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Editor's note: President Alastair Summerlee welcomes comments on his column at president@uoguelph.ca.
Convocation is an emotional time on campus. There's something so touching about seeing our students dressed up in their gowns, walking across the stage, with proud family members and friends waiting to congratulate them.
But I know that, for many members of the U of G community, it's often a bittersweet moment. We have watched these students grow and develop intellectually, emotionally and socially over the years and have had a helping hand in the process. We're excited for them as they begin their new adventures, but we will wonder, worry about and miss them.
After all, these students, with their diplomas in hand and their ready-to-take-on-the-world attitudes, are reminders to all of us at Guelph of why we do what we do.
Our jobs - our passions even - involve enriching the minds and lives of these students while they are here, in hopes that the lessons they've learned will serve them well once they move on to their new lives.
But it's a two-way street, because the students enrich us, too. Their fresh ideas keep us thinking and rethinking, no matter how many years we've worked at the University. They keep us centred and focused and inspire us to do more.
I tend to think about such things as I'm marching along with my colleagues, all of us dressed in our academic apparel, to the convocation stage. And I'm sure many faculty and staff are having similar thoughts.
But I wonder how many of them are also thinking about how much of a difference they have made in the lives of students. In the midst of final exams, marking, robe fittings and convocation plans, it can be easy to overlook this very important fact.
I believe convocation is the perfect time to think about the significant and lasting role our faculty and staff play in students' lives. I am also reminded of it each year at the Last Lecture. Students are encouraged to invite a faculty or staff member who contributed positively to their academic and personal growth to attend with them. Looking around the room, I always think about how, years from now, the students will always remember whom they asked to go to the Last Lecture with them and why.
Whenever I bump into any of our alumni around the world, the memories they most often want to share with me are of the professors and staff who motivated and inspired them. It doesn't matter whether they graduated a few years or a few decades ago — the impact endures.
It is with this in mind that I take this occasion to recognize all our faculty and staff for the incredible job they do and the positive impact they have on our students. I commend them for the dedication, effort, time and creativity they put into their work, whether it be in or out of the classroom. Indeed, the quality and innovation of their work are inspiring.
Allow me to summarize some of the many accomplishments of our faculty and staff over the past academic year.
One of our ecology professors received a Steacie Memorial Fellowship, one of Canada's premier science and engineering prizes from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
An assistant registrar, a technician, an IT supervisor and two directors received the President's Awards for Exemplary Staff Service.
Two College of Arts professors were named to the Order of Canada, considered the country's highest honour of lifetime achievement, and an environmental scientist was named a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
An assistant coach of the Gryphon women's wrestling program captured the gold medal at the world University Summer Games in Turkey.
Another faculty member received the Young Investigator Prize from the American Society of Naturalists, one of the top early career awards for evolutionary biologists.
The director of the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre received the 2005 Ontario Association of Art Galleries' curatorial writing award.
A U of G animal scientist was one of two people worldwide to receive a new award recognizing outstanding commitment to improving the care and housing of laboratory animals.
Staff in the Office of Research received international recognition from the Council for the Advancement of Education for a magazine ad they created.
Three University of Guelph professors were listed among 90 “Pioneers of Computing” by the National Research Council.
One environmental biologist received the Gold Medal from the Entomological Society of Canada, and another was named a Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation.
Six of our staff and faculty were named recipients of the YMCA-YWCA's 2006 Women of Distinction Awards, including the director of open learning, who received a lifetime achievement award in education and training.
Numerous professors were honoured with faculty teaching awards from their departments and colleges, the U of G Faculty Association and the Central Student Association.
A theatre studies professor was named one of Canada's “Beautiful Minds” and received a Silver Ticket Award from the Toronto Theatre Alliance, which recognizes people who have excelled in their own careers while nurturing the development of Canadian theatre.
And a molecular and cellular biology professor won the 2006 Roche Diagnostics/CSM Award, the most prestigious honour given by the Canadian Society of Microbiologists.
I could go on and on. But I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that earning these awards and accolades often involves sacrifices.
One of the things that sets Guelph apart is the level to which students are directly engaged in the teaching and learning process, but this requires commitment and co-operation from every member of the University community. It means tailoring teaching, work and research schedules around the needs of students, something all our faculty and staff have done devotedly.
This dedication has been fundamental to our success in providing students with a rewarding, distinctive and fruitful learning environment. It's also critical to the process of ensuring that when students leave this university, they are armed with the knowledge and skills that will help them excel in the future.
And it's why our graduates take with them many positive memories of the professors and staff members who helped them gain this knowledge and who made a difference in their lives.
