Issue 6
Thank you for establishing
your private account in the Members' Area of the Ontario College of
Teachers' web site and for your interest in receiving breaking news
and professional information from the College.
In
this Issue:
- E-vote
Now!
- Another
Contest ... and You’re Already Entered
- College
Members Can Track Professional Learning Online
- Invitation
to Serve on Professional Learning Committee
- Call
for Nominations - 2003 CEA-Whitworth Award for Educational
Research
E-vote
Now!
The polls are open and the
voting is easy.
You only have to click
into the Members’ Area of the College web site and click on your choices of
candidates for the next Council of the Ontario College of Teachers.
Teachers get to elect the
majority of members who sit on the College’s Council – teachers elected by
their peers hold 17 of the 31 positions on Council. The remaining 14 positions
are held by public appointees.
There are 42 candidates
running in the 17 elected positions of Council. Go online and get to know them
by reading their profiles. Then, decide who you want to represent you over the
next three years. Voting begins today, March 3, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on April
14th.
Encourage your colleagues
to sign in to vote too! Every successful referral you make that results in a
colleague setting up their own private account gives you an extra chance to win
trips to Paris or Vancouver or a home office setup.
Please note, this election
is entirely electronic. There will be no paper ballots. You must go online to
cast your votes.
Don’t delay. The
composition of the next Council rests at your fingertips now at http://www.oct.on.ca/en/Election/notice_E.asp.
Another
Contest ... and You’re Already Entered
Refer
Your Friends and Get More Chances to Win
So you didn’t win the
free trip to London for opening your College Members’ Area account before
December 31. And now there’s another contest with trips to Paris and Vancouver
from Explorica, and a home office setup from Staples.
Don’t despair. You’ve
been automatically entered for your chance to win these prizes donated by
advertisers in Professionally Speaking/Pour parler profession.
You can increase your
chances to win by convincing your colleagues to open their own Members’ Area
accounts. Check out the Refer a Colleague feature on the new contest site. For
every College member you refer who then sets up their account, you will receive
another entry in the contest. You only get credit for being the first one to
refer another member.
For more information,
visit prizes or www.explorica.ca.
College
Members Can Track Professional Learning Online
You can now check out your
personalized Professional Learning (PL) Record online via our secure Members’
Area on the College web site.
The PL Record is a
statement of credits you have earned under the Professional Learning Program
(PLP). The PL Record was made available online for the first time on February
27.
"We’re pleased to
be able to offer this additional service as part of the College’s commitment
to ensuring that our members have online access to their records and can
communicate with the College easily," said Professional Affairs
Co-ordinator Marg Aubé. "This is a cost-effective way to provide a
convenient service to a large membership."
To view your Professional
Learning Record, go to your private account in the Members’ Area at www.oct.on.ca.
At the same time, you will also be able to access your ballots for voting online
in the upcoming Council elections.
The PL Record shows the
start and end date of your current professional learning cycle and the core,
elective and additional credits that you have earned. You can view an online
guide entitled How To Read Your Professional Learning Record and a guide for
following up with the College if your credits do not appear as expected.
Please allow at least 60
days for providers to send your course completion information to the College,
and then allow some time for the results to be added to your Professional
Learning Record.
If you have informed the
College that you are retired, you will still have a PL Record but your status
will be noted as Exempt – Retired. Any PLP credits you earn will be noted on
your record.
If you find errors in your
Professional Learning Record, please contact the College at 1-888-534- 2222,
ext. 431 or e-mail at professionallearning@oct.on.ca .
Your PL Record is a
confidential document, available only online and only to you. You can print it
as an official College document by clicking on the Print This Page link.
If you have provided us
with your e-mail address, the College will automatically notify you of any PLP
credits or AQ courses that have been added to your file.
Invitation
to Serve on the Professional Learning Committee
Members of the College are
invited to submit their names as candidates for the member-at-large positions on
the Professional Learning Committee.
The Committee is composed
of four College Council members (two elected and two appointed), two
members-at-large, and up to five members appointed by the Minister of Education.
Members-at-large serve for the three years of the Council term. The first
meeting of the newly constituted Committee will be in May, 2003.
The Committee meets
monthly at the College offices in Toronto to approve Professional Learning
Program providers and courses, and to consider reviews of providers and courses.
The Nomination Committee
of the College Council will make recommendations to the College Council of
appointments as members-at-large.
If you are interested in
applying for one of the member-at-large positions, please send a copy of your
resumé, including your College registration number and a one-page description
of your experience in professional development.
The information may be
e-mailed, mailed or faxed to:
Charlie Morrison
Manager, Policy and Research
121 Bloor Street East, 6th Floor
Toronto ON M4W 3M5
Fax: 416-961-8822
cmorrison@oct.on.ca
Call for
Nominations
2003
CEA-Whitworth Award for Educational Research
Each year the Canadian
Education Association (CEA) honours a person who has made a noteworthy
contribution to educational research in our country.
Through this award, the
CEA celebrates the important contribution of research in increasing our
knowledge and understanding of Canadian education.
Consider nominating a
candidate for the 2003 CEA-Whitworth Award for Educational Research. Information
on the nomination
procedure and criteria is available on the CEA Web site. Please ensure that the
required information for each nomination is provided.
All nomination forms and
supporting documentation should be returned to the CEA office by April 30, 2003.
A sub-committee of the CEA Research Steering Committee has been appointed to
review all nominations and make the final decision.
For more information,
visit the the Canadian Education Association web site at www.acea.ca.
