Celebrating Resilience: Undergraduate Awards for Creative and Critical Studies

The past year has been challenging for students at UBC Okanagan. In addition to the normal financial pressures of being a student, FCCS students have had to adjust to new ways of learning and a lack of employment opportunities.

In an effort to support students, Jordan Stouck, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, has kindly donated her $3,000 Provost’s Award in Teaching Excellence & Innovation prize to create one-time awards for students in the faculty.

Dr. Stouck came up with this initiative after teaching throughout 2020-21 and seeing the challenging circumstances students were in and how they persevered through it all.

“The pandemic impacted and continues to impact students’ ability to work and study, and I think, as a faculty, FCCS really just wanted to support students through this difficult time.”

She invited other UBCO faculty and staff to join her in supporting our students by creating a crowdfundraising campaign through the Development and Alumni Engagement office with the goal of raising $6000 to offer three different awards, one in each of the departments.

“I was so pleased to see that we exceeded our goal and raised a total of $7200. We are now able to offer awards that can make a real difference to our students,” says Dr. Stouck.

With this funding, three one-time awards of $2400 each have been set up that will be awarded by each of our departments to students who are majoring in an FCCS program. These awards are available to domestic and international undergraduate students who are enrolled in the BFA, BMS, or the BA with a major, or combined major, in English, Cultural Studies, Art History and Visual Culture, French, Creative Writing, or Languages.

“We want to ensure that all of our students have the necessary supports they need to complete their studies here at UBC Okanagan, and I am so proud of our community for coming together to help students during these challenging times,” says Bryce Traister, Dean of the Faculty.

Students must apply to be considered for the award, and decisions will be made by each department. More information on these awards and the application can be found on the link below.

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