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GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT
It is hard to believe that it is already March – and the school year rushes to a conclusion.
This can be an anxious and challenging but always exciting time of the year at Mount Allison. Students juggle essays, assignments, and preparation for final exams with the countless activities and year-end events that mark a typical March at Mount A. Graduating students anticipate convocating in May and the prospects of life after Mount Allison – whether in professional or graduate school, work, or travel. Faculty and staff prepare final lectures, and anticipate receiving essays and exams and processing grades. And prospective students divide their attention between completing their high school experience and starting a new University life next year.
As we experience the last weeks of term, it is gratifying to reflect on what has been an exceptional and satisfying year at Mount Allison.
To begin, we were proud to be evaluated highly by our students and by external groups. In the fall, we regained top spot in the Maclean’s rankings and, later this year, Maclean’s presented the results of the National Survey of Student Engagement – in which Mount Allison students rated their university experience at a higher level than at any other Canadian university. The Globe and Mail also confirmed students’ high evaluation of Mount Allison through their annual University Report Card.
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This external evaluation extended to individual members of the Mount Allison community. For example, the entire community was bursting with pride when Dara MacDonald was named Mount Allison’s 47th Rhodes Scholar, when Alison Starratt received a Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies, and when Professor Robert Lapp was named our 4th 3M Teaching Fellow. And five Allisonian women – including Board Chair Lynn Loewen – were named amongst the 100 most powerful women in Canada. |
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It is no surprise that student applications to Mount Allison have increased by over 30% this year. We anticipate a lively and talented incoming class next fall, many of whom will be at our Open House on Tuesday 18 March. |
When this new class arrives in the fall of 2008, they will be lucky to experience a substantial change at Mount Allison: the opening of our fantastic new Student Centre in Trueman House. This $15 million project is on schedule for opening this summer. It will house all Student Services and Student Life activities together – in one beautiful building with a skylight, balconies, café and pub, and resource and club rooms.
The opening of the new Student Centre coincides with the arrival of our Vice-President Student Affairs – Ron Byrne. This new and innovative position places the student’s life and needs at the heart of the Mount Allison experience. Residence life programming has seen great innovation – the Campbell-Verduyn fund for special projects, the President’s Spirit Prize, environmental and health initiatives in our top-rated, award-winning dining hall, and residence sponsorship and creative initiatives – like the environmental challenge that was won by Hunton House (a 25% energy reduction!) and the many initiatives by our student Eco-Action group. We are committed to intensifying the international, environmental, creative, and leadership experiences that are at the heart of our Mount A mission.
These experiences are continuously expressing themselves through Mount Allison’s nationally acclaimed program of academic excellence. This year we welcomed our newest Canada Research Chair – Shauna McCabe (critical theory in the interpretation of culture) and the renewal of another – Craig Brett in Canadian Public Policy. They are two of a team of fantastic, interesting and committed faculty, many of whom have attracted particular attention this year – such as Suzie Currie for her work on how the ‘smell’ of chemical pollutants affects fish reproduction; Patricia Kelly Spurles and Judith Doyle for their breastfeeding project; and Terry Belke for his work on motivation and physical exercise. |
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Incoming and returning students next year will benefit from an extraordinary burst of faculty renewal – over 20 new faculty will be arriving at Mount Allison in September. This will include a new appointment in International Relations to lead that ambitious program; exciting new appointments in Fine Arts and Music; and the addition of new faculty appointments in the Commerce Department, which will see far-reaching developments in 2008.
In my second year as President, I continue to be amazed at the variety and intensity of student life at Mount Allison. I must confess that I found January and February to be particularly crazy months this year.
There was the Atlantic Premiers and Cabinet meetings at Mount Allison; distinguished guest speakers like Richard Florida, Afua Cooper, Linda McQuaig, Jeffrey Simpson, and Shirley Williams; countless music events like Stereophonic and the CBC Fuse show with Julie Doiron and the Superfantastics; and an array of theatrical productions including the Garnet and Gold production of Cinderella.
Last week, I hosted our Badminton team at Cranewood after Mount A successfully hosted the national championships. Congratulations to Scott Yorke for his prestigious prize, as well as to the many basketball and volleyball players who were recently named to all-star teams. Congratulations also to Corey Yantha and the men’s soccer team for sponsoring the outdoor hockey tournament that supported our MTA Habitat for Humanity group that went to New Orleans over the reading week.
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I am looking forward to hosting the athletic all-Canadians and graduating varsity athletes at an evening at Cranewood on 17 March. I am also looking forward to the Society of All Nations’ banquet on Saturday 15 March (I have sponsored a few dishes!!), as well as to the Graduating Students banquet on 19 March and to the Athletics banquet on 27 March. Later in March, the student-sponsored Conduct Becoming CD will have a benefit launch at Cranewood – with three groups performing in different parts of the house. If I can fit it in – and I will! – I look forward to seeing Mark Blagrave’s |
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| new play at the Windsor Theatre and as well as hearing many graduating students’ musical performances in the Brunton Auditorium. Be sure to check Coming Events, Mount Allison’s online event calendar — http://www.mta.ca/events for the latest campus activities. |
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So – the year winds down in an exhilarating and exhaustive way. This is symbolized in the renewal of the Students’ Council: congratulations to Marianne Greene and her team for a productive and effective year and congratulations and good luck to Mike Currie and the new SAC group.
To all students: enjoy the last weeks of term activities and good luck with your essays, projects, and exams. To faculty and staff: I hope that you can endure the last weeks of this endless winter and thank you for providing support and guidance to our students. And to prospective students: good luck in making what is a critical decision about which university to attend. If you have any questions or thoughts, do not hesitate to contact me.
Robert Campbell
President, Mount Allison University
rcampbell@mta.ca
Maintained by the Office of the Vice-President (Administration)
February 1, 2008