Jo-ann Archibald

University of British Columbia

Jo-ann Archibald, Q’um Q’um Xiiem, from the Stó:lō and St’at’imc First Nations in British Columbia, Canada, is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columba (UBC). At UBC, she was the former Director of the First Nations House of Learning, Associate Dean for Indigenous Education, Director of UBC’s Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NITEP) and Professor of Education. She received a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree from Simon Fraser University. Jo-ann’s scholarship includes Indigenous knowledge systems, storywork/oral tradition, transformative education at all levels, Indigenous educational history, teacher and graduate education, and Indigenous methodologies. From 1992- 2019, Jo-ann edited an annual theme issue of the Canada Journal of Native Education (CJNE.).

In 2018, Jo-ann Q’um Q’um Xiiem, was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for her lifelong contributions in advancing Indigenous education in K-12 and post-secondary education through policy, programs, curricula, and research.

Andrew Kim

Andrew Kim is Director, Graduate Enrolment Services for the School of Graduate Studies. He holds a BSc in biochemistry and an MBA, both from Memorial University. He is a past board member of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS), a current board member for the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management (NAGAP), and the founding President of NAGAP’s Canadian Chapter. Andrew’s work in graduate education and enrolment management is acknowledged through multiple industry awards, including the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) SEM Award of Excellence. He has published and presented widely on topics related to graduate student success.

 

 

Bryan Hogeveen

Dr. Bryan Hogeveen is currently the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR), after serving as an Associate Dean at FGSR from 2015 - 2018. 

In his role at FGSR, Dr. Hogeveen’s responsibilities include the EDI and Indigenous portfolios, quality assurance and new program development, leading the Associate Dean team in their casework with students, serving on many standing committees and assisting with the operations of the faculty. Dr. Hogeveen has the opportunity to work on a variety of special collaborative projects designed to improve the graduate school experience and to manage emergent issues. Up until the end of 2018, Bryan also served as the Chair of the Graduate Scholarship Committee, with the responsibility of selecting and/or approving recipients of graduate awards offered by the University of Alberta and administered by FGSR, and overseeing the creation of all new graduate awards and scholarships at the University of Alberta. 

Dr. Hogeveen received his PhD in Criminology from the University of Toronto. His interdisciplinary work merges his scholarly research and areas of social engagement. His main areas of scholarship intersect at three distinct points: 1) sociological engagement with sport; 2) youth in/and society; and 3) social theory. He is co-author (with Joanne Minaker) of Youth, Crime and Society: Issues of Power and Justice (2009) and the edited collection of essays, Criminalized Mothers, Criminalized Mothering (2015).

 

 

Daniel Jones-White

Daniel Jones-White is the Managing Director for the SERU Consortium, North America, a non-profit, member-run collaboration of research universities. In that role, he is responsible for initiatives to grow the scale, impact, and sustainability of the undergraduate and graduate SERU Surveys in the United States and Canada. His collaborations with SERU partners have resulted in the development of interactive data products that help college and university leaders make sense of SERU data. Daniel is also the Research and Development Director of the gradSERU Survey. He is a Research Associate at the Center for Studies of Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley and has a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development from the University of Minnesota and Masters of Arts in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His current research explores issues related to mental health and well-being of graduate and professional students.

 

 

Deborah Burshtyn

University of Alberta

Debby Burshtyn is a Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, Adjunct in Department of Medical Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. She obtained a BSc (McGill University, 1989) and PhD (University of Toronto, 1994) in Immunology, and postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIH, USA). She joined the University of Alberta in 1999 as an Assistant Professor holding salary awards from AHFMR (1999-2014) and recipient of the Lougheed Award as a CIHR new investigator. Her ongoing research on genetic variation and the response to virus infection in transplantation is supported by CIHR funding. She has been a Councilor of the Canadian Society for Immunology (05-09), node lead of the Canadian Human Immunophenotyping Network and is an associate member of the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Network. She served the research community extensively on as a reviewer including as Associate and Section Editor for the Journal of Immunology (2010-2017) and Review Editor for Frontiers in Immunology (2011). She is currently Scientific Officer for the CIHR Immunology and Transplantation Panel.

Debby held a series of administrative roles in graduate education beginning as graduate coordinator 2009-13. During that time, she advocated for adapting graduate education and mentoring to fit the changing funding and employment landscape. She led departmental career planning workshops for students and developed the first workshop on mentoring graduate students for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. She was at the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research 2015-19, as Associate Dean, Vice-Dean, and most recently, served a one-year term as Interim Vice Provost and Dean. She led initiatives designed to effect long-term positive change on graduate students’ learning experiences including designing the quality assurance processes for graduate programs and promoting the development and assessment of learning outcomes in graduate education linked to career preparation. She is currently a co-chair of the CAGS Task Force on Excellence in Graduate Programs.

Fiona A. Black

Dalhousie University

Fiona A. Black, PhD, is Professor in the School of Information Management at Dalhousie University. Her SSHRC-funded projects have included the Major Collaborate Research Initiative for the bilingual project for a History of the Book in Canada / l’Histoire du livre et de l’imprimé au Canada, and grants in support of her digital humanities research. She has held a number of leadership roles at Dalhousie and recently completed a five-year term as Associate Vice-President Academic. In that role her priorities included academic planning, Indigenous strategy development, academic quality assurance and leadership development. Fiona’s degrees are from Aberdeen (Scotland), Dalhousie (Canada), and Loughborough (England).

 

Ivan Joseph

Performance Coach and Personal Transformation Expert

An award-winning coach, educator and leader, Dr. Ivan Joseph has spent his career leading cultural transformations, helping people believe in themselves and creating cohesive teams. He also knows firsthand what it takes to succeed against the odds, because he immigrated to Canada from Guyana at age five and grew up in Toronto’s Jane-Finch corridor. Dynamic and engaging, Ivan offers audiences a memorable experience that adds value long after the presentation ends.  

Along with being an in-demand consultant and speaker, Ivan maintains an influential presence in the public realm. He contributes regularly to publications like the Huffington Post and The Globe and Mail. He also wrote the 2017 book You Got This: Mastering the Skill of Self-Confidence and delivered a TEDx talk called “The skill of self-confidence,” which has been viewed almost 14 million times on YouTube.  

In the fall of 2018, Ivan took up his newest post as Vice-Provost, Student Affairs at Dalhousie University. In this senior role, he leads the university’s effort to promote interconnectedness and belonging among a diverse student body drawn from across the country and around the globe. 

 

Kimberley Lamarche

I have been passionately involved with the profession of nursing in one form or another for my entire professional career. I started working with the Centre of Nursing and Health Studies within the Faculty of Health Disciplines in 2003 as a sessional instructor and am currently an Associate Professor and the Director of the Nurse Practitioner program. I am involved on various levels with local, provincial, and national nurse practitioner issues, committees and organizations including the International Council of Nurses, Core Steering Group APN NP.

I have a BScN from the University of Ottawa, an Emergency/Critical Care diploma from Red River College, an Advanced Graduate Diploma from Athabasca, and was one of the first students to receive a Masters of Health: Advanced Nursing Practice degree from AU. I completed a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a concentration in Clinical Leadership from Case Western University. I have a firm belief in the scholarship of practice, and to that end maintain a part time NP practice to maintain my clinical competencies in the field of Harm Reduction and Addiction.

My research interests include job satisfaction and role transition for PHC NPs, online education methods, mobile technology in practice, NP specific clinical outcomes, pharmaceutical influences for APNs and harm reduction and addiction.

 

Letitia Henville

Letitia Henville, PhD, is an award-winning teacher and editor, and is currently the Coordinator for Graduate Programs in the UBC Arts Co-op Office, where she works with PhD students in English and History to identify and obtain paid off-campus work experience as a part of their doctoral programs. She publishes regularly in University Affairs and the Literary Review of Canada.

Enseignante et réviseure primée, Letitia Henville, Ph. D., est actuellement coordonnatrice des programmes d'études supérieures du Arts Co-op Office de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique, où elle travaille à trouver des stages rémunérés hors campus pour des doctorants des programmes d'anglais et d'histoire. Elle publie régulièrement dans Affaires universitaires et dans Literary Review of Canada.

 

Lorna MacEachern

McGill University

For over 10 years Lorna MacEachern has been helping graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in a wide variety of disciplines to find meaningful careers. She has presented at professional conferences and been a guest speaker at numerous academic conferences and meetings. After obtaining her MA in Counselling Psychology, Lorna began her career at McGill University as a Career Counselor for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. She then joined the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs at Yale University, where she established a new career service for postdocs. Lorna is currently working for the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at McGill, where she is developing myPath: a network of tools and programming that will help students and postdocs to create an Individual Development Plan (IDP). She is also the Vice Chair of the Consortium of Canadian Graduate Student Professional Development Administrators (soon to have a better name).

Luc Simon

Luc Simon holds a Ph. D. in Forestry Sciences, and is a Senior research analyst in the IR Office at Université Laval since 2005. Prior to his current position, he was involved in pre-award research administration, research ethics and internal research support programs (VP Research Office).
He is actively involved in Data Warehouse development and conducts a variety of institutional intelligence projects, including large student surveys. He is the national coordinator of the Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS) since 2008.

Marcelline Bengali

Marcelline Bengali holds a doctorate in occupational psychology and guidance (INETOP-CNAM, Paris). She is a professor at Laval University. Before entering higher education and research, she held several positions in project supervision, coordination, management and evaluation in international (UNICEF, ISCOS, IRD) and national (France, Burkina Faso) organizations as well as psychological support.

Her research interests focus on the analysis of identity reconstruction processes involved in complex transitions among highly skilled people (doctoral graduates and skilled worker migrants). Her research projects focus on the professional integration of doctoral graduates outside the university since 2007 (action research as part of her doctorate, 2007-2011; FRQSC research grant, 2015-2018, ADESAQ research agreement, 2017-2019), and support measures for highly skilled migrants.

She is a researcher at the Centre de recherche et d'intervention sur l'éducation et la vie au travail (CRIEVAT) and an associate researcher with the Équipe Psychologie de l'orientation (INETOP, Paris, France).

 

Mary McKenna

University of New Brunswick / Université du Nouveau-Brunswick

Mary McKenna is in her fifth year as an Assistant Dean in the School of Graduate Studies at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), responsible for Interdisciplinary Studies. In this position, she administers the IDST program, teaches a doctoral seminar course, supports IDST students and faculty members associated with the program, and liaises with the university community on behalf of IDST. A professor of nutrition, Dr. McKenna's conducts research on school food and is a health promotion advocate. She has a PhD from the University of Nottingham, a Master's of Science from Cornell University, and a Bachelor's (Food Science) from McGill University.

Matthew Smithdeal

Matthew Smithdeal is a 5th year PhD candidate working on philosophy of psychology and psychiatry. Specifically, they are interested in analyzing the ways in which we break the world into categories, especially socially constructed categories like gender and race, and the ways in which those categorizations allow us to draw inferences about behavior. They are also interested work on dehumanization and stereotype threat, especially within the context of mental health. Additionally, they are the co-coordinator of an organization of graduate students on campus, called the Graduate Student Wellbeing Network, which is dedicated to supporting and advocating for the wellbeing of graduate students.

 

 

Melanie Braith

Melanie Braith is a PhD candidate in the Department of English, Theatre, Film, and Media at the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on Indigenous literatures in general and residential school literature in particular, and her dissertation looks at the connections between storytelling, relationships, and resurgence in residential school novels and TRC testimonies. Melanie is a non-Indigenous researcher from Germany and before her time in academia, she worked for several years as a journalist for print, TV, and online media in Germany.

 

 

 

Rachel Kratofil

Rachel Kratofil is a 5th year PhD candidate in the immunology graduate program at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), University of Calgary. Her research focuses on the innate immune response to Staphylococcus aureus skin infection and she uses a powerful imaging technique called intravital microscopy to understand host-pathogen interactions in vivo. Rachel currently chairs the executive graduate student council at the CSM, where she advocates for graduate student mental health and wellness and promotes a diverse and inclusive environment.
Twitter: @rachelkratofil

 

 

Roxanne Dompierre

Roxanne Dompierre is a manager in SSHRC's Research Training Portfolio where her team is responsible for the delivery of the CGS Master's program, Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, SSHRC doctoral awards as well as the harmonization of the Canada Graduate Scholarships program in collaboration with CIHR and NSERC. Roxanne holds a BA in Law from Carleton University.

 

 

Tara Christie

Tara Christie, PhD, has managed the My GradSkills Program at the University of Calgary since its establishment in 2012. Tara obtained her PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Calgary in 2008. She chose to immediately pivot her skills to university administration with a focus on program development and management, including development and oversight of the novel Transformative Talent Skills Internship Program for all University of Calgary graduate students. Tara is a co-founder of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network, and as chair and past-chair contributed to various projects including the CAGS, Graduate Professional Development Program Survey and Reports: Towards a National Strategy. She is especially passionate about communication skills, leading the research communication skills training for the UCalgary 3 Minute Thesis competition, and the incorporation of experiential learning and critical reflection into the graduate experience.

 

Tomke Augustin

Simon Fraser University

Tomke Augustin is the International Graduate Student Coordinator with Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Simon Fraser University. She works with various units across the university to design and develop programs for international and English as additional language graduate students. In her holistic approach, she aims to facilitate a successful intercultural experience for graduate students, which ultimately includes their families. Prior to joining SFU, she worked as International Coordinator at University of Tuebingen, Germany, where she is also pursuing her PhD in International Business.

 

Valerie Harbour

Valerie Harbour joined NSERC as a Program Officer and became a Team Leader in the Scholarships and Fellowships Division in 2014. She currently oversees the delivery of doctoral and postdoctoral funding opportunities, as well as the Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering Program. Valerie holds a PhD in Psychology and a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from Concordia University.

 

 

Aimée Surprenant

Dr. Aimée Surprenant is Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Professor in the Department of Psychology. She completed her BA at New York University and her MSc and PhD at Yale University. An expert in the intersection of auditory perception and memory, Dr. Surpenant is the co-author of two books.. She has also authored, edited and contributed to numerous book chapters, papers, publications and other scholarly articles. She is a member of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science and is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and the Psychonomic Society. She has also served as chair of the Scientific Affairs Committee for the Canadian Psychological Association and is active in Science Atlantic and the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science.

 

Brenda Brouwer

Director of University Partnerships | Past President, ACES

Brenda Brouwer is Head, Academic Partnerships at the Vector Institute providing leadership for the 1000AIMs initiative. She is on secondment from Queen’s University where she is a faculty member since 1990 conducting research on the control and patterns of human movement in health and following stroke. Most recently, she has served as Vice-Provost and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies from 2010 to 2018. In that role, she provided academic and administrative leadership which involved the expansion and development of graduate credentials including professional and applied advanced degrees, and the establishment of policies and best practices that support academic excellence and academic and professional development for students. She has supervised 12 professional master’s students and more than 34 research master’s and doctoral students to completion.

From 2014-17 Brenda was president of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies and involved in activities to strengthen both graduate education in Canada and the formation of highly skilled and sought-after graduates to support societal well-being, global economies, and the advancement of technology and innovation. She has also served on the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance (2014-18), the provincial body responsible for assuring the quality of all programs leading to degrees, including new undergraduate and graduate programs She holds a BSc. in Kinesiology (University of Waterloo), an MSc in Biomechanics (McGill University) and a PhD in Neuroscience (University of Toronto).

Directrice des Partenariats universitaires | Ex-présidente, ACES

Brenda Brouwer occupe le poste de directrice des Partenariats universitaires au Vector Institute, assurant un leadership pour l’initiative 1000AIM. Détachée de l’Université Queen’s, où elle est membre de la faculté depuis 1990, elle a effectué des recherches sur le contrôle et les modèles de mouvement humain en santé et suite à un AVC. Plus récemment, elle a assumé les fonctions de vice-rectrice de l’École des études supérieures de 2010 à 2018. Autrement, elle a assuré un leadership universitaire et administratif dont l’expansion et le développement des diplômes d’études supérieures, y compris les diplômes avancés professionnels et appliqués, l’établissement de politiques et de meilleures pratiques qui soutiennent l’excellence académique et le développement académique et professionnel pour les étudiants. Elle a supervisé 12 étudiants professionnels de maîtrise ainsi que plus de 34 étudiants de recherche en maîtrise et au doctorat jusqu’à la fin de leurs études.

De 2014 à 2017, Brenda fut présidente de l’Association canadienne des études supérieures et elle a participé à des activités pour renforcer la formation supérieure au Canada et la formation de diplômés hautement qualifiés et recherchés afin de soutenir le bien-être de la société, les économies mondiales et l’avancement des technologies et de l’innovation. Elle a aussi siégé sur le Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance (2014-2018), l’organisme provincial responsable d’assurer la qualité de tous les programmes menant aux diplômes, y compris les nouveaux programmes de premier cycle et d’études supérieures. Elle détient un baccalauréat en kinésiologie (Université de Waterloo), une maîtrise en biomécanique (Université McGill) et un doctorat en neurosciences (Université de Toronto).

Brendan Morey

Brendan Morey is the Assistant Dean, Student Administration and Awards, in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the University of British Columbia. His interest in how we make decisions is rooted in an ever-growing appreciation of his own fallibility. That, and the experience of living near a gelato shop that boasts of 238 flavours.

 

 

Gillian Robinson

Senior Director, Strategic Operations | Faculty of Graduate Studies, Calgary, Alberta

Gillian Robinson has worked with the University of Calgary Faculty of Graduate Studies for over 15 years. Gill has managed the Admissions and Records group and the Awards team, then subsequently directed both. Her current role as senior director includes responsibility for recruitment, admissions, records, awards, My GradSkills (student professional development) and communications. Gill works closely with the dean to ensure that policy is implemented effectively and that processes are best practice. She is proud to have been part of teams that won awards from CAUBO for the online application for admission and the graduate student online annual progress report. Gill moved to Canada from England where she graduated from Manchester University before working in HR for British Telecom. Before joining the University of Calgary she operated a small business for 10 years.

directrice principale des opérations stratégiques, École des études supérieures, Université de Calgary

Gillian Robinson a travaillé à la Faculté des Études supérieures de l’Université de Calgary pendant plus de 15 ans, ayant notamment géré le groupe des admissions et des dossiers et l’équipe des prix, pour ensuite en assurer la direction. Ses responsabilités actuelles comme directrice senior comprennent le recrutement, les admissions, les dossiers, les prix, My GradSkills (perfectionnement professionnel des étudiants) et les communications. Gillian travaille étroitement avec la doyenne afin d’assurer que la politique soit mise en place efficacement et que les processus transcendent de meilleures pratiques. Elle est par ailleurs fière d’avoir fait partie des équipes qui ont remporté des prix de la CAUBO pour l’admission en ligne et le rapport des progrès annuels des étudiants des Études supérieures. Gillian est originaire de Grande-Bretagne où elle a travaillé en RH pour British Telecom. Avant de se joindre à l’Université de Calgary, elle a exploité une petite entreprise pendant 10 ans.

 

 

Linda Miller

Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Western University

Linda completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Windsor. She attended graduate school at Western, receiving her MA in Psychology (1989), followed by her PhD (1994) in Psychological Measurement.
In 1994, she was appointed to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western, and subsequently moved to Westerns’ School of Occupational Therapy. As a member of the School of Occupational Therapy, Dr. Miller held several administrative roles, including Graduate Chair for the School of Occupational Therapy and Co-Chair of the Doctoral Program in Rehabilitation Sciences. In 2003, she was appointed the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs. She served as Associate Dean for five years before assuming the role of Vice-Provost—Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in 2008.

Vice-rectrice, Études supérieures et postdoctorales, Western University

Linda Miller a terminé ses études de premier cycle à l’Université de Windsor. Elle a obtenu sa maîtrise en Psychologie (1989), suivi de son doctorat (1994) en Évaluation psychologique à l’École des études supérieures de Western. En 1994, elle a été nommée au département des Sciences et des troubles de la communication de Western, de même qu’à l’École d’ergothérapie de Western par la suite. En tant que membre de l’École d’ergothérapie, Dr Miller a occupé divers postes administratifs, y compris ceux de présidente des études supérieures pour l’École d’ergothérapie et co-présidente du programme de doctorat en Sciences de la réadaptation. En 2003, elle a été nommée doyenne associée de la faculté des Sciences de la santé pour les programmes de recherche et d’études supérieures. Elle a occupé le poste de doyenne associée pendant cinq ans avant d’assumer le rôle de vice-rectrice des Études supérieures et postdoctorales en 2008.

Susan Porter

Dean and Vice-Provost of graduate and postdoctoral studies, UBC

As the Dean and Vice-Provost of graduate and postdoctoral studies at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Porter’s major focuses have included promoting excellence in graduate supervision and graduate student development, and helping students prepare for their lives as scholars after graduation.

Her work over her 14-year career in graduate administration has helped direct recent attention towards the PhD degree, and the ways in which a breadth of career-relevant scholarship might be integrated in its core elements.

A molecular biologist by trade, Dr. Porter is also a clinical professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC.

Doyenne et vice-rectrice des études supérieures et postdoctorales à l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique

En tant que doyenne et vice-rectrice des études supérieures et postdoctorales à l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique, les accents majeurs du Dr Porter comprenaient la promotion de l’excellence dans la supervision des diplômés, le développement des étudiants diplômés et la préparation des étudiants pour leur vie après l’obtention de leur diplôme.

En 14 ans de carrière en administration des études supérieures, son travail a aidé à mettre en lumière le diplôme de doctorat et les manières d’intégrer les bourses d’études pertinentes dans ses éléments principaux.

Biologiste moléculaire de formation, Dr Porter est aussi professeure clinique au département de Pathologie et de Médecine de laboratoire à l’University of British Columbia.

CAGS Task Force on Excellence in Graduate Programs

Title of Panel: “Incenting Excellence in Graduate Education”

Chair of Panel: Dr. Debby Burshtyn

Description of Panel:
In this 75-minute panel, several members of the CAGS Task Force on Excellence in Graduate Programs will engage in a discussion about the challenges and opportunities that confront both graduate students and graduate program administrators in the twenty-first century. The overall aim of this panel is to share with conference attendees the ongoing work of our Task Force, and also to solicit comments, suggestions, and ideas for how we might continue to effect meaningful changes moving forward.

The panel will take the form of a “Lightning Round,” in which the panel Chair and Task Force Lead, Debby Burshtyn, will provide an update on the activity of the taskforce and introduce herself and the participants on the panel. Each panelist will then be granted 7-10 minutes to reflect in general terms on the topic of excellence in graduate programming, followed by a more targeted discussion of an issue or area of interest that they find particularly important to this conversation (Ex: emerging trends and patterns; interdisciplinarity/transdisciplinarity; the evolution of the thesis and dissertation). The Chair will then open the floor for conversation and feedback from the audience.