Collective bargaining update
The most recent update from the Provost's Office on Mount Royal's collective bargaining process for faculty can be found here.

All campus buildings to be locked on Nov. 12 for fire alarm testing
Building Operations will be testing fire alarms across campus on Nov. 12 from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day. Buildings will be locked and no one will be allowed to enter until testing is completed. U-Wing will remain open for Recreation users after 8 a.m. The only access point will be the Recreation entrance near parking lot 1.

Get pre-sale tickets to see MRU's funniest alumnus
A member of the famous Kids in the Hall, Bruce McCulloch's hilarious one-man show will take place at the Bella on Sunday, Jan. 27. Mount Royal community members have special access to tickets prior to Friday, Nov. 2. Use the pre-sale code MRUCommunity when purchasing your tickets.

New online access to rare archival collections
Archives and Special Collections in the Library has launched a database that allows students and faculty to browse rare primary sources online. This is a resource that directly supports teaching and learning by facilitating greater access to digitized versions of historical records. Read more.

Nov. 14 is Take Your Kids to Work Day
With a supervisor's permission, employees with children in Grade 9 are welcome to bring them to campus on Nov. 14 for Take Your Kids to Work Day. It will be up to the employee to plan the day as no centralized events are scheduled. Please keep your child with you, take care with any confidential information, be aware of any safety considerations and report any incidents to Environmental Health and Safety at 6180 or 5629.

New coating helps make sidewalks less slippery
A polyurethane coating has been applied to sidewalks across campus to help prevent slips and falls when ice forms. In addition to making the concrete less slippery, the coating seals concrete that has been patched, which extends the life of older concrete and is much more cost effective than replacing the concrete.

Campus-wide work continues on position hazard assessments
Environmental Health and Safety is continuing its work with the University leadership group to ensure hazard assessments are completed for every position on campus, as required by provincial legislation. Learn more about the Position Hazard Assessment process at MRU.

Over-stacked shelves and overloaded power bars are common safety problems on campus
Through its formal inspections across campus, Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) has identified several common safety hazards in work spaces, including over-stacking shelves, having chemicals without the required safety sheets and plugging a power bar into another or into an extension cord. EH&S will work with departments to solve safety problems. Learn more.

New outdoor deck off Main Street part of courtyard improvement
Facilities Management is building a deck as part of a longer-term project to improve and reopen an outdoor courtyard next spring. The courtyard is between the permanent BookStore location and Tim Horton's. In addition to the new deck, the ground will be levelled and seating will be added. The Campus Master Plan calls for the beautification of outdoor spaces.

Winterization of MRU's irrigation system this week will be noisy
The annual winterization of MRU's underground irrigation system is happening across campus all week. This is noisy work involving the use of a large air compressor to blow water out through irrigation heads to prevent the freezing and cracking of the lines over winter. The Grounds team will try to keep noise levels to a minimum. Please contact the Facilities Management customer care centre at 6417 with any questions.

Milena Radzikowska named 2018 Educator Award of Excellence Winner
A national association representing Canada’s graphic designers has given information design professor Milena Radzikowska its inaugural teaching award. Radzikowska, a founding member of Mount Royal's information design program, is one of two teachers receiving Registered Graphic Designer’s 2018 Design Educators Award, which recognizes “outstanding contributions to student development and pedagogical research.” Read more.

Delving into the New Democratic Party win
Orange Chinook: The Politics of the New Alberta , edited by Mount Royal Professors Duane Bratt , PhD, Keith Brownsey , PhD, Richard Sutherland , PhD, and  David Taras , PhD, is forthcoming from the University of Calgary Press in January 2019. The book covers the 2015 win of the New Democratic Party over the Progressive Conservatives in Alberta.

Natalie Meisner made director of changemaking
English professor Natalie Meisner, PhD, has been appointed as Mount Royal's internal director of changemaking, tasked with facilitating changemaking across campus in teaching, learning and curriculum development.

Anupam Das and MRU Faculty of Arts collaborations
Economics professor Anupam Das, PhD, has recently published in the following journals; Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, Journal of the Knowledge Economy and OPEC Energy Review. Two of the essays were co-authored with MRU arts faculty members Tom Buchanan, PhD, and Young Jung, PhD, and one was co-authored with policy studies student Sariah Seaborn.

Maria Teresa Grillo on José María Arguedas and violence, racism, and reconciliation in Peru
The 2018 monograph volume of the Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos (Canadian Journal of Hispanic Studies), edited by Professors María Teresa Grillo, PhD, and Rita de Grandis (UBC), was published this year. Grillo’s article on Indigenous author José María Arguedas was included in this volume. She was also recently interviewed about her role in editing first issue of +Memoria(s), The Journal of the LUM (Place of Memory, Tolerance and Social Inclusion, Ministry of Culture, Peru), by El Comercio, the main newspaper of Peru. Read more here.

Mark Ayyash on Palestinian Fellahin Resistance and the Space-Place Relation
Sociology professor Mark Ayyash, PhD, had his article, “An Assemblage of Decoloniality? Palestinian Fellahin Resistance and the Space-Place Relation," published in the summer 2018 issue of Studies in Social Justice.

French open-access journal available now
French Professors Antoine Eche, PhD, and Justine Huet, PhD, recently published an issue of their co-edited, open-access journal Convergences Françaises, available here.