Tuesday, June 14, 2022 – 10:00 a.m.
Nipissing University will install Dr. Kevin B. Wamsley as its seventh President & Vice-Chancellor on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 10 a.m. in the R.J. Surtees Student Athletics Centre. A livestream of the event can also be viewed at the button below.
We look forward to celebrating this momentous occasion with you.
Nipissing University Coat of Arms
There are three elements in the Nipissing crest: the sun, water, and the owl.
The sun, our source of light and energy, is symbolic of the illumination of learning, embracing curiosity and reason.
The water recalls the University’s connection with Lake Nipissing, source of the institution’s name (and reason for the University’s team name, “Lakers”), and bond with the Nipissing First Nation, original inhabitants of the region. Like the sun, water sustains life itself, and represents the abundant gifts of nature with which humans must live in harmony.
The Athenian owl symbolizes wisdom and scholarship, knowledge and culture. By facing forward, it represents seeing the world as it is and envisioning how it could be, which is the task and purpose of the University.
Nipissing University Welcomes You
Our History
By virtue of its location at the edge of Ontario’s northern lands and communities, Nipissing University offers a distinctive vantage for engaging in the educational enterprise. Its roots extend back to 1909 with the establishment of the North Bay Normal School, the precursor to the Faculty of Education and its 100-year history of providing excellent teacher education.
As a result of the vision and perseverance of local citizens to establish a university in North Bay, Northeastern University was formed in 1960 and later renamed Nipissing University College in 1967 as an affiliate of Laurentian University. After 25 years of affiliation, Nipissing University gained its independence and received its Charter on December 10, 1992, making it a degree-granting institution.
Nipissing University is proud to be a premier destination for students seeking innovative academic programming in a student-centred community that offers an unparalleled level of meaningful access to faculty and the finest residences in the country. Students are offered a unique undergraduate experience that provides them with the means to realize their full intellectual and personal potential.
Our Future
In response to modern needs, the university scope spans a broad sweep, including all sciences and technology, humanities, health, education, business and the arts, with opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative programming as well as application of knowledge to the professions.
Nipissing University nurtures a growing research culture in which undergraduate students benefit enormously from the opportunity to perform graduate-level research. The University values an international profile for its students through exchange agreements with institutions around the world and opportunities for students to perform teaching abroad.
With top-of-the class results in national surveys, our students and graduates attest to the “Nipissing Experience” – small, interactive classes, the availability of faculty to students outside classroom hours, opportunities for research, professional placement and community-based learning.
The future – Nipissing University will be the university of choice, focused on its fundamental mission of service toward developing creative and concerned critical thinkers who will make a difference and become future leaders.
Dr. Kevin B. Wamsley
Dr. Kevin B. Wamsley is the seventh President & Vice-Chancellor of Nipissing University. Dr. Wamsley comes to Nipissing University after completing a five-year term as Academic Vice-President & Provost at St. Francis Xavier University, and serving for one year as Interim President. Previously, he served as Professor, Associate Dean, Acting Dean, and Director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies over the course of 18 years at Western University. Prior to that he was a Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Wamsley has a keen interest in academic leadership, gleaned from a 30-year career in teaching, research, and administrative roles. Along with this scholarly background, he brings extensive leadership experience within the university and larger communities.
He has served 16 years in significant university administration roles, and has much leadership experience in academic success, curriculum development, student recruitment, retention and student relations, quality assurance reviews and reports, professional accreditation processes, faculty relations, and strategic planning.
President Wamsley is a graduate of Western, with both an Honours Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts, and holds a PhD from the University of Alberta.
He held a Sir Izaak Walton Killam Doctoral Scholarship during his graduate study at the University of Alberta and, in addition to his research record, he has received teaching awards at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and at both the Faculty and USC Teaching Honour Roll level at Western.
Recognized as one of the world’s leading Olympic Games experts and historians, Dr. Wamsley has appeared in various media publications/broadcasts nearly 1,600 times throughout his academic career, including with such news agencies as CTV, Global, CBC, BBC, CNN, New York Times, Times of London, and the Wall Street Journal.
Order of Proceedings
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 – 10:00 a.m.
Academic Procession
The audience will rise
Pipers: Mr. Geoff Johnson & Mr. Bob Cook
Marshal: Dr. Nathan Colborne
National Anthem
Invocation
Mrs. Marianne Berube
Chair, Board of Governors
The audience will be seated
Welcome from the Chancellor
Dr. Paul Cook (d.litt)
Greetings from the Nipissing University Indigenous Council on Education
Maurice Switzer, Chair
Installation of President & Vice-Chancellor
The Oath of Office will be administered by the Chair of the Board of Governors, Mrs. Marianne Berube
Assisting in the Installation Ceremony will be Dr. Paul Cook (d.litt)
Introduction of the President
Dr. Paul Cook (d.litt)
The President's Address
Dr. Kevin B. Wamsley
The audience will rise
Honour Song
The audience will be seated
Special Presentation to the President
Closing Remarks
Mrs. Marianne Berube
Recessional
Appreciation is extended to: Emmanuelle Faucher, Soloist, Gab Lavoie, Pianist, Thaila Sarazin and Gerry McComb, Honour Song Performers
Our Mission, Vision and Values
Mission
Nipissing University is an innovator in post-secondary education, preparing caring, creative, critical thinkers who will be leaders in building and enhancing a sustainable civil society.
Nipissing University will give special attention to learners in the North, including First Nations and Aboriginal learners.
Vision
Nipissing will continue to be a university of choice, nationally recognized for its traditional strength in education and uniquely distinguished by the quality and value of each student’s experience across the disciplines. Through scholarship, innovation and active partnerships, the university will focus on the creation of new knowledge that contributes to success in meeting global needs.
Values
Our motto “Integritas” embraces honesty and good ethical conduct, as well as a holistic, integrated perspective
We provide a personalized, student-focused educational experience that prepares each individual to make a meaningful and satisfying contribution to the world
We are committed to excellence in teaching, learning and research through scholarship and creativity that develop powers of inquiry, critical thinking and communication
We value integrity, empathy, respect, critical analysis, creative thinking, communication, collaboration, invention, insight, innovation, stewardship and action
We are committed to open, respectful discourse and a collegial, diverse, inclusive, healthy and supportive learning environment
We welcome all who seek to learn, and encourage those who are willing to invest their time and effort in pursuit of a university education
O Canada
English:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Français:
Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Nipissing University Mace
The design of Nipissing University’s mace is a complex mixture of artistry and power. Its presence represents the authority vested in the University to grant degrees, yet its design signifies more than the right to certify students as knowledgeable; it incorporates all the effort, history and tradition that surround both the site of and the vision for the University.
Designed after Nipissing received its degree-granting charter on December 10, 1992, the mace masterfully pulls together the many symbolic elements important to its identity: the University’s crest, the Athenian owl pictured on the crest, the Nipissing University logo, Nipissing’s motto “Integritas” and the traditions of the Ojibwa people who have been keepers of the land on which the University stands.
The Nipissing University mace is an expression of growth and transformation within a context of harmony and equanimity with the world in which we dwell, specifically, the Nipissing landscape. From the wisdom of the Anishinabek people, the mace draws the symbolism of the four orders of creation – mineral, plant, animal and human (and the gifts of the Four Winds):
- the mineral elements are represented by the local red granite, gold, silver, bronze and polished stones that signify the four cardinal directions – red, yellow, white, and black;
- the plant world is represented in the form of oak and maple leaves carved into the shaft of the mace;
- the animal world finds its representation in the owl; and
- the human element is represented by the hands that hold the mace and the hands that crafted it.
As well, in keeping with Native tradition, the mace joins Mother Earth and Father Sky as it journeys symbolically from the fragment of granite at its base through the trees to the golden sphere of the sun and the owl of the air.
Like the institution it represents, the mace is not static; it expresses growth, movement and perpetuity. Time is asserted through the four seasons and the transformation of the oak and maple from buds to leaves to fruit. The movement of the eagle feathers, the beads of the “medicine wheel”, and the owl, poised with an ambiguous relationship to flight, add to the dynamics.
The University itself is represented by the embossed silver and enameled emblem repeated to form a band, by the four coats of arms that support the crown, and by the embossed silver motto “Integritas.” The mace is designed to represent those attributes which make Nipissing distinct: Harmony – Growth – Perpetuity.