ATHABASCA – Athabasca University’s (AU) Class of 2025 celebrated their academic accomplishments here in Athabasca for the second year running thanks to help from staff, community volunteers, and a large group of local businesses.
Just under 2,000 students convocated this year on June 5 and 6, with 1,060 finishing an undergrad degree, 921 completing a graduate degree, and 14 students completing their doctoral programs. Some 17 countries were represented by the grad class, with students from Japan, Egypt, Tanzania, Qatar and more taking courses through AU, and 75 per cent of the graduating class were women.
“This is our second time back in Athabasca in my tenure, and it’s so exciting because the community involvement is unlike any other convocation ceremony I’ve been to, including my own,” said AU’s board of governors chair, Byron Nelson.
“The excitement these students bring is so amazing that you can’t help but be swept up in it and it makes everything we do all year as volunteer board members worth it.”
Nelson, alongside AU President Dr. Alex Clark, provost Dr. Catherine Swindlehurst, and many other noted the unique nature of the school’s graduates. For many, this was the first time meeting their peers outside of a Teams call, and convocation is also a chance for AU’s staff to meet and connect offline as well.
“The experience for me is truly profound; I think as humans we really value connection and we can achieve lots in the online space through connection that transcends distance. But, the connection that comes when you bring people together in place, between staff who’ve worked here for a long time but particularly between our students and our professors is truly profound,” said Dr. Alex Clark.
The return of AU’s convocation has been a big deal for the town of Athabasca as well and the community has welcomed it back with open arms. Over 40 local businesses and vendors contributed, and 100 volunteers, split between the community and AU staff, worked hard to ensure the event went smoothly.
Student stories
Each year, Athabasca University recognizes and honours the student with the highest overall GPA. This year’s winner, Margaret Rauliuk, completed her Doctorate of Distance Education while also spending part of her time teaching at AU, and also working as a clinical nurse practitioner.
Rauliuk’s dissertation examined the reconciliation and racism in the healthcare industry, specifically in nursing, where she spent much of her career. Unlike a traditional dissertation, which tend to be page after page of dense, academic writing, Rauliuk’s thesis is presented through an e-portfolio instead.
“The dissertation that I’ve done has set out to disrupt and decolonize the dissertation,” she said.
“The work is my response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. Reconciliation is the work of all Canadians, it’s not a burden for our Indigenous relatives to carry. We have a responsibility to dig into the truths of our history, even when it’s really uncomfortable.”
Rauliuk’s dissertation — which she was happy to report includes a soundtrack, “because why not?” — is available on AU’s website, titled A Settler’s Guide to Conciliation: A Digital Critical Nursography.
Rauliuk said the experience of teaching students while being one herself helped her to be better on both sides of the coin.
“Having done my first degree by distance, I certainly felt like I had empathy for people but the transformational effect of my education on how I view the relationship with students, and the importance of creating a space that was welcoming and safe when everything outside was insanity. I really worked hard to try and create a safe space, and cultural safety and trauma-informed teaching is also a part of my dissertation work,” she said.
Never too late to learn
This year’s oldest graduate, Judy Obee, is graduating with a Bachelor of General Studies at the age of 76 as she continues to work on ways to keep her brain sharp while aging.
“Both of my parents lived past 90, but they both had dementia in their declining years, so I have a vested interest in not following in their footsteps,” said Obee.
After researching the subject, Obee discovered a variety of things she could do to help her brain out, including puzzles like Sudoku, but the sameness and repetition weren’t doing it for her.
“you could be the best Sudoku player in the world and it's not really going to exercise your brain because once you get good at it, you’ve just got it,” she said.
So, at the age of 70, fresh off a long career as a programmer and infrastructure architect with companies like IBM, Obee brushed off her metaphorical backpack and signed up for a more humanities-focused course load.
“When you think about the academic spectrum, humanities is about as far away from math as we can get. Back in the ‘60s, if I had to write an essay, I couldn’t do it that would satisfy the requirements of the prof.”
Obee still took some math classes — “as a reward” — and she used her GPA as a way of monitoring her own health. Despite her concerns, she never saw her grades start to dip.
“It’s great being a senior and being able to do this, it’s a unique experience. In my crowd of associates, who are also senior citizens, nobody else has done it. I feel special.”
