Tag Archives: relationship

New leadership styles in academia

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Robert Basil

My friendly colleague Clarissa has vividly expressed an opinion on these: College administrators go to all sorts of business seminars and workshops on ridiculous things like leadership and all that kind of garbage. Then they come back and put everything … Continue reading →

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Share Yourself

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Robert Basil

On a recent train trip I listened to a young computer whiz give a remarkably agile and lucid explanation to his aunt of AI’s probable future role in his industry. Seated two seats behind him, I was too rapt to … Continue reading →

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Almost time to go

Posted on June 14, 2025 by Robert Basil

Kwantlen Polytechnic University has been at or near the centre of my life for more than two decades. We’ll keep the newsfeed here up into my retirement years, though.

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Retirement

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Robert Basil

Reposted from basil.CA: 2025 Next year, at summer’s end, I will be retiring from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I will remain open to other contract opportunities elsewhere after that, but this will be it for me as a full-time prof. The … Continue reading →

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Feedback

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Robert Basil

When interviewing candidates for teaching positions at my university, I often ask them how they provide and receive feedback in the workplace, to get a quick, vivid picture of their character and initiative. When you give clear and useful feedback … Continue reading →

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Counter

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Robert Basil

I have had truly unpleasant interactions with people I’ve known for years – including with those in academia – during these Olympics. Their loathsome disdain for transgenderism made them attack a non-transgendered woman, a boxer from Algeria, in giddy displays … Continue reading →

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Balance and scale

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Robert Basil
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ChatGPT and email

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Robert Basil

As a university prof, I both teach and, to some extent, accommodate AI platforms in the classroom. This has been a daunting, trying, and humbling experience that requires continual adjustment and correction. But there is no way around it. The … Continue reading →

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The work international students must do in B.C.

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Robert Basil

Several years ago my late Kwantlen colleague Arley McNeney organized a class project in which her students presented research on the challenges international students at our school face. I was embarrassed when I read their report; I had been so … Continue reading →

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An artist’s hand

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Robert Basil

I suppose we could file this post under “learning” and “technology” – themes from our website’s subtitle. In this case the technology (the “application of conceptual knowledge for achieving practical goals”) is a carefully placed and pressing hand. The learning … Continue reading →

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