Education Renewal Committee (ad hoc)

The Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA) Education Program Renewal Working Group was established by the Executive of the CNSA on January 11, 2019. A charter for the group was drafted and Jane Arnold was appointed chair of the working group.

Purpose and Scope

The mission of this working group is to conduct a thorough review and make recommendations to the CNSA Executive for improvements to the education program that will address our members’ wishes for relevant, valuable, and innovative educational opportunities.

Objectives and Goals

The Education Program Renewal Working Group will undertake five specific tasks:
1. Conduct environmental scan for benchmarking purposes to assess CNSA education programming against current offerings from other provincial councils, colleges and universities.
2. Compile and summarize recommendations from previous surveys and committee reports. Identify other stakeholder groups (such as recent graduates and new professionals) and gather data where necessary.
3. Based on gathered data, produce report outlining recommended strategy and changes to the existing educational programming.
4. Based on report recommendations, explore feasibility of new course development (contracting instructional designer to create new courses, and explore options for creating online course curriculum, etc.)
5. Communicate timeline and plans to CNSA membership and Executive, and identify funding opportunities for implementing a new programming plan.

Deliverables and Timeframe

The deliverables for the working group will consist of the following:
• Updated members survey and/or focus groups to gather recent feedback
• A report with recommendations for improvements to the CNSA’s education program
• An action plan/work plan (including timelines) for implementation of recommendations
• A clear vision for the future of the program – new courses/modes of delivery identified and pursued; member needs (from survey) addressed and met
• Develop assessment framework for measuring effectiveness of new programming
The group will be formed by January 2019 and will carry out it is work from January 2019 - December 2019. The deliverables should be completed by January 2020.

An update about the committee work will be presented at the 2019 CNSA AGM and the new course proposal will be revealed for 2020.

Group Members

Jane Arnold, Chair
Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University

Patti Bannister
Provincial Archivist of Nova Scotia

Dave MacLachlan
Nova Scotia Archives

Catherine Fancy
Vaughn Memorial Library, Acadia University

CNSA Archives Advisor - ex-officio

Status Reporting

The chair of the group will provide monthly reports to the CNSA Executive and discussed at monthly executive meetings.

Dissolution

The group’s work will be considered complete and the group will be dissolved.

Charter Document History

Initially reviewed by CNSA Executive 01.11.2019
Revisions made by CNSA Executive
Approved by CNSA Executive

Final Report

The Education Renewal Final Report is available HERE.