Morris Mentors Pilot Project

Morris Mentors is an English Department initiative designed by English students for English students.

This innovative Pilot Project helps students cultivate their writing capacities and develop professional writing skills through a three-pronged approach:

• Creation of a professional online e-Portfolio curated by a dedicated faculty mentor in the English Department
• Peer-editing support available throughout the academic year
  Workshop events to develop specialized writing skills and grow professional networks

Dr. Jessica Riddell
Associate Professor, 3M National Teaching Fellow (2015), Department of English Chairperson, TLC Chairperson.

Dr. Riddell is thrilled to support Morris Mentors as an innovative program within the English Department that has far reaching implications for building capacities for authentic and clear communication in our complex and ever changing world. She is the inaugural Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence, a generous new endowment that permits her to explore innovative teaching and learning practices at Bishop’s University, as well as at national and international levels.

Mentorship is a key pillar in this research. Taking as a central value that students are partners and collaborators in the educational journey of modern life, some of the research questions Dr. Riddell poses are: How do we as faculty best mentor students? How do students mentor one another? How do we as faculty mentor each other? And perhaps the most unexplored question of all: How do students mentor us as professors?

Participation in the rich opportunities provided by the three-pronged Morris Mentors Pilot Project will contribute to new knowledge in the burgeoning field of Mentorship.

e-Portfolio Faculty Mentoring

The Bishop’s e-Portfolio Mentorship Project offered by Continuing Education is an online platform for students to develop their professional writing dossier.

As part of this project, the Morris Mentors e-Portfolio offers English Department students a dedicated faculty mentor who holds a PhD or is a Doctoral Candidate in English. They provide individualized attention to develop their writing skills.

Morris Mentor e-Portfolio participants are given writing prompts and write in a number of genres, such as personal narratives, professional writing, blogs, articles and more. They are encouraged to include various stages of academic writing to receive feedback and reflect on their challenges.

The Morris Faculty Mentor provides weekly feedback online, and meets with participants for one-on-one, in person mentoring once a month.

Nolan Bazinet

Contract Faculty

Professor Nolan Bazinet earned his B.A. in English Literature at York University. After working for a number of years in broadcast television, he returned to the academic world by earning his M.A. in Canadian Comparative Literature at the Université de Sherbrooke. He is currently completing his PhD degree in Education, also at the Université de Sherbrooke.…Contact Information

Email: nolan.bazinet@ubishops.caINTERNET

Professor Nolan Bazinet earned his B.A. in English Literature at York University. After working for a number of years in broadcast television, he returned to the academic world by earning his M.A. in Canadian Comparative Literature at the Université de Sherbrooke. He is currently completing his PhD degree in Education, also at the Université de Sherbrooke. Nolan’s teaching is informed by the use of unconventional texts in the classroom, be they graphic novels, works of digital literature, or digital games. He is particularly interested in how these texts afford multiliteracy development at various levels of education.

Custom Metadata Fields

• Office: Mac 109

e-Portfolio Information

Morris Mentors Peer Editing Support

The Morris Mentors Pilot Project was inspired by a student-led initiative for Peer-to-Peer mentoring in 2016. Today this idea has blossomed into Peer Editing, an integral component of the holistic mentoring approach offered by Morris Mentors.

Peer editing support is provided by volunteer upper level English Department students who are available to support other students in a collaborative, low-stress environment.

Gabrielle Lesage, a fourth year Honors English Literature Major, is the current Peer Editor.

Drop in to the Morris House Common Room at noon hour, 12 to 1pm, weekly on Wednesdays during the academic term. Open to all Bishop’s students from any department.