Students Enrich Music at Church Services

One of the great pleasures of worshipping at the College Heights SDA Church is the rich variety of good music students contribute to services.  The first video below is an excerpt from the praise singing led by Delicia Adams, Shanelle Adams, Bijou Attey, Davina James, Save Katonivualiku, Candace McFarlane, Garfield Morris and Crux Phiri.

The second video offers the final measures of this week's anthem, I Was Glad (Psalm 122) by Hubert Parry, sung by CUC's Choral Union under the direction of Dr. Wendolin Pazitka Munroe, accompanied on the mighty organ by Dr. Wendy Markosky.

Seventeen Students are Baptised at Conclusion of Week in Spiritual Emphasis

A portion of the group of students who committed their lives to Jesus
Christ during CUC's recent Week in Spiritual Emphasis.

More than forty students responded to Pastor Vandeon Griffin's call to commit their lives to Jesus Christ at the end of Thursday morning's Week in Spiritual Emphasis (WISE) meeting; 17 of them were baptised Sabbath morning, September 22.  "This past Sabbath's baptisms prove that there's a movement of youth at CUC and across the world who aren't satisfied with standing on the spiritual sidelines," said Janice De-Whyte, associate chaplain. 

Pastor Vandeon Griffin, who is presently the Youth Director of the South Central Conference, presented a week-long series of talks with the theme, The Fight of Your Life.  The class schedule was adjusted to allow for a daily morning service at 11 am in the College Heights SDA Church and a meeting every evening at 8:30 pm in the Administration Building Chapel.

"During my time here at CUC I have had the opportunity to experience six separate Weeks in Spiritual Emphasis," said CUC Chaplain Paul Antunes.  "This year, however, it was my honour to witness a spiritual wave of students rededicating their lives to Jesus Christ in an unprecedented way.  The Holy Spirit's presence is deeply being felt throughout our Campus and what happened at WISE is just a foretaste of where God is leading this campus."

A Sample of the WISE Theme Song

Lois Graham is 2012 Staff of the Year

The recipient of Canadian University College's 2012 Staff of the Year award is our accountant Lois Graham.    Lois began working at CUC 27 years ago filling a temporary position that was supposed to last only 6 months.  "CUC has been incredibly blessed to have someone as skilled and dedicated as Lois working in our accounting department," said Mark Haynal.  A copy of remarks President Haynal made about Lois at the presentation ceremony can be found here.

A 1962 graduate of South Lancaster Academy, Lois received her Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Secondary Education from Atlantic Union College in 1966.  She has worked as a teacher and an accountant most of career.

Lois is the proud mother of two grown sons and very pleased to be the grandmother of four outstanding grandchildren.  In her spare time Lois enjoys canoeing, swimming, geocaching, cooking, gardening, and visiting with friends and family.

CUC Hosts "Lacombe2040" Focus Group

The City of Lacombe is in the process of developing its Municipal Sustainability Plan (MSP) that will articulate the community's shared vision for a successful and sustainable future.  To ensure citizens of Lacombe provide input in the development of the MSP a number of focus groups were scheduled.  The City of Lacombe thoughtfully scheduled a Friday afternoon session at CUC to ensure the Adventist community could participate in the planning process.

Friday afternoon, September 21, Cheeying Ho, a focus group facilitator from the Whistler Centre for Sustainability meet with 13 representatives from the CUC and College Heights SDA Church community in the Sunrise Room.  The group provided feedback and ideas related to the following aspects of life in Lacombe:

• Our natural areas: air, water and land (e.g. flooding concerns)
• How we eat: food and agriculture (e.g. where our food comes  from, and food safety)
• Where we live and work: homes and neighbourhoods (e.g. affordable housing)
• Our economy: work and skills training (e.g. preparing for the jobs of the future)
• Our buildings and sites (e.g. preserving our heritage and building for the future)
• Our community well-being: health, connections and safety (e.g. availability of health care professionals and health services)
• How we get around: transportation and mobility (e.g. provision of regional public transit)
• Our infrastructure: energy, water and waste (e.g. responsible use and preservation of our natural resources)
• Who we are: culture, education and leisure (e.g. bringing the world to our community)

First Evensong Offers Beautiful Music and Thought-Provoking Readings

Ten students provided a delightful mix of beautiful musical performances at the first evensong of this school year, Sabbath evening, September 22.  Between musical numbers Dr. Joy Fehr, vice president for academic administration, read excerpts from Jacob's Wound by Saskatchewan author Trevor Herriot.  

This evensong was coordinated by Debra Bakland, associate professor of music, who also accompanied three student artists.  A copy of of the program can be found here.  A video of brief highlights from the program is offered below.

Many Students Serve Lacombe

More than 200 faculty, staff and students spent Wednesday afternoon, September 19, doing community service in the City of Lacombe.  Our 5th Annual Serve Lacombe day was organized this year by Sharon Baragona, a 4th-year General Studies major from Edmonton.

Participants could choose from a wide variety of projects ranging from playing chamber music in the hospital's cafeteria to sorting donations at a local charity thrift store to sprucing up Michener Park.  "We had 21 CUC volunteers painting bleachers in Michener Park," said Norma MacQuarrie, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Lacombe.  "Although we supplied them with two different colours of paint, they managed to make it look very harmonious."  MacQuarrie added that she hoped it wouldn't take too long to get the bright yellow paint blotches removed from their skin, clothes and shoes!

Bill Nielsen, who established and maintains Lacombe's wonderful system of hiking trails was very grateful for students who helped him clear brush and spread wood chips.  "I get a great group of students every year, but I must say this year's group was the best I've ever had," said Nielsen. 
Service Day is just one of many opportunities faculty, staff and students have to help others.  Ongoing community outreach projects include helping at the soup kitchen, prison ministries, sunshine bands, supporting Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and numerous other options.  In addition to outreach programs, Campus Ministries also coordinates inreach programs designed to meet the needs of people on campus.

This group of students spent time helping the Big Brothers Big Sisters Association of Lacombe build pie boxes and then visited downtown businesses and offices taking orders for the United Way's upcoming Thanksgiving Pie Fundraiser.  After taking orders they sorted boxes of toys.

Dr. Donkor Receives Award for Professional Excellence

Dr. Noble Donkor, professor of biology, is the recipient of this year's prestigious Ghanaian-Canadian Achievement Award (GCAA) for Professional Excellence. Established in 2000 and sponsored annually by The Ghanaian News, these awards recognize and honour the accomplishments, achievements and excellence of Ghanaian-Canadians.  Thirty-five Ghanaian-Canadians will be honoured at the 12th Annual GCAA Sunday, September 23, at the Claireport Banquet and Convention Centre, near Toronto.

Dr. Donkor has taught at Canadian University College since 2004.  He completed his undergraduate training, with honours, at the University of Science and Technology in Ghana, his master's degree at the University of Guelph, and his doctorate at the University of Alberta.  "I am very pleased the Ghanaian News has recognized Dr. Donkor for what we have for many years known and appreciated here at CUC," said Dr. Haynal.  "Noble is a skilled biologist, a dedicated professor, and an outstanding role model."  In addition to his teaching and committee responsibilities, Dr. Donkor also coordinates a Sabbath School class, coaches CUC's men's soccer team and is a member of the Rotary Club.  

Three Traditional Events Mark Start of School Year

Three popular traditional events mark the start of each school year at Canadian University College.  The first is the handshake held the first Saturday night of the school year.  This year's theme of "Mexican Fiesta" prompted many students to show up wearing sombreros, ponchos and moustaches.

Only at CUC might you find an extraordinarily bright and talented professor originally from Malaysia, now living in Canada, walking around wearing a very large sombrero.

For many years now the second Saturday night event of the school year has been Class Challenge emceed by Professor Ron Schafer.  Class groups from CUC and PAA compete in a wacky assortment of relay races and contests to accumulate the most points.

The third traditional event that marks the start of the new school year at CUC is our Week in Spiritual Emphasis, September 17-22.  The class schedule is adjusted to allow for a meeting every morning at 11 in the church and evening meetings at 8:30 in the Administration Building Chapel.  This year's speaker is Pastor Vandeon Griffin, Youth Director for the South Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.   His theme for the week is, The Fight of Your Life.

Opening Enrolment of 576 is a New CUC Record

Many of this year's 576 students gathered at the hockey rink for the
 annual SA Handshake which this year had a Mexican fiesta theme.

This year's opening enrolment of 576 is 47 more than last year and another record high for Canadian University College.  Students represent all of Canada's provinces, 15 states of the United States of America, and a total of 15 different countries.  Women outnumber the men 301 to 275.

Since this year's group of 1st year students is not significantly larger than usual, it appears transfer students and an outstanding overall retention rate of 79% account for most of this year's increase.

The breakdown of from which part of Canada students have come is:

• Alberta, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories: 238 (increase of 35 over last year)
• Ontario: 136 (increase of 19 over last year)
• British Columbia and Yukon: 90 (decrease of 9 from last year)
• Manitoba and Saskatchewan: 18 (decrease of 1 from last year)
• Quebec: 17 (decrease of 5 from last year)
• Maritime Provinces: 16 (increase of 2 over last year)
• Newfoundland and Labrador: 2 (increase of 1 over last year)

With 517 of CUC's 576 coming from Canada, that leaves 59 who hail from other countries.  Of those, 36 are from the United States (5 more than last year), and 23 are from other countries, (same as last year).

Students Challenged to Seek Wisdom at Opening Convocation

In his speech at Opening Convocation, Thursday, September 6, President Mark Haynal invited students to learn from the wisdom of others rather than from simply making their own mistakes.  To illustrate his point Haynal showed a short video, shown below, in which CUC professors wrote an imaginary letter to their 18-year-old self.  (Please see video below.)

"Wisdom shouts in the streets.She cries out in the public square.  She is all about you on our campus in the form of learned faculty, caring staff, trusted friends, thousands of books, scholarly journals and online resources, and time spent knowing and understanding God," said Haynal.  "Will you truly seek wisdom and learn from her in all her forms on this campus?  Or will you continue learning primarily from your own foolish mistakes?

Dr. Aaron Au plays with the Edmonton

Symphony Orchestra and is the new director

of CUC's Chamber Orchestra.

Grand music is always part of Opening Convocation.  In addition to singing the school song with Dr. Wendolin Munroe, students enjoyed an organ prelude by Dr. Wendy Markosky, and a viola solo by new director of CUC's Chamber Orchestra, Dr. Aaron Au.  The service concluded with the congregation singing Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.

To view the printed program for Opening Convocation please click here.

CUC's chaplains Paul Antunes and Janice De-Whyte led the congregation in the scripture reading, Proverbs 1:20-23.

Registrar Larry Murrin announced that 548 
students had received financial clearance, a strong

indicator that once the final figures are tallied 

enrolment could be up for the 4th year in a row.

Weekly Newsletter Campus Connections Now Available Online

Campus Connections is prepared each week by

Carolyn O'Neill, the administrative assistant in the Student

Services office.

Canadian University College's weekly internal newsletter Campus Connections is now available online.  Created each week by Carolyn O'Niell, Campus Connections offers a detailed look at what's happening at CUC from week to week.

School Year Begins with a Welcome Back Bash

More than 400 faculty, students and staff turned out to enjoy Canadian University College's  traditional start-of-the-school-year Welcome Back Bash Tuesday evening, September 4.  Everyone enjoyed a free meal of veggie hot dogs and hamburgers artfully prepared and served by the cafeteria staff.

One of the most popular attractions of the evening was the opportunity to have your caricature drawn by two artists hired for this event.  (See video below.)

In addition to eating good food, making new friends and reconnecting with old friends, students also had the opportunity to learn about CUC's many campus clubs and the activities and events they offer.

The evening ended with a drawing for prizes that included a new Ipad and a round-trip airline ticket to (almost) anywhere in Canada.  The Welcome Back Bash was jointly presented by the Registrar's Office and Marketing and Enrolment Services.

First Year Students Arrive On Campus

Dr. Joy Fehr taught UNIV101 in the Ad Building Chapel every morning
of CUE Quest week to a class of around 120 first-year students.

CUC's first-year students arrived on campus a week before Registration Day for a special campus orientation program called CUE Quest.  The CUE stands for Complete University Education and that is exactly what the week was.  Every morning students took UNIV101 a course taught by Dr. Joy Fehr, vice president for academic administration, designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive at a university.  Afternoons were spent completing registration and getting fully acquainted with the campus, its services and programs.

A special banquet was held Monday evening at which first year students met the faculty.  Students were seated at tables based on their major which also gave them the opportunity to meet other students in their program. CUE 
Quest week ended with a two-day camp out at Camp Silversides on the shore of Gull Lake.  "Spending the weekend together is a great way for our first year students to get to know each other and bond," said Stacy Hunter, vice president for student services.

More than 120 first year students gathered in the cafeteria to meet their major professors and others taking the
same program.

Alex Bryan Speaks to Faculty and Staff

Faculty and staff recently enjoyed two special worship services led by Dr. Alex Bryan, Senior Pastor of the Walla Walla University Church.  "We met together Monday and Tuesday last week to enjoy a time of spiritual refreshment and also to be encouraged as we take up our duties for another school year," explained Mark Haynal.  "I am very grateful Dr. McDowell, who with his team planned Faculty Colloquium this year, provided time faculty and staff could spend together."

Monday morning Pastor Bryan spoke about how God has often asked highly educated individuals to fill special, unique roles in His work on earth.  Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were highly educated.  The Apostle Paul had received an outstanding education.  When, in the late 1800s, the Adventist church considered how it would take the gospel into all the world it began establishing schools.  Our leaders understood the need for well-educated workers.

Pastor Bryan focused his thoughts Tuesday morning on the work of John the Baptist.  "I think he really should have been called John the Adventist because his entire ministry focused on the coming of Jesus," said Bryan.  Even though John the Baptist had a unique way of dressing and eating, as do many Adventists, his only focus was preparing people to meet Jesus.  "I really enjoyed the way Pastor Bryan illustrated his talk with personal stories that made the message relevant," said Colin Hill, Director of Computer Services.

Dr. Alex Bryan, Senior Pastor of the Walla Walla University Church (front row, centre), posed for this picture with
faculty and staff Tuesday morning after his worship talk about "John the Adventist."