The start of every academic year is an exciting time at McGill. After the summer lull, our campuses come alive again, with people bustling to class, collaborating with colleagues, conducting research in labs, or catching up with friends under the sun on McGill beach.
Our return to in-person academic activity in Fall 2022 is supported and guided by the final report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on COVID Academic Planning, the recommendations of which have been accepted and endorsed by Senate and University leadership.
The members of the McGill community are encouraged to read the Report and are invited to provide feedback on measures implemented and suggestions for further changes.
As part of the Reporter’s ongoing series, we spoke with members of the McGill community to find out what they are looking forward to with the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.
Joyce Peralta
Manager, Digital Communications, Communications and External Relations
“I am very much looking forward to returning to campus because I think we’re heading into a pretty exciting time right now,” says Peralta. “Over the past few years during the pandemic, things have really changed about the way we work and the way we do things. I think we’ve learned a lot and our processes really have progressed and changed. I’m looking forward to taking it to the next level and seeing where that’s going to go now that we’re going to be back together and have the opportunity to work in a one-on-one, in-person environment as well as work remotely too.
As with the academic year, September is the time of launches and new beginnings for the projects Peralta and her colleagues have been working on throughout the summer.
“Because things calm down in the summer, it allows people to work on things like their website,” she says. “A lot of these projects wrap up in August, so we have a few projects that are in launch-mode right now or are getting ready to go into launch mode. We also have new projects that are kicking off. This is a turnover time for us.”
The new semester also means fresh opportunities to hone skills while team building. “[The Digital Communications group] really tries to encourage the development of a community of people at McGill who build websites,” says Peralta. “We create a lot of events for people to get together. We have training courses, and info sessions. We engage regularly with the community and involve community members in the audience research that we do.”
“We’re also involved in a lot of projects related to EDI initiatives and strategies,” she says. “A lot of our projects are focussed on improving digital accessibility at McGill, which has allowed us the opportunity to work with various contacts across campus who are really involved in related initiatives. It’s been a great opportunity for us to have these experiences and participate in the community.”
Click on the video below to watch the interview (video and interview by Laurie Devine)