Like most wonderful concepts, CSL begins with Community, literally. It is an innovative idea that aims to provide University of Alberta students with life-changing opportunities to put their unique perspectives, skills, and enthusiasm to work by making meaningful contributions to different local community groups. If you've ever invited us to attend your community garden harvest event and been enticed to participate in our annual CG survey by some charming, clipboard wielding folks, you too have experienced the magic of CSL. We are always eager to team up with a new crop of students and did we ever hit the jackpot with this last bunch!
ALES 204: Communication Fundamentals for Professionals is a class within the Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences that we were lucky enough to work with during this last term. The class breaks up into different pods, and then sub-groups within that pod, to work with different community partners to assess and identify communications issues, and then create custom solutions based on their very thorough and up close examination. So much depth and consideration! And professionalism - phewf - doesn't even begin to adequately convey how impressive the results are.
The term culminates in The ALES 204 Communications Awards: a communications showdown where the top group from each of the pods presents their analysis and work to their peers, as well as a panel of judges made up of real-life movers and shakers in the actual business community - yikes! But these CSL Communicators are cool as cucumbers, which I'm sure the Community Garden set appreciates, and they blow everyone away! In a landslide vote, they take home all the accolades and SFE ends up with an incredible suite of products that these amazing students have created. Talk about win-win!
Are you curious about what these phenoms actually created for us? Well, you will just have to come to the Annual CG Potluck to find out more...! You can still register here:
Big, upper-case CONGRATULATIONS go out to the winners of the ALES 204 Communications Awards - Group D4: M. Araujo, A. Lakha, M. Lim, V. Miller, H. Wasylycia and A. Watts!
Sincere gratitude and appreciation for all the members of all the groups in pod D who contributed their very terrific ideas - you definitely raised the bar! Also, special thank yous to instructors Anne Pratt and Nancy Bray - this class is a product of excellence from the top down!