The Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning is excited to welcome Marilyn Funk to a two-year (August 1, 2017 – July 31, 2019) term as a Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Specialist. Marilyn is a Vancouver Island University (VIU) faculty member in the Resource Management and Protection Program. She’ll be taking a leave from this position to join the Centre in supporting teaching and learning across the institution.

This is the first time the Centre has created a position that is geared specifically for VIU faculty to learn new skills and knowledge, while contributing their own expertise in teaching and learning with colleagues. Marilyn is the first faculty member to hold this position!

Marilyn came to VIU in 2004 after working for 15 years as a Conservation Officer with five of those years as the Training Officer for the Conservation Officer Service. She also worked as a Park Ranger in Alberta and a Seasonal Park Ranger in Manitoba. Yup – she used to carry a gun and enforce acts and regulations for parks and protected areas. She has a diploma from Lethbridge Community College and a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Education and Communication from Royal Roads University.

Marilyn has significantly transformed her teaching practice over the past number of years from a teacher-oriented model to a very student-empowered model. She has incorporated Indigenous ways of knowing and learning into her curriculum, created a community-based project on Newcastle Island, as well as engaged in a variety of Indigenous professional learning activities across campus.  Marilyn has also redesigned entire courses with the Michaelsen Team-Based Learning approach (TBL) and documented significant changes in both her practice, as well as that of her students. She regularly mentors new staff members and shares her positive outlook and excitement for teaching with her colleagues. Marilyn has taken a number of sessions, workshops and intensive teaching programs in the Centre over the years, but has also come back to mentor and share her personal journey with new faculty. She sees this opportunity as a new chapter in her career to give back to the institution, but also to continue to grow her teaching practice and skill sets.

Marilyn will join Tine Reimers, Kathleen Bortolin and Bill Roberson as the four Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Specialists in the centre supporting faculty with teaching, learning and technology questions and support programs.