As part of Mental Health Week, Morneau Shepell has launched new microsite —“A stable mindset in an unstable world”– that explores how to stay informed and support the ones you love while maintaining good mental health. In order to access the microsite materials, Algonquin College employees need to log in through the workhealthlife.com website: https://www.workhealthlife.com/Home/Navigate/DE4936F2-9F03-489A-B62C-62B0A1690450
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While the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) help line is open for eligible employees, LifeWorks has also opened up a Crisis Support Line for anyone in the community in need of emotional support in relation to these events. The Crisis Support Line is open 24/7 and can be reached at: 1-866-885-6540. By calling, individuals will receive professional emotional support and/or referral to community resources. This resource is available to anyone and everyone, client or not.
Additional traumatic event support resources can be found below:
Starting Wednesday, April 8, LifeWorks will be hosting weekly Well-being Wednesdays Facebook Live sessions from LifeWorks. Well-being Wednesdays sessions will run for 30 minutes in both English and French and focus on one of the four pillars of well-being: Mental, Physical, Social, and Financial. Our own experts and partners from around the world will lead the Well-being Wednesdays live sessions!
All you need to join live for Well-being Wednesdays is to visit the LifeWorks Facebook page.
Well-being Wednesdays schedule for April:
- Wednesday April 8, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English) : Mental well-being
- Wednesday April 15, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English): Physical well-being
- Wednesday April 22, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English): Social well-being
- Wednesday April 29, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English): Financial well-being
While I recognize that this is a difficult time and that we are all adjusting, adapting and continuing to provide support for our learners and each other, I know that taking time to nominate a colleague for an employee award may not be top of mind.
However, it is in part because of these exceptional times, that it remains important to keep alive some of our treasured College traditions and in the case of our Employee Awards, recognize those colleagues who go above and beyond.
For this reason, the Employee Awards nominations, selection and recognitions are going ahead. I know that every day we work with exceptional colleagues who live our College values and exemplify the spirit of our employee awards through their exceptional skill and dedication to our students, their peers and the communities we serve. The current circumstances are shining an even brighter light on this reality.
We have extended the nomination deadline to May 29. Please watch myAC for reminders, links to all the nomination pages and tips on how to write a high-quality nomination.
Please take some time to nominate a colleague. Now, more than ever, we need to acknowledge and recognize the employee excellence that is Algonquin College.
Sincerely,
Diane McCutcheon
Vice President, Human Resources
Morneau Shepell is pleased to sponsor a free virtual panel, “Happiness in Times of Crisis,” a Canadian Club of Toronto event. This event will take place on Thursday, April 2 at 12-1 p.m. ET.
This expert panel will be moderated by Bruce Sellery, Business Journalist and President of Canadian Club Toronto, and will feature:
- Paula Allen – Senior Vice-President, Research, Analytics and Innovation, Morneau Shepell
- Dr. Donna Ferguson – Clinical Psychologist (ABPP), CAMH
- Jessica Holmes – Comedian & Author, “Depression: A Comedy”
- Neil Parischa – Author, “The Happiness Equation” and “You Are Awesome”
This virtual event is free of charge. No sign up required. All you need to access the event is your name and email.
Please join us here: https://www.livewebcast.ca/canadian-club-20200402/.
March 31, 2020
Dear Colleagues and Learners,
I have more news to share with you today, but first I want to take a moment to thank some incredible people — your family members. I know I have thanked you, our learners and employees, many times. But I don’t want another day go by without acknowledging the spouses, partners, siblings, parents, children and others who are supporting you so that you can do the important work you’re doing. Whether it is the caring partner who prepares your meal so you can get ready for a test or exam, or a thoughtful roommate who brings you a coffee so that you can join your video call, or the child who patiently waits for you to finish your work before you can organize a new activity. I want you to know that I am well aware of the sacrifices everyone is making on the home front, and I thank you all for this.
On March 15, we announced the cancellation of all College events until the end of April. As much as we are anxious to resume these activities and events, we now know that we are going to have to extend that date in order to make the health and safety of our College community, and all our many visitors, a priority. For this reason, we are now cancelling all events at Algonquin College up to and including June 30, 2020. This deadline may be revised as we learn more about how the pandemic is unfolding, and we will notify you of any updates as soon as they are available.
I also want to advise our learners and potential learners that deposit-fee deadlines for the Spring/Summer terms have been extended from April 1 to April 15, 2020. Returning students will have until June 8, 2020 to pay the balance of fees due. Students can access their fee information through the student portal, including how to pay from home via electronic transfer.
Finally, I want to thank everyone for your feedback, which continues to shape our response. Please know that your comments are heard and directed to the appropriate department for immediate action. On that note, I also thank you for your patience. We are dealing with many scenarios that are not only new to you, but new to all of us as well. It sometimes takes us longer than we would like to provide you with the answers you are seeking. I want to assure you that our teams always act as quickly as possible to provide the most accurate information to resolve your issues — so that you can make informed decisions and get back to your work or studies.
I will update you again later this week, but until then, please do check our redesigned COVID-19 website for all the latest news and information for our College community.