It was with great excitement and anticipation that we welcomed our dental hygiene and dental students on campus for a return to in-person didactic and clinical teaching activities. While we are returning to pre-COVID-19 levels of occupancy, both in our pre-clinical and clinical training facilities, masks, sanitization stations and individually packaged meals remind us that the pandemic is still with us and that continued safety measures are here to stay for a while.
September brought our “in-person” Opening Assembly where, for the first time in a while, we were able to greet students, their family and friends and welcome our new classes of Dental Hygiene, Dentistry and International Dental Degree Program students.
Our campus opened as we celebrated our Homecoming Weekend, launched by our Alumni of Distinction evening organized by the UM Dental Alumni Association, as well as our breakfast event in Brodie and tours of the college to commemorate our alumni class reunions. Dr. Gerald and Reesa Niznick attended our Homecoming. Dr. Niznick gave a presentation on the history of dental implants to a packed room of students and faculty.
Fall term will be particularly busy for our college as we start to operationalize our Strategic Plan. Significant initiatives of this plan involve our curriculum review, infrastructure updates and implementation of EDI in our operations.
We have started actively engaging in our curriculum review, the first phases of which, will include consultation with focus groups, including recent graduates, established practitioners and industry. At the same time with the assistance of the Center for Advancement of Teaching and Learning we will be examining and identifying areas in need of didactic and clinical renewal.
In the same way that form influences function, so will our new curriculum inform us on the evolving physical needs of our infrastructure. In the upcoming months, we will be undergoing a series of consultations about the renovation of our clinical spaces. A fundraising campaign will likely be launched in the upcoming months to support the updating of our clinical and pre-clinical facilities. As our new curriculum unfolds, we will thus be able to support its deployment with a newly renovated facility.
Some first steps in our third strategic plan initiatives towards implementation of EDI in our college has been the unanimous voting of Dental College Council to reserve five places yearly, in every incoming dental class cohort, for Indigenous student applicants. We are also very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Asmaa Haimeur, who will be serving as our new EDI officer in the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry. She replaces Dr. Dieter Schönwetter who was serving in this capacity, in a dual role, as Director of Student Affairs and Academic Services.
We will continue to collaborate with the Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing and the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Office of EDI to create a more equitable, accessible and just environment for all at our college.
None of these initiatives would be possible without the support of all our stakeholders, which I would like to thank for their dedication in advancing the initiatives of our strategic plan.
Dr. Anastasia Kelekis-Cholakis
Dean, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry