Like many programs in Educational Development, the ED Institute has been a collaborative effort between all the people you see below. The first meeting for this volunteer community was scheduled for the day the Educational Developer Caucus (EDC) was dissolved. As that community rebuilt itself, the volunteers below decided to move forward with an Educational Development Institute. We have supported each other during this work and also wish to thank the interim board of the former EDC for their support. We would also like to thank the Maple League of Universities for kindly providing the Eventbrite and Zoom platforms for managing and hosting the institute.
If you have any questions, the ED Institute Coordinator can be reached at matthew.p.dunleavy@gmail.com.
Ameera Ali, PhD (she/her)
Ameera is an Educational Developer (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) in the Teaching Commons at York University. As her title indicates, her broad areas of interest include equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in higher education. More specifically, she focuses on accessibility, inclusive pedagogies, anti-oppressive pedagogies, culturally-responsive teaching, wellness and mental health, trauma and learning, pedagogies of care/kindness/compassion, and gender equity. Her postdoctoral research explored university students’ experiences of teaching and learning throughout the Covid-19 pandemic through an intersectional lens, and she has previously investigated university students’ experiences of accessibility in teaching and learning more broadly.
Véronique Brulé, PhD (she/her)
Véronique is an Educational Developer with the Office of Science Education, a unit supporting teaching in the Faculty of Science at McGill University. She enjoys collaborating with students, faculty and staff to explore new ways of learning that are both meaningful and exciting. Her main areas of interest include pedagogical training for graduate teaching assistants and lab course design. A plant biologist by training, she is always happy to chat (and sometimes can’t help but chat) about whacky plants!
Samantha Chang (she/her)
Samantha is an art historian by day and a classical musician by night. She is ​a Faculty Liaison, Pedagogical Support, Teaching & Learning at the Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto. She was the Humanities and Teaching Dossier Coordinator at the Teaching Assistants’ Training Program, Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation and the Online Learning Consultant in the Department of Art History. In 2021, Samantha received the Course Instructor Teaching Excellence Award from the Teaching Assistants’ Training Program, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation, University of Toronto.
Matthew Dunleavy (he/him)
Matthew is the Program Director of the Online Learning and Technology Consultants (OLTC) Program at the Maple League of Universities (Acadia, Bishop’s, Mount Allison, and St. Francis Xavier). Matthew has been a SSHRC Doctoral Fellow in Victorian Literature and Course Director with the Department of English at York University, has worked with the Teaching Commons at the same institution, and is currently the President of the Board of Directors of Learning Essentials for Adults in Durham Region (LEADR)—a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to providing tutoring for adults in basic literacy, numeracy, and digital skills.
As the ED Institute Coordinator, Matthew would like to thank the phenomenal colleagues on this page who have volunteered their time to create and facilitate the four workshops we are hosting this year. He is also indebted to the community members who have joined our sessions as panelists.
Gerry Gourlay, PhD (she/her)
Gerry is the TA Coordinator in the Division of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation at the University of Victoria (UVic). In this role, she mentors over 750 graduate TAs each term through TA-specific programming and professional development initiatives to ensure that TAs are supporting undergraduate learning. Gerry holds a PhD in biology from UVic and has completed in tandem an accredited graduate certificate for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LATHE) (2017, UVic).
Kar On Lee, MBA
Kar On is an Instructional Designer at Simon Fraser University’s Learning and Teaching Technologies, Centre for Educational Excellence. Her current role enables her to support innovation in teaching and learning through technology supported learning environments. With her experience in the English as a Second Language classroom, she collaborates and consults with staff and faculty on Accessibility and Inclusive teaching, student engagement strategies and educational development.
Melissa Li Sheung Ying, PhD (she/her)
Melissa is an Educational Developer with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at MacEwan University. One of the highlights of her role is the privilege of collaborating with faculty on an array of meaningful teaching and learning opportunities that include program and curriculum development, active learning, EDI, and SoTL. With her background in English literature, Melissa also enjoys being in the classroom where she can actively bring her educational development and teaching worlds together in an exciting way with and for her students.
Brian Nairn, PhD (he/him)
Brian is a Coordinator of Program Curriculum Development, Quality Assurance, and Educational Development (yes, it’s a mouthful) with the Centre for Academic Excellence & Quality Assurance at St. Clair College. He is new to this role as of May 2, but spent the previous 3+ years as an Educational Developer at York University. His current role focuses on curriculum and curriculum review to ensure quality and compliance with Ministerial standards, while also supporting faculty with their teaching professional development. In a previous academic life, Brian was a spine biomechanist focusing on the interaction between the lumbar (low back), and thoracic (mid-back) regions.