In this third story of Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) at Camosun, I take a look at the Community, Family, and Child Studies (CFCS) department, which offers five diploma and certificate programs along with their health university transfer courses:
- Community, Family & Child Studies Diploma (CFCS)
- Education Assistant and Community Support Certificate (EACS)
- Early Learning & Care Diploma (ELC)
- Interprofessional Mental Health & Addictions Post-Degree Diploma (IMHA)
- Mental Health & Addictions Certificate (MHA)
The CFCS diploma program itself, which “prepares [students] to promote, support and strengthen the well-being of individuals and families [and] where graduates work as caring, ethical professionals who adapt to meet current and emergent community needs,” already offers nine ZTC courses and is committed to eliminating costly course materials for more of its courses in the future. The courses in the CFCS diploma program which are currently ZTC are:
- CFCS110: Foundations for Practice
- CFCS114: Professional Practice 1
- CFCS140: Introduction to Community Resources & Supports
- CFCS141: Service Learning
- CFCS210: Diversity Across the Lifespan
- CFCS214: Professional Practice 2
- CFCS230: Support Strategies 1
- CFCS240: Practicum 1
- CFCS241: Practicum 2
The EACS program, which prepares students “to support individuals with acquired and/or developmental disabilities both ethically and professionally in the context of home, school, work, and community settings,” offers five ZTC courses:
- CSEA111: Practicum 1
- CSEA112: Practicum 2
- CSEA115: Current Practice Issues
- CSEA175: Ethical/Professional Practice
- EDUC 116: Health and Disability
Finally, eight other courses in the CFCS department are currently flagged as ZTC:
- In the ELC program, ELC160: Community Observations, ELC212: Guiding Relationships 2, ELC240: Practicum 2, ELC241: Infant/Toddler Practice, and ELC242: Inclusive Practice
- In the IMHA program, IMHA536: Professionalism in Practice and IMHA540: Practicum
- In the MHA program, MHA140: Practicum
- And HLTH113: Creativity and Health
I would be remiss if I did not include links to a few stories about some of the amazing faculty in these programs:
- Danielle from ELC who spoke about an open pedagogy project her students worked on,
- Asha from EACS (interviewed during COVID), who has been working to move more of her courses to ZTC,
- Robin from CFCS (interviewed during COVID) who was also a colleague of mine in CETL for two years,
- Kristin from MHA, who is currently working on a faculty workshop related to the many challenges we (faculty and student) are currently facing in our classrooms,
- Jessica (interviewed during COVID) from ELC who is always excited to try new things to better support her students, and
- Michelle, who is currently the department’s chair, and is always interested in exploring new ways to offer courses and programs.
I want to thank Michelle Jaworsky, chair of the CFCS department, and all the faculty in her area for taking the time to provide me with this information.