UNews - FNMI Centre

Mahon says in Fiat Lux Address that budget landscape will not compromise ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's future

trevor.kenney — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:12:15 +0000

In the third annual Fiat Lux address, President Mike Mahon reiterated the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s response to its Campus Alberta operating grant cut, shared details about the institution’s draft Strategic Plan and spoke to the initiatives that will continue to move the U of L forward.

Mahon said in his address to faculty, staff and students in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Theatre that more work is necessary to overcome the 7.3 per cent cut to its provincial operating grant. However, he was optimistic that the U of L would emerge from this challenge in a strong position.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon delivers the 2013 Fiat Lux Address.

“I know there are sentiments of uncertainty and concern as to how we will realize our way through this without negatively affecting our university or compromising our future,” said Mahon. “I am here today to tell you that we will be successful in this task.”

To date, the U of L has realized reductions of $8.5 million of the $11.8 million cut to the Campus Alberta grant. Mahon said that nine budget advisory committees have been working to find further savings and that those reports would be posted in the coming week.

Mahon said that despite the budget challenges, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will continue to move forward with purpose to meet its goals, and that the Strategic Plan will be critical in guiding the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

“Our Strategic Plan and mandate tells us quite clearly who we are and what our priorities are. I’m paraphrasing our Roles and Mandate statement, but at the heart of it, we are a comprehensive academic and research institution that offers undergraduate and graduate programs and we conduct pure and applied research. Everything we do at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ should support this. All of our activities and our staff, from administrative units to academic units, should support this.”

The draft Strategic Plan outlines five familiar priorities, shared Mahon. They are to excel as a comprehensive university, continue enhancing the student experience, promote access to quality post-secondary education, build our internal community while enhancing those valuable, productive relationships with external communities and enhance the sustainability of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Despite the budget challenge, Mahon reminded the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community that there were many strengths the U of L could rely on as it moves forward. These include strong enrolment numbers, an excellent national reputation, new student focused facilities, strong links with the Lethbridge community and exceptional faculty and staff.

In addressing important initiatives that would help guide and build the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the future, Mahon pointed to the continued activity of the General Faculties Council (GFC) Aboriginal Education Committee and its work on the establishment of an FNMI Centre on campus, the Academic Quality Assurance review and the establishment of a significant and comprehensive fundraising campaign. He spent a significant portion of his address speaking to the planning and purpose of the Destination Project.

While the most significant element of this new facility will be to house research areas, teaching spaces and laboratories for a significant number of our science programs, Mahon said the activities that will take place in the facility will be far-reaching.

“Imagine it as a hub for innovation; a place where science research and teaching are conducted and made accessible not only to post-secondary students but also to school-aged children and their families and anyone in our community who wishes to learn,” said Mahon. “A place where high school students can refine their understanding of, and ignite their passion for, science, launching the next phase of their educational journeys. A place where Albertans can gather to learn more about the world in which they live.”

Mahon stated the Destination Project will also include a revitalization of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall, which will strengthen the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s commitment to liberal education – a foundation of the U of L.

“The construction of a new science facility and the revitalization of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall provide a great opportunity to help us define liberal education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge for the 21st century,” said Mahon. “This can be accomplished not only through the creation of a hub for the humanities and social sciences but also through the creation of cross-disciplinary research opportunities for students.”

Mahon concluded his speech by reiterating that the U of L will continue to flourish because it will maintain its focus on its fundamental values, including its people, programs and goals.

“If we not only use our Strategic Plan, but also our Academic and Research plans as guides in setting priorities, our budget challenges will not prevent us from achieving these goals.”

The video of Dr. Mahon's Fiat Lux Address is available here. The full text of his address is available here.

Drawing on experience

trevor.kenney — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:00:46 +0000

Of everything that sets the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge apart from other post-secondary institutions, its deeply-rooted relationship with First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) peoples, and specifically the Blackfoot nation, is intrinsically unique.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ can justifiably take pride in being among the first universities in Canada to include a major in Native American Studies among its liberal education components. It can also take pride in the extensive range of innovative academic programs, research and creative activity related to FNMI peoples developed across Faculties, coupled with active student services support programs.

And yet there are gaps in those supports and incongruences across campus in the delivery of academic programming related to Aboriginal Peoples.

Roy Weasel Fat, the interim director of the FNMI Centre, sees education as a means to self determination.

In September 2011, President Mike Mahon asked professor Dr. Leroy Little Bear (BASc (BA) ’72, DASc ’04), Roy Weasel Fat (Red Crow Community College vice-president academic) and professor Dr. Jane O'Dea to develop an overarching strategy that would create support for FNMI students, faculty, staff and community members at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The FNMI Report to the President (available at www.uleth.ca/president/fnmi) was the result, and the development of an FNMI Centre, of which Weasel Fat is now the interim director, is a key recommendation of the report.

"Like all Native centres in Alberta, it's basically focused around student support – what can the centre provide in terms of supporting students so that we can improve their retention and completion rates," says Weasel Fat.

A master's degree holder in education and major player in establishing the current relationship between the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and Red Crow College (he served 17 years there, most recently as the vice-president academic), Weasel Fat speaks to the importance of education in bettering the Aboriginal community.

"Education is the most recognized path to reach self determination," he says.

"There are many people from my generation who are going back to school and their kids will follow and also become educated. Once the parents become educated, then it's an expectation for their children, and that helps bring our people out of that cycle of poverty."

He understands better than most that this cannot be accomplished without the proper support systems for Aboriginal students and the FNMI report identifies seven major recommendations to help achieve that goal.

From the creation of a Niitsitapi Gathering Place to the establishment of an Elders Program and Aboriginal Education Policy, the report is closely aligned with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's 2009-2013 Strategic Plan.

One aspect especially important to Weasel Fat is the involvement of band elders.

"When we looked at other centres across B.C. and Alberta, what I noticed was that there was very minimal elder involvement," says Weasel Fat. "This is something our students have asked for and one of the mandates of the FNMI Centre, to increase the elders' presence here so that they can be available to the U of L community."

He describes the role elders play in traditional Blackfoot communities as integral.

"Their role in the community is to act as traditional mentors, to provide spiritual support and to keep our history and culture alive," he says.

Weasel Fat sees the Niitsitapi Gathering Place as a community room that would benefit the entire ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

"There is a lot of Aboriginal activity across campus through programs in virtually every Faculty but a centre like this can provide a venue for dissemination and collaboration of research for those who are working in these areas across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," he says.

Weasel Fat speaks quietly, but with an eagerness that is genuine in its belief. He is a product of what an education can achieve, and he has passed those lessons on to his family through his example. He recently had two sons graduate from the U of L (Roy Jr. BA '12 and Cy BA '11) and quickly move into managerial roles on the Blood Reserve, while his daughter Triscia is a fourth-year student and looking to enter the Faculty of Education next fall.

"When I first started out in education, my first instinct was to go back home and help my people," he says. "Education has been of benefit to my own family as well as my community and I will continue to promote education to our community plus share the Blackfoot culture with the U of L."

This story first appeared in the October 2012 issue of the Legend. To see the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - FNMI Centre

Mahon says in Fiat Lux Address that budget landscape will not compromise ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ's future

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Drawing on experience

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Mahon says in Fiat Lux Address that budget landscape will not compromise ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's future