Thank you for joining us at OURA 2024!
Hosted at the Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre from February 14 — 16, this annual conference will include keynote speakers, sessions, workshops and roundtables from experts in the University Registrarial field.
Introducing our keynote speakers
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
John Weigelt
Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Canada
John Weigelt leads Microsoft Canada’s strategic policy and technology efforts. He helps individuals and organizations across Canada innovate with technology while avoiding the unintended consequences that might arise.
John has contributed to many technological efforts that established the foundation for the electronic services we take for granted today and he continues to lead efforts to evolve technology standards and policy. His extensive experience in technology, business and policy provides him with a unique perspective of our technology enabled economy.
Welcome, John!
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Dr. Rhonda McEwen
Expert in Human-Machine Communication
Dr. Rhonda N. McEwen is the 14th President and Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto; Canada Research Chair in Tactile Interfaces, Communication and Cognition; a Professor of Emerging Media & Communication at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology; and has graduate faculty appointments at the Department of Computer Science; Institute of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology; and Faculty of Information – University of Toronto.
As a Chevening Scholar, Dr. McEwen graduated from City, University of London, England with a MBA in Information Technology Management (high honours). She also earned a MSc in Telecommunications (summa cum laude) from the University of Colorado Boulder; and a PhD in Information from the University of Toronto.
A world-renowned researcher in human-machine communication, Dr. McEwen combines applied and behavioral science approaches with communication studies theory to examine the social and cognitive effects of technologies. Her pioneering approach to communication research employs experimental techniques, eye tracking, observations, sensor data, and interviews to investigate emerging technology used by children and adults, including those diagnosed with communication and learning disorders.
Dr. McEwen has worked with and researched digital communications media for over 20 years, both in companies providing services, and in management consulting to those companies. Dr. McEwen’s research has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nine 9 News Australia, CBC Radio, the Boston Globe, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. She has over 47 publications, including the co-edited Sage Handbook of Human-Machine Communication (2023), and articles in “Human-Robot Interaction” Companion; “Information, Communication & Society”; “Computers and Education”; “New Media and Society”; and information science journals.
Welcome, Rhonda!
OURA 2024
Flexibility is available for an affordable price — you can either attend the whole conference, or one or two days based on your institute’s budget. Mingle with peers in your field and network with the Registrar community. We look forward to seeing you at our 2024 conference.
Our tracks for this year’s conference include:
- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Innovation
- Health and Wellness
- Evolution of the Office
- Professional Practice
Abstract submissions are now closed; if you have any questions, please reach out to Kari Pasick Stewart.
Registration for the conference is open now!
| OURA 2024 Registration Fees | Early-Bird (until Jan 14/24) | Regular (after Jan 14/24) |
|---|---|---|
| Member – Full Conference | $785.00 | $875.00 |
| Member – Wednesday | $465.00 | $505.00 |
| Member – Thursday | $465.00 | $505.00 |
| Non-Member – Full Conference | $925.00 | $995.00 |
| Non-Member – Wednesday | $555.00 | $615.00 |
| Non-Member – Thursday | $555.00 | $615.00 |
Book your group rate for OURA.
Guests may also book their rooms over the phone by calling our toll-free reservations line at 1-800-905-0667 and referencing the Group Name “OURA Conference 2024”.
Event Summary:
| Check-In Date | February 13, 2024 |
| Conference Start Time/Date | 8:00 AM, February 14, 2024 |
| Conference End Time/Date | 1:00 PM, February 16, 2024 |
| Check-Out Date | February 16, 2024 |
| Last Day to Book | Tuesday, January 23, 2024 |
Hotel(s) offering OURA a special group rate:
Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre for $237 CAD per night, plus applicable taxes.
The group rate will be offered pre and post conference dates, based on availability.
The 2024 OURA agenda is here! This year we’ve added two rooms to accommodate the many submitted abstracts. It’s a strong collection of rich sessions across all three days of the conference. Curious about the session details and what you’ll learn about? Read a description of each session on our 2024 Conference Session Details page.
Please note this is subject to change. The agenda now lists all authors of each session and you can see individual session details on our 2024 Conference Session Details page.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Access, Awareness and Success: Building the Queen’s Equity Ambassador Program
- Access to Equity Data – Applicants and Students
- Charting a New Course: Pioneering Inaugural Equity Roles and Innovative Strategies in SEM
- Chosen Name at Carleton University: Our Journey
- Communicating Through Difference: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Approaches for Post-Secondary Recruiters
- Expanding access to PSE – holistic approaches to funding and support for equity deserving groups
- Harmonizing Differences: Cultivating Cultural Intelligence in Ontario’s Higher Education Workforce
- Inclusive & Accessible Practices in Action: Moving Beyond Tokenism
- International assessment
- Intervening attrition and creating pathways for Filipino students through culturally-responsive student engagement
- Labour & Leadership: Enhancing Employee Engagement through Disruption
- Names and Pronouns Matter: Working Together to Promote Inclusion for Trans and Non-Binary Students through Student Records
- OURA EDI Committee
- Targeted Equity Outreach: Utilizing the OPAIP Grant to cultivate a community of care
- The Sorely Missed Need for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Student Recruitment
- UWaterloo’s Declaration & Verification of Indigeneity
Evolution of the Office
- Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement Through Organized Anarchy at TMU: Status Updates
- Increasing Admissions conversations through Academic Transitions
- Lessons Learned from the Pandemic: Timetabling/scheduling Policy and Procedures
- Teaching students to fish: Modernizing registration and advising support with ESM and LMS solutions
- The Overhaul of Undergraduate Admissions at Waterloo
Innovation
- Being “SAVY” About Our Students: How York University Learns About Student Needs From Its AI Chat Bot
- Crafting Conversations: A Workshop on Beginner ChatGPT Prompt Engineering
- Expanding OUInfo’s reach: Let’s talk about non-Ontario applicants
- Mitigating use of High-tech Tools to Protect Academic Integrity in Examinations
- Moving to the Cloud: Modernizing Financial Aid, Awards, and Graduate Funding
- “Power Automate” your way to more effective and efficient processes
- Process Exploration: A Student-Centred Approach
- “This Summer Programming Made Me Stay at UT”: Designing and Delivering Impactful, Accessible and Sustainable Transition Programming for New Students
- Transforming Admissions with Slate: A Roundtable
- University of Toronto’s UTAPS Redesign
Professional Practice
- Affiliation and Collaboration: Universities and University Colleges in Ontario
- Before & After: How Students’ Interests Have Changed and the Implications for Universities
- Comin’ in Hot: 7 Hot Takes on Canadian Student Recruitment
- Developing and Implementing Key Performance Indicators at McMaster’s Registrar’s Office
- Empowering Excellence: A Holistic Onboarding Framework for an Integrated Services Team
- Ethical Implications of Implementing a Digital Transformation Strategy
- Future-Proofing University Admin: A Round Table on Hiring, Training, and Retaining Employees
- Graduate Thesis Formatting – Should Ontario Universities be Reviewing their thesis submission requirements?
- Holistic Training for Holistic Advising: The Academic Advising Training Program (AATP) at the University of Toronto
- How to deliver bad news with kindness and confidence
- Inflation-busting: Ideas to help students manage limited resources in an increasingly expensive world
- Infosilem, A Success Story: Lessons Learned
- Integrating the Theory of Care with Change Management in PSE
- It’s Been a While – Let’s Talk about Undergrad Admissions
- Lessons Learned from the Domestic Non-Ontario Resident Fees Process at the University of Toronto: An overview and update
- Navigating the Academic Undergraduate Calendar: Unveiling the Student-University Contract for Clarity and Commitment
- One-Stop Leaders Roundtable
- Sep 1 or Nov 1? The role of the Registrar’s Office in SEM
- Surveying the Recruitment Landscape
- To Extend or Not to Extend: Process and Practice for Conditional Offers of Admission
- Transfer Credit Management System at Carleton University
- Transforming Student Support: Revolutionizing Service Culture at York University
- uOttawa’s strategy for PUM image installations
- Welcome to Graduate Studies: Onboarding Strategies for Graduate Student Success
For driving directions, map, parking information and public transportation details, click here