Saint Mary's statements regarding Football, Loney Bowl

Updated March 14, 2018

Saint Mary’s and U Sports reach joint settlement on eligibility

March 14, 2018

Saint Mary’s University and U Sports, the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, are pleased to announce a joint settlement regarding football player eligibility for the fall 2017 season.

“Reaching a mutual settlement is an important step forward for our football players, coaches and supporters,” said Margaret Murphy, Associate Vice-President, External Affairs. “Saint Mary’s is pleased that U Sports has agreed to honour our agreement of October 27, 2017, in accordance with the ruling of the Ontario Superior Court.”

As part of this settlement, U Sports acknowledges that there was previously an agreement made with Saint Mary’s in October 2017 that resolved the player eligibility question and where both organizations agreed to work together to address ambiguity in U Sports eligibility rules moving forward.

Saint Mary’s goal has always been to ensure that there is equity and fair play for everyone in the AUS and Canadian varsity athletics. In order to achieve this, we believe there must be collaboration between the AUS, its members and the national organization. We will continue to seek every opportunity to collaborate with the AUS and U Sports to ensure rule clarity and its equitable application, to the benefit of everyone involved.

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Saint Mary's University is pleased with the prompt action of the Supreme Court

November 12, 2017

Saint Mary's University is pleased with the prompt action of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and the decision of Associate Chief Justice Deborah Smith. The decision reinstates the Loney Bowl, the final game in the AUS Conference that determines the conference champion.

Saint Mary's reaffirms our position that the player eligibility question was put to rest and there isn’t and hasn’t been any impediment to Saint Mary’s position to play in the Loney Bowl. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has seen fit to recognize the importance of the university football season to players, coaches, support staff, Faculty and alumni in the Atlantic Region and across Canada. We are pleased that the Court has agreed with our position that the game should proceed. We are ready to play. We look forward to the game on Tuesday.

General John de Chastelain talks peace at Saint Mary's

General John de Chastelain, former head of the Canadian Armed Forces, former Canadian Ambassador to the US, and honorary degree recipient from Saint Mary's University, spoke Nov. 9 at the McNally Auditorium.

General de Chastelain discussed his time as Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning in Northern Ireland and the role he played in the decommissioning of Irish Republican and pro-British Loyalist paramilitary weapons and explosives.

The event was endorsed by Peaceful Schools International.

SMU makes the podium at international portfolio competition

Saint Mary’s University is proud to recognize the great work of Stephanie Fitzner, Amaan Popatiya, Jarrett Leach, and Jordan Logan who made the podium in the prestigious 2017 McGill International Portfolio Challenge. This IMPACT team of undergraduate students ranked 3rd among more than 60 competing teams from universities including: Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Toronto.

In the presentation, the Saint Mary’s team had ten minutes to provide sound investment advice for a real-world challenge:  how to rebalance the defined benefits pension plan of a lumber company in British Columbia. After a great presentation, the team finished in third place and received a $7500 prize.

The McGill International Portfolio Challenge is the first international competition targeting innovative portfolio design and asset management. It is truly unique in its mandate to shift the focus of academic competitions to the buy-side and to provide students with more visibility on opportunities therein. The challenge bridges the gap between students with a demonstrated interest in asset management and industry leaders.

To be considered for the competition, all teams had to evaluate a case study and submit their solution online. The top teams were selected to participate in a final round in person taking place at McGill University.

Every year the Saint Mary’s team greatly benefits from the volunteer coaching of Ross Hallett, from the Bank of Montreal. The team is directed by Dr. Najah Attig and supported by the Sobey School of Business.

John McCallum, Canada’s Ambassador to China, drops by Saint Mary's

John McCallum, Canada’s Ambassador to China, dropped by Saint Mary's Monday morning to deliver his message that young people, especially students, would benefit from spending time in China.

Recent grad develops app to help Nova Scotians navigate legal system

A new support for Nova Scotians trying to navigate the legal system is now available thanks to the efforts of recent Saint Mary’s University Computer Science graduate Kislay Trivedi.

The Small Claims Court App is designed to assist people representing themselves and considering an action in Small Claims Court. Available on the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS) website, the app provides clear and easy-to-understand legal information for self-represented individuals navigating the Small Claims Court and processes.

“Our goal at LISNS is that individuals dealing with a real or potential legal issue will feel confident and informed through accessing our many offerings, including our telephone help line, online resources and innovative apps, such as the Small Claims Court App,” says LISNS Executive Director Heather de Berdt Romilly. “Research shows that when clearly explained legal information is accessible at an early stage it helps address potential litigation problem areas in a significant majority of cases.”

Gavin Giles, Q.C., the Chief Adjudicator of the Small Claims Court, recognized a need to better assist the many self-represented individuals and reached out to LISNS for its expertise and assistance. With contributions from Adjudicators Eric Slone and W. Augustus Richardson, LISNS turned to Saint Mary’s University alumnus Kislav Trivedi to develop the app.

The app will be part of a pilot project taking place in November at the Small Claims Court in Halifax.  During November, law school students will be available at the courthouse to provide in-person assistance to self-represented litigants. The pilot will help identify the benefit of in-person assistance to using the Small Claims Court app and the findings will inform how public navigator programs are developed for other areas.

Greg Campbell, BSc '76, shares lessons with Science Dean’s List students

2016-2017 Dean’s List students

The Faculty of Science and the Alumni Office recently celebrated the outstanding academic achievements of 2016-2017 Dean’s List students at a reception in McNally Theatre Auditorium.

This year’s guest speaker was Saint Mary’s University alumnus Greg Campbell, who completed his Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1976. Greg shared lessons he learned as a science student and through his career in corporate finance. He stressed the importance of building strong written communication skills, noting that “mastery of the written word is what will separate a good technical specialist from a great one.” 

To qualify for the Dean’s List, science students must have achieved a grade point average of at least 3.67 in the previous academic year. 

Greg Campbell, BSc in Biology ’76

View the Facebook photo gallery.

2017 Arts Dean's List students recognized at key ceremony

2017 Dean's List students with Dean of Arts Margaret MacDonald and Eric Miller (center front)

Eric Miller

Each year, Saint Mary's recognizes Arts students with high academic standing by placing them on the Dean’s List and presenting them with a symbolic key.

To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must have taken at least 30-credit hours during the academic year and achieved a grade point average of at least 3.67.  Dean’s List standing is noted on student transcripts and remain part of their record.

At this year's ceremony, held Thursday, October 26, global polictical consultant Eric Miller BA'93 addressed the students. Miller is president and founder of the Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, and a fellow at the Wilson Center.

Saint Mary’s University introduces new director of athletics and recreation

Scott Gray

Saint Mary’s University is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Gray to the position of director, athletics and recreation at Saint Mary’s University, effective November 6, 2017.

“I am very happy to announce the appointment of Scott Gray as our new director of athletics and recreation,” said Saint Mary’s University President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. “Scott is a seasoned athletics and recreation administrator who brings a holistic approach to athletics and recreation to our campus. He understands the important role that sport, recreation, health and wellness play in student life at Saint Mary’s, and he will be an excellent support for our students, student-athletes, coaches, faculty and staff.”

Gray joins the university from Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, where he led the athletics department and managed the college’s recreation facility since 2006.  In that role he was responsible for the college’s various athletic programs including varsity sport, club sport, campus recreation and community ventures.

“My primary focus is on student engagement and student involvement in athletics and recreation on campus,” said Gray. “I want to build on the proud traditions of the Huskies and also continue to promote our facilities as a place for recreation, wellness and community connection.”

Gray has served as a head coach and assistant coach in various sports at the recreational, collegiate and university level.  He has assumed many leadership positions within both the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and the Ontario Collegiate Athletic Association (OCAA). Most recently, he served as president of the OCAA from 2014 to 2017.

Gray has also been an active athletics and recreation leader in his local community. He has served as the vice-president: director of operations, and a founding member, of the Sault Minor Football Association. He has also served in leadership roles in the community supporting curling, cross country and women’s volleyball.

Gray is a graduate of Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Physical Education. As a student at Queen’s, he was also an Academic All Canadian (football) and Vanier Cup Champion.

Dr. Elizabeth McLeod: Dedication in pursuit of a goal

“Balance is key,” says Elizabeth McLeod, about managing her life while earning her Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (Management) after 10 years of study and research.

Pursuing her latest degree and holding a full-time job kept Dr. McLeod juggling school, work, and home life, and “keeping all the balls in the air at once” was a challenge. A PhD typically takes four to five years to complete, and even longer on a part-time basis. The first two years consist of classes, followed by comprehensive exams, and then an extensive research project. During those years, vacations from her job were spent studying for exams, conducting research, and writing.

The epitome of a committed Santamarian, Dr. McLeod not only completed her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Master of Business Administration at Saint Mary’s, she has worked in the Faculty of Science for 27 years. Recent students will know her as a Lab Technician in Chemistry, but Dr. McLeod has also been a Neutron Activation Technician, a WHMIS Instructor, and has held roles in the Dean of Science Office and Co-operative Education.

Her PhD dissertation, which she successfully defended in June, is titled “The Role of Privacy Management in Brand Protection and Brand Value.” Her work focused on researching privacy issues and concerns with the use of a growing number of invasive technologies, and how these concerns can affect a brand’s value. Her research confirms that privacy management plays a significant role in brand protection and brand value.

Dr. McLeod is excited about completing her doctorate and she is grateful for the support she received throughout her degree from her supervisor Dr. Dawn Jutla, her PhD Director Dr. Albert Mills, and from her family, friends, and colleagues.

“Dr. McLeod’s dissertation provides a seminal publication empirically connecting organizational privacy behaviors, brand protection, and brand value,” says her supervisor Dr. Dawn Jutla.

For her research Dr. McLeod used a preliminary survey of privacy and security experts to discover what their top concerns are about privacy. The findings informed a formal survey instrument, which included both new and existing scales for the constructs that were later validated. This work contributes a new model that connects privacy practices, experienced harms, privacy concerns, brand protection, and brand value to management, management information systems, marketing and risk literatures. “Empirical testing of the hypotheses has confirmed that privacy management plays a significant role in brand protection and brand value,” writes Dr. McLeod in her abstract.

Saint Mary’s is a family affair for the McLeods. Elizabeth’s husband Ron is a Saint Mary’s part-time professor, and their two children have spent time on campus as well. Their son Connor received the Gold Medal when graduating with his Diploma of Engineering at Saint Mary’s, and their daughter Kaleigh started a Bachelor of Science this fall.

“Elizabeth has been on life’s journey, holding down a full-time job, raising teenage children, surviving car accidents, burying loved ones, supporting a creative entrepreneur-husband, and celebrating 10 birthdays while doing her dissertation,” said Dr. Jutla.

“Her story is one of perseverance producing great work with support from her village—the good people at Saint Mary’s University, especially Albert Mills, PhD Director, who believed in her too, and fellow PhD graduates like Anthony Yue. We are all so very proud of her!”

Ray MacNeil joins Saint Mary's as new CLARI Network Manager

Ray MacNeil

Saint Mary’s University is pleased to announce that Ray MacNeil has joined the university as our new CLARI Network Manager.  Ray is now finishing his second-week on campus and is a welcome addition to Saint Mary’s and the CLARI network.   

“The CLARI facility here at Saint Mary’s is the heart of the province-wide network,” Dr. Adam J. Sarty, Associate Vice-President, Research and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research.  “Ray brings decades of experience working in highly productive and collaborative environments to CLARI, and is the right person at the helm as we expand the reach of our change lab.”

A twenty-six-year veteran of the Nova Scotia public service, Ray has spent the last ten years of his career exploring advances in the complexity sciences and their application to improved public services. His work in this area has resulted in consulting requests with a number of other governments and institutions.

In 2016, Ray was honored with the Nova Scotia Public Servant of the Year Award by the Springtide Collective.  In that same year, he retired from the public service and created Organizational Dynamics, a consulting firm dedicated to complexity informed management practices. Ray has remained a regular presenter on issues related to the management and measurement of public services.

CLARI is a cross-province, multi-post-secondary education partnership offering academic and research expertise, designated spaces and communications technology to support Nova Scotia communities in applying stakeholder collaboration techniques and action research toward addressing social and economic challenges.

CLARI’s hub-and-spoke style network spans the province, combining the talents and resources of its six founding partner universities and the Nova Scotia Community College’s 13 campuses. Through CLARI, partners can assist communities in all parts of the province in developing social and economic improvement projects while providing enhanced learning opportunities for students.

Academic All-Canadians honoured at U SPORT breakfast

Learn more on the Huskies site.

Master of Science student Corwin Trottier recognized by Mineralogical Association

CorwinTrottier

Congratulations to Master of Science in Applied Science candidate Corwin Trottier, recipient of a prestigious $5000 Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) Foundation Scholarship.

Corwin Trottier is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Science under the supervision of geology professor Dr. Jacob Hanley. He holds not one, but two undergraduate degrees from Saint Mary’s University: a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a BSc in Geology.  

Trottier’s MSc thesis builds on his summer research with Dr. Hanley and Dr. Georgia Pe-Piper, where he studied samples from the Great Bear magmatic zone (GBMZ) in the Northwest Territories. These samples contain polymetallic “five-element” (Ni-Co-As-Ag-Bi) mineralization, which occur as structurally controlled veins within lightly metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary host rocks. 

“Noteworthy recent research on five-element veins have focused on several European deposits, but GBMZ deposits remain untouched by modern analytical techniques,” writes Trottier in his thesis rationale.

Trottier’s research examines 60 rock samples that had been collected in the 1960s from the Eldorado Mine, which operated from 1933 to 1982, and stored at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) division of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in Ottawa. His objective is to advance the understanding of the ores at Eldorado Mine and similar five-element veins using modern analytical tools.

“Mr. Trottier is laying new ground in our understanding of uranium-silver deposits in Canada and abroad,” said Dr. Hanley. “I have been greatly impressed by his worth ethic and care in conducting this important research.”

Previous studies in the GBMZ have not quantified the metals in ore fluids, nor have they captured trace element and stable isotope chemistry at the scale of individual vein stages. As a result, current models have not been able to explain the source of uranium and other metals at Eldorado from a geochemical perspective.

“Final results will be compared to those of previous studies in the GBMZ and other five-element occurrences around the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, NWT,” writes Trottier. “This comparison will provide insight into the potential genetic relationship between similar deposit styles of variable ore grade at local and regional scales. The expected outcome will bring a better understanding of how ore metals are distributed in similarly complex vein deposits.”

About the Scholarship

The Mineralogical Association of Canada awards two $5000 scholarships yearly, one to a student enrolled in an MSc program and one to a student in a Ph.D. program. The applicable fields of study are: Mineralogy, Crystallography, Geochemistry, Mineral deposits and Petrology.