Saint Mary's takes Provincial Open Data Challenge by storm

Top: Sunil Udhayakumar, unknown, judge, Siddharthsenthil Thangharaj, Rasheed Andrews
Middle: Raj Sonani, Kanngi Mahajan, judge, Sanjeevi Ramachandran, Shahriar Mullick Swapnil, Bo Li
Bottom: Janice Lobo, Vivek Karunakaran, judge, Jie Pan

Teams from the Saint Mary's MSc in Computing & Data Analytics (MScCDA) program took the Provincial Open Data Challenge by storm, garnering 1st prize, 3rd prize, and the People's Choice Award.

The event, supported by the province, SIM and hosted at the Dalhousie University, was part of Open Data Day celebrations, March 4.

The challenge is focused on three main areas: 

1. Promoting tourism
2. Assisting new immigrants
3. Effective management of Nova Scotia's natural resources and protection of the environment

 Participants were expected to tackle projects involving application development, data anayis and predictive modelling.

See the story on CBC.ca.

Saint Mary's student receives prestigious leadership scholarship

Sobey School of Business student Boyce Campbell (pictured) has been awarded a Futures Fund Scholarship for Outstanding Leadership.Campbell is one of 10 university business students across Canada who have been recognized for their leadership in their academic and extra-curricular activities.

Participating schools are chosen each year by Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year, an oganization that also honours accomplished Canadian Chief Executive Officers.

Student recipients are selected by their school's Dean's office based on their achievements and demonstrated leadership initiatives in their academic and extracurricular activities. Both graduate and undergraduate students in business degree programs are eligible.

The award program provides students with $7,500 grants to further their educational ambitions.

Boyce Campbell

Solving conflict the Santamarian way

The Saint Mary's University Conflict Resolution Society and their Senior Program Coordinators with Saint Mary's President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray.

For the 13th consecutive year, Saint Mary’s University students representing both undergraduate and graduate study within the faculties of Arts, Science and Commerce, will depart for Northern Ireland to facilitate peace education workshops. These 18 students leave for Northern Ireland today and will begin working with elementary school children throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland, once they arrive.

This long-standing and unique experiential program is a remarkable collaborative effort, coordinated through Saint Mary’s University, Peaceful Schools International and the student led, Conflict Resolution Society. Between November 2016 and February 2017, Saint Mary's students have successfully facilitated a series of peace education and conflict resolution workshops with more than a thousand local children.

Saint Mary’s students visited schools across Halifax for the workshops including: St. Catherine’s Elementary, Inglis Street Elementary, St. Mary’s Elementary, Oxford School Elementary, Halifax Independent School, Halifax Grammar School and Sacred Heart School of Halifax.

"This project is a reflection of the long term commitment made by Saint Mary's University and Peaceful Schools International to the promotion of peace education and conflict resolution locally and globally," said Bridget Brownlow, the Conflict Resolution Advisor at Saint Mary's and a Senior Program Coordinator for this initiative. "Over the past 12 years, the deep and transformative impact of this program is consistently highlighted by student participants as 'life changing'."

"It remains a true privilege to work alongside our students as they volunteer with children and youth in a spirit of collaboration and goodwill that may help to eventually create a more peaceful world."

The topic for the 2017 workshops is ‘Diversity and Inclusion: Sharing Being Unique’.

 The 2017 student group will be accompanied by Senior Program Coordinators Bridget Brownlow, Conflict Resolution Advisor and Part-time faculty, Political Science / Irish Studies and Emily Anderson, Vice-President, Peaceful Schools International and B.A. Program Advisor. Three faculty members will also be accompanying the group, Dr. Ashley Carver, Assistant Professor, Sociology/Criminology, Dr. Catherine Loughlin, Associate Dean, Research, Sobey School of Business and Dr. James Morrison, Professor, History.

Student leaders represent Saint Mary’s at the APC Climate Change and Tech Career Conference

Saint Mary's students Salina Kemp, Boyce Campbell and Elora Gehue at the APC Climate Change and Tech Career Conference.

Three student leaders are attending the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat’s Climate Change and Tech Career Conference this week on behalf of Saint Mary’s University.

Salina Kemp, Boyce Campbell and Elora Gehue are the students attending the conference and will participate in sessions ranging from addressing climate change issues at Lennox Island through new technology to the interconnectivity of the environment, economy, foreign policy, sustainability and humans rights.

One of the goals of the conference is to bring First Nations community delegates that work with youth and employment together with university and college representatives that feature science and tech post-secondary programs. Once they are together, the conference aims to encourage the sharing of ideas featuring existing partnerships and initiatives, to foster new relationships among First Nations and educators.

Conference attendees Boyce Campbell and Elora Gehue are also the Co-Chairs of the Indigenous Students Society here at Saint Mary’s. The society aims to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all students to socialize with, and learn about First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in order to enhance learning opportunities and the educational experience for Indigenous students at Saint Mary's University. The society does this by holding Indigenous events, gatherings, and cultural ceremonies to bring together both Indigenous, and non-Indigenous students.

Saint Mary’s launches Success Maps to support students

Dr. Steven Smith, Dean of Science, introduces Success Maps.

Saint Mary's has launched Success Maps, a tool to help students set goals, track accomplishments, discover new opportunities, and prepare for their post-graduation career.

Students using the site will be given guidance on their specific academic requirements and suggestions for other worthwhile activities tailored to their year and their major. They can use the site on their own, and as a tool to review their progress with academic advisors.

Saint Mary’s is the first university in Atlantic Canada to offer such a resource to its students, and only the second in Canada.

The launch was attended by Karen Oldfield, Board Chair; Robert Summerby-Murray, President & Vice-Chancellor; and Dr. Steven Smith, Dean of Science.

Kitrina Godding (BSc ’05) spoke about her experiences at Saint Mary's as being a strong foundation for her life as a geologist, offshore surveyor and accomplished SCUBA diver.

Interest in creating the conditions that enhance student learning and supporting students in their educational goals is at an all-time high at Canadian universities.

The Success Maps tool is representative of Saint Mary’s University's ongoing efforts to help students make successful transitions into university, through their academic programs, and into the larger community as knowledgeable citizens of the world.

SMU student contributes profiles to African-Canadian war heroes celebration

Until November 18, visitors to the Patrick Power Library can get a look at one Saint Mary’s student’s contribution to a national effort to commemorate Canada's contributions to the First World War.

James During (right, beside his profile of Pte. George Downey) is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in History. He researched and wrote biographies of five African-Canadian soldiers for an exhibit in Parks Canada’s “‌Hometown ‌Heroes" initiative, which commemorates the stories of Canadians who fought in the Great War, with exhibits at National Historic Sites nationwide. A permanent display of James’ work can be found at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, with the Patrick Power Library hosting a copy.

James’ research focused on members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, the only black battalion in the Canadian Forces during World War I. The battalion, largely comprising African-Nova Scotians, also included black soldiers from Ontario, Western Canada, and the United States.

James conducted research at the Nova Scotia Archives and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia.

James During