Today@Dal

MEMORANDUM 

To:             The Dalhousie University community
From:       Frank Harvey, Provost and Vice-President Academic 
Date:        Monday, April 15, 2024 
Re:         Appointment of Acting Dean, Faculty of Open Learning and Career Development

Thank you all for your support and patience as we worked through the appointment process for the Acting Dean position in Open Learning and Career Development. As you may know, this is a new process, and the call for expressions of interest elicited applications from a very strong pool of potential candidates.  

I am pleased to announce that Jennifer Hann will serve as Acting Dean for a one-year term.  

Jennifer Hann has been a member of the Faculty of Open Learning & Career Development since 1993. As an alum (Bachelor of Arts, 1992), her three-decade long career has taken her across many areas including entrepreneurial initiatives, career transition services, professional development programming, and university access/pathways programming.

Since 2020, Jennifer has held the role of Director, Enrollment, Student Services and Advising. In this role, she has been focused on creating a superior student experience for the 4000+ learners annually who engage with the Faculty to prepare for and succeed in their academic experience and professional careers. As an advocate of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), Jennifer and her team have partnered with the Province of Nova Scotia since 2021 to advance RPL and to support organizations and communities to expand capacity through workplace skills and competencies. Prior to this role, Jennifer held the position of Director, University Preparation/Access and Mature Student Services, supporting thousands of students, many from equity deserving groups, to access undergraduate degrees and providing advising and support to mature students in credit study.

Jennifer is Chair of the Faculty’s Governance Council and has served on leadership teams. She has participated in pan university committees, working groups, executive searches, and in other capacities in support of advancing access to post-secondary studies and improving Dalhousie’s student experience. Jennifer’s extensive experience in the Faculty will provide great stability for OLCD as we move towards a decanal search in the coming months.

Please join me in congratulating Jennifer on this appointment.

Sincerely, 

Frank Harvey 
Provost and Vice-President Academic