Leadership

I am directly responsible for the development, management and support of experiential learning at Laurier, and for ensuring career development is an integral part of the student experience. My portfolio includes the Career Development Centre, Co-operative Education and Community and Workplace Partnerships, where I focus on the development and delivery of comprehensive programs and services. These programs and services enable students to enhance their learning, and identify and realize their educational and career goals. I am committed to building strong relationships and partnerships both within the institution and externally with employers and community.

I am a Laurier alumna, having completed my Bachelor of Arts at this institution. I also hold a Master of Education degree in Higher Education from the University of Toronto. I am the recipient of the Laurier President’s Award for Individual Achievement and the Laurier Alumni Association Schaus Award for Staff. As a nationally-recognized leader in the field of post-secondary career development and experiential learning, I have held a number of leadership roles in related professional associations and networks.

I serve as the principal deputy for the Office of the Provost and Vice-President: Academic in all matters of academic administration, including academic operations, planning, policy, and governance.

I hold an Honours Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Science from the University of Guelph, a Master of Applied Science in Management of Technology from the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering, and a doctorate in Management from Saint Mary’s University. I was instrumental in the development and administration of the Business Technology Management (BTM) program at Laurier's Brantford campus in my role as program director and area coordinator. I am also a founding member of the BTM Forum, which accredits BTM programs and certifies BTM graduates and professionals.

I provide strategic leadership, direction and vision for technology enabled teaching and learning across the institution in both virtual and physical environments. Through a focus on continuous improvement we seek to streamline processes, enhance services and deliver professional support to all users of teaching and learning technologies at Laurier.

I oversee the development of digital learning programs, services and materials to support technology enabled teaching and learning in virtual and physical spaces in both for- and non-credit courses and programs. By supporting innovation and continuous improvement across the institution, eLearning introduces new technologies and strategies which will enhance teaching and learning for faculty and students today and in the future.

I completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature with a minor in Classical Studies at the University of Waterloo (2001), followed by a Bachelor of Education Junior/Intermediate English from Nipissing University (2002). In 2018, I graduated from Memorial University with a Master’s of Education in Post-Secondary Studies with a capstone focused on the evaluation and development of supports for adult students who are studying online. I started my career at Laurier in 2002 in 'Distance Education' and have held various positions in the unit since that time.

• Olender, J., Scott, M. (2019, June). Enhancing support for online learners: Researching student needs to inform innovation. Presented at CACUSS Conference, Calgary, Alberta.
• Alisat, S., Barichello, A., Hughes, S. E., & Scott, M. C. (2016, May). Student perceptions of online learning. Presented at CAUCE-CNIE Conference, Waterloo, Ontario.
• Scott, M. (2014, July). Unconventional uses of the LMS. Presented at FUSION Conference, Nashville, Tennessee.
• Kleinschmidt, P., Scott, M. (2011, July). Submitting grades from Desire2Learning learning environment to Banner student information system. Presented at FUSION Elevate Conference, Denver Colorado.

As Academic Director of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, I work directly with the educational developers on the Teaching Excellence and Innovation team, and collaboratively with eLearning, Continuing Education and Experiential Learning & Career Services, to think strategically and proactively about how we can foster innovative, effective pedagogies that support Laurier’s aim to produce future-ready graduates across our campuses.

I am deeply committed to meeting the needs of faculty and graduate students through a variety of pedagogical resources, workshops and opportunities for learning and sharing at Laurier. My focus is on providing those supports that are directly responsive to both the immediate and longer-term needs of instructors and mentors that face a rapidly changing context for teaching and learning in the postsecondary educational context. Our prospective student learners have robust digital capabilities, want flexibility in their university programs, are career-focused and concerned about their mental health and wellness. They are more diverse than ever and – post-pandemic – are differently situated to take part in university education. Around us, technologies are changing at a breakneck pace, and economic opportunities require lifelong learning options. Further, student populations across our campuses and across our programs also differ. TEI is endeavouring to respond to these realities.

While I am interested in broader developments in postsecondary pedagogies, I am particularly fascinated by experiential and career-integrated approaches to curriculum and course design, with the aim of tightly and meaningfully linking learning inside and outside of the “classroom”. Experiential learning also provides a means to ground our institution and our students in our local communities, to understand and respond to social and economic forces which require pedagogies of equity and inclusiveness, decolonization and cultural responsiveness.

Since completing a PhD (comparative public policy) and Postdoc (Canadian environmental policy) at Queen’s University in Kingston, I have worked for more than 25 years as an academic researcher, publishing six books, more than 50 articles and chapters, and producing significant policy research work, primarily in the area of environmental policy and transboundary environmental governance. But my true passion has always been teaching – I simply could not imagine occupying any position that did not keep me in the classroom!

I have taught at almost every level of university education, and have instructed very large lecture courses (250-400 students), very small graduate seminars (12-15 students) and everything in between. I have innovated at all of these levels, experimenting with new forms of individual and group learning with the aid of various teaching technologies in large lectures; utilizing career-integrated and experiential learning into my senior undergraduate and graduate courses; and experimenting with virtual and hybrid learning approaches.

• Combining community-based learning with experiential exercises in academic curriculum design
• STEAM pedagogies and teaching at the climate science-indigenous knowledge-policy interface
• Creating supportive communities for graduate student teaching practice