UNews - Kierian Turner

Alumnus Turner earns TD Insurance Meloche Monnex Fellowship in Advancement

trevor.kenney — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 21:12:18 +0000

An engaged and enthusiastic leader who founded and served as the first president of PACT (Philanthropy, Advancement, Community and Traditions) at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has earned a 2021 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex Fellowship in Advancement.

Kierian Turner initiated and served as the first president of the PACT club. PHOTO BY Nathan Hughes

Kierian Turner (BMus ‘20), a graduate of the Digital Audio Arts program in the Department of Music, is currently working as an alumni engagement assistant in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Advancement office. The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex Fellowship provides funding to support his position for a further 12-month term, and strongly emphasizes the professional growth of each fellow, ensuring the strength of tomorrow’s advancement professionals. Turner is one of only two recipients selected from across the country to receive the award and the second U of L student in the past three years (Karissa Hartley (BA ’18)).

Turner initially began working as a caller in the student call centre. He has excelled in student engagement, relationship-building and event management. In leading the establishment of PACT, Turner spurred the group’s executive to develop and execute two new programs that supported the connection between students and alumni and promoted young alumni giving.

“I learned a great deal during my inaugural PACT presidency, but perhaps the greatest revelation was the degree to which our community is eager to give back time, talent and treasure to offer support to students,” he says. “This shared belief will be the guiding light of my fellowship, especially as members of our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community look to one another for support during this especially difficult year.”

Turner has quickly grown into his role with Advancement and brings a full slate of talents to the team.

“His knowledge of the inner-workings of Advancement combined with his cross-institutional experience are just what we need to steward the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ towards a culture of philanthropy,” says Lyndsay Montina, manager, Alumni Relations. “Kierian is an exceptional young leader with unmatched enthusiasm, and I can guarantee he is worthy of this fellowship.”

Turner was the 2020 Department of Music Most Distinguished Graduate and won multiple scholarship awards, including: 2019 MusiCounts Scholarship; 2019 Fine Arts Shining Student and 2019 Arts & Science Shining Student; 2018 Joyce & Ron Sakamoto prize for Research and Development in Digital Audio Arts.

Turner is excited to lay the groundwork for the creation of a culture of philanthropy amongst students, beginning with a research project that will ultimately inform a student engagement plan tied to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Annual Day of Giving. The proposed project will be foundational in building an environment where students understand, celebrate and engage with philanthropy while simultaneously building stronger affinity.

Broader community invited to view popular Last Lecture Series as it moves to online format

trevor.kenney — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 17:32:27 +0000

It has become an annual rite of spring for ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students and now, the broader community will have the opportunity to take in an enhanced online edition of the Last Lecture Series.

Presented annually by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students’ Union (ULSU), the Last Lecture Series has become one of the most popular events of the academic year. It traditionally features three U of L professors talking about life lessons that cannot be learned in the classroom, posing the question to them, “If you could talk about just one thing for your last lecture, what would it be?”

This spring, with an in-person event not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ULSU is co-hosting with the student club PACT (philanthropy, advancement, community, traditions) and taking the event online. They have also expanded the lecturer list to an impressive eight speakers who represent a broad cross-section of disciplines from throughout campus. Celebrating a theme of adaptability, this impressive group will be online Friday, June 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to present their individual thoughts on what adaptability means to them.

“With most end-of-semester events cancelled, we wanted an initiative that could bring the uLethbridge community together,” says Kierian Turner, one of the event organizers and a past PACT president. “The Last Lecture has always been important to students of the graduating class, so we prioritized moving to an online model so that students are still able to get that final takeaway. It was important to have a panel with diverse experiences and research backgrounds so that attendees have the opportunity to connect on a deeper level and have a more holistic experience.”

The speaker schedule is as follows:

Tony Montina (BSc '08, MSc '10) — Introduction

10 a.m. — Adam Letourneau (Dhillon School of Business) — Life can Wonderfully be a Series of Career Changes

10:30 a.m. — Dr. Robin Bright (BASc '79, BEd '82, MEd '88) (Faculty of Education) — Everything I Really Need to Know, I Learned in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ

11 a.m. — Dr. Shannon Spenceley (BN '84) (Faculty of Health Sciences) — Strange Days - Thriving in Uncertain Times

11:30 a.m. — Dr. Janay Nugent (BA '95) (Department of History) — The Empowerment of Young People in Tumultuous Times

12 to 1 p.m. — Lunch Break

1 p.m. — Don McIntrye (Dhillon School of Business) — Tricksters & Butterflies: Belonging Beyond this Day

1:30 p.m. — Dr. Robbin Derry (Dhillon School of Business) — What to Hold onto When Everything is in Flux?

2 p.m. — Dr. Anne Dymond (Faculty of Fine Arts) — Is it Too Late to Switch my Major? Or How I Learned to Live with Doubt

2:30 p.m. — Dr. Bryan Kolb (Department of Neuroscience) — Adaptability and the Brain that Changes Itself

Tony Montina — Closing

“What I love about our speaker lineup is that each of these professors apply their personal experience and expertise to a theme that is relatable to everyone — adaptability,” adds Turner. “This lineup will truly demonstrate the importance of a liberal education and how you can apply your uLethbridge experience to the many ways you will have to adapt throughout your lifetime. We have world-class faculty, and we are excited to share a glimpse of that with our community.”

The Last Lecture is a book co-authored by Randy Pausch, detailing everything he wanted his children to know after he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Pausch delivered his last lecture entitled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams as part of a lecture series where ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ are challenged to think about what really matters to them and give a Last Lecture.

For more on The Last Lecture speakers, follow this link: uleth.ca/alumni/last-lecture. To join the event, check in at go.uleth.ca/LastLecture2020.

MusiCounts Scholarship provides music student with week-long mentorship program

trevor.kenney — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:49:02 +0000

Digital Audio Arts (DAA) student Kierian Turner will kick-start his career in the music industry this fall when he joins five other senior post-secondary music students for a week-long mentorship program in Toronto, ON, after being named a recipient of the 2019 MusiCounts Scholarship.

Presented by the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project, Turner was nominated for the scholarship by Drs. Arlan Schultz, Amandine Pras and D. Andrew Stewart, all DAA faculty members.

Digital Audio Arts (DAA) student Kierian Turner will kick-start his career in the music industry after being named a recipient of the 2019 MusiCounts Scholarship.

“Kierian’s very high GPA, multidisciplinary achievements and leadership experience make him the ideal candidate for this significant scholarship program,” says Pras. “I have had the pleasure of observing Kierian in many different roles – a student, a researcher, a collaborator, and a leader. I appreciate his dedication, communication and interpersonal skills, and his efficiency in organizing and promoting events. The MusiCounts Scholarship will offer a highly valuable opportunity as he continues his education and pursues a career in the music industry.”

The MusiCounts Scholarship was launched in 2018 and is awarded annually to up to six senior post-secondary “high-potential” music students to help launch their careers through a $4,000 financial contribution and a week-long intensive mentorship program. From September 30 through October 4, Turner will have the opportunity to network with students and industry professionals including Marianas Trench guitarist, Matt Webb; Nathan Wiszniak, Head of Canada Artist and Label Marketing for Spotify; Anne Strik, Artist and Label Manager for Spotify; Margaret McGuffin, Executive Director of the Canadian Music Publishers Association; and more.

“I’m hoping I can make some lifelong connections who I can collaborate with in the future, both through the cohort of students and industry professionals,” says Turner. “Since I am graduating next spring, I would like to start exploring opportunities available to me after graduation. I hope this program will give me confidence in my ability to get out there and pursue a full-time career in music.”

From the beginning of Turner’s student experience, he has excelled at every project he’s tackled, inside the classroom and out. From planning small concerts, to taking on the Jamboree and Events Coordinator position for Fresh Fest, a two-day music festival, managing a student-run record label and taking on the role of student representative for the Students’ Union and the Department of Music, Turner has embraced each opportunity to get involved and build his resume.

Inside the classroom, Turner has taken on substantial research projects including the Joyce & Ron Sakamoto Prize for Research and Development in DAA funded research, and the creation of an augmented drum kit along with classmate Carter Potts (supervised by Stewart). He also presented a paper on binaural spatialization in relation to hip-hop music at the Exploring Sound DAA Student Symposium in March 2019. The paper, Is Binaural Spatialization the Future of Hip-Hop, was co-authored by Pras and has been accepted for presentation at the 2019 Audio Engineering Society (AES) Conference in New York in October.

With a jam-packed CV and one year of study to go, Turner is looking forward to narrowing his career aspirations and finding his fit in the industry. His current goal is to work as an artist manager or agent, getting involved in the business side of the music industry. His varied skill set will enable Turner to offer clients a complete package by assisting in the creative, recording and production processes while also understanding the legal side of contracts, financial management and business law.

“I know that I have a lot to learn about the industry and this mentorship week will serve as a major step in the learning process,” continues Turner. “I believe it is important to collaborate with, get feedback from, and learn from industry professionals, and also from peers. The financial award will allow me to pursue professional development opportunities in the music industry and contribute to my further education such as a second bachelor's degree in management, or an M.B.A.”

UNews - Kierian Turner

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