Faculty and staff milestones feted at end-of-year gathering

The end is near.

Those words are not the ramblings of a streetcorner doomsday prophet, but the earnest expression of relief by Dean Tammy Marche at the President’s Appreciation and Dean’s Year End Reception on Wednesday, April 1 at St. Thomas More College (STM).

As the academic year winds down, the annual event is a chance to look back and celebrate many things – the addition of new staff members, recent publications by faculty members, long-service milestones and well-deserved teaching awards.

“The end is not actually here, but I think we're close enough that we can pat ourselves in the back and say that we got through another successful year,” Marche said.

“I'd also like to stress that this is a time to celebrate not just the accomplishments of those individuals who we will be highlighting in our program today. but this event is a celebration of everything that each of you have done this past year to foster student success and well-being. Everything you have done to strengthen our academic and non-academic programming, and everything that you've done to contribute to the overall vitality and mission of St. Thomas College.”

Dr. Alisha Pomozon hosted the portion of the program celebrating teaching awards on behalf of the STM Teaching and Learning Committee.

The St. Thomas More Teaching Excellence Award honours instructors who excel in their profession and emphasizes the importance of good teaching. The award has two streams, for tenured and tenure-track faculty, and for term and sessional faculty.

There was a record-breaking number of nominees this year, with a total of 44 nominations submitted, and one recipient was doubly noted for her work in the classroom.

Dr. Caroline Arbuckle, from the Department of History, was selected for a University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU) Teaching Award, as well as the STM Teaching Excellence Award – Tenure-track and Tenured.

Dr. Carl Still, President of STM College, presented long service awards to 14 recipients, and gave a roundup of many other accomplishments that took place at the College during 2025-2026.

In closing out the day’s festivities, Dr. Marche completed one of her final public acts as Dean of the College, with a word of appreciation to the faculty and staff.

“I want to express my heartfelt thanks and deep gratitude for the incredible support that you have always shown me. Both during my time as Dean, and throughout the four years prior as associate Dean,” she said. “It has been a true pleasure and an honour to work alongside all of you.”

 

---

 

As the Academic year drew to a close, the President's Appreciation and Dean's Year End reception celebrated the following milestones and achievements:

 

NEW STM STAFF:

Sagar Chakraverty Academic Advising and Career Readiness Officer

Christine McAlpine Administrative Assistant to the Associate Dean

LONG SERVICE RECOGNITION:

10 YR: Dr. Henri Biahe, Dr. Jennifer Briere, Dr. Kylee-Anne Hingston, Linda Berry, Anteneh Seyoum

15 YR: Dr. Chris Hrynkow, Dr. Paulette Hunter, Jim Mariano

20 YR: Dr. Anna Klimina, Fr. Andre Lalach, Derrin Raffey, Dean Schmidt, Dr. Sharon Wright

25 YR: Dr. Michael Cichon

 

FACULTY TENURE & PROMOTIONS:

Martin Nord – Renewal of Probation, Assistant Librarian

Dr. Henri Biahe – Promotion to Associate Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultural Studies

Dr. Cynthia Wallace – Promotion to Professor, Department of English

Dr. Sarah Knudson – Promotion to Professor, Department of Sociology

 

TEACHING AWARDS:

USSU Teaching Award Winner:  Dr. Caroline Arbuckle

 

STM Teaching Excellence Award Honourable Mention

Term and Sessional: Dr. Karin Tate and Daniel DeLury

 

STM Teaching Excellence Award Winner:

Term and Sessional: Dr. Allison Smith

 

STM Teaching Excellence Award Honourable Mentions

Tenure-track and tenured: Dr. Sarah Knudson

 

STM Teaching Excellence Award Winner

Tenure-track and tenured: Dr. Caroline Arbuckle