Media releases

• Reminder: Brock’s Virtual Fall Convocation launches Friday

  Thursday, October 15, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 15 October 2020 – R0156

  The doors to Brock University’s Virtual Fall 2020 Convocation are about to swing open.

  More than 650 Brock undergrad students and 340 graduate students will convocate Friday, Oct. 16 as the University’s 108th Convocation ceremony goes online.

  It follows a similar format to Spring Convocation, which was held virtually in June due to public health COVID-19 restrictions around large gatherings.

  Fall Convocation is traditionally a one-day affair, and those graduating will receive an invitation to their personalized Convocation portal from the Deans of their respective Faculties first thing Friday morning.

  Inside, they will find a tailored graduation experience they can access whenever it’s convenient for them and their families.

  This Convocation will include numerous significant milestones.

  First will be the installation of incoming Chancellor Hilary Pearson, who follows Shirley Cheechoo to become Brock’s ninth Chancellor. Cheechoo was installed as Chancellor in 2015 when she became the first woman and first Indigenous Canadian to hold the ceremonial leadership role at Brock.

  Pearson is a recognized leader in Canadian philanthropy and community engagement. She has served in senior policy roles in the federal government and as President of Philanthropic Foundations Canada for 18 years, working closely with many of the country’s largest private charitable foundations. In 2018, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada. 

  One of her first tasks as Chancellor will be conferring an honorary degree on Lieutenant-General, the Honorable Roméo Dallaire. A celebrated international advocate for human rights, Dallaire is a respected author, government and United Nations advisor, and former Canadian senator. He is also founder of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security.

  Appointed as commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda, Dallaire was witness to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He spoke at Brock on International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 2017 and will give a keynote address on the Convocation portal.

  The Virtual Convocation experience will also include video messages from University President Gervan Fearon, student and alumni leaders and others.

  While graduands will have their degrees officially conferred by Chancellor Pearson on Friday, their physical degree parchments will arrive in the mail in the coming weeks. Students who have requested to have their diploma mailed will receive a package that will include the degree, a Convocation program, an alumni pin, a bag of Class of 2020 confetti, and a few other items.

  For faculty, staff and community members who want to see what Brock’s Virtual Fall Convocation is all about, this Brock News story will be updated at 9 a.m. Friday with links to the graduation portal.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

   * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca or 905-347-1970 

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock augmented reality marketing course receives Innovation in Business Education Award

  Thursday, October 15, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 15 October 2020 – R0155

  Brock University’s new augmented reality (AR) marketing course has been internationally recognized.

  The one-of-a-kind course offered by the Goodman School of Business recently placed first in the 2020 Innovation in Business Education Award competition by the MidAmerican Business Deans Association. The award recognizes creative and unique strategies and programs that advance the quality of higher education.

  Assistant Professor of Marketing Joachim Scholz, who created and teaches Brock’s AR Marketing course, said the award reinforces the importance for business schools to design courses with industry and consumer demand in mind.

  “The world of augmented reality is quickly advancing, and companies are starting to notice,” he said. “The Goodman School of Business is the first and only business school to offer an entire course dedicated to the strategic marketing opportunities of AR. Students who complete the course will have knowledge and experience driving creative and strategic ideation for a professionally implemented, real-world AR marketing campaign.”

  In contrast to virtual reality technology, where everything a user sees is a virtual environment, AR augments a consumer’s physical environment with digital components. For example, consumers might use their phone to visualize how a sofa might look in their living room. The sofa is digital, but everything else is real.

  In the AR Marketing course, students explore strategies and frameworks on how AR can be successfully used to build brands, create customer experiences, increase conversion in online and brick-and-mortar retail environments, and design advertising campaigns that maximize customer engagement and influence purchasing decisions.

  The course adopts a virtual agency model to complement and deepen Brock University’s strong focus on experiential education.

  A current trend in the marketing services industry, virtual agencies bring together several specialized agencies and external freelancers to collaborate with each other to fulfil a client project. It allows agencies to be nimble and avoid the large rosters of permanent staff that are usually found in full-service marketing agencies.

  For the AR Marketing course, students take on the role of strategic planners and the creative team within a virtual agency, whereas the execution of students’ strategies is completed by a specialized AR development studio on a pro bono basis.

  Working with industry professionals who execute the students’ strategies increases the realism of the course and its impact.

  In addition to the implementation partner, consultants from a professional creative agency help students conceive campaigns for the client and a pitch consultant from a professional marketing agency helps students communicate their strategy proposals in the most effective way.

  “It’s an updated version of experiential education,” said David DiPietro, Senior Experiential Education Co-ordinator, who worked with Scholz on the design of the AR Marketing course. “Students develop their strategic-thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills by taking on a variety of senior marketing agency roles and by consulting with industry experts to bring the AR Marketing project to life.”

  Although the course was originally designed to be delivered in person, it was easily converted to an online format to comply with Brock University’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

  “A virtual agency model is a great fit for online education,” said Scholz. “It’s a highly collaborative experience that provides students with superior value, especially when compared to other larger online courses. It adds realism to the course, which is especially important as marketing becomes more and more complex.”

  Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes said winning first place in the Innovation in Business Education Award competition “is a testament to the high-quality education students are receiving from Goodman’s diverse and dedicated team of faculty and staff.”

  This is not the first year the Goodman School of Business has placed in the Innovation in Business Education Award competition. Last year, Goodman’s Internet and Social Media Marketing course led by Professor Kai-Yu Wang was awarded third place.

  “Being recognized for innovativeness in education two years in a row among some of world’s top business schools is tremendous sustained recognition for the Goodman School,” said Gaudes.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University

  ddakin@brocku.ca or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases