Memorial students are 21st-century explorers. They’re curious, creative and open-minded. They’re independent thinkers. They’re adventurers. Therefore, we try to maintain an environment that fosters this level of excellence through teaching and learning experiences that are learner-centred, innovative and informed. Every day we assist students in becoming leaders. We help them push boundaries. We inspire them to tackle their challenges. And, in turn, we also learn so much from them.
You can learn all about Memorial’s Teaching and Learning Framework from the Teaching and Learning Community.
The hard-working graduates.
It was a day to celebrate. This past June people gathered to commemorate the accomplishments of 17 hard-working students from Labrador who completed a customized bachelor of social work program offered in Labrador. This special program was developed through a partnership between Memorial University's School of Social Work and the Labrador Institute, the Nunatsiavut Government and the College of the North Atlantic, and was offered in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, solely to Inuit students. Memorial created this unique, fully-accredited, four-year program with financial and other support from the Nunatsiavut Government to meet the specific needs of the residents of Labrador. It’s the first time a program of its kind, specifically designed to reflect Inuit culture and values, and to prepare graduates to practise in both Inuit and non-Inuit settings, was offered in Labrador. These students were truly grateful to have the opportunity to obtain their degrees on home soil. Now that they’re finished the program, each of them looks forward to helping people in communities across Labrador and beyond.
Student feedback is essential in helping us continually evolve and enhance our teaching and learning initiatives. Each student has a unique story about being inspired, engaged or supported along his or her road to success. Rhodes Scholar Laura Pittman, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship winner Nick Snow and Chancellor’s Undergraduate Award winner Kayla Carroll are just a few of those students. Here’s what they have to say about their experience.
Student success stories: Kayla Carroll, Laura Pittman and Nick Snow
The Crosbie Doctoral Scholarship in Philosophy was awarded this year to Vahid Jafarzadehdarzi. The newly created scholarship, named in honour of Dr. John Crosbie for his role as the province’s lieutenant-governor and official visitor to Memorial University, is a permanent testament to Dr. Crosbie’s many contributions to Memorial University, including being Memorial’s longest-serving chancellor. Valued at $15,000 annually and renewable for up to four years, the scholarship will be awarded annually to a full-time student in the new PhD program in philosophy. The recipient of the scholarship must have a superior academic record and demonstrate excellent research potential. The award’s first recipient, Vahid, is originally from Iran and started his master’s at Memorial in 2011. He has already published several translations of Western philosophical texts into Persian and will focus on metaphysics and classical German philosophy for his doctoral research.
Memorial University employees work very hard. Every year many of them juggle the demands of work, study and family life in pursuit of personal development. We’re proud to support our employees in achieving these goals. In addition to degree credit courses, we offer a variety of services to help our employees advance their careers, including supervisory skills and management development programs, business and leadership programs from Memorial's Gardiner Centre and technical skill tutorials from Lynda.com, to name a few. To find out more about how we support human resources at Memorial check out the HR Annual Report.
Canada’s next top ad exec finalists Laura Francis and Krystal Hobbs
Two of Memorial’s finest landed four-month internships with General Motors. Laura Francis and Krystal Hobbs won two of the coveted internships during Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec, a national business case-study competition for university students in its seventh year running.
The bachelor of commerce students were required to prepare a short elevator pitch summarizing their big idea. After placing in the top 25, the pair went on to submit a comprehensive report outlining key objectives, positioning, media strategy, creative execution and executive summary. This entry secured their finalist position in the top 10. Then on March 26, 2013, they delivered a 30-minute pitch in Toronto before a panel of expert judges, including top executives from General Motors. Extremely proud of their hard work in the competition, they were the first team from Memorial to make it to the final round. This past spring, both Laura and Krystal went on to apply their hard-earned skills in the highly competitive automotive industry as the newest recruits for General Motors.