PRINCE ALBERT — Professor Jay Wilson has been appointed as the first-ever principal at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Prince Albert Campus.
Wilson began his two-year term on Aug. 1 and said his vision for the campus is a full range of supports for students. Wilson said the University has been in the city for 30 years and wants to expand that connection.
"When I got here, (I asked) ‘how do I honour and support what's been going on and how do I add to that to make sure that we've got all the Wellness supports,” Wilson said.
He wants the Prince Albert campus to mirror the Saskatoon campus as much as possible in terms of support and campus experience.
“This isn't a regional college,” Wilson said. “We have a full range of different programs. We have research we have supports and I want to grow them.”
Wilson said his vision includes things like extracurricular activities that give students a complete experience. He said that if the university is providing opportunities to get together like Indigenous Awareness Week or Black History Month, students should feel welcome on campus.
“We're trying to give the student a complete experience and what we need to impress upon them is that they need to take that (experience),” Wilson said.
"We have to change the mindset to say, ‘This is a great place to study.’ We already know that, but we need our students to be reminded of that and that the relationships, the connections, the socializing that they do when they're here are probably going to be more important than some of the content that they're learning.”
Wilson said the USask Prince Albert campus is set up in a centralized manner to have students intermingle with each other whether they are in nursing, dentistry or arts and science.
"You see people all the time because you're not walking across the bowl, you're not only in your College of Education building or something like that and I think that that again is a real plus of this location,” he said.
Another part of his vision is collaborating with the community. He said that includes research partnerships and finding out what can be worked on to address certain issues.
"I think we're right-sized for Prince Albert and we can make things happen relatively quickly,” Wilson said. “We can get people to be here. We have space for research assistants and grad students in the building, so they've got a place where they can come and work.”
He said that the student support services on campus, including Rob Procyk and Cindy Koob who have been around since the campus was established, have been great.
“We have that small town kind of feel about it in terms of our student support,’ he said.
Wilson came to be the principal at the campus after initially wanting to be an elementary school teacher. He has an education degree and ended up working at the Saskatoon campus in technology supporting teaching and learning and eventually teaching at the University.
“I was working on a masters degree and then started a PhD,” he said. “(I) did that and was lucky enough to get a faculty position in the College of Education in the Curriculum Studies department.
"Then I was the interim vice provost of Teaching, Learning and Student Experience, so (I was) looking after all University of Saskatchewan students across the province.”
In that role, his portfolio included Prince Albert and he became excited about the community.
"I think I paid a little more attention to this place than maybe many of the others on campus,” Wilson said.
He added that President Peter Stoicheff and Vice-Provost Patty McDougall have been involved with the Prince Albert campus for a long time and are also excited about its potential.
He went back to his role as a professor after the interim term ended but stayed in touch with the campus and Campus Lead Rob Procyk.
“I think this is a really special place,” Wilson said. “I think it's amazing…. The future of this place is so brilliant, and there's so much potential.”
When the opportunity to apply for the Principal position he took it right away.
He said he went through a very rigorous interview process and did a presentation of his vision for the campus.
"I really welcome the idea to have even greater engagement now there's people that I know here, like nursing faculty that I've done research with or worked on PhD committees,” he said.
He added that it was great to learn that he was successful and come down to the campus and start to meet students.
“It's turned out well in that regard and since I have taken the job, I have stormed the walls of USask Saskatoon and have met with Deans and senior leaders to have them start including Prince Albert in their strategic planning, their enrollment ideas and their research ideas,” he said.
He added that he has met with the Vice President of Research about creating an Interdisciplinary community-based research hub here and research that focuses on the north rural, Indigenous and remote communities.
“All of those things, I think have a home in Prince Albert,” Wilson said.
Wilson started his term in August, so planning for this academic year is already complete. He plans to use this year as a run-up to 2025 to begin initiating his vision.
"The term is renewable. I'm going to make it impossible for them to not renew me because I want to. I want to be here for at least five years. It's my plan,” he said.
In this new role as the president’s representative on campus, Wilson will provide academic leadership for USask’s campus and educational presence in Prince Albert in support of the more than 400 students enrolled at this location.
He said that the University is in Prince Albert but is there to serve Prince Albert and area. Wilson said that included making sure that supports around housing security and food security.
"All of those things that can undermine the student's ability to be successful, all of our students are, are struggling with that. The cost of tuition,” Wilson said.
He also wants to create more Prince Albert-specific scholarships. He wants to make students feel successful.
"And that they have a high degree of dignity when they're working their butts off to be successful students,” Wilson said.
He said that he wants to connect with all organizations in Prince Albert in the future.
“I just welcome all members of the Prince Albert community to find a way to connect with us.”
