| Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D President and Vice-Chancellor |
Mount Allison is nationally and internationally known for being one of Canada’s finest undergraduate universities. We are proud to have been named regularly as Canada’s best undergraduate university for much of the last two decades (Maclean’s).
But Mount Allison it is cherished widely for more than its reputation. At its core is its intimate campus and community, where people truly connect and get to know each other in multiple ways.
As I begin my second term as President, I can reflect on the incredible number, range and variety of exceptional and interesting students that I have been fortunate to meet over the years - whether in my teaching, or at various university activities, or at events at the President’s house Cranewood, or simply when walking around campus and stopping to chat with students. Faculty, staff, and students in turn have similar conversations, interactions and relationships within Mount Allison’s intimate and humane community.
I feel that we have all enjoyed, benefitted and changed for the better through these personal interactions. Whether in quiet (or animated!) conversations and debates, discussions over essays or at events, or in providing advice or writing letters of recommendation, the support we give to each other has meaningful consequences to the lives we lead at Mount Allison and beyond.
At Mount Allison, one can benefit and build on our rich history and tradition, one that is founded on these kinds of personal interactions and experiences. But Mount Allison is far more than our illustrious past. Our primary responsibility is to offer this quality of experience now for our present cohort of Allisonians and into the future for the next generations. So, we keep a steady and diligent eye on the future —to ensure that the Mount Allison experience will remain one that is unique and of the highest quality.
Each year, we declare a theme for the academic year, and 2011-12 will be our Year of Science and Discovery. Please see details of our exciting program at www.mta.ca/ysd.
We completed an exciting branding exercise this year, which will help us to tell our story, and position us as the best undergraduate university in Canada and among the best in the world. Please feel free to view the process that we followed and see the results at www.mta.ca/brand.
We are also preparing for the addition of a new fine and performing arts centre on campus, which will serve as a new home for our vibrant Fine Arts and drama programs and make Mount Allison — and Sackville — a cultural hub in the region. See our plans at www.mta.ca/fpac.
Should your journey bring you to Mount Allison — as a new student, a returning alumnus, parent, or friend – allow me to welcome you in advance. I really look forward to meeting you – and to building that personal relationship that is at the heart of the Mount Allison experience.
Dr. Robert Campbell
President and Vice-Chancellor
Mount Allison University