April 27, 2022

Seneca has been recognized with two 2022 Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Awards of Excellence.

The awards, given out during CICan’s annual conference in Halifax, recognize best practices from institutions across the country as well as individual leadership and achievements.

Seneca won a bronze in both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Excellence category and the Global Engagement Excellence category.

This is the second year in a row Seneca has been awarded a CICan bronze for its efforts in sustainable development.

The 2022 win recognized the release of Seneca’s first sustainability plan, which builds on the work of the Sustainable Seneca Committee and focuses on the themes of leadership, community, education, research and operations.

Seneca also established sustainability as one of the three pillars of Au Large, hired the first director for the Office of Sustainability, launched the Seneca Business Sustainability Speaker Series and embraced the Principles for Responsible Management Education within Seneca Business.

“We are proud of the recognition from CICan,” said Don Forster, Director, Office of Sustainability. “This could not have been achieved without significant support and input from the Seneca community that helped to shape our strategy and support actions to embed more SDG-related priorities into all aspects of life at Seneca.”

In the Global Engagement Excellence category, Seneca’s International Mobility Office was honoured for its innovative and inclusive internationalization strategy — Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).

The introduction of COIL to Seneca’s classrooms last fall was made possible by funding through the Government of Canada’s Global Skills Opportunity Program, designed and administered by CICan.

Building on years of in-person student and faculty exchanges, COIL is a creative, faculty-led teaching and learning model that connects students and educators virtually to collaborate on curriculum-embedded projects and discussions. Seneca ran a pilot to train 17 faculty members on the COIL model and is now an institutional leader with more than 30 COIL projects in preparation.

“The COIL model is a great example of how Seneca re-imagined how we deliver programs during the pandemic,” said Monica Kronfli, Director, Seneca’s International Academic Pathways & Mobility. “It also reflects the Au Large pillars to create the equitable and more virtual Seneca. Through project-based international collaborations that are faculty-driven, students from all backgrounds can engage in global learning virtually. The reach is tremendous, as are the professional gains for participating faculty.”

A complete list of CICan award recipients can be found online.