Aanii, Boozhoo, Kwe Kwe, Wachay!
Last week, the Human Resources and Organizational Development Department sent out a “Save the Date” for our third installment of the All-Employee Symposium. This impressive symposium organized by our colleagues here at Laurentian will focus on wellness and a healthy workplace.
In our 2018-2023 Strategic Plan, Outcome 3 indicates:
We will incorporate a holistic approach to wellness in our everyday practices as we embrace the beautiful natural environment that our campus offers, informed by the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges (2015);
Our All-Employee Symposium is a reflection of this holistic approach to wellness. It looks at a wide variety of topics such as finance, safety, nutrition, medicine, and stress. All of these are important factors when considering a person’s journey to wellness.
This full-day symposium is scheduled for May 8, 2019, and will bring a host of engaging sessions that I encourage all staff and faculty to attend. This year’s keynote speaker is Greater Sudbury Chief of Police Paul Pedersen who will be focusing on diversity and authentic inclusion and how both benefit our wellbeing.
Dr. Nicole Dubuc-Charbonneau will lead a discussion entitled, “Contre l’épuisement - Une stratégie d’auto-régulation intégrée dans nos vie quotidiennes,” which will explore self-awareness and self-regulating in order to reduce perceived stress and prevent burnout.
In the afternoon, an open dialogue session will be hosted by Shelly Moore-Frappier and Melanie Roque. Participants will be encouraged to participate in courageous conversations regarding the Indian Act, Residential Schools, Sixties Scoop as well as Truth and Reconciliation. The session is designed to be an open and safe space for participants to ask questions, and share their own journeys, as they discuss the historical realities experienced by Indigenous people in Canada. This discussion is intended to be helpful for personal growth and to help us learn how to respectfully engage with and be an ally to Indigenous people.
We also have two sessions going on outdoors on our beautiful campus.
Other engaging symposium sessions include titles such as:
- Nourishing through Nutrition: A Whole Foods Approach to Wellness;
- Financial Wellness;
- Plan BE is about ME;
- A Naturopathic Guide to Managing Stress;
- Wellness Means Putting Yourself First;
- Population Health, Community Safety and Well-Being;
- Going Beyond Wellness: Taking action on workplace stress;
- Take Charge of your Life Now;
- Chanter en travaillant;
- Learning Mindfulness using Arts-Based Methods;
- Medicine Walk (outdoors); and,
- The Power of the Walk: Engaging Employees on our Trails (outdoors).
The lineup for this year’s symposium is sure to be a day filled with engagement, reflection and personal growth. Once again, I encourage everyone to take the time to attend a single session or the entire day. This is time that is well spent to ensure we continue to have a vibrant, engaged, and healthy staff and faculty at Laurentian University.
Merci. Thank you. Miigwetch.