Community Report for 2017
It is inspiring to see so many success stories told in our Community Report 2017. Each story is personal to a student and represents something important about our University. These stories happen because of our supporters. There are many individuals, families, and foundations that support our young scholars and encourage them to even greater achievements. These benefactors have confidence in the quality of our work and support our students because they believe in the promise of their future. This confidence is well founded. Our students are winning international and national awards; their research is being published; they are participating in international academic events; they are building better communities; they are earning SSHRC Scholarships or other prestigious scholarships at graduate schools across the country and around the world. St. Thomas University is more than a collection of beautiful brick buildings or an inspiring campus environment. It is a living body of students, scholars, and alumni. It is vibrant and diverse, a community of people, each with their individual goals but centred on one purpose— providing the best possible liberal arts education. Achieving this excellence is fundamental to our success and for our society. We need engaged citizens who possess advanced skills in critical thinking, literacy, analysis, communication and collaborative problem solving. With your support, our students will become those citizens. I invite you to meet just a few of the extraordinary students who make our university such a vibrant community. I know you will be as moved by their stories as we are, every single day. Dawn Russell President and Vice-Chancellor
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Š Keith MinchinFaces of Fredericton/Faces of New Brunswick
A Personal Note
Gifts in Action
Moot Court Team Wins International Competition in Europe Students Navy Vezina, BA’18, and Abbie LeBlanc, BA’19, earned first place at the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition in Geneva. The international competition was open to undergraduate, law, and graduate students, and STU was the only Canadian university to qualify. Moot Court is a credited class at St. Thomas and involves competitions throughout the United States; however, the pursuit of earning a spot at the competition in Switzerland was a student-led initiative outside of class with the support of a faculty member. Financial support from the Bragg Family Foundation made it possible for the students to travel to this competition.
An Environment that Incorporates Indigenous Culture Trenton Augustine, BA’11, is our Indigenous Student Services Coordinator, a position made possible by the generosity of the Harrison McCain Foundation. Working closely with the Elder in Residence in the Wabanaki Student Centre, his focus is on Indigenous student recruitment and retention, liaising with New Brunswick’s fifteen First Nations communities to promote
post-secondary education, and providing academic and cultural support for First Nations students. “I want to create a welcoming environment that incorporates and celebrates Indigenous culture. I am excited to help build and create that ‘home away from home’ for Indigenous students.” – Trenton Augustine, BA’11
Our Moot Court Team also earned a bid to the US nationals for a second straight year. The only university from Canada at the competition, our team finished 22nd of 350 teams and earned multiple speaker and briefwriting awards. We held a moving and special event which registered that St. Thomas University has heard the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The program included speakers, musical performances, videos, student readings of the 94 Calls to Action, and an art exhibit by Mawi’art: Wabanaki Artist Collective. Sponsored by the Harrison McCain Foundation, this was an important event for the community, including the 160 Indigenous students enrolled at STU, and was well attended by members of the St. Thomas community, as well as many others from outside of the University.
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Experiential Learning Trip Takes 30 Students to the Big Apple For five days in late fall, 30 students and three professors made New York City their classroom. History professor Dr. Brad Cross said New York City provides so many rich experiential learning opportunities because of its social and cultural diversity, which makes it an incredible place for students to visit. “It is the cultural and
economic capital of the United States, where we find a thriving arts scene, some of the greatest cultural and historical museums in the world, and spontaneous opportunities for research and intellectual work,” Cross said. Experiential learning opportunities like the New York trip are made possible thanks to the generous support of the STU Fund.
“Seeing some of the artifacts in real life was an amazing experience. We were also able to see places we read about, which puts things into perspective.” – Sarah Fanjoy, BA’19
Certificate in Experiential Learning and Community Engagement Our students will now have the opportunity to connect their in-class learning with practical experience and work in the community through a new interdisciplinary Certificate in Experiential Learning and Community Engagement. The certificate, which students can complete concurrently with their
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Bachelor of Arts degree, will provide evidence of the hands-on learning and community service completed during their studies. “This will be an opportunity for students to document and to be recognized for their community involvement and course-based experiential learning,” said Jessica
Hughes, manager of the Office of Experiential Learning and Community Engagement, a position funded by NB Power. “With this certificate, students will be better equipped to communicate their achievement to potential employers and in post-graduate opportunities.”
Campus Partnerships & Community Success
New Health Research Chair A health research chair has been established to study the legalization and use of cannabis. The health research chair is the first of its kind in Canada and will examine the social determinants of health relative to the use of recreational and medical cannabis. The chair will provide evidence-based data and scholarly interpretation to guide the development of public policy as new regulations are implemented. Shoppers Drug Mart and the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation
on behalf of the provincial government are funding the chair by jointly contributing $1 million over five years.
“Given St. Thomas University’s commitment to scholarly research that addresses the most pressing issues confronting society, this initiative aligns well with our strengths.” – Dawn Russell, BA’77, President and Vice-Chancellor
Honouring Inspirational Canadians At Spring Convocation, we bestowed honorary degrees on philanthropist and higher education champion Sandra Irving and Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada Alex Neve. At Summer Convocation, we bestowed an honorary degree on Judge Mary Ellen TurpelLafond, a lawyer, judge, and children’s rights advocate.
Peter Forestell, QC, to Lead Board of Governors
Saint John lawyer Peter R. Forestell, QC, BA’73, has been appointed chair of our board of governors. Forestell is the New Brunswick chair of the regional law firm Cox & Palmer. He has been recognized in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading practitioner in corporate commercial law and property development and has been listed as a leading practitioner by The Best Lawyers in Canada.
“STU’s graduates are putting their education to work doing wonderful things with their lives and in their communities. Like all members of the board, I am looking forward to providing direction and support to the university.” – Peter Forestall, QC, BA’73
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Meaningful Student Experience
STU Joins Global Brigades St. Thomas is now part of Global Brigades, an international, nonprofit organization and the largest student-led social responsibility movement in the world. A STU group spent a week in Panama assisting foreign lawyers with pro-bono cases and holding workshops on human rights in rural communities. “What was so encouraging about this experience was the engagement of the community members,” said Angela Bosse, BA’18. “Our legal clinics were full of people coming to ask questions and learning how to solve problems. In our adult workshop, there was an amazing discussion about gender roles and how to go about changing them. It was so empowering to see women engage in conversation about how they assert their independence.”
Adding Harvard to their Resumes
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Students Yaxuan Wu, BA’18, and Jiachen Qian, BA’17, had the opportunity to complete a Credential of Readiness (CORe) through the university’s partnership with HBX of the Harvard Business School — something they knew would help their resumes stand out.
We were the first school in Canada to partner with HBX. Our students are able to pursue a multi-week, intensive program of online courses on the fundamentals of business.
International Relations Students at Harvard Model United Nations Eight students travelled to Boston, Massachusetts, to participate in the 2017 Harvard Model United Nations where, alongside students from all over the world, they acted as delegates representing different countries. “Students spend a great deal of time preparing, but they still learn almost everything experientially, in the moment, at the actual simulation,” said Professor Stephanie McAnany, BA’09, faculty advisor for the course. “Students hone their public speaking skills, put their knowledge of the UN and international relations to the test, and learn to better understand the tremendous challenges and opportunities within the UN system.”
Theatre at a Glance STU’s Musical Theatre class presented Chicago, a musical that explores the dangers of celebrity culture. Set in prohibition-era Chicago — a world in which murder is entertainment — it tells the story of Roxie Hart’s rise to fame after she murders her ex-boyfriend. Theatre St. Thomas brought audiences to Spain to witness the action-packed exploits of the charismatic libertine Don Juan in Tirso de Molina’s poetic comedy, The Trickster of Seville and His Stone Guest. The Early English Drama Society presented A Midsummer Night’s Dream like you’ve never seen it before, with mismatched lovers, a
chorus of terrible performance artists, and a choral of disgruntled fairies — set to the backdrop of the swinging seventies! Theatre St. Thomas presented professors Dr. Robin C. Whittaker and Dr. Sue McKenzie-Mohr’s
No White Picket Fence, a remarkable “verbatim play” in which all of the dialogue originates, verbatim, from interviews with ten women who have experienced the foster care system. Their stories are charged with turmoil and suffering in their original
family homes and later during impermanent arrangements in foster care and group homes. Yet, they highlight the women’s persistence moving toward living well on their own terms. These are stories of resistance, resilience, and strength of the human spirit.
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Inspired by Great Speakers Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism Award-winning journalist Mohamed Fahmy spoke about spending 438 days in an Egyptian prison, unjustly jailed for conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood, and for fabricating news for Al Jazeera as bureau chief for the Qatari network in Egypt. He was released in 2015 following international outcry. While in prison, he conducted interviews behind bars with members of ISIS, Al Qaeda, and others, gaining rare insights into modern terrorism.
Vigod Memorial Lecture Award-winning author, journalist and human rights activist Sally Armstrong spoke about “Why Women’s Rights Are Your Business: The Dollars and Sense of Investing in Women and Girls.”
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Science and Technology Studies Lecture The mainstream media consensus seems irrefutable: there is an island of plastic waste floating in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean. But despite agreement on its location and a proliferation of claims about its size, no one can find it. In her talk, Dr. Kim De Wolff drew on science and technology studies to move beyond questions of accuracy to explore how the trash island became and remains so powerful.
Women’s Studies and Gender Studies Lecture Jennifer Brant spoke about missing and murdered Indigenous women in her lecture, “Forever Loving, Forever Resisting: Recent Research on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.”
McKendy Memorial Lecture Dr. Maria De Angelis spoke on contemporary human trafficking. Her lecture discussed the narratives within the migration-crimesecurity relationship and their interpretive effects on “seeing” or “not seeing” the real survivors of trafficking.
Human Rights Public Lecture
Dr. Costanza Musu delivered the lecture “Understanding the Final Status Issues in Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations. What Role for the International Community, What Role for Canada?”
Student Success STU Tommies women’s hockey captain Kelty Apperson, BA’16, was one of two players from the Atlantic University Sport conference selected to represent Canada at the 2017 FISU Winter Universiade in Kazakhstan. Apperson has had much success throughout her career — including being named AUS MVP last season — but said this opportunity nicely capped her university hockey experience.
Student Hannah Zamora, BA’18, presented a paper at the Association for Core Texts and Courses Student Conference, held at the Liberal Arts Institute at Concordia University Irvine in Southern California. Her paper, titled “Knowing the Audience: Deception as Henry V’s Constant Political Tool” had undercurrents of critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving.
Constituency Youth Council Students Oriana Cordido De Sola, BA’19, Olivier Hébert, BA’18, and Noah Turner, BA’19, are voicing their opinions on issues important to young people in New Brunswick and Canada. They joined the Constituency Youth Council, which was designed to inform government on issues that concern youth. The Council meets several times during the year to work on projects and share ideas, opinions, and concerns with one another and with Member of Parliament Matt DeCourcey, BA’05.
“There’s now a place for us to go and present our own issues, where it’s less intimidating than if we were presenting among older, more experienced people who may already have their degrees. We can also actually talk directly to Members of Parliament.” – Noah Turner, BA’19
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“The Place I Feel I Belong” — Lynn Boyce Finds her Career Path through Work Placement For Lynn Boyce, MMBSW’17, the last place she wanted to be became the place she feels she belongs. A member of the Potlotek First Nation of Cape Breton, NS, Boyce hopes to use her Mi’kmaq/Maliseet Bachelor of Social Work (MMBSW) degree in a position with Child Welfare — something she never would have considered if it hadn’t been for her work placement. “It’s funny, because before doing my placement with the Department of Community Services — Child Welfare, it was the last place I wanted to be,” she said. “Now, it’s the place I feel I belong.”
Before her placement, Boyce thought a career in child welfare meant removing children from their families. After working in intake, long-term protection, and temporary care and custody at the Department of Community Services, she realized it’s much more than that. “Child welfare is there to help keep families together.” Our MMBSW program provides a culturally relevant framework and flexible schedule for First Nations individuals wishing to pursue a career in social work or related positions within their communities. Since the program’s inception in 2005, almost 90 Indigenous graduates have received an MMBSW.
Psychology graduate Hannah Anstey, BA’17, was recognized at the 41st Annual Science Atlantic Psychology Conference with the Science Atlantic Communication Award, given to the student who is best able to communicate their research. Anstey was also the 2017 recipient of the University Medal for Arts at Spring Convocation, the highest award offered by the University to an outstanding arts graduate.
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“I was extremely pleased to be selected. It was nice to be recognized for my communication skills when all the presenters did so well. It made me proud to be a St. Thomas student.” – Hannah Anstey, BA’17
Faculty Success Fine Arts Professor Dr. Martin Kutnowski spent four weeks last summer touring the Americas with the Saint John String Quartet. The musicians teamed up for the tour, which included a dozen concerts and a similar number of masterclasses in Canada, Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia. The repertoire included Kutnowski’s “Peter Emberley’s Dream,” recently nominated as Best Classical Composition of the Year by the East Coast Music Awards.
Social Work Professor and Canada Research Chair in Narrative Studies Dr. Clive Baldwin and UNB doctoral candidate Michelle Greason, BA’13, BSW’15, are conducting a study focusing on the housing needs and preferences of adults with developmental disabilities in the Greater Fredericton Area. The research project is being funded by the Fredericton Community Living Foundation and was commissioned by Willow Tree Community, a local not-forprofit agency that fosters community in the spirit of L’Arche with adults of varying intellectual abilities who share life, celebrate, and grow with one another.
Dr. Erin Fredericks, BA’06, was honoured with the university’s service award for her advocacy and support for the LGBTQIA+ community on campus and in Fredericton. As facilitator of the Safer Spaces program, Fredericks developed an LGBTQIA+ inclusion training workshop for staff and faculty. She has offered the workshop many times on campus and to community organizations, as well as to the New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety. As STU’s LGBTQIA+ Resource Advisor, she meets with students, supports queer and trans equity initiatives, and advises staff and faculty. She has also promoted queer and trans visibility by supporting the development and work of the Q&A Student Society, facilitating the raising of the Trans Flag at STU, advocating for queer and trans students facing issues on campus, and helping establish all-gender washrooms on campus.
In his new role as the Canada Research Chair in Global and International Studies, Dr. Matthew Hayes, a professor in the Department of Sociology, is examining north-south transnational migration and global inequalities. He is focusing on how northern migrants and local communities experience north-south migration.
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Where are our students from? Distribution of 2016-17 Full-time Students by Province of Application l 6.9% ationa Intern % 4.7 dn rC he Ot 3% 3.
Scholarship - Entrance (first-year)
N O PE I
Awards Disbursed 2016-2017
2.7 %
Number Value 416
$ 780,521.30
Scholarship - In Course
45
$ 62,749.00
Scholarship - Renewals
280
$ 900,205.97
Total Scholarship
741
$ 1,743,476.27
Bursary - Entrance (Undergrad)
176
$ 251,099.99
Bursary - In Course
69
$ 46,282.70
Bursary - Post-Bacc
28
$ 23,850.00
Bursary - Renewals
26
$ 41,150.00
Total Bursary
299
$ 362,382.69
Other Awards
90
$ 221,046.92
Total Other Awards
90
$ 221,046.92
N S 9.1 %
NB 73.2%
GRAND TOTAL
1130 $ 2,326,905.88
Notes: Excludes B143 International Bursary figures (processed as a tuition waiver) and B163 Exchange Travel Bursaries
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Donations at STU
Where is your Money Going?
Who is Giving to STU?
Operations 1% Athletics 8%
Alumni 11%
Student Experience 13% Friends 26% Organizations 63%
Student Awards 34%
Academic Initiatives 13% Greatest Need 31%
What our Grads Say Canadian University Survey Consortium Survey of Graduating Students 2015 • 91% were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of education at STU • 91% would recommend St. Thomas University to others • 95% of STU graduates were satisfied with the quality of teaching they received • 96% reported professors are accessible outside of class
The Shared Aspirations of Our Community St. Thomas University Strategic Plan 2013-2018 Strategic Priorities: 1. Excellence in Undergraduate Liberal Arts Education 2. A Meaningful and Memorable Student Experience 3. A Commitment to Research and Societal Engagement 4. A Welcoming, Diverse and Inclusive Community 5. Financial Sustainability
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STU Budget at a Glance Operating Revenues Budgeted 2017-18 Operating Expenses Budgeted 2017-18
Other $1.0M 4%
Operating Grant $14.2M 48%
Tuitions and Fees $14.2M 48%
Student Services Computing Services $1.7M Fiscal Transfer $1.0M 6% to UNB 3.5% $1.9M 6%
Ph ys i $2 cal P . 7.5 2M lan t % Administration and General $5.1M 17%
Economic Contribution of STU Attracted 101 full-time faculty to the city. Employs 101 part-time faculty. Employs 90 staff members. Educates 2,000 students every year. (3/4 of these are from NB) Granted 6,348 academic credentials since 2007.
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Academic $17.8M 60%
Beyond 2017: STU Shaped Today’s Leaders Nathan Benson, BA’99 National Director of the Refugee Sponsorship Support Program at the Refugee Hub “I spent four years pre-occupied with questions about what it means to be a member of a society and a political community and what it means to be a good citizen of a country and a global community. What do we owe to each other as fellow members of a global community? I see a direct connection between those kinds of questions that I was able to start grappling with during my time at STU and the kind of work that I’m doing now.”
Emily Lutz, BA’11 Deputy Mayor, Kings County, NS “Through my education at STU, I developed a solid foundation in philosophy, politics, and human rights, which led to having an entirely new perspective on my own community. When I decided to run in the municipal election my liberal arts background brought a unique perspective and critical eye to some of the issues my area was facing. I was elected Deputy Mayor in 2016, and I still draw on the skills I gained through my STU Model United Nations team in my debates. I have found that I am able to be a positive and progressive voice when we face a diversity of issues. I’m grateful for the opportunities I was given at STU to become a wellrounded critical thinker, and for the confidence I developed in an exciting learning environment from knowledgeable and caring professors.”
Wes Furrow, BA’06 Business Process Improvement Specialist with UNICEF “I chose STU because of the value it placed on diversity of ideas and perspectives. St. Thomas demonstrated this through encouragement of critical thinking and an emphasis on enabling students to do ‘the right thing.’” Ashley Rerrie, BA’14 Country Director with Casa-Pueblito “My time at STU impacted my career in numerous ways. It was through STU’s partnership with Intercordia Canada that I came to Nicaragua for the first time and became interested in issues of community development and international solidarity. STU also taught me about social justice and encouraged me to think about equity. My time at STU taught me the importance of close-knit community and building relationships with others.”
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Ex officio Most Rev. Robert Harris, BA, LTh, JCL - Chancellor Dawn Russell, BA’77, LLB, LLM - President and Vice-Chancellor Kim Fenwick, BSc, MA, PhD - Vice-President (Academic and Research) Appointed Tammy Augustine, BA’92, LLB Tanya Chapman, BA’90, BEd’91 David Farrar, BA’82, LLB David Ferguson, BA Peter Forestell, QC, BA’73, LLB Krista Han, CPA, CA, FEA Carolyn MacKay, BN, MBA Rev. Douglas R. McNeill, BA’77, BTh, MDiv Claire Morris, BA, MSW Graydon Nicholas, BSc, LLB, MSW Vaughn Sturgeon, BA’91, CPA, CMA Bill Whalen, BA, APR, FCPRS Phillippe Ouellette, BA’04, MA
Faculty Christine Cornell, BA, MA, PhD Tom Bateman, BA, MA, PhD Dawne Clarke, BA’95, MA, PhD Students Husoni Raymond, BA’20 Laura Robinson, BA’18 Alumni Francis McBrearty, BA‘06, LLM, JD Marg Tracy, BA’75 Observers Lily Fraser, BSc, MHA, CPA, CGA - Vice-President (Finance and Administration) Jodi Misheal, BA, BEd - Vice-President (Advancement and Alumni Relations) Philippe Ferland, BA’18 - President (Students’ Union)
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