Campus champion honoured for outstanding service

Posted: September 18, 2017 6:00 a.m.

Dr. Margaret Dagenais is being honoured with U of R Alumni Association's Crowning Achievement Award for her service to the campus community. U of R Photography

Dr. Margaret Dagenais was surprised when she was informed she was to receive the Dr. Robert and Norman Ferguson Crowning Achievement Award from the University of Regina Alumni Association (URAA) as recognition for what she describes as “… an 11-year experiential learning opportunity.”

Dagenais was referring to the 11 years she devoted to the Board of the Alumni Association, but the award recognizes much more than that; years of service to the University of Regina as well as the URAA.  

Her contributions to the University include reviewing research proposals as a member of the Research Ethics Board, developing and facilitating a workshop in curriculum redevelopment for international scholars, serving two terms on the University Senate.

During her time on the Alumni Association Board, from 2005 to 2016, she helped develop a more sustainable investment strategy to support funding for scholarships, helped move the association away from reliance on hands-on fund-raisers to revenue generating affinity partnerships and revitalized the faculty recognition program.

Making the Association’s Faculty Awards of Excellence program more accessible was particularly important to Dagenias. Over the years she served on the Board, the focus on raising money for scholarships shifted from fund-raisers to affinity partnerships and a more profitable arrangement with the supplier of degree frames.

The Association also raised its profile on campus by branching out into new areas, sponsoring lectures, conferences, and on-campus events like Welcome Week, Slam Dunk and Winter Carnival.

Gwen Keith, BEd’74 MEd’77, PGDEA’83, MEd’84, who is currently CEO of the Holy Family School Division, was Chair of the URAA Board during the time Dagenais revamped the awards program.

“Margaret was brilliant in giving attention to every detail that would lean out and fairly execute the awards process,” Keith observes. “I hold her in high regard for the personal teamwork she offered to me through some challenging and complex work on behalf of the URAA.”

Dagenais continues to support the mission of the University and the Alumni Association by attending and assisting at events.

She is particularly proud that in 2016 the URAA moved to include graduates of the University’s Campus for All program as alumni. The program sees students with intellectual challenges taking University courses and earning a certificate in Inclusive Post-Secondary Education in the process.
 
The University of Regina and the Alumni Association recognizes the achievements of our most accomplished graduates through the Alumni Crowning Achievement Awards (ACAA), one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on distinguished University of Regina alumni. Join us on October 5th at the Hotel Sask to celebrate five outstanding alumni. Learn more about the ACAA dinner here.