From the President's desk

Bruce Fawcett, Ph.D.

As we enter the summer season we are gearing up to celebrate Crandall University’s 70th anniversary with a Gala Dinner on September 28th. At this event we will have an opportunity to both celebrate the past and also look ahead with anticipation of the continued development of this young and vibrant University.

As I look back on the recent past, the 2018/2019 academic year, I am struck by many achievements to celebrate:

Despite the enrollment challenges faced by many universities in our region, we are pleased to report that Crandall’s overall enrollment in 2018/2019 increased by more than 4%. We anticipate an even greater increase next year, partly due to our new focus on recruiting international students. This past year we welcomed students who were born in 25 different countries. More than 35 of these students came to Crandall on study visas, a number that we anticipate will increase next year. In support of this international student initiative, generous donors have provided in excess of $400,000 in seed funding through this year’s Reaching Beyond Our Borders campaign.

Partly due to the increased investments made by our donors in providing more scholarships for Arts, Business, and Science students, we noticed that the academic ability of our entering classes continues to rise. About a quarter of our entering class in Fall 2018 had high school graduation averages of 95% or higher!

We continue to grow our varsity athletics program. Recently we added a boxing program, the only varsity boxing team in Atlantic Canada. This winter our team travelled to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York to compete in a tournament. We look forward to welcoming teams from West Point, Cornell, Penn, and

other American universities for a tournament at Crandall on October 5th. We also plan to add women’s volleyball this coming Fall. Athletes on our teams continue to win league-wide recognition by being named to First and Second All-Conference Teams.

Our University Senate has approved two new academic programs for launch in 2019. A new French Immersion Education Certificate will equip our graduates to teach in the French immersion programs in our public school systems. A new Certificate in Business is designed to appeal to our international students.

Finally, I am pleased to note the long-awaited change to the Province of New Brunswick’s student bursary policy. Previously, New Brunswick students who wished to attend private post-secondary institutions in the province were excluded from a new bursary program added several years ago. This is no longer the case.

I am grateful for the leadership of Premier Higgs, Finance Minister Steeves, and Post-Secondary Minister Holder on this file, as well as all the other MLAs on the government and opposition benches who have supported this move toward fairness for all students from New Brunswick. Now New Brunswick students who wish to attend Crandall will have access to all the same provincial bursaries and scholarships as everyone else.

Thank you for your support for Crandall University which helps make these achievements a reality. Watch for an opportunity to sign up for the Gala in the coming months - we look forward to seeing you there!

Dr. Bruce Fawcett (‘88) has served as President and Vice- Chancellor since 2012. He is husband to Penny (‘94) and they are parents to Daniel (‘16) and Em (‘19).