Media releases

• New, returning grads to be celebrated at Brock’s legacy, Fall Convocations

  Tuesday, October 11, 2022 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 11 October 2022 – R0113

  The stage is set to welcome new graduands and returning graduates back to campus this week for Brock University’s legacy and Fall Convocation ceremonies.

  Traditionally a one-day celebration, this year’s Fall Convocation has been expanded to include two additional days of legacy ceremonies to welcome back the Classes of 2020 and 2021, who did not have the chance to cross the stage due to public health restrictions in place at the time of their graduation.

  Legacy Convocation will take place Wednesday, Oct. 12 and Thursday, Oct. 13, with ceremonies at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. each day. More than 1,600 graduates from 2020 and 2021 are expected to return for the celebration.

  Brock’s 112th Convocation will follow on Friday, Oct. 14, when more than 1,000 new graduands will receive their degrees in two ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

  All ceremonies will be held inside Brock’s Ian Beddis Gymnasium in the Walker Sports Complex.

  Friday’s morning ceremony will see Brock graduate and four-time Paralympian Elisabeth Walker-Young (BPhEd ’02) return to her alma mater to receive an honorary degree from the University. Walker-Young, who is widely recognized as a champion for inclusion and accessibility in sport, will also deliver the ceremony’s Convocation address.

  Friday’s celebration will include the presentation of several awards, including the Governor General’s Silver Medals, awarded to the two undergraduate students with the highest academic standing in the Class of 2022. This year’s recipients are Jordan Masi (Medical Sciences), who will receive his medal in the morning ceremony, and Domenic Alfieri (Finance and Economics), who will receive his medal in the afternoon.

  Also being awarded Friday are the Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock medals, presented to students who have demonstrated qualities of leadership, courage, innovation, inspiration or community involvement. This year’s undergraduate student recipient, Cassandra Campanella (Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies), and the graduate student recipient, Daislyn Vidal (Biological Sciences), will each receive the honour at the 10 a.m. ceremony.

  Delivering the Convocation address for the Friday afternoon ceremony is Kai-Yu Wang, Professor of Marketing, International Business and Strategy, and Brock’s 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award recipient.

  To help graduates mark this milestone moment in their lives, Brock has brought back its online celebration toolkit. Badgers can download a variety of graphics for use on social media, including cover photos, wallpapers, animated confetti and Convocation-themed filters.

  The toolkit also includes a map of the University’s photo trail, which graduates are encouraged to travel down following their Convocation ceremony, striking a pose at some of Brock’s most iconic spots on campus. Grads are encouraged to share their photos on social media with the hashtag #BrockUGrad, so the University can celebrate with them.

  After each ceremony held Wednesday to Friday, graduates are also invited to visit Alumni Alley in the South Block hallway nearest to the courtyard, where a celebration will be hosted daily by Alumni and Donor Relations. Graduates will have the opportunity to take pictures at a variety of photo stations, connect with their peers over light refreshments, celebrate with family and friends, and interact with the faculty and staff who have supported them along their academic journey.

  Adding to Friday’s Convocation festivities will be the GRAD² Experience Area, which will welcome the newest graduates from the University’s Graduate Studies programs to celebrate with one another. Open from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. above the Hungry Badger, the space will have refreshments, a photo backdrop, candy bar and swag giveaways, including packages of eco-friendly, seed-paper confetti.

  Graduates are reminded that all guests for each legacy ceremony must be registered in advance. Tickets are required for Friday’s ceremonies. Free parking will be available on campus Wednesday, Oct. 12 to Friday, Oct. 14.

  For those unable to attend, all Convocation ceremonies will be livestreamed online at brocku.ca/livestream

  For more information on Brock’s legacy and Fall Convocation ceremonies, visit brocku.ca/convocation

  Media are welcome to attend Brock’s legacy and Fall Convocations. Photographers shooting from directly in front of the stage are asked to wear a Convocation gown, which can be arranged through Communications and Media Relations Specialist Douglas Hunt.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock experts weigh in on legislation requiring employers to disclose digital surveillance

  Wednesday, October 05, 2022 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: 5 October 2022 – R0112

  Brock University Labour Studies experts say new provincial legislation coming into effect next week that requires employers to disclose how they digitally monitor employees fails to properly outline employees’ privacy rights.

  The increase in remote and hybrid work opportunities in recent years has led to many employers introducing monitoring software that allows them to track their employees in various ways.

  Under Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, 2022, employers of 25 or more employees will be required to create a written policy detailing how, when and why they monitor employees through electronic devices. Practices could potentially include keystroke tracking, screen captures, GPS monitoring and facial recognition, among others.

  The amendment to the Employment Standards Act of 2000 passed in April. Employers affected by Bill 88 are expected to produce a written policy by Oct. 11.

  Associate Professor Alison Braley-Rattai says there have long been calls for legislation around the privacy rights of employees.

  “While employees do have some privacy rights at work, they are complicated, hard to understand and generally difficult to vindicate,” she says. “Legislation that made it easier to comprehend and vindicate privacy rights would have been helpful, but this legislation does not do that — it does not create any new privacy rights nor does it clarify existing ones.”

  Braley-Rattai says that while “requiring employers of a certain size to make transparent their current surveillance practices is, of course, a good thing,” the current legislation falls short in much the same way that the Right to Disconnect law does not actually create any new rights for employees to disconnect.

  Assistant Professor Paul Gray in the Department of Labour Studies says that while it is good to see employers being required to disclose their monitoring practices to employees, the bill still has “significant shortcomings” that call into question any claims that the legislation is ‘on the side of workers.’

  “Although employees can make a complaint to the Ministry of Labour if their employer fails to provide a written copy of their electronic monitoring policy, these employees cannot make a complaint if their employer’s actions violate this written policy,” Gray says. “This makes the changes introduced by this policy fairly superficial.”

  Alison Braley-Rattai, Associate Professor of Labour Studies, and Paul Gray, Assistant Professor of Labour Studies, are available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases