The program is giving 38 students tools to pursue career goals while caring for themselves
In high school, Imani Murray fell in love with the brain. Next, she set her sights on pursuing her dream career: becoming a neurosurgeon. Now a physiology student in her third year at the University of Alberta, Murray is putting her passion and studies into practice for the first time – and growing in more…
Hoping for some new assignments from the military this fall
As an undergraduate, Kai Keewatin was torn between two passions: graphic design and his long-held dream to join the Canadian Armed Forces. In the second year of his design program at the University of Alberta, he finally enlisted with Lord Strathcona’s Horse in Edmonton, graduating in his military uniform in 2016. He is now a captain…
An organizational strategy for reducing lies and increasing candour at work
Lies in the workplace are expensive. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a typical organization loses five per cent of its revenue to fraud – a potential global loss of $3.5 trillion. But the cost of out-and-out fraud pales in comparison to the monumental cost of the erosion of trust that occurs when…
Research shows men are given second chances much more than women
Indira Samarasekera and Martha Piper have been leaders in post-secondary education every step of the way, right up to the presidencies of two of Canada’s top research universities. They explore what they’ve learned in a new book, Nerve: Lessons on Leadership From Two Women Who Went First. Samarasekera made University of Alberta history in 2005 as…
And gain significant advantages on how you deal with people
Humans are genetically programmed to look for facial and behavioural cues and to quickly understand their meaning. We see someone gesture and automatically make a judgment about the intention of that gesture. And we've been doing this for a long time. As a species, we knew how to win friends and influence people – or…
Education, computing science, engineering and business also rank among the best programs in the country
The University of Alberta delivers the top nursing education in Canada and has the third best education program, according to Maclean’s 2022 Canadian University Rankings. “I’m so pleased to see our nursing and education programs receive this recognition,” said U of A president Bill Flanagan. “Nurses and teachers are playing a vital role in the battle against COVID-19,…
Kirtan Dhunnoo credits the scholarship for giving him incredible experiences and job-ready skills
Even as a student at Edmonton’s Strathcona High School back in 2014, Kirtan Dhunnoo had a keen understanding of the potential for leadership in each of us. “Not only are there leaders by labels, but there are leaders by virtue of their widely different personalities,” he wrote in his application for a Schulich Leader Scholarship.…
A "competent jerk" runs the risk of losing out on opportunities and being ignored
How easy are you to work with? It’s worth asking and, even better, checking. To paraphrase Bobby McFerrin of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (remember that tune?) fame: In every workday we have some trouble. When you’re difficult to work with, you make it at least double for your colleagues. And if you’re considered a “competent…
Get what you want by stressing less about outcomes
Some of the biggest conflicts we face are about the frustration we feel when we don’t follow through and achieve what we’ve set our minds on. This causes us to become prickly in our relationships and take our irritation out on others. When I first started working in law enforcement, there were all kinds of…
Creating a more inclusive economy
Solving poverty in our communities goes far beyond charities and social agencies. Graduates with business, civic planning, arts and other backgrounds have just as much to contribute as social workers, according to University of Alberta poverty researcher Maria Mayan. “We have great young thinkers within our university who want to make a difference in the world…
Strong partnerships with employers help bring U of A into top 100 globally, top five in Canada
The University of Alberta is ranked among the top 100 post-secondary institutions in the world and top five in Canada when it comes to preparing students for the workforce, according to the latest global ranking of graduate employability. The U of A is listed as 99th globally, 35th in North America and fifth nationally according…
Get rid of the negative thoughts and distractions and focus on what's important to you
The news is filled with folks complaining. From politics to economics and everything in between, people are focused on what we don’t have rather than what we do. It’s such a deeply-rooted problem that it makes me wonder if our focus is the primary culprit for all the unhappiness we perceive. When we imagine ourselves…
Alberta program builds skills to take sustainable energy projects from concept to completion
A new certificate the University of Alberta started offering this fall will help fast-track workers into the province’s rapidly growing renewable energy sector. The Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) Certificate is the first of its kind in Alberta to offer learners the flexibility of online, part-time classes, without admission barriers. It can be completed in as little as…
Four questions to ask to ensure your leaders know what they are doing
The world is full of bad leaders. Luckily for the rest of us, they are pretty easy to spot and tend to have limited impact because they generally do not have much influence or staying power. The real concern should be with leaders who are not bad – they just aren't very good. These are…
Vital learning experience – a rite of passage for the past 50 years – reimagined for safety and sustainability
By the time Ben Strelkov started high school, the self-described “city kid” assumed that once he was in the workforce, he’d be confined to an office, doing basically the same thing every workday. His summer job following Grade 10 shattered the illusion. “I spent the whole time in northern Alberta – building trails, helping communities…