Thursday, June 9, 2022 |
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST |
Ethics Workshop: Incorporating Environmental and Social Reporting into Curriculum
Environmental issues and sustainability issues are critical to the success of most companies in our economy. Investors are increasing their focus on the environmental performance of corporations. CPA Canada’s Foresight report recognizes the need for professionals to understand social and environmental information. The question arises as to what should we expect our university graduates to understand in this area and how can we build this expertise which is being demanded by organizations? The Centre for Accounting Ethics invites all CAAA Conference Attendees to its annual Workshop to explore different approaches to incorporating environmental and social reporting into curriculum. To this end, the Centre has invited Blake Phillips from the University of Waterloo to discuss the School of Accounting and Finance’s approach, in addition to representatives from the profession and other faculties.
The development of business practices that minimize environmental impact is one of the predominant challenges facing humanity. The climate crisis and other environmental issues demand that society transitions to a low-carbon economy and more sustainable practices. Achieving sustainability objectivesrequires that corporations and governments broaden their definition of success beyond exclusively financial outcomes. To this end, universities must provide students with the knowledge, skills and tools to cope with these challenges within their organizations. Accounting students must be able to understand the reporting needs and standards governing social reporting and be key drivers in their organizations moves in this direction. How do programs ensure their students have this capability with the ever growing conceptual framework for CPAs and the increased emphasis on data analytics? Should courses be offered on environmental reporting and CSR or should joint programs be provided which merge accounting, finance and environmental disciplines? These issues will be discussed in detail within this session.
Workshop Host
Dr. Linda Thorne, FCPA has been a professor at Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Canada for over 25 years. She has a PhD from McGill University in Accounting Ethics, and does research in the ethics of accountants, taxpayers and accounting disclosures. She has over 60 publications in various journals of which 19 are in the Financial Times listing. She has previously worked for Imperial Oil, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Veritas Research.
Workshop Presenters
Blake Phillips is the Deputy Director of Programs and Student Experience at the School of Accounting and Finance at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Phillips oversees program development for the 5 accounting and finance offered by the School, including the recent addition of the Sustainability and Financial Management Program jointly offered with the Faculty of Environment. Blake received a Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia in 1996, a Master of Forestry and Master of Business Administration from the University of Alberta in 2004 and a Ph.D. in Finance also from the University of Alberta in 2009. Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, Blake was a Registered Professional Forester and Registered Professional Biologist in British Columbia where he was a managing partner with an ecosystem restoration consulting firm.
Vern Albush is Director of Sustainability for Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), a manufacturer and wholesaler of fuel, food, home building supplies, and agricultural products. His early professional life began in Archaeology, but after completing his master’s degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy, it shifted to environmental management and later to social responsibility and environmental sustainability. He’s worked for environmental and government relations consulting firms (large and small), the Alberta government, privately-owned corporations, and co-operatives (i.e., Servus Credit Union and now FCL). In that time, he’s observed how civil society, governments, and corporations have dealt with the environmental and social impacts of economic prosperity. Today, he’s witnessing a growing interdependency and integration of finance and accounting with sustainability in governments and business.
Workshop Sponsor
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10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. CST
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Reimagining Student Experience in Higher Education
The higher education landscape has rapidly transformed in response to the pandemic and has accelerated demand for improved student experience. The “Age of the Customer” is upon us and the implications for higher education cannot be ignored. Students are increasingly recognizing the power of their choices in their education, and higher education institutions must be prepared to expand beyond traditional learning environments to keep up with the growing demand for high-quality educational outcomes, personalized and engaging student experiences, and technology-based practices. KPMG in Canada undertook a national poll of students on their expectations for education in a post-pandemic world and learned that there is a prevalent belief that educational institutions of the future will bear little resemblance to those of today. Shifting priorities amongst students mean that institutions will need to adapt in order to compete in the future landscape. C.J. James, KPMG’s National Education Practice Leader will share the results of the survey and provide her insights on the findings.
Session Presenter
C.J. James is the Leader of KPMG Canada’s National Education Practice and brings over 25 years of experience serving higher education institutions in the public sector, not for profit, and private sectors. Her experience with and understanding of the inner workings of higher education institutions, including the various complex issues and challenges that they face, make her a trusted advisor within the Canadian Education sector. In her role, C.J. brings the full breadth and depth of KPMG’s expertise, experience and thought leadership to the sector, by creating collaborative opportunities amongst higher education institutions and with KPMG education networks globally. She facilitates solutions to operational issues for institutions through her deep understanding of the interests of the wide group of stakeholders in the higher education sector.
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1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. CST |
E-dishonesty: Evaluating Accounting Students Effectively with Online Assessments
Given the increase of online course/ exam delivery and the emergence of “e-dishonesty,” what is necessary to evaluate accounting students effectively with online assessments? Join Lyryx for a focused discussion about “e-dishonesty” and the implications it has on the creation and execution of online assessments (homework & exams) in accounting courses. As a developer of online assessments for accounting, Lyryx has nearly 20 years of experience with facilitating online homework and exams for accounting courses in higher education. With the perpetual concern of academic integrity and the emergence of “e-dishonesty”, a term used to refer to “the behaviors that depart from academic integrity in the online environment” (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.639814/full%20), there exists an even greater need to examine the factors surrounding this issue. These include, but are not limited to: identifying reasons for cheating; access to and use of cheating resources; in-person versus online cheating; monitoring/ proctoring versus trust; and potential methods for combating cheating.
Lyryx already maintains unique randomization algorithms within their online assessments that make cheating much less accessible to students. Those very randomizations are helping Lyryx to develop technology for the subtle/ undetectable identification of cheating. This focus group will seek to pinpoint the primary issues instructors are facing with regard to e-dishonesty in online accounting assessments, with the goal of enhanced development of this technology.
Session Presenter
Tamsyn Murnaghan
Session Sponsor
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1:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. CST |
The Craft of Accounting Research Workshop
This workshop is mainly intended for doctoral students in at least the third year of their PhD program interested in performing research and writing research-based articles for scholarly journals in accounting. It will feature activities that are relevant to scholars at this stage of their career such as writing skills, research topics, and the publication process. Many participants will have an opportunity to present their research in a series of short and long presentations. Presenters will receive useful feedback and be eligible to win prizes. This workshop provides a welcome opportunity to network with peers and senior faculty by way of group activities and social events. In-person attendance is encouraged but the workshop will likely follow a hybrid format to accommodate virtual participation. Guest speakers TBA.
Workshop Organizers
Kim Trottier is an Associate Professor at HEC Montréal with an interest in using advanced analytics to explore business issues. Her research topics are varied, from economics-based research in capital markets, financial reporting, corporate governance, and firm fundamental value, to areas that speak to ESG concerns and social returns on investments. Dr. Trottier’s teaching ranges from Undergraduate to PhD students and Executive MBAs. She has written several research papers, peer-reviewed book chapters, and a Financial Accounting textbook. Prior to academia, Kim spent years in professional practice as a Chartered Accountant, therefore brings real-world experience to her teaching and research, applying insight from her work as a financial analyst, consultant, manager, corporate controller, and external auditor in the private and public sector. She holds board positions at Social Value Canada and 460 MIC, and is on the Editorial board of Accounting Perspectives. She holds memberships with the Artificial Intelligence Network of British Columbia, SAS Women in Analytics, and Women in AI. Her current focus is to manage global inter-disciplinary projects that utilize creative datasets and techniques to explore new business questions as well as update prior insights.
Lan Guo’s research interests include performance measurement, incentive designs, employee (un)ethical behavior, and other behavioral topics mainly within the field of management accounting. In her research, she uses both experimental and survey methods. Her coauthored work appeared at journals such as Accounting, Organizations & Society, Behavioral Research in Accounting, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Business Ethics, and International Journal of Operations and Production Management. She is an associate editor at Accounting Perspectives and serves on the editorial board of Contemporary Accounting Research. She has taught management accounting, data analytics and accounting information systems to undergraduate students and co-taught different PhD seminars. Prior to her academic career, she worked as an accountant in China Securities Depository & Clearing Corp. (Shanghai) and Construction Bank of China (Shanghai). She is a CPA, CMA and CGA.
Andrew Bauer is the Canada Research Chair in Taxation, Governance, and Risk and an associate professor at the University of Waterloo. His primary area of research studies corporate tax. More specifically, he examines the influence of agency issues on tax planning, including governance mechanisms, and the role of uncertainty in shaping tax planning, including risk assessment. Other specific research interests include internal control and financial disclosures, risk more generally, and data analytics.
Please see his faculty profile for additional information: https://uwaterloo.ca/school-of-accounting-and-finance/people-profiles/andrew-bauer.
Workshop Sponsors
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3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CST |
Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives in the Accounting Curriculum
In conversations with educators over the years, we have heard the need and the desire to address Indigenous topics within their courses, however, many are not sure how to do this or are not comfortable doing so. In today’s social climate, and with Pearson Canada’s own commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, we believe that this topic is an important one to address. Pearson Canada is honoured to host this event with our two panelists, Terry Goodtrack and Helen Bobiwash. In addition to accounting educators, the session will also be of interest to professional accountants, who wish to understand how to serve Indigenous individuals, communities, and organizations. We will start the conversation off with a term familiar to accountants: reconciliation. We will explore what it means to accountants and what it means to Indigenous people. From there, we hope to offer some insight by addressing the following questions in this session:
- How can “reconciliation” from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) impact the accounting world?
- How can we make financial information more relevant for Indigenous students/communities?
- How do you focus on the user and engage them with the information or content that they want to know/relate to?
- How do we get Indigenous students interested in accounting and why is that important going forward?
- Commentary on the future of accounting in Canada from an Indigenous perspective?
- Why is an understanding of Indigenous Perspectives in Accounting important to all learners?
Session Panelists
Terry Goodtrack has spent over 25 years in senior finance and management positions with high profile Indigenous organizations. He is the co-founder of the AFOA Canada – Harvard Business School Executive Education Program on Leading People and Building Sustainable Communities and In 2017, he founded the inaugural international conference on Indigenous Governance, Management and Finance on Building Indigenous Sustainable Communities. For the past nine years, he has held the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of AFOA Canada. Prior to this position, Terry was the Chief Operating Officer of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Terry was appointed by the Assembly of First Nations and the Minister ISC to sit on the New Fiscal Relationship working group where he is the Co-Chair. He is also a sessional instructor for Carleton University’s Graduate Diploma on Indigenous Policy and Administration. Terry holds a Masters, in Public Administration from Carleton and has a Chartered Corporate Director designation from McMaster. In addition, Terry is a CPA, and in 2018 he received a fellowship designation from the CPA Ontario. He is a Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager (CAFM) and Certified Aboriginal Professional Administrator (CAPA).
Helen Bobiwash is an independent accountant who works out of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek near Sudbury, Ontario. She is a First Nation citizen of the Thessalon First Nation. Helen has been working as an independent accountant for 25 years. She works primarily with First Nations and Indigenous organizations. Her work focuses on building capacity within communities to help them achieve their goals. Helen is a former part-time accounting teacher with Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Sudbury and is a member of the Board of Directors of the AFOA Ontario Chapter and AFOA Canada. She is also a member of the Public Sector Accounting Board Discussion Group.
Session Sponsor
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4:00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. CST |
Wiley Sponsored Session: Augmenting Human Skills and Intelligence in Your Accounting Courses
The New CPA Competency Map (CM2.0) places emphasis on ensuring that students are not only tech savvy, but it also supports the development of human skills such as curiosity and creativity. There are opportunities to augment human intelligence by getting your students to work collaboratively with technologies such as WileyPLUS, Power BI, and Excel. But how do these fit into your accounting courses? During this session, Bruce McConomy and Irene Wiecek will discuss how you can augment and enhance human skills and intelligence in your courses, as well as explore new resources available in WileyPLUS to enhance student preparedness for both the CFE and as accountants of the future.
Session Moderator
Jessica Spettoli
Session Presenters
Bruce McConomy Irene Wiecek
Session Sponsor
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Friday, June 10, 2022 |
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. |
Welcome and Keynote Address
Keynote Speaker: Shyam Sunder
Shyam Sunder is the James L. Frank Professor Emeritus of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the Yale School of Management and Department of Economics. Educated as an engineer at IIT-Kh and Jamalpur’s Railway School, he received his M.S. and PhD degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. He served as a professor at the University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University, and as a visiting professor at California Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Kobe and Keio Universities (Japan) and others. His research includes role of information in stock markets, statistical theory of valuation, social norms, standards, and regulation of financial reporting, experimental finance and experimental macro-economics and introduction of the concept of zero-intelligence agents. His writings include ten books and more than 230 articles in the leading scholarly journals of accounting, economics, and finance, as well as in popular media. His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. He has been an invited speaker at more than 500 universities on all continents and has been awarded many honors. He served as elected president of the American Accounting Association and founded Accounting, Economics and Law: A Convivium. His research is available at: https://faculty.som.yale.edu/shyamsunder/research/.
Keynote Sponsor
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9:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. |
Concurrent Sessions 1: Education
Accounting for Impact: Social Media Basics and Beyond
Education Session 1D: Accounting for Impact: Social Media Basics and Beyond
Session Presenters: Erica Pimentel (Queen's University) Leanne Keddie (Carleton University)
Session Description: In this workshop, participants will learn the fundamentals of using the social platforms most used in business and academia: Twitter and Linkedin. Discover how to connect with your audience and create engagement on topics that matter to you through social media.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Create a basic Linkedin and Twitter profile
- Learn when and how to use hashtags, retweets and create posts that will gain traction
- Understand how to use Twitter engagement data to measure impact
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1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. |
Concurrent Sessions 2: Education
Concurrent Sessions 2: Education (Hybrid)
Education Session 2B: The Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Faculty and Graduate Students at Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions
Session Presenter:
Sara Wick (University of Guelph)
Session Description: This session discusses the impact of the pandemic on both accounting faculty and graduate students. Concerning accounting faculty, we focus on caregivers of children as the shifts toward remote teaching and homeschooling may indicate significant changes in the work-family interface. We develop four testable hypotheses that explore why the productivity of accounting faculty who are caregivers might be affected differently during the pandemic than accounting faculty who are non-caregivers. Our path analysis results suggest that accounting faculty who identify as caregivers are more likely to have experienced negative effects on their productivity (i.e., research, teaching, and service), which arose from increased family-work conflict, which led to increased depletion. Concerning accounting graduate students, we find that many students are experiencing some stress and burnout due to exhaustion. Most students are coping using healthy strategies; however, we highlight correlations between stress and burnout for those who aren’t. We propose a series of possible interventions that faculty and administrators can adopt to support retention and future recruitment efforts.
Education Session 2C: Impacts of COVID-19 on Women and Caregivers in Academia at Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions and Suggestions Moving Forward
Session Presenter: Lindsay McLachlan (Brandon University)
Session Description: Equity-seeking groups have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. Join Brandon University’s Lindsay McLachlan as she discusses how the pandemic has impacted research, teaching, and other areas of work and life for women and caregivers. Her findings are based upon 23 personal reflections from accounting academics across Canada collected in 2021. Some findings include research stopped or slowed, lower productivity was experienced, academic integrity issues increased, interactions with students decreased, academics left the professional, mental health was adversely impacted, and academics lost dedicated work time. Additionally, this same demographic provided suggestions to address these issues moving forward to help equity-seeking groups. Suggestions include support from post-secondary institutions at all levels, additional funding, adjustments to tenure and promotion criteria, and the option for a reduced workload.
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4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. |
Panel Sessions
Panel Session: Employer Panel
CM2.0: Learn what Entry-level CPAs actually Do, Given the Increasing Automation trend
There has been much discussion about automation and its impact on traditional entry-level accounting jobs. Do you know how the job landscape has changed for your students? Join us for this informative panel discussion in which employers will discuss how technology and other changes are impacting the job landscape for entry-level CPAs.
Moderator: Sonia Dhaiwal (University of Guelph)
Panelists:
Carrie Carson, CPA, CA, is a Partner in Deloitte’s Assurance & Advisory practice located in Regina; is the Chair, Chartered Professional Accountants of Saskatchewan; and has been a facilitator for the CA Western School of Business.
Carrie spent two years (2013-2014) in industry with SaskCentral as the Manager of Accounting & Reporting. In addition over the last 15 years, Carrie has provided both audit and advisory services to a variety of organizations including the financial services sector, with a focus on the credit union system. In addition, Carrie brings a broad range of other industry experience in areas of pension, real estate, crown corporations and agriculture.
Anita Chang, CPA, CA, is a Senior Manager in EY’s Strategy and Transactions practice focused on working with companies to build out their value creation agenda, with deep experience in driving capital efficiencies and design and execution of post-merger integration or divestiture strategies.
Prior to this, Anita spent 6 years in EY’s Assurance Practice, specializing in US GAAP and SOX, working with clients, coordinating global teams, around complex transactions including IPOs, transformative acquisitions, debt offerings, first-year SOX internal controls design, Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration, restructuring and emergence. In 2016, Anita participated in an exclusive 50-person global exchange program with EY and spent 3 months working in São Paulo, Brazil.
Anita serves as the co-chair of the EY Vancouver Professional Women’s Network and often supports teams in client discussions around integrating DEI into their business strategy. She is also the incoming Co-Director of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program in the Pacific Region.
Adynea Russell, FCPA, FCA, is an Assurance Partner in MNP’s Regina office as well as Vice-President Assurance for MNP. Delivering strong business advice on a broad range of issues, Adynea works with private and public companies and government organizations of all sizes, conducting audits, reviews and compilations, providing tax services and helping them stay compliant. With more than 20 years of experience in public practice, Adynea is adept at listening to what clients need and customizing solutions and services so that they meet those needs. She works closely with clients, thoroughly reviewing financial statements and records and conducting in-depth analyses to identify and solve problems.
Adynea has helped lead the evolution of how assurance and related engagements are being performed, from highly manual with very limited technology all the way to using AI, robotic process automation and other technologies to automate and provide efficiencies and greater insights. These have reduced or removed mundane assurance tasks and allowed all team members to focus on higher risk areas, using professional skepticism and analytical mindsets to provide greater value through the assurance process.
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Panel Session: Editors' Panel
Moderator:
Cédric Lesage is the Lawrence S. Bloomberg professor at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. He is currently Director of the doctoral program at the John Molson School of Business. He was President of the Association Francophone de Comptabilité (AFC), and Vice President at large of the International Association for Accounting Education & Research (IAAER), and director of the CEFAG Doctoral Program of Excellence in France. After a professional experience in an audit firm (Ernst & Young Paris), he obtained his PhD from the University of Rennes 1. Assistant, then Associate Professor at IAE Rennes, he became Professor, first at the IAE of Rennes, then at the IAE of Paris, University Paris La Sorbonne. He then joined HEC Paris for 10 years as Associate Professor. He has been a guest speaker at various European and North American universities, and has been visiting professor at Concordia University, Canada (2012) and at New York University-Shanghai, China (2014). He has co-authored two books (Introduction à la Comptabilité, with B. Colasse, and Connectionnist Approaches in Management, with M. Cottrell) and has published research articles in Accounting, Auditing & Accountability, Comptabilité-Contrôle-Audit, Contemporary Accounting Research, European Accounting Review, Journal of Business Ethics, etc. His main research theme focuses on governance issues, mainly from the auditor's point of view, as well as the study of fraudulent behavior in companies. He is a member of scientific committees of various international scientific associations, associate editor and member of several editorial boards of international scientific journals.
Panelists:
Leslie Berger serves as the Editor in Chief of Accounting Perspectives, a journal of the CAAA that publishes applied research, literature reviews, commentary, educational articles, and instructional cases that speak from or to the accounting community in Canada. Leslie is an associate professor and a KPMG Foundation Fellow in Accounting at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research, covering topics including performance measurement, whistleblowing, and other behavioural topics can be found in various journals including Accounting, Organization and Society, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Management Accounting Research. At Laurier, Leslie teaches Integrated Cases in Accounting to Graduate Diploma students and supervises PhD students interested in behavioural research.
W. Robert Knechel, PhD is Distinguished Professor and the Frederick E. Fisher Eminent Scholar in Accounting at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. He is currently the Director of the International Accounting and Auditing Center (IAAC) located within the Fisher School of Accounting. Robert holds appointments at the University of Auckland as a Professor of Accounting Research and the University of New South Wales as a Professor of Auditing. He is on the Board of the Foundation for Audit Research in the Netherlands and is a past member of the Standing Advisory Group (SAG) to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). He is currently the Senior Editor for The Accounting Review. He has previously served as the Senior Editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory from 2011 through 2014. Robert’s prior research has been regularly published in several leading journals including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Organizations and Society, and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. He was honored with the 2015 Outstanding Educator in Auditing Award given by the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association and has received Honorary Doctorates from BI Oslo (Norway) and Nyenrode University (Netherlands).
Alan Webb is the Deloitte Professor in the School of Accounting and Finance at the University of Waterloo. He obtained his PhD from the University of Alberta in 2001. His primary research interests are in the areas of incentives, goal setting, and performance measurement. Professor Webb has presented his work throughout North America and is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Contemporary Accounting Research. His research publications appear in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Management Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations and Society, and Accounting Perspectives. He is currently serving as Past-President of the Management Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association. Professor Webb is the founding Director of the CPA Ontario Centre for Performance Management Research and Education. In 2011 he was awarded the L. S. Rosen Outstanding Educator Award by the Canadian Academic Accounting Association.
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Saturday, June 11, 2022 |
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. |
Day's Introduction and Keynote Address**
Keynote Speaker: Professor Airini
Prof Airini is the Provost and Vice-President Academic at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). Airini joined the USask in February 2021 and holds a professorial appointment in the College of Education. Her three-decade career is defined by her leadership internationally and domestically in areas of equity in higher education, Indigenous advancement, and converting research and policy into improved education outcomes.
Airini has more than 20 years experience in senior academic administration at world-class universities internationally, and most recently, Airini was Dean of the interdisciplinary Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University (BC, Canada). Airini holds academic appointments in three countries – Australia, Canada, and New Zealand (NZ).
Airini is the author/co-author of more than 100 research articles, books, and reviewed papers and reports. Airini received the top national research award for New Zealand for collaborative research in education, and the University of Auckland’s excellence in equity award. Airini is a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand. UBC recognized Dr Airini as an Outstanding Alumni and Indigenous Woman Leader.
Dr Airini is a national representative in two sports, a multisport eventer, and is one of only 40 selected from around the world to race The Yukon 1000 – the world’s longest canoe race from Whitehorse to Alaska, paddling 1000 miles in nine days or less, on the Yukon River.
Keynote Sponsor
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11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. |
Awards Lunch and Closing Remarks
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