Appointment of Dr. Julie Desjardins as Dean of Education
 

Appointment of Dr. Julie Desjardins as Dean of Education

Dr. Julie Desjardins

Dear Bishop’s community,

We are very pleased to advise you that the Board of Governors has approved the appointment of Dr. Julie Desjardins as Dean of Education, effective July 1, 2022, for a five-year period.

The Search Committee was chaired by Dr. Miles Turnbull and included Eva Lettner (external community member appointed by the Board of Governors), Dr. Avril Aitken, Dr. Eva Bures, Dr. Sunny Lau, Dr. Joanne Pattison-Meek, Dr. Dawn Wiseman, Dr. Gretchen Wentzell Lowerison (contract faculty), Genny Leclair, student representative, and Principal Michael Goldbloom (ex officio, non-voting participant). Dr. Trygve Ugland, Secretary General, provided support for the Committee.

Dr. Desjardins is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Education at Université de Sherbrooke, where she has been employed since 2000. She is currently on administrative leave following completion of 12 years as Vice Dean Academic. Before becoming Vice Dean, Dr. Desjardins was Chair of the Elementary teacher education program at Université de Sherbrooke. In these roles, Dr. Desjardins played key leadership roles in teacher education reform at Université de Sherbrooke and in Quebec. At the national level, she was Vice-President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, the most important scholarly association in education in Canada. Dr. Desjardins is an international expert in educational assessment and teacher education. She has received, alone or with colleagues, more than $1 million in research and educational development grants from a variety of provincial and federal agencies.

Committee members were impressed with Dr. Desjardin’s collegial, transparent and collaborative leadership style and her clear commitment to undergraduate teacher education and graduate level teacher and leadership development. Moreover, her knowledge of and experience with competency-based teacher education and the Quebec accreditation body was noted as a definite asset for her deanship. All of her referees spoke to her poise, inner confidence and strength, goal setting skills and well-rounded profile. Her work ethic and integrity were also mentioned repeatedly among her strongest qualities.

Please join us in wishing Dr. Desjardins the very best for the next five years as Dean of Education.

Michael Goldbloom, C.M.
Principal & Vice Chancellor

Miles Turnbull
Vice-Principal Academic & Research