About the Session
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is a process for evaluating skill
s and knowledge gained through work, life experience, and professional training. As more B.C. institutions explore flexible and learner-centred approaches, PLAR is emerging as an essential strategy for supporting student mobility, reducing barriers, and honouring diverse learning journeys. This panel brings together leading practitioners from across the B.C. post-secondary sector to share how their institutions are implementing PLAR, what they’ve learned, and why expanding PLAR pathways matters now more than ever.
Moderated by Helena Prins, an advisor on the BCcampus Learning and Teaching team, this session will be an engaging and practical conversation for faculty, administrators, student-service professionals, and anyone interested in equity-informed innovation. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of PLAR’s value, examples of effective models across B.C., and inspiration for strengthening or developing PLAR pathways within their own institutions.
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This session may be recorded, archived, and shared after the event.
About the Facilitators
Justine Arsenault is an advocate and practitioner for PLAR at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), where she leads the Experience-Based Placement initiative. She collaborates with programs to create flexible pathways that validate the knowledge, skills, and experiences of adult learners, supporting credential completion and lifelong learning. Justine also oversees the BCIT Legion Military Skills Conversion Program, providing Canadian Armed Forces members with prior learning assessments, career transition, and academic support. Beyond her role at BCIT, she serves as co-chair of the B.C. Prior Learning Action Network (BCPLAN), collaborating with PLAR experts and champions to expand access to credentials and employment through informed recognition of prior learning.
Lisa Middleton has worked in post-secondary student services for over 20 years and has served as Associate Registrar at Vancouver Community College, Langara College and the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC). At JIBC Lisa is responsible for admissions, student records and graduation, and contributes to academic governance committees. Lisa spearheaded the implementation of the professional training transfer credit pathway at JIBC as students with backgrounds in law enforcement, the military and public safety professions benefit from having their on-the-job training recognized academically.
Susan Forseille is Director of PLAR and Strategic Partnerships at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). She holds a BA from Simon Fraser University, an MA from TRU, and is completing her PhD at the University of Leicester. Her research focuses on career development, experiential learning, and PLAR.
Amanda Roberts is an accomplished RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) and PLAR practitioner, and she is serving as manager of PLAR at the University of the Fraser Valley. She is dedicated to establishing clear governance and supportive policies that create alternative pathways for learners. Amanda’s work strengthens institutional capacity by expanding access and creating pathways enabling learners to progress efficiently toward achieving their goals. Her servant leadership is demonstrated through mentorship of staff, faculty, and learners, as well as her contribution on committees, provincial councils, and national boards.
About the Panel
GenAI is now part of the everyday reality of post-secondary education. Educators across B.C. are navigating a mix of curiosity, concern, as well as fatigue as they decide how, or whether, to engage with these tools in their work to support teaching and learning. This panel brings together sector leaders, educators, and researchers to explore how we might move beyond simple “ban or embrace” narratives towards rethinking teaching and learning with GenAI with particular focus on human-centred approaches and open pedagogy.
This panel will be moderated by Helena Prins, an Advisor on the Learning + Teaching team.
Registration Coming Soon
This notice is to inform you that this session may be recorded, archived, and shared after the event.
About the Facilitators
Gwen Nguyen is a Learning + Teaching Advisor with BCcampus. Gwen holds a PhD in education studies from the University of Victoria and a MA in applied linguistics from Saint Michael’s College. Recently, Gwen has developed a keen interest in exploring pedagogical approaches that ethically and creatively integrate AI into teaching and learning. Gwen comes to this panel to set the stage, bringing a GenAI-literacy-in-teaching lens grounded in her work at BCcampus, where she has been observing the tension between resistance and reimaging education while developing support channels for educators, including the open access BCcampus GenAI in Teaching and Learning Toolkit and related initiatives.
Dr. Neil Fassina took on the role of President at Okanagan College in April 2021, inspired by the college’s reputation for transforming lives and communities. Dr. Fassina earned his PhD in Management from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto and holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Calgary. He is recognized as a Fellow Chartered Professional in Human Resources (FCPHR) and a Chartered Director (ICD.D) through the Institute of Chartered Directors. He has contributed to numerous refereed articles, co-authored a Canadian Human Resource Management textbook and enjoys speaking about the future of education and its role in economic and social development. Before joining Okanagan College, Neil served as President of Athabasca University from 2016 to 2021. His previous roles include Provost and Vice President Academic at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and Dean of the JR Shaw School of Business and School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Throughout his academic career, he has taught at the University of Toronto, the University of Calgary, the University of Manitoba, and in executive education programs.
Elizabeth Childs is a professor in the School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads University. She has worked in government, industry, and academia and consulted nationally and internationally. She is interested in the design, creation, and implementation of flexible learning environments that incorporate the affordances of technologies and provide learners with increased access, choice, flexibility, and opportunities. Dr. Childs’ research interests include online and blended learning, open education and open pedagogy, online learning communities and digital habitats, socio-emotional learning and immersive professional development, design thinking, and participatory design approaches.
Sharon Stein is an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Professor of Climate Complexity and Coloniality in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is the author of Unsettling the University: Confronting the Colonial Foundations of US Higher Education, and a co-founder of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Arts/Research Collective. She is focused on an inquiry about the possibilities of earth-aligned AI for education – that is, AI that can help scaffold a transition from reductionist, anthropocentric learning toward relational intelligence and planetary responsibility.
Jessica Rizk, PhD, is a Senior Research Associate at the Conference Board of Canada. A former K–12 teacher and current post-secondary educator, she leads national research on education, workforce development, and AI literacy, focusing on how institutions and educators can adapt to an AI-enabled future. Her work bridges research, policy, and practice, bringing a perspective centered on equity, innovation, and preparing learners for the evolving demands of work and education.