News

International students to begin arriving in December

Immigration Canada has given St. Clair College the green light to begin the process of bringing in its International students to the country.

The College is on the federal government’s list of Designated Learning Institutions with an approved COVID Readiness Plan, which allows the school to invite its students into Canada to continue their studies.

“It has been a long process to ensure protocols are in place for the safe arrival of our International students to our campuses in Windsor, Chatham and Toronto,” said College President Patti France.

“Our end goal has been to keep our staff, current students and community safe, while ensuring our newest students ‑ from all areas of the globe ‑ arrive in Canada safely.”

The College’s COVID Readiness Plan includes arranging ground transportation when the International students arrive in Canada and securing hotel rooms during their mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

“We are grateful to Windsor Regional Hospital, our local public health unit, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and the Federal Government for their collaboration in the development of our plan,” France said. “We would also like to thank the provincial and federal governments for expediting the approvals required to invite our International students into the country for their studies.”

The students will begin arriving in early December, according to Ron Seguin, Vice President International Relations, Campus Development & Student Services. These are students who started their studies in May but have been taking their courses online in their own countries because of COVID.

Before coming to Canada, the students must provide to the College a study visa issued by the federal government and proof they have completed the school’s protocols.

Seguin said St. Clair arranged for Windsor-bound students to quarantine for 14 days at a hotel in the city. Students studying at the College’s partner institution, Ace Acumen Academy in Toronto, will quarantine at a hotel in the GTA.

Security guards will be stationed at the hotels to ensure no one leaves their rooms. Arrangements have also been made to provide the students with food and other necessities. A nurse will also be checking in on the students’ well-being and a physician will be available if more extensive medical resources are required.

News

Anti-Bullying Awareness

Anti Bullying Acumen Poster

Bullying Awareness Week 2020

Hello Saints!

November is the time when we acknowledge and try to spread awareness around bullying.

Bullying happens when another person tries to scare, hurt, intimate or humiliate another intentionally. This can happen through a number of different ways both physically and mentally.

Acumen wants to create a safe learning space for all of its students inside and outside the classroom.

We want all students to feel safe and respected during their time here, and we welcome all students.

What can you do to help prevent bullying? Speak up and tell someone, tell the bully to stop, seek help from friends.

Here is some information that you may find helpful about bullying. We want you to know that you are not alone and that we are here to support you.

You can reach out to our advisor anytime for help.

News

Diwali Celebrations

Hello Saints!

November 14th was Diwali, The Festival of Lights. It is one of the major festivals celebrated in India, and is usually celebrated over 5 days. Diwali signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. 

Acumen wanted to promote safe Diwali practices during COVID-19 restrictions, so we were not able to celebrate in person this year, but encouraged students to share their social distance celebrations with us!

Whether it be embracing the traditional Indian attire at this festive occasion, spending time with family, decorating with colourful lights or lighting diyas; we wanted to make sure that all of you stayed safe, while celebrating this holiday.

Thank you to all of you that shared your celebrations with us. Please see the video for photos from our students including traditional attire and rangoli sand art.

Happy Diwali to all our staff and students!

Stay Safe Acumen

Click here to see Acumen students celebrating Diwali

News

Virtual Convocation

Graduates of Spring 2020

Acumen would like to take this chance to post a congratulatory message for all our great students, who successfully completed the requirements of their programs and had their studies conferred on Thursday October 29th, 2020 at 3:00 pm during the live virtual convocation held by St. Clair College.

Your achievement truly is no small task. You are the first graduating class that was forced to completely shift their typical understanding, thinking and framework of a face to face education, and adjust to an online mode of learning. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and you are one of the reasons we know the future is bright. You were all able to adjust on the fly to learning online, helping promote the physical distancing rules that will hopefully soon lead us out of this pandemic.  

In fact, your work was noticed at the Federal Government of Canada level, inspiring our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to prepare a video message congratulating you on all your great work graduates. We hope you could watch the ceremony live, and in case you were not able to, please find the link below to relive this special, momentous occasion.

https://www.stclaircollege.ca/convocation/virtual

From everyone at Acumen to all of you, our dear graduates, good luck in your futures. Please be safe wherever the world takes you and remember all the great lessons and experiences you had while you were studying at Ace Acumen. You are all now graduates and ready for whatever lies ahead.

Congratulations!

Acumen

News

Student Message from the President – November 9, 2020

Dear Saints:

I sincerely hope that this letter finds you and your loved ones well.

As you can imagine, the task of dealing with the pandemic has been a learning exercise for all of us. Like you, St. Clair College and Ace Acumen Academy administration and staff have been constantly adapting, evolving and experimenting since the viral outbreak began in mid-March.  Between government-issued directives, recommendations from public health agencies, and our own internal policy-and-procedural updates, our method of delivering academic and non-academic services to you has been changing constantly and dramatically.

I thought this was an appropriate time to update you on some of our work on current projects, and to provide you with our intentions for the Winter 2021 semester.

  • Our Office of the Vice-President, Academic is currently in the process of surveying all faculty members, to obtain from them their schedules of major assessments during the remainder of this Fall semester.  Those schedules will be passed along to both the College’s and Ace Acumen Academy’s I.T. Departments, to ensure support and optimal capacity is available when a substantial number of students are working on these major assignments and projects.
  • During this semester and the next one – and for as long as we are operating in a chiefly on-line fashion – we will be engaging externally sourced I.T. support for our students free of charge.  This engagement is through AlphaKOR.  Further information and details will be forthcoming from the Academic Sector.  
  • Both our SportsPlex in Windsor and HealthPlex in Chatham have been loaned to the local health-care systems to provide them with extra space during the pandemic.  That being the case, those facilities – including their fitness equipment – have been unavailable to you.  The operations of these facilities at Ace Acumen Academy have been affected as well.  We are, therefore, refunding you $50.00 ($25.00 per semester) which is the portion of your student fee associated with the use of that facility as part of your Acumen Athletics Operating Fee.  This amount will be credited to your student account.  Additional information regarding the Acumen Athletics Operating Fee can be found under the FAQ portion of the College’s website.  Please note that the Saints Student Athletic Association, St. Clair College and Ace Acumen Academy continue to provide recreational activities that comply with the current public health regulations.  We thank you for your support and patience as we assist our communities with the fight against COVID-19.  
  • It is the College’s intention, at this moment, to deliver the Winter 2021 semester in the same manner as the Fall 2020 semester: chiefly on-line, with essential labs, clinics and workshops taking place on campuses as identified (with ongoing requirements for mask-wearing, social-distancing and the wearing of personal protective equipment).  
  • It is both an individual and collective responsibility to continue to practice procedures to limit the transmission of COVID-19 – both in your personal lives and as a student when you are at school (mask-wearing, social-distancing, the wearing of PPE and other regulations as defined by Public Health).  Please remember to stay at home if you are symptomatic.
  • To allow for the participation in synchronous delivery, for students in need, the College will support the expense of a tablet/technology up to $500 through a reimbursement process.  A further communication will be forthcoming with information on this process.
  • Each and every one of us want to see this pandemic come to an end and for our normal lives and lifestyles – including those of our educational settings – to resume.  That will happen ... eventually ... whether by mass-vaccination (when available) or otherwise.  Until that day dawns, however, your health and safety remain St. Clair College’s paramount concern.  That being the case, until we – our school, our community, our province, our nation – are given the “all clear” notification from public health officials, we will, we must, continue to operate in this chiefly on-line manner.
  • Finally, to help you plan your schedule for the New Year, I can tell you that it is our intention to deliver the Winter 2021 semester in a 13-week timeframe, beginning with the first day of classes on January 18, 2021.  

Other Winter Semester dates:

    • Monday, March 15 to Friday, March 19, 2021 is March Break (no classes or labs will be scheduled).
    • Monday, April 19 to Friday, April 23, 2021 is Final Exam Week, with exams conducted during regularly scheduled class times (in most cases).

Finally, I and the entire St. Clair College and Ace Acumen Academy family of administrators, faculty members and support staff commend you for your efforts to-date during this semester.  You are persevering in the pursuit of your educational dreams in the midst of truly trying and extraordinary circumstances.  So, we not only commend you, we admire you immensely.  None of us consider the current situation to be ideal in the least, but your adaptability and dedication has made this altered educational method quite effective.  We hope that many of the topics outlined above will not only make your education even more effective but, also, easier and less stressful.

Continue to study and work hard ... but, most importantly, stay healthy and well.  The entire St. Clair College and Ace Acumen Academy family eagerly looks forward to the day when we can all be together once again - free of the threat of the pandemic – enjoying face-to-face class-time, and the friendship and fun of our College’s atmosphere.

Thank you.

Patti

Patricia France, M.Ad.Ed.

President

News

National People’s Republic of China Celebration

Hello Saints!

On October 1st , we celebrated the National Day of the People’s Republic of China. We asked all of you to submit photos of the Chinese flag, or of your hometown. We wanted to take the time to celebrate our students from China!

This is a public holiday celebrated in China to commemorate the formal establishments of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.  The 7-day holiday from October 1st  to 7th  is called the ‘Golden Week’, during which a large number of people go traveling around the country.

One thing should be noted is that the PRC was not founded on that day. Actually the Chinese independence day was September 21st  1949. The grand ceremony held at Tiananmen Square on October 1st  1949 was to celebrate the forming of the Central People’s Government of the brand new country.

Later on October 2nd 1949, the new government passed the ‘Resolution on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China’ and declared October 1st  to be the Chinese National Day. Ever since 1950, every October 1st has been grandly celebrated by Chinese people.

Other activities like flag-raising ceremonies, dance and song shows, firework displays and painting and calligraphy exhibitions are also held to celebrate the National Day. If one loves shopping, National Day holiday is a great time, for many shopping malls offer big discounts during the holiday. Our students celebrate in many different ways and we were so happy to see all of your wonderful submissions.

News

Thanksgiving 2020

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated by many people around the world, where people get together with loved ones to give thanks for the blessings in their lives. This years Thanksgiving is truly a unique one as we have had to adapt to the reality of COVID-19 and use virtual means to connect to some of our loved ones.

Typically, most people celebrate by preparing and eating a Thanksgiving meal. This meal usually includes turkey; however, the specific food can change depending on the people celebrating and their food preferences. 

One of the best parts of this holiday is being able to be with the people we love and care about most and sharing this special day with them.

Ace Acumen has prepared a virtual album with the photos we received from our students showcasing how they are celebrating Thanksgiving now or some of their favourite photos from past thanksgiving holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Click Here: Acumen Thanksgiving Diary

News

Virtual Workshop Series

Our virtual workshop series has started with great success!  On Friday October 9th, 2020 at 10:30 AM EST, Ace Acumen Academy hosted the first synchronous virtual workshop of the Fall semester. Our goal was to create an accessible learning environment for students, whether in Canada or abroad, where they receive additional student support to help them succeed in their post-secondary education.

In our first workshop, our advisors, Rodrigo and Larry educated students of the topics of Getting and Using E-resources, Professional Emails, and Work Standards.

A successful attendance was achieved with over 60 students registered and present for the event. To ensure student participation, the event was promoted on Acumen’s Instagram page and personal invitations were sent to student’s college emails explaining the process of registration, the date and time and the subject matter.

The virtual workshops are one of the ways Acumen is adapting to the reality of online education. Future workshops will be developed using the feedback and input of participating students. We endeavor to continue to elevate students’ success through new and innovative ways of learning.

Staff at Ace Acumen hope that attendees found value in the experience, having learned something new to support their professional development, and getting some of their questions answered.

Our next workshop will be coming up at the end of this month, stay tuned to your emails and the Acumen Instagram page for details.  Please follow Ace Acumen’s Instagram page to get updates on future workshop, virtual events/activities and other important news. Find the link to Ace Acumen’s Instagram page below and click on the blue ‘Follow’ button:

https://www.instagram.com/aceacumenacademy/

Stay Safe,

Acumen

News

Thanksgiving Message to Staff and Students

Dear Staff and Students:

On behalf of the Principal and Board of Directors, we are now in the third week back on campus for the Fall semester and, while we have established strong safety protocols that we expect everyone to follow, we are concerned that there has been some non-compliance. It is imperative that everyone abide by the rules and follow ALL of the established protocols, which were instituted for the health and safety of the entire College family and with our community in mind. Failure to comply with the protocols will be dealt with under the requirements of the College’s Health and Safety Policy and/or the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

With the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday approaching, please be respectful of the public health requirements for the safety of the community as outlined by our Premier (https://www.wechu.org/newsroom/news-release-lets-celebrate-thanksgiving-safely).

As a critical reminder, masks are mandatory indoors in all common areas, labs, shops and classrooms. If you are outside, you must either maintain a 2 meter distance from everyone else or wear your mask. There are no exceptions.

Note: As a reminder, you can find all St Clair College safety protocols and procedures outlined on the College website, at https://stclaircollege.ca/health-centre/coronavirus/faq. Ace Acumen is modeling and has implemented safety protocols in-line with St Clair College.

We all have a stake in keeping our community safe. If you are ill, stay home. Students must inform their faculty and staff must inform their manager if absent. The screening tool cannot be used as a method of communicating your absence.

Students, please be aware that the College will accommodate your absence and help you catch up if classes are missed due to illness. We are here to support you through this situation.

Thank you for doing your part to keep our campus safe. We wish you all a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.