Deputy-Provost (Students) and Associate Vice-President (Academic) Undergraduate Studies
Dr. Cecilia Reynolds has been appointed the new deputy provost (students) and associate vice-president (academic) undergraduate studies, effective April 1, 2013. The Board of Regents approved the appointment at its Dec. 6 meeting.
Dr. Reynolds has been a full professor and the dean of the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan since 2003 and has 18 years of experience as an academic leader.
Prior to becoming dean at Saskatchewan, she was associate dean at the Ontario Institute for the Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto (1999-2003) and took on several leadership roles while on faculty at Brock University (1986-1999).
Her responsibilities as chair of the (then) Graduate Department (now Faculty of Graduate Studies) included both academic and non-academic support services across three campus sites with students from a wide range of academic disciplines.
Dr. Reynolds also has extensive experience in both co-operative education and in experiential learning from her various leadership roles at Brock, Toronto and Saskatchewan.
The position reports to the provost and vice-president. Primary responsibilities of the newly created position include: to ensure integrated, effective, pan-university academic and non-academic support services for all students including graduate students; to provide leadership and co-ordination in improving the student academic experience and outcomes; to foster a university-wide culture of undergraduate program renewal and innovation; to advance student success inside and outside the classroom; and to represent student interests in university planning and operations.
Dr. Reynolds will work in collaboration with associate deans responsible for undergraduate affairs in 11 faculties and schools on the St. John's campus, with the AVPAs on Grenfell Campus and the Marine Institute, and with the dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
Non-academic support units currently in the portfolio include: Office of the Registrar; Office of Student Recruitment; International Centre; Co-op Education; and a suite of student services that includes the Student Success Program; Career Development and Experiential Learning; Student Counselling Services; Student Health Services; and Residences, Conference and Food Services.
Dr. Reynolds is a three-time graduate of the University of Toronto, with a bachelor of arts, in sociology and communications, a master of arts in educational administration and a PhD in education from that institution. She also holds an Ontario Teachers' Certificate and worked in Toronto as a classroom teacher at a variety of grade levels in both elementary and secondary schools.
Her doctoral dissertation focused on historical constructions of gender in Ontario educational organizations from 1940-80. Her subsequent research has dealt with such topics as equity, globalization, single-sex schools, women and men as leaders, leadership succession, teacher education, curriculum change and international 21st century learning and teaching trends.
She is one of the co-authors of the Association of Canadian Deans of Education Accord on Indigenous Education (2010), has published four books, 17 book chapters, 24 articles in refereed and/or professional journals and has authored five technical reports.
Dr. Reynolds currently serves on the editorial board of the New Zealand Journal of Educational Leadership, is chair of the Learning Partnership's national selection committee for Canada's Outstanding Principals, and frequently participates in national and international conferences and meetings on education.
Among her awards, Dr. Reynolds was named as the Connors Chair (Research) at Upper Canada College in 2002, was invited to participate in a Women and Leadership conference at Oxford University in 2000, received Brock University's Rosalind Blauer Award for advancing the position of women in Canadian society in 1999, and was elected by the teachers of Ontario to serve on the Governing Council of the Ontario College of Teachers from 1997-2000 where she assisted in writing the accreditation regulation for that body.
