Welcome!
Bienvenue!
Pjila’si!
It is a privilege and honour to serve as Acadia University’s Provost and Vice-President Academic.
Acadia is situated on the traditional, unceded, and continuing homelands of the Mi’kmaq nation, in the heart of the beautiful Annapolis Valley. We strive to build respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through teaching, research, and community work. Acadia is also dedicated to equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism, and we strive to create a more places and spaces where students, staff, and faculty have opportunities to learn and grow, to achieve their potential, and to build more just societies.
Acadia consistently ranks among the top undergraduate universities in Canada, offering over 200 degree combinations across our faculties of Arts, Pure and Applied Science, Professional Studies, and Theology. Our intimate learning environments foster personalized education and mentorship, world-leading research, and student success and flourishing. With a focus on applied liberal arts, and with real-world experiential learning, Acadia prepares students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers ready to tackle global challenges.
The Provost and Vice-President Academic (PVPA) is the chief academic officer of the University and the principal advisor to the President on academic affairs and the academic sector of the university. Responsible for promoting the academic mission of Acadia, the PVPA works with the other Vice-Presidents, Vice-Provosts, Associate Vice-Presidents, Deans, and other senior leadership to:
- lead strategic academic planning and manage all academic affairs;
- maintain and promote quality academic programming;
- support the financial health and sustainability of the academic sector;
- lead faculty renewal and program innovations;
- create healthy and enriching learning environments for students, staff, and faculty; and
- support and promote the success and flourishing of Acadia
Please visit here for more information about me, and enjoy your Acadia journey!
Ashlee Cunsolo, PhD (she/her)
Provost & Vice-President Academic
Biography
Ashlee Cunsolo is an internationally recognized scholar and leader, who joined Acadia University in 2024 as the Provost and Vice-President Academic.
Before coming to Acadia, Ashlee was the Founding Vice-Provost of the Labrador Campus of Memorial University and the Founding Dean of the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, where she spent eight years working with Indigenous governments and leaders to create a new co-governed Northern Campus in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. In this role, Ashlee worked with faculty, staff, students, Elders, and communities to: create Northern-led and Northern-focused undergraduate, graduate, and professional learning programs; expand Northern and Indigenous-led research in the region; create new policies and processes; hire faculty and staff; and grow infrastructure. During this time, Ashlee also acquired, created, and oversaw the Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems, an 80-acre research, education, and experimental farm focused on enhancing and expanding Northern food bases, food security, and food sovereignty in Labrador.
As a leader, Ashlee prioritizes institution-building, increasing EDI-AR and Indigenization throughout programming and policies, building university-community relationships, and creating innovative programs and structures to better meet the needs of students. In 2023, Ashlee received the Angela Hildyard Recognition Award for Emerging Leaders, presented annually by the Senior Women Academic Administrators Canada (SWAAC), in recognition of her influential leadership and her demonstrated ability to create transformational change and advance the mission of higher education in innovative and outstanding ways.
As a researcher, Dr. Cunsolo has been working for almost 20 years on community-based and community-led climate change and health research in the North and internationally. A former Canada Research Chair (Tier II) and an inaugural member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists (of which she is now Member Emeritus), Ashlee is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on climate change, mental health, and ecological grief, particularly in Labrador and across the North. She has served on multiple national and international advisory boards and task forces, including serving as the Co-Chair of the Canadian Council of Academies Future of Arctic Research report, an elected member of the Federal Task Force on Northern Post-Secondary Education, a contributing author to two chapters of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report, a Lead Author on Chapters in the Natural Resources Canada and the Health Canada Climate Change Assessment Reports, and a Commissioner for the Lancet Arctic Health Commission.
She is the author and editor of Mourning Nature: Hope at the Heart of Ecological Loss, a global compilation of loss and grief beyond the human. She is prioritizes using visual media in research and science communication and is the Director and Producer of Attutauniujuk Nunami/Lament for the Land; the Producer of HERD: Inuit Voices on Caribou, and a featured researcher in the internationally award-winning film, The Magnitude of All Things. She is a regular contributor to print, audio, and visual media, and is releasing a 12-part podcast Second Nature: Living with Ecological Grief.
Ashlee obtained her PhD at the University of Guelph, before going to McGill University (2012) as a post-doctoral fellow, and then to Cape Breton University (2013) as a Canada Research Chair and Assistant Professor. In 2016 she moved to Memorial University, where she was promoted to associate professor and then full professor, and held progressive leadership roles as Director, Dean, and Vice-Provost.
Related Offices
The AVP EDIAR leads Acadia's efforts to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our community. They oversee the Equity Office and several initiatives.
The Executive Advisor on L’nu Affairs and Indigenization works with faculties and service providers across campus to improve support for Indigenous students and to guide our ongoing efforts towards reconciliation and decolonization.
The Vice-Provost Teaching and Learning Excellence leads groups like Learning Technologies and Instructional Design that help our faculty to improve the classroom experience and explore new teaching methods and modalities.
The Division of Research, Innovation, and Graduate Studies offers a hands-on research environment, 13 Masters programs, and an inter-university PhD program.
The Registrar’s Office supports teaching and learning at Acadia by maintaining the integrity of academic policies and student records. It is a key resource for many student needs.
The Vaughan Memorial Library and Esther Clark Wright and Atlantic Baptist Archives are home to an impressive variety of print, multimedia, digital, and archival resources, including special collections relating to our local history. The Library is also home to some of Acadia's most popular study and meeting spaces.
The Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic supports units through all phases of program development, from the initial concept through to approval of the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC) and other external accrediting organization
Policies
Faculty and Librarian Career Opportunities
The Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic maintains a list of current opportunities for faculty and librarian positions.
Contact
The Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic is located in Room 219 University Hall, in the centre of the University campus. Office hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. AST.
Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic
15 University AvenueAcadia University
Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6 provost@acadiau.ca 902-585-1357