Letters from the Presidents
Alumni News Magazine | Fall/Winter 2020
It’s hard to believe that we are well into the academic year and 2020 is coming to a close. I sincerely hope you and your families are staying safe and well. Navigating this pandemic has resulted in huge changes for our campus communities, and I commend the work Dr. Mazerolle and the entire UNB team have accomplished to keep safety at the forefront.
Since our last edition of the magazine, 2,560 new graduates have received their alumni pin and have joined our ranks. Congratulations to all 2020 #ProudlyUNB alumni on your remarkable achievement!
While we all miss holding in-person alumni events, the association has remained very active these past several months. You may have seen from our e-newsletters that Michelle McNeil was named executive director of the Associated Alumni last December. Michelle is a two-time UNB alumna who has brought a wealth of UNB knowledge, experience and pride to the role, and is a welcome addition to our office. With our alumni engagement survey and recent focus group results in hand, Michelle and her team have been busy implementing our new five-year alumni engagement strategy, which I encourage you to read.
Thank you again to all who participated in our alumni survey and to those involved in the focus groups. The insights gleaned have helped identify how to better serve you for years to come.
Based on your feedback, the alumni association has begun enhancing our digital offerings and turned our focus to faculty-based engagement. You told us how you want to read your Alumni News, so we refreshed the print magazine and developed a new digital version. Going forward, you will have the option of receiving your magazine in print or digital.
You also told us that you would like to hear more about what’s happening within your faculty. We are committed to delivering monthly e-newsletters with valuable content that will keep you up-to-date and informed. Our direct partnerships with faculties are already helping to connect alumni back to their alma mater. One example came from a recent call-out for alumni to mentor our law students studying remotely, which led to an incredible response of over 100 law graduates stepping up to help! We look forward to sharing more great opportunities like this one for alumni to stay involved with their faculty.
COVID-19 has shown that there is no better time to focus on the importance of health. It is exciting to hear about how health care reform will be a major part of UNB’s future. Be sure to read Dr. Mazerolle’s UNB Toward 2030 plan and learn about the remarkable Integrated Health Initiative launched in September on the Saint John campus. In the pages that follow, you’ll read about some of our alumni who are making a positive difference in the health and well-being of their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as our new 'UNB is here' advertising campaign says, UNB is wherever our people are making a difference. As you will see, the work of UNB graduates is now more important than ever.
Please enjoy the amazing and inspirational stories about your fellow alumni in this issue.
Sincerely,
Peter Syroid (BScEng’98, D-TME’98, MBA’03)
