News

A message from Dean Kim Brooks and Director Lori Turnbull

Over the last couple of months, we in the Faculty of Management have been preoccupied by twin pandemics: the coronavirus pandemic and a longer-standing racism pandemic.

We’ve been working hard to respond to each, because we believe that management education and research take ideas from inspiration to realization. A management education trains students to solve some of the world’s most vexing problems. To get where we need to be, to do what we need to do, to become what is needed today and tomorrow, our Faculty of Management community must reflect a diversity of lived experiences and perspectives.

We ask you to join us in supporting a new Promise Scholars program. The program builds from one originally recommended in 2015 in Dalhousie’s, “Report from the Committee on Aboriginal and Black/African Canadian Student Access and Retention: A Focus on Financial support” [PDF] (Recommendation 21).

The Promise Scholars program will assist students in all four of the Faculty of Management’s Schools, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

We commit to supporting Scholars in this program in three ways:

• financial support;
• paid work during their program; and
• wrap-around support specific to the student (ie. each student will be assigned a faculty, staff, peer, alumni and career advisor).

To qualify for the Promise Scholars program, a student has to be Black or Indigenous, with priority given to African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq students. From within the qualifying pool, students who come from low-income families or who are the first generation in their family to attend university will be prioritized.

How to donate

We would love to have widespread support for the program from our community. If you are able to give (every contribution makes a difference).

• Donate to the Promise Scholars fund for the Faculty of Management’s undergraduate programs (BComm and BMgmt)
  
• Donate to the Promise Scholars fund for the School of Public Administration's graduate programs (MPA and MPA(M))

Donations over $500 will be acknowledged with thanks in our promotional materials for the program. Remember that donations can be made by monthly contribution. If you’re interested in being a more substantial donor or creating your Promise Scholar Fund, please contact the dean at Kim.Brooks@dal.ca and our Development Officer, Lisa Doucette at Lisa.Doucette@dal.ca or (902) 220-7937.

What our students say

We embraced the Promise Scholars program at the urging of our student leaders. Here's why they think it's important:

The Promise Scholars program recognizes the need for more accessible education and equitable opportunities to attain our professional goals in the Faculty of Management. In the MPA program, we learn about how equity, diversity and inclusion are important to build a strong public service. I am excited to see a faculty-coordinated initiative that recognizes the necessity of EDI on our campus, while further supporting students from historically underrepresented demographics. —Emma Miller, President of the Public Administration Student Society