PRINCE ALBERT — When it comes to the new Prince Albert campus, being called to the principal’s office was a good thing for Dr. Jay Wilson (EdD).
That is where you will find Wilson hard at work as the first principal of the University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) Prince Albert campus. In his role as leader of the new P.A. campus, Wilson has quickly become a tireless advocate for students, staff, and faculty at the campus that is earning top marks for providing post-secondary opportunities in the city that serves as a gateway to northern communities.
“It has been exciting, challenging, busy, and learning a lot, but all in a positive way,” said Wilson, who was appointed principal of the USask Prince Albert campus on August 1. “I have been welcomed by the people here who have worked in and around Prince Albert for a long time and they are grateful to have someone as an advocate and a bridge, so I couldn’t ask for a better experience.”
As Wilson wraps up his first fall term as the new principal, he is pleased with some of the early progress and plans for the campus. The Prince Albert facility opened in 2020 and now welcomes more than 500 full-time students.
“We want to establish a good connection with the student body here and to let them know that if they have any questions at all, there are people who will support them and advocate on their behalf,” said Wilson, a professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies in the College of Education who has worked at USask for 30 years. “I have established a student advisory group, which has been really helpful in providing direct contact with student needs. We have also had the opportunity to reach out to members of the community to let them know what some of the program options are and to come and see the place in person.”
To that end, the Prince Albert campus recently rolled out the welcome mat for a successful open house on Oct. 19 for prospective students, parents, high school counsellors, and other supporters.
A look inside the beautiful atrium area in the new Prince Albert campus hub. Photo courtesy USask
“We had a successful open house and I think we exceeded our expectations and the expectations of the recruiters who came up from Saskatoon and had the chance to meet with people from the Prince Albert area,” said Wilson. “We want community members to come and check the place out and know that it is a great location for prospective new students to enrol in our ongoing programming, but also a great place if you are doing research in the north and you need a place to study or work as a faculty member or grad student.”
As he continues his crash course in learning the ins and outs of the new Prince Albert campus and the needs and possibilities moving forward, Wilson has a long list of tasks and goals ahead.
“We have a few things coming up that we will be excited to announce, but for now the vibe of what I am hearing is it’s just really great to have someone here in Prince Albert who puts us on the map back in Saskatoon and to be that bridge,” said Wilson. “They just see that as such an important role of the principal and I think I am accomplishing that.”
Topping the list of priorities for Wilson moving forward are supports for students and expanding research opportunities based out of the Prince Albert campus.
“My top priorities are student housing and student parking, and we are working on (parking) and having some success, but nothing imminent to announce yet,” he said. “So parking security and housing security are key. My hope is to work with donors to find partnerships and to access federal housing programming. There are apartment buildings that can be renovated in downtown Prince Albert so that we have safe, secure, and close housing for our students.”
Creating scholarships specifically earmarked for Prince Albert campus students is also high on the priority list for Wilson.
“That is certainly one of the goals and we have some good momentum going there,” he said.
Wilson is also determined to expand USask research opportunities based out of the Prince Albert campus, to support the direction from the Office of the Vice-President, Research.
“We are in the process in establishing a community-based research hub because there are many research possibilities here to make Prince Albert a go-to place,” Wilson said. “We are doing a great job with teaching, but we need to have that complementary research piece, so we are working with local faculty and people in the community to increase research activity.”
“Indigenous, remote, and rural communities, that is our audience, so we have to make sure we are including those communities and supporting the people who are already here doing research and the folks who want to expand on what they are doing. We have faculty members who work full-time in Prince Albert and they need robust programs of research and opportunities to follow their passions. And the City of Prince Albert is excited to work with us.”
USask Prince Albert currently provides students with the opportunity to complete degrees in the College of Arts and Science, Nursing, as well as a Dental Therapy program. Students at the P.A. campus can also start a degree in Agriculture and Bioresources, Education, Kinesiology, and the Edwards School of Business.
Wilson said one of the strengths of the campus is its smaller size and sense of community that can ease the transition to post-secondary education for some students from rural and northern areas.
“The cultural change of going from small towns in Saskatchewan to Saskatoon is huge and for people in northern communities and Indigenous communities, it’s magnified greatly,” he said. “So coming to Prince Albert, it’s still a city, but it’s a smaller city and I think that is a better fit for some students when they go to university for the first time, which can be such a huge jump.”
Wilson said expanding supports for Indigenous students is also a priority, with the Indigenous student population making up close to 33 per cent of all students at USask Prince Albert, roughly double that of the main Saskatoon campus.
“The Indigenous population in Prince Albert is roughly 44 per cent, so we want to mirror that and we are providing extra supports,” said Wilson. “Through the College of Nursing we have a Knowledge Keeper in Dr. Kathleen McMullin (PhD), as well as local Knowledge Keeper Michael Relland. We have a specifically designed cultural space, and we do a smudge every day so students can come in and start their day or their week in a good way.”
“We are growing every year by at least a comparable percentage to the main campus, and in some years, we’ve had even more growth,” he added. “So we are not just a regional college, but a full-fledged university campus. There are other great educational partners that we work with and are lucky to have, but we are the University of Saskatchewan in Prince Albert and that is very important.”
For Wilson, leading USask Prince Albert is the latest challenge in an impressive career that has included serving as chair of University Council and as interim vice-provost of Teaching, Learning and Student Experience, as well as receiving the 3M National Teaching Fellowship – the highest teaching honour in Canada – in 2017. Among other accolades and awards, Wilson earned USask’s Master Teacher Award in 2015, was honoured as an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2011, and was named the Provost’s Outstanding New Teacher and the College of Education Graduates’ Choice Instructor of the Year in 2010.
Prince Albert presents him with a new kind of challenge.
“I do a week’s worth of work in Saskatoon on Mondays and Fridays and then do a week’s worth of work in Prince Albert on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, so I cram a lot in those days,” said Wilson, who earned his Bachelor of Arts (1989), Bachelor of Education (1995), Master of Education (2000) and Master of Business Administration (2021) at USask, as well as his Doctor of Education from the University of Southern Queensland in 2008.
“I have been meeting with the deans and school directors and some have come to visit in Prince Albert and that’s really exciting. I also have a program of research and still have PhD students that I am supervising, and other work that I am doing, so I am finding a new normal.”
With plenty on his proverbial plate, Wilson is determined to make a difference as the Prince Albert campus prepares for Year 5 in 2025.
“I really love it up in Prince Albert and it gives me a chance to do many of the things that I enjoy,” said Wilson. “I am not teaching and that is the only thing that maybe in the future I will try to convince people that it is OK that I get to do as well. So I am going to stay in the job as long as they will have me and as long as I am advocating for and making a difference for our students in Prince Albert.”
