This award honours forward thinking ARUCC member/associate members or teams that have demonstrated leadership, perseverance and innovation in visioning and implementing strategies, processes and best practices to better support underrepresented students from prospect to graduation and beyond within a registrarial context.

ARUCC award recipients from prior years are welcome to request a digital award badge by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

2024

Jennifer Chin (The University of British Columbia)

Jennifer genuinely cares about students and seeks sustainable and creative solutions that challenge long-standing practices. She questions past decisions and looks toward current and future needs to support students and improve their chances of success and graduation. Jennifer has championed many improvements to benefit student award recipients and works directly with students to gain a deep and honest insight into how award practices impact the lives of student award recipients. Much of her efforts have been focused on improving access for Indigenous student award recipients but have expanded to all students. Some examples of previous innovations were lowering the number of full-time credits student award recipients must maintain each term to receive their funding, allowing family and friends to act as a reference on award applications to support communities where opportunities are few and local businesses are owned by close relations, and formally recognizing cultural differences and adjusting award adjudication and appeal processes to support individual student circumstances.

Her work has led to one of the most dramatic changes to award practices in over two decades at UBC, and it has inspired other Canadian institutions to review their current award practices.

 

2022

Team: “Comité pour l’inclusion de la diversité sexuelle et de genre” (Committee for the Inclusion of Sexual and Gender Diversity), Université de Sherbrooke

Chair: Kim Lagueux Dugal

Team

• Kim Lagueux Dugal, Registrar’s Office
• Christine Hudon, Rector’s Office
• Andréa Bergeron-Fréchette, Registrar’s Office
• Danièle Caron, Facilities’ Management
• Julie-Christine Cotton, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
• Luc Sauvé, Student Life
• Pierre McCann, Student Life
• Bruno Paradis, Human Resources
• Chantal Roy, Communications
• Denis Dinel, Information Technology
• Joanny Raby, Student
• Florian Meyer, Faculty
• Loïc Bizeul, Student

The achievements of the Committee for the Inclusion of Sexual and Gender Diversity, chaired and coordinated by Kim Lagueux-Dugal, Registrar, accurately capture UdeS’ commitment to do more about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Policies regarding first name, last name and gender selection and the institutional implementation of an annual Rainbow Week for the Inclusion of Sexual and Gender Diversity are two examples of innovative achievements that reflect this committee’s impetus. Each of its initiatives has been supported by the desire to do more for non-visible and racialized minority communities. Each of its actions is well-considered and operationalized in accordance with the distinctive aspects of each group. And each accomplishment radiates throughout the community. In this way, the group contributes to creating a fairer and more inclusive society.

 

Team: “Discover University of Alberta Award and the Turtle Spirit Pathway Award for FNMI Students”, University of Alberta

Fiona Halbert

Team:

• Fiona Halbert, Assistant Registrar, Student Financial Support
• Trevor Phillips, Manager, Indigenous Recruitment
• Brett Buchanan, Team Lead, Student Financial Support
• Allen Wolfe, Specialist, Student Financial Support
• Shari Klassen, Specialist, Student Financial Support
• Rachel De Leon, Bursary Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• Hailey Markowski, Loans Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• Michael Watmough, Financial Aid Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• Lindsay Moores, Financial Aid Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• Melissa Rodenburg, Awards Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• Lindsay Hennessey, Awards Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• Kirsten Darling, Awards Coordinator, Student Financial Support
• David Goertzen, International Financial Support Coordinator, Student Financial Support

The University of Alberta developed the Discover University of Alberta Award and the Turtle Spirit Pathway Award for FNMI Students, to address the equity gap and remove barriers to accessing education at the UofA. The program was initiated and executed by the Student Financial Support team in the Office of the Registrar with incredible detail and dedication to supporting equity-deserving students. Through research, collaboration, and consultation, the team successfully launched a new awards program geared to supporting students who demonstrate financial challenges and barriers to attending university.

 

Christina Coakley, Manager, Operations and Special Projects, Registrar's Office, Dalhousie University

Christina Coakley, Manager, Operations and Special Projects with the Registrar’s Office at Dalhousie, has been an EDIA champion through her work to design and implement inclusive Convocation ceremonies. Of particular merit has been her leadership on a major, community-wide project to decommission and re-design Dalhousie’s ceremonial mace – a process through which a new and inspiring symbol of place and belonging was developed, and a new approach and ethos for Convocation was solidified. 

 

Past Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award Winners

2021

Lydia Gill, University of Toronto