Welcoming Dal's new Truro community

Best wishes from Dal leaders

- September 4, 2012

NSAC's Cumming Hall. (Danny Abriel photo)
NSAC's Cumming Hall. (Danny Abriel photo)

The Dal community gets a little bit bigger today – and not just because it’s Orientation Week. Dalhousie is now a four campus university, with the Agricultural Campus in Truro-Bible Hill bringing 300 faculty and staff and nearly 1,000 students under the black and gold banner.

We asked some of our key leaders across Dalhousie to share welcome messages for the newest members of our community. If you have a greeting you’d like to share, add it to the comments below.

Susan Spence Wach, Associate Vice-President Academic, Transition Lead

What excites me about the Faculty of Agriculture is its agricultural mission, and the commitment and expertise of those that support it. I know this faculty and its mission will resonate across Dalhousie. Welcome new colleagues. We are honoured to have you join us at Dalhousie.

Bonnie Neuman, Vice-President Student Services

A big welcome to our new student, staff and faculty colleagues at the AC from the Student Services team at the Halifax campuses. It’s been great getting to know you better over the last year. Another exciting year is ahead as we continue to work and learn together. I am particularly excited about adding new online services for Agricultural Campus students, especially in the Career Services area, as our computer systems converge. By joining together our students in all locations will benefit from our expanded family of disciplines, opportunities and communities. I look forward to regular visits to the Agricultural Campus (and teapots of Earl Grey!) as we work and celebrate together this year. 

Katherine Sheehan, Assistant Vice-President Human Resources

It is exciting to welcome new employees to the university, particularly in my role as the leader of Human Resources.  With the addition of the Agricultural Campus, you will bring fresh perspectives and ideas along with a wealth of knowledge and experience to our university community.  

The HR team works hard to create an environment at Dalhousie where employees are supported, engaged and inspired to achieve excellence. We hope you will feel at home in our community and take pride in working for one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet many of you over the past few months and I look forward to introducing myself to others on the Agricultural Campus. In the meantime, if you have any HR-related questions, please send them to hr@dal.ca and a member of our team will assist you.

Again, welcome to Dalhousie!

Martha Crago, Vice-President Research

Our entire team, including Associate Vice Presidents Newhook and Filiaggi, Assistant Vice President Hartlen and all the people working in Dalhousie Research Services, is excited to have you as our colleagues and to work with you to make great research opportunities happen. Agricultural research is of great importance to the world at this time in history. We are pleased to be of help with your initiatives.

Michael Perry, Director of Alumni Engagement

As part of the merger team, I have had the opportunity over the past year and a half to learn a great deal about NSAC. This has ranged from the wonderful programs and facilities, the enthusiastic faculty and staff, and the very passionate and proud alumni. NSAC has a rich heritage and has played an extremely important role in both our region, and in the agricultural sector worldwide.

The new Faculty of Agriculture brings this wealth of history, experience, and offerings into the Dalhousie family. We are delighted to be moving forward with this process, and very much looking forward to working with our new colleagues at the Faculty of Agriculture, and the past, present, and future alumni of the Faculty of Agriculture.

Jeff Lamb, Assistant Vice-President Facilities Management

On behalf of the Dalhousie Facilities Management team, I would like to welcome Phil Talbot, Elaine Rector and all of the Physical Plant and Safety & Security staff that will be joining our team as of September 1. We’re excited about the opportunity to work with the enthusiastic staff that we have met during our training sessions in recent weeks.

As well, the addition of new green energy technology opportunities like the wood-chip boiler used to heat the campus and the available land for potential new buildings and facilities to house new, innovative academic programs offer many new exciting opportunities to the Dalhousie learning experience.

Catherine Bagnell Styles, Assistant Vice-President Communications and Marketing

The Communications & Marketing team has had the tremendous opportunity to be involved in this merger right from the get-go. Working closely with the transition team, our C&M colleagues and many others across campus, we have been inspired by the students, staff, faculty and alumni and their passion for education, research, agriculture and the community. Their stories become an important part of Dalhousie University and an expanded community we have the privilege of building together.

Dwight Fischer, Assistant Vice-President Information Technology Services

Welcome, colleagues. The Faculty of Agriculture will provide a welcome complement to Dalhousie University. It’s been a true pleasure learning about programs and research occurring in Truro and we look forwarding to knowing more how our campuses can serve students, faculty and staff better.

Stephen Hartlen, Assistant Vice-President Industry Relations, Executive Director of Industry Liaison and Innovation

Dalhousie’s Industry Liaison and Innovation Office welcomes the new Faculty of Agriculture. We are very excited to be working with such an excellent group of researchers and look forward to great things in the future.


Jamie Arron, President, Dalhousie Student Union

Having spent the last year working with Paul Manning and the AC Student Association folks I could not be more excited for this new partnership. We'll be kicking off the relationship by bussing over 300 students down to our campus for Dalfest on September 15 and that'll just be the start. There is so much we can learn from what's going on in Bible Hill - the focus on hands on learning with a commitment to sustainability and the local economy is exactly what our Halifax campuses need more of in my opinion. Can't wait for the year(s) ahead to learn from each other and trade our skills and knowledge!


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