About Me

I have a passion for higher education that is evidenced by nearly twenty five years of work in the field.  I began my career at the University of Saskatchewan in 2000, where I progressed through several student services roles that focused on students' first year experiences, holistic student supports, and student leadership development. During my time there, I helped to develop and implement one of Canada’s first “one stop” student service hubs, participated as an early implementer of community service learning in several credit courses, and initiated many innovations in the area of supporting student transitions to university.  I was inspired by the work involved with my first role at the U of S, which included building and teaching an undergraduate leadership development program; as a result I pursued a Masters of Adult and Continuing Education focused on leadership education in post-secondary systems (2002 – 2005).  

My tenure in student services culminated in my position as Senior Retention Coordinator, where I was responsible for managing all centrally administered retention programming and initiatives at the University of Saskatchewan.  I contributed to my Division’s management team and assisted with a two-year strategic planning process for the newly amalgamated Student and Enrolment Services Division.  This experience motivated my choice of research for my PhD (Educational Administration and Leadership, 2009 - 2013), where I focused on the intersections between strategic planning and organizational values in higher education administration.  

Following completion of my PhD, I became a faculty member at the University of Calgary’s Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning (2014 – 2019).  In addition to ongoing educational development practice, a significant part of my portfolio involved fostering effective educational leadership on campus to ensure systemic improvement in institutional teaching and learning practices.   My work in this role, in addition to that as Director for the College of Discovery, Creativity, and Innovation (2018 – 2019), augmented my understanding of university governance, faculty-level policy and practice, and connections between administrative and academic units.  

During my time at the University of Calgary I led the development and implementation of a four-course, undergraduate, interdisciplinary certificate centered on social innovation education. This certificate featured immersion inquiry-based learning as its primary pedagogical approach and became the foundation of an ongoing research agenda designed to support inquiry-based learning in postsecondary systems.  I also served as a member of the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board, convened and facilitated the institution's Teaching Academy, and led several communities of practice to support teaching and learning excellence.  

I now work at Royal Roads University, where I serve as an Associate Professor and Program Head for the Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration and Leadership in addition to the Direct of the School of Education and Technology.  I am the Chair of the university's Curriculum Committee, which involves leading the institution's centralized curriculum administration processes.  I also serve on the Research Ethics Board, the Research Advisory Committee, and the Academic Offerings Working Group.  I'm very interested in emerging trends in higher education, how post-secondary institutions can become more responsive to change, and how we might begin to decolonize policy, structure, and practice in higher education.