UFV is committed to increasing experiential learning opportunities for students, and a newly created position will help to accomplish this. Under the direction of the Provost and Vice-President Academic, UFV’s commitment will be supported through a project to develop a leading-edge model to coordinate and increase experiential education opportunities for students at a primarily undergraduate level. Larissa Horne has been appointed to a one-year contract to initiate the project.
Larissa joined UFV’s History department in 2004, and has since built a multi-faceted and innovative teaching and service portfolio. This includes developing and teaching courses in political and cultural history and international relations, while maintaining an active involvement in institutional and departmental forums and event planning, and serving several terms as an elected representative on the College of Arts Council. Larissa firmly believes in a student-centered approach to education, and the principles of inter-disciplinary, experiential, and life-long learning. She has demonstrated her commitment to these through supporting Independent Studies, student research, work-study and career opportunities for UFV students, as well as organizing the UFV delegation visit and a study tour to Russia in 2008 and 2014. Alongside her work in academia, Larissa has taken many leadership roles in community initiatives, outreach, and civic engagement.
In addition to developing a best-practice model to support and enhance experiential education opportunities at UFV, Larissa will implement strategies to cultivate working partnerships in experiential education within UFV and with external organizations, increase community engagement, and ensure appropriate risk management.
She will work with institutional stakeholders to develop a comprehensive inventory of experiential education opportunities; develop a web-based strategy to coordinate and publicize experiential education opportunities; develop online toolkits, guidebooks, forms, and assessment materials for experiential education activities; and develop one interdisciplinary experiential education course for UFV. As part of identifying and implementing effective coordination and support for current experiential student learning opportunities at the local, regional, and international levels, Larissa will work closely with UFV International and Student Services.
Larissa’s office is D3114 and she can be contacted at local 4131 or Larissa.horne@ufv.ca.