This message, published in the Winter 2018 edition of The Beacon, was written by StFXAUT President Mary Oxner

Dear Members,

Last year, 2017, may be characterized as a year of disruption as we teach out of newly reclaimed and repurposed spaces. The disruption in physical space is however temporary and we look forward to new learning spaces for many of our Members and our students.

The disruption however is not the obvious hole in the ground beside the Nicholson Tower. The disruption is an academic disruption characterized by the decline in enrollment across all faculties, the cancellation of low enrollment courses, the lack of resources to support departmental infrastructure, the persistent lack of resources to support research dissemination, the looming $3 M deficit for this fiscal year alone, the threat of automated scheduling and the unexpected announcement couched in campus restructuring of paid parking on campus.

As the term will soon come to an end, we are mindful that like the physical space disruption the academic disruption also needs to be temporary!

All the best for a successful and productive 2018.

Mary O.
StFXAUT President