a deep dive into forms of unconscious bias and stereotyping that lead to microaggressions and discriminatory behaviour. The workshop also explores effective strategies to challenge our biases, reframe our ways of thinking and strengthen the experience of inclusion for all. Wednesday, October 7, 2020, 1:30 to 3 p.m. Registration required.

International Connections

  • York International Workshop: Pathways to Permanent Residence. If you are interested in applying for permanent residence, join us for this virtual presentation to find out about the various options you may have. Lawyers from Green & Spiegel will be presenting and answering questions. Wednesday, October 7, 9 to 11 a.m. Registration required.

  • View the York International Events Calendar for the full Virtual Coffee Break weekly schedule. YI’s daily Virtual Coffee Breaks are an online space for international and domestic students from across programs, Faculties, countries and cultures to connect and get to know each other! Student Leaders are on Zoom every weekday with different fun and interesting topics. When you sign up, a confirmation email with the zoom link will be sent to you upon registration.

Learning Skills

  • Learning Skills Services (LSS) Workshop: Time Management. Attend this workshop and learn key strategies to improve your academic achievement and confidence. Learn practical, personalized approaches to managing your time. Wednesday, October 7, 10 to 11 a.m. Registration required.

  • Workshop: Reading & Notetaking. Join this workshop and learn more effective reading and notetaking techniques to help you stay on top of your course work. Wednesday, October 7, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Registration required.

  • Workshop: Writing Tips. In this session, you’ll get help with planning, organizing and fine-tuning your writing, from picking a topic, right through to final proofreading. Thursday, October 8, 3 to 4 p.m. Registration required.

  • Workshop: Memory. Join this session and learn techniques to help you transfer all that course work information into your long-term memory, along with the strategies you’ll need to retrieve the information when you most need it. Friday, October 9, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Registration required.

Health & Wellness

  • Health Info Session. Join this session and learn how to stay healthy while completing your studies at York. Hear about the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP), the YFS health and dental plan, and the YUGSA health and dental plan. You will also have a chance to ask questions and learn how to access your UHIP card. Wednesday October 7, 6 to 7 p.m. and Friday, October 9, 2 to 3 p.m.

  • Health Education Workshop: Healthier Coping Strategies: Alcohol & Drug Use During Pandemic Times. Student mental health has been greatly impacted by pandemic, so has the increased consumption of drug or alcohol use. This workshop aims to educate and support you in implementing harm reduction strategies for moderating alcohol and drug use. Explore healthier coping strategies in supporting feelings of anxiety, isolation during the pandemic. Thursday, October 8, 11:30 a.m. Registration required.

  • Virtual Mental Health 101. This workshop, hosted by Health Education, will provide you with ways to support your peers with mental health concerns. Participants will learn tools to recognize, respond and refer students experiencing mental health issues and/or distress to appropriate campus and off-campus resources. It will also provide a safe online space for discussion and education about self-care practices, healthy boundaries and more. Thursday, October 8, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Registration required.

Mature Student Support

  • Virtual Café Hour (Mature Student Connect). Join the Atkinson Centre for Mature & Part-time Students (ACMAPS) and experience a warm and inviting virtual atmosphere where you can meet a mature student peer mentor and connect with other mature students. Drop-ins are welcome! Thursday, October 8, 11 a.m. to noon.

  • Virtual Mature Student Meditation (Mindful Meditation). Join this virtual mindful meditation session facilitated by psychologist Scott Pope from Student Counselling & Development. It will help you de-stress, decrease loneliness and increase positivity. Thursday, October 8, 1 to 1:45 p.m.

  • Workshop: Introductory Computer Skills (MS Office). Enhance your basic computer skills by reviewing key computing tools needed to succeed as a York student. Friday, October 9, noon to 1 p.m.

  • Mature Student Event Schedule. Are you a mature student at York? Are you interested in meditation or attending a casual, drop-in café hour to meet other mature students or a mature student peer mentor? Check the schedule at the link above and attend any session you wish, via Zoom.

Worth Repeating

  • Limited Study Spaces on Campus: Students living in proximity to campus, in undergraduate residences, York Apartments and The Quad, and those in on-campus courses have indicated a need for accessible, quiet spaces with reliable internet access to study and work on projects. In response to this need, York is making a limited number of student study spaces available to students on campus. Use of all study spaces will require pre-booking, via the study space online reservation tool.

  • To ensure your safety while on campus, we have instituted designated entrances for student access that will require your YU-card to gain entry. Please visit the Building Access on Campus web page for a map of designated building entrances and details about which buildings do not have YU-card readers and how to access them.

  • The Centre has developed the Building Safer Spaces Toolkit to educate students about important topics such as consent and oppression, and support the student community when organizing safe online events. It serves as a tool to ensure all mechanisms of support are considered and includes information about the importance of pronouns and challenging oppression at events, as well as an online events toolkit. There is also a step-by-step guide to navigating difficult online scenarios that may occur during events.