Instructor, Judy Snaydon is retiring! Check out this farewell story written by IDEA School of Design Co-Coordinator, Carol Aitken and faculty! Illustration (shown above) by Raha Namdari (IDEA Grad 2023).

Carol Aitken

Two things stand out to me – first the efforts Judy has made in championing Indigenization – from the blanket exercises that she arranged for the students, to the joint first-year project she ran with Doreen Manuel and her IIDF students, to working with David Geary on Truth and Reconciliation week activities. She has helped to raise the profile of the IDEA department at Cap when it comes to Indigenization through her presentations at various university-wide events, including CTE PD-week activities and the Capilano Universe Lecture Series. I remember so many instructors from other departments being blown away by the results from that IIDF-IDEA project. She has also been active in building bridges with other departments at Cap and is fairly well known at the university because of this. And now we have hired someone Judy first introduced to the program - Bracken Corlett, our first Indigenous instructor – who will be teaching the Indigenous project in the Design Studio class – a real feather in our caps but the thanks go to Judy for that introduction.

Outside the program Judy has contributed by being elected to Senate where she served for a full 2-year term, she’s been on SAPPRC forever and is still on it, she was on the original committee for the development of Cap Core – and I’m sure other things I’m not even aware of.

The other thing that stands out to me is how much Judy has worked to build connections between the program and the industry. Not just in inviting guest speakers but in setting up the 3rd year mentorship projects that pair each student with an industry mentor where they work on a project together. Most of those projects end up in final portfolios and many students cite it as one of the best parts of their education. Judy also worked to build the 4th year Practicum project into the well-oiled machine it is today. She established strong connections with industry and managed to keep those relationships working through even the most challenging student placements. This year Judy has been an advisor on the Practicum as it passes to Ben and Mark, so we are well set up for the future.