Dr. Albert Roberts spent much of his career as an educator and administrator advancing the idea that a university education should be available to everyone. It was his belief that no matter where you lived or where you worked, the doors of the university should be open to you at any time in your life.

He was born in Pool’s Cove, Fortune Bay, and attended summer school at Memorial University College in 1943 before leaving to find work. He served in the Canadian Army, and it wasn’t until 1959, at the age of 28, that he earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Acadia University.

The following year, he completed his master’s degree in education at Harvard and joined Memorial’s Faculty of Education in 1961.

He would go on to complete his doctoral work at the University of Indiana in 1969 and, on his return to Memorial, was appointed director of Summer School and Extramural Studies.

In September 1974, Dr. Roberts was appointed director of Memorial’s Extension Service, and during his time as director he oversaw the creation of the Division of Part-time Credit Studies in 1976.

With the creation of this new division, Extension Service and Part-time Credit Studies became the twin pillars of Memorial University outreach.

Extension Service focused on community development and non-credit adult education across Newfoundland and Labrador while Part-time Studies offered credit courses for adults who wanted to earn degrees or upgrade qualifications while continuing to work.

Dr. Roberts assumed the position of director of Part-time Studies while Dr. Arthur Sullivan took over as director of Extension Service.

 

Faculty of Education faculty and staff, 1961. Front row, left to right: Chesley Ivany, Matilda Dove (departmental secretary), Ethel Janes, George A. Hickman (dean), William Rowe, Grace Layman and Oswald Crocker. Back row, left to right: William Everden, Eric Johnson, Raymond Ivimey, Albert Roberts, William Gushue, Garfield Fizzard and Charles Gushue.

 

Full-time, on-campus study remained the university’s core mission, but Dr. Roberts’ work focused on building bridges for everyone else. During the 1970s and 1980s, Memorial expanded course offerings beyond its main campuses in St. John’s and Corner Brook. Part-time Studies placed instructors in the field and used audiovisual media and evening courses to create classrooms and community hubs.

On campus, Part-time Studies offered evening credit courses, certificate programs and specially scheduled classes that allowed people to avail of course offerings without sacrificing jobs or family time.

For countless students — nurses, tradespeople, civil servants and artists — the department offered the first realistic route to university credentials.

By the time Dr. Roberts retired, the Division of Part-time Credit Studies was the largest department at Memorial with over 4,500 students. And he had helped guide the department through a period of growth that connected university expertise with rural communities across the province.

Dr. Roberts died in 2009 at the age of 83.

He is remembered by colleagues and family as both a teacher and as an advocate for lifelong learning. And at the very core of his mission was the belief that despite the challenges of Newfoundland and Labrador geography, Memorial is a university for the entire province.

When Memorial’s later continuing-education units reorganized and expanded online and part-time options, they were building on a scaffolding that Dr. Roberts helped construct, a scaffolding of practical systems that allows people to learn while they live their lives.