6 UNBC Life

OTE Team

NBC’s newest president hopes to leave
U? lasting impression on northern BC
through greater exposure of our post-
secondary institution as it enters its 25th
year. Dr. Daniel Weeks was confident at the
end of August that any changes he made to
the university would be both positive and
beneficial to the future of the institution.
Dr. Weeks has been preparing for this role
throughout the summer with extensive
reading, and is very excited to be exposed
to life in northern British Columbia.
Throughout his 16 years acting in multiple
roles at Simon Fraser University, he
had made friends in Prince George, and
therefore already has some idea of the
impression that UNBC has had on British
Columbian post-secondary education.

New president
arrives at UNBC:
Dr. Daniel Weeks

Throughout his term at UNBC, beginning
officially in September 2014, Dr. Weeks
hopes to expand communication between
UNBC and the provincial and federal
governments. Weeks stated: “What a

high quality institution we have, the high
quality of our scientists, and our teachers,”
and sees how important UNBC can be to
British Columbia, and to Canada’s future.
After spending the summer at his home
in the Gulf Islands, Dr. Weeks recognizes
the effect that post-secondary institutions
can have on rural communities. The first
major change enacted during Dr. Weeks’s
transitional period in the summer was the
creation of a new role, Dean of Regional
Programs. Dr. Mark Dale will be taking
over this role after his term as Interim
President following the December 2013
departure of Dr. George Iwama. As Dean of
Regional Programs, Dr. Dale will expand
and maintain UNBC’s relationship with
the northern communities that helped

to create it. Dr. Weeks believes that the
creation of this role will help to increase
Victoria’s sense of UNBC as an influential
institution. He understands that, in order
to run an institution, leaders must come
from every level, and cohesion between
student, faculty, and staff leadership is
necessary to move the university forward.

UNBC has gone through multiple shifts in
leadership, but has remained consistent
with the trend of male presidents since
UNBC’s inception 25 years ago. Dr.

Iwama was the first UNBC president

with a background of scientific study,
rather than one in the humanities, and
Dr. Weeks continues this through his
background of psychology. He holds a PhD
in Experimental Psychology, and although
he will not leave behind an active lab,

he does have former students in Canada
and the United States who will continue
to research human rights policy in his
absence. He is going to do his best to
ensure that the roles of minority groups
within the university are expanded and
raised, stating “We should always keep

UNBC

seeking opportunities for all visible
minorities.” Dr. Weeks is understandably
proud of the achievements he was able
to make in his last position as the Vice
President of Research at the University
of Lethbridge, such as growing their
population of Canada Research Chairs to
over 50%. Currently, UNBC has three female
and eight male Canada Research Chairs.
It will be intriguing, with the present
dearth of Women’s Studies professors,
to see how Dr. Weeks’s presidency will
affect the role of all minority groups

at this institution, and expand the
portfolios of as many people as possible.

Until Dr. Dale begins his term as UNBC’s
new Dean of Regional Programs in January
of 2015, he and Dr. Weeks will be working
closely to ensure that the transition is
smooth for students, staff, and faculty. Dr.
Weeks is determined to create a positive
reputation for UNBC in the future, and to
raise the profile of the university in order
to make it a better place for everybody.
UNBC’s new president is prepared to
make “a positive contribution” to UNBC’s
future. In moving to Prince George, Dr.
Weeks and his wife, Fay, want to have

fun over the next few years, and want
everybody to enjoy coming to campus.