This award recognizes individuals or teams that have moved a project or initiative beyond best practices to create “next practices” (tomorrow’s innovations) with bold thinking and game changing ideas.

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

Adam Robertson (Dalhousie University and Chair on behalf of the Committee)

The Steering Committee is comprised of: Adam Roberston – Assistant Vice President (Enrolment Management) and University Registrar, Dalhousie University (Chair) Shawna Garrett – President and Chief Executive Officer, EduNova Dale Keefe – Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Solutions Program, Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents Laura Kelly-Gates – Administrative Assistant, Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Solutions Program, Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents Neale Bennet – (Former member) Former Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Solutions Program, Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents (retired) Julie Green (Former member) – Former Registrar, University of King's College and Current AVP, Enrolment Management and University Registrar, MacEwan University.

This provincial initiative has represented a significant achievement in the digital transformation of education in Nova Scotia and Canada. Stemming from a joint effort and investment involving the Nova Scotia Department of Advanced Education, the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents (CONSUP), EduNova, and MyCreds™, the committee was able to successfully support all post-secondary institutions in the province in joining the network. This project stands as a landmark achievement, highlighting the remarkable potential for collaboration among government bodies, educational institutions, and technology platforms.

 

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

Rella Ng (Douglas College)

Rella joined Douglas College in 2017 from Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, British Columbia) where she was Associate Registrar, Information, Records, and Registration. Rella also previously held multiple roles at the University of British Columbia in Financial Assistance, Awards, and Registration. Through innovation and collaboration, Rella Ng has led Enrolment Services at Douglas College through transformational growth in service, registrarial best practice, and strategic enrolment management and visioning.

 

Beth Cann (Dalhousie University)

Vivian Howard (Dalhousie University)

The creation of a holistic, student-centred GPA-neutral grading option at Dalhousie, which includes a robust suite of supporting materials (e.g., guiding principles, process maps, advising frameworks, etc.), that has been used as a tool for supporting students whose grades have been impacted by serious extenuating circumstances.

 

Past Next Best Practice & Innovation Award Winners

2021

Université de Montréal

• Jolaine Frigault
• Colette Côté
• Cindy Mailloux Charpentier
• Michel Carrier

University of Lethbridge

• Natasha Buis-Deering
• Kendra Fuglerud
• Marlene Taylor
• Val Siljak-Kissick
• Jnig Zhu

Ryerson University

• Paula Doyle
• Carolyn Posa
• Kate Liss
• Julie Zahab
• Deanne Wright
• Hongbo He