On March 26, 2025, an exceptional group of student leaders collaborated with Wellbeing and Accessibility Services to host a meaningful celebration of faculty and staff who are contributing to the wellbeing of our campus by creating accessible and health-promoting classrooms. Three award categories were presented, and profound words were shared by Teacher Wellbeing researcher Dr. Sabre Cherkowski and MSW Student Ola Lasocka.
Dr. Claire Budgen Golden Apple Awards:
These awards were created to acknowledge faculty members making outstanding contributions to wellbeing in the academic environment. The eight award categories are based on the tool Teaching Practices that Promote Student Wellbeing and were distributed as follows:
- Creating a safe classroom environment – Rishma Chooniedass, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Faculty of Health and Social Development
- Openly discuss wellbeing-related topics – Selena Clark, Sessional Lecturer, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
- Recognize that students have lives outside of academics – Gema Rodriguez-Perez, Assistant Professor, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science
- Fostering instructor-student relationships – Peter Arthur, Professor of Teaching, Faculty of Education
- Helping students find value in the subject matter – Andreas Rutkauskas, Lecturer, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
- Supporting learning outside the classroom – Brian Dalton, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health and Social Development
- Structuring course effectively – Bryce Dixon, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Social Development
- Delivering course effectively – Kennedy Jones, Clinical Supervisor, Faculty of Health and Social Development
I Am Accessible Awards:
The “I am Accessible” Award is intended to recognize and celebrate UBCO faculty and staff members who exemplify the qualities of an inclusive educational institution. Nominees may epitomize Inclusive Education by demonstrating the following (a non-exhaustive list):
- Equitable access to learning materials and resources in the classroom and/or lab (i.e., posted lecture notes, providing information using different modalities, evaluating student learning through multiple modalities)
- A positive attitude towards diverse learning needs and an understanding that students may need different things to achieve similar outcomes in class
- A willingness to be flexible while maintaining academic standards
- Making you feel welcome and included at UBCO
The winners this year were:
Zoe Soon, Associate Professor of Teaching, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science and Hannah Connon, Lecturer, Faculty of Health and Social Development
A Wellbeing and Accessibility Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to Sally Stewart, who has been a champion for wellbeing in learning environments for many years and has led many critical programs such as the “Teachers Project”, the “Take A Stand Policy“, among many other initiatives. Thank you, Sally, for all you have done to advance wellbeing and the Okanagan Charter principles on the UBC campuses and beyond.
Congratulations to all the 2025 winners.