Susan Forseille is a passionate PLAR advocate, believing adult learners acquire great amounts of knowledge and skills through life and work experience. She was elected to the CAPLA Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting in 2019. Susan has been the TRU Director of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) since 2018. In this role she is entrusted to provide visionary leadership and advocacy for PLAR. She is the Co-chair of BC Prior Learning Action Network (BCPLAN) and was the lead researcher in the 2019 project, the “State of PLAR in BC” (funded by BC CAT). Susan is a Co-chair of the 5th VPL Biennale, and is also on the Prior Learning Inside Out (PLAIO) board, a scholarly online journal. Susan’s research focus is on the impact of prior learning assessment on career development. Prior to her work in PLAR Susan worked for 22-years as a career-educator and an enthusiastic researcher. For some of this time Susan was also a PLAR Assessor, her first introduction to the assessment of informal and non-formal learning for academic credit. She has been privileged to work in, and conduct research around, multiple intersections of career development, prior learning, and education. Susan has presented at conferences throughout Canada on these topics.
Susan has published two history books, Where the Wagon Road Leads: A guide to Hat Creek Ranch, and Silver Seams, Tall Timbers and Red Earth: Shared Memories of the Settlement of Squam Bay, Fadear Creek, Blucher Hall and the West Side of Adams Lake. She lives in a small ranching community just south of Kamloops.