FORWARD21 - Moving from Chaos to Opportunity! 

WOW - What an exciting two days at our annual conference last week! Thanks to all of you who were able to join us. Your feedback has been amazing, and we are grateful that so many of you found the keynotes exceptional, workshops engaging, and virtual platform easy to navigate. The Sugarwish treats were our way of adding something special to your experience and we are glad to hear that they did just that! Our learning curve was steep to offer this virtual event, and the suggestions for improvement will be incorporated into planning for next year, when we hope to meet in person.    

Congratulations to our award winners who are achieving remarkable success in many areas of Guidance and Career Education across Ontario, and thanks to those of you who have nominated them. You are making a difference and we are privileged to honour you  And congratulations to Kelly O’Donnell, winner of our Grand Prize - one free conference registration for our next in-person conference! Watch the OSCA News for weekly spotlights on our 2021 Award Winners!

As you head through the second half of October, I wish you all the positive energy that comes from attending events like this!

Cathy Lihou, OSCA/ACOSO President

We are pleased to invite you to a free, virtual Guidance Dialogues event on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, from 9:00 am-12:30 pm.
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Nous sommes heureux de vous inviter à une séance virtuelle gratuite des Dialogues pour conseillères et conseillers, le mercredi 20 octobre 2021, de 9 h 00 à 12 h 30.

Ontario's universities are excited to host the Ontario Universities’ Fairs (OUFs) this fall. The OUFs have one remaining event:
- Tuesday, October 26, 5-7 pm (ET)

All Ontario universities will participate in these free events and anyone can attend – pre-registration is not required.
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Les universités de l’Ontario sont heureuses de présenter, cet automne, les Foires des universités de l’Ontario (FUO). Les FUO il reste un événement :
- Mardi 26 octobre, de 17 h à 19 h (HE)

Toutes les universités de l’Ontario prendront part à ces événements gratuits, et tout le monde peut y participer – aucune préinscription n’est exigée.

The Morgan D. Parmenter Memorial Award is presented to recognize a person who has made a most significant contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario. Jennifer Boston has been a devoted and dedicated member of OSCA for 14 years. First as a director, then as a Vice President for all three committees that form the association, Communications, Governance and Professional Development, and finally as President. She has elaborated new programs, implemented professional development for counsellors across the province, created content for OSCA magazine, forged new partnerships, and delivered amazing conferences, both in-person and virtually.

PennyDrops is a student-run, non-profit organization that offers financial literacy programs to high school and post-secondary students across the country.

Teachers can use the PennyDrops Anywhere platform to let students learn basic financial concepts at their own pace, where they will progress through the first 8 lessons of our curriculum by watching videos and taking pre and post-lesson quizzes. They can also register their classrooms to have our university mentors deliver all 11 of our lessons virtually or in-person, using small groups and interactive activities. To learn more about the PennyDrops High School Program, please view the Overview Deck, and if you would like to register your classroom for the program, please email us at contact@pennydrops.org.

Microcredentials are increasingly on offer at Canadian colleges, with short, focused courses that can help give your career a boost

Microcredentials—short courses designed to quickly teach new skills or upgrade existing ones—have long been offered by colleges, but the pandemic seems to have kicked their popularity into high gear. "I don’t think a week has gone by recently when I haven’t heard of a college developing a new microcredential, and this is largely a response to the labour market," says Denise Amyot, president and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). In November of last year, one in four Canadians was considering a career change, according to the LifeWorks (formerly Morneau Shepell) monthly Mental Health Index, which measures the mental health status of employees during COVID across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Layoffs and reductions in hours affected many sectors, but lower-income jobs—especially non-unionized workers in retail and hospitality—were particularly hard hit.

Career centres and counseling offices have always responded to common student concerns, but the demand has increased and shifted as the pandemic continues to affect the job market (Griffin, 2020). When students enrolled at the University of Michigan Public Health expressed feelings of stress surrounding their job search or career development during individual advising sessions, career specialists collaborated with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) to bring together data, resources, and strategies in support of students. Together, staff designed a collaborative workshop focused on responding to graduate students’ stress related to the career search process and promoted wellness. The presentation goals were two-fold.

1. Open the door to conversations about stressors and normalize responses and behaviors, thus providing opportunities to address habits and practices before they become harmful.
2. Discuss concrete and actionable stress responses including individual regulation, use of university resources, and advancement of personal goals.