Senior University Administrators Course lecture

SUAC 2022-2023

Offered online from October 2022 to May 2023

These synchronous sessions are highly interactive and will be augmented by self-study and reflection.

Fees: $3,070 plus GST
Pricing subject to change without notice.

Live synchronous sessions will be offered on the following dates and times. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and comments as well as opportunities to connect with facilitators one-on-one.

2022

Oct. 18 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
Oct. 26 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
Nov. 3 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
Nov. 16 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
Dec. 13 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST

2023

Jan. 24 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
Feb. 14 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
March 21 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
April 11 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST
May 23 10:30 am to 1:30 pm CST

Overarching themes

  • Indigenization
  • Equity Diversity and Inclusion

Key topic areas

  • Student expectations and needs  beyond the pandemic 
  • Building your network for advancement and support
  • Governance and decision making
  • Creating institutional culture and vision
  • Strategy implementation
  • Budgeting models and challenges
  • Leading and managing stakeholder relations
  • Negotiating with unions
  • Engaging students, staff and faculty
  • Leading and managing under times of crises
  • Metrics and methods for assessment

Course description

  • Prepare for leadership in Canadian higher education, with the skills and knowledge to lead today and tomorrow with this annual professional development offering. SUAC 2022-2023 will incorporate interactive presentations, polls, discussions, case studies, small group work and one-on-one consultations. Participants are encouraged to share experience and insights through a community of practice approach to learning. Indigenization and EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) are cross-cutting themes, touching all aspects of higher education leadership and management and are central within the program.

    Revised annually, with new sessions this year focusing on students needs and expectations as well as engaging student, staff, and faculty beyond the pandemic. Our students, staff and faculty have been working and learning remotely for several semesters, and this experience will impact and change our institutions going forward.  As we return to the new normal, professional development for leaders and administrators has never been more important. 

    Delivery methods

    Online delivery continues, providing accessibility regardless of time, travel, and budget constraints. It is also a sustainable option, helping us all to reduce our carbon footprint. 

  • Women-taking-online-course

Flagship facilitation team

Dru Marshall

Dru Marshall, Former Provost and VP Academic, University of Calgary

Dru Marshall served as the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) of the University of Calgary from 2011 to 2021. She is currently on administrative leave.

A nationally recognized leader with nearly 30 years of post-secondary sector experience, Dru has previously served as the chair of the U-15 Group of Canadian Research Universities Provosts, and as the only non-American executive committee member on the Council of Academic Affairs of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. She has been recognized as one of Canada’s WXN Top 100 most powerful women and as one of the most influential women in sport and physical activity in Canada by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity. For her work in high performance sport in Canada, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. 

Dru holds a BPE with distinction from the University of Manitoba, and an MSc and PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Alberta. She credits her coaching experience for helping in part to shape her executive leadership style and to earn her reputation as a strong team leader, team builder and mentor.

Donna Janiec

Donna Janiec, Vice-Principal, Finance and Administration, Queen’s University and Past President, CAUBO

Donna Janiec, CPA, CA, was appointed Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) in October 2016. She also serves on the CAUBO Executive Committee and Board of Directors and is vice-chair of the Council of Senior Administrative Officers, a committee of the Council of Ontario Universities.

Donna received her undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo and went on to article with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Coopers & Lybrand) in Barbados and Toronto, obtaining her Chartered Accountant (CA) designation in 1987. After nearly 10 years in public accounting, managing the audits of large public corporations and not-for-profit organizations, Donna joined Queen’s University in 1994 where she held the position of Associate Vice-Principal (Finance) from 2009 to 2016.

Florentine Strzelczyk

Florentine Strzelczyk, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), Western University  

Florentine joined Western University in May 2022 as Provost & Vice-President (Academic). A CHERD alum, she also teaches and mentors in CHERD’s Women in Academic Leadership.

Florentine says, “I am a first-generation immigrant to Canada. Of mixed German and Eastern European heritage and as a Canadian newcomer, I am deeply grateful to the Indigenous peoples who have shared their land for centuries with newcomers like me to build a life here.”

Before  joining Western University, Florentine served  at Memorial University as Provost, Vice President (Academic) and Pro-Vice Chancellor in 2021-2022. During her  tenure, she launched a new campus in Labrador, completed a reorganization of the Registrar’s Office, oversaw the Strategic Plan Implementation and Metrics design and approval, and began the groundwork for a new budget model. From 2018 to 2021, she served as Deputy Provost of the University of Calgary. Highlights of her work there include successful negotiation of several collective agreements; oversight of the renewal of the university’s Internationalization Strategy; new policies for academic appointments, tenure, promotion, and merit; membership on the university’s budget team; streamlining of quality assurance processes; chairing of the tri-council-sponsored national Dimensions EDI Pilot; and chairing of the university’s academic crisis management team.

Adam Gaudry

Adam Gaudry, Vice Dean, Research and Graduate Studies, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta

Adam Gaudry is vice dean, Research and Graduate Studies, and professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. He is from a Métis family that immigrated to Ontario from the Red River, and grew up in Southern Ontario. He holds both  undergraduate and master’s degrees from Queen’s University and a PhD from the University of Victoria. Adam’s scholarly work focuses on Indigenization at Canadian universities, in particular the implementation of Indigenization policy in research, teaching, and service activities across Canadian campuses. 

Guest presenters

Opening keynote


Susan Barker, professor and former Vice-Provost (Student Experience), University of Calgary 

Guest presenters


Sheila Cote-Meek, Vice-President, Equity People and Culture, York University

Additional guest presenters TBA

Nomination process

Participants are nominated by their home institutions. Universities and colleges can nominate individuals who have records of achievement in their academic or professional work, people who are motivated to enhance their leadership skills and/or those who are interested in the benefits to be obtained from attending a specialized leadership development program. Nominees can apply directly to SUAC via the online application form.

Request more information

If you have questions about this or any other programs and courses we offer, please use this form to let us know.

Where did you hear about this?
Social media
Online Ads

Contact us

Extended Education
185 Extended Education Complex
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada

204-474-8800
Toll free: 1-888-216-7011