Have you met Suzanne, the Transition Year Program Coordinator at the Aboriginal Student Services Centre? Spend the next 2 minutes getting to know her a little better.
Where is your favorite place on campus?
I used to really like hanging out at the atrium in ALES when it was still all plants — and now it’s become this incredible lounge space, so it’s still one of my favourite places on campus.
But also the Bruce Peel Special Collections library, especially to take students there.
Tablet or paper?
Paper.
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
Pictures of my nieces and nephews.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
My coffee warmer. There’s nothing worse than coming back from a meeting and having cold coffee on your desk.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
This week? Scotland. It’s on my bucket list, and with a last name like Butler I figure I’d be welcomed.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
Michelle Obama and David Bowie. That would make for some interesting dinner conversation.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
The Chancellor — he probably gets invited to some pretty good lunches. Although I’ve always wanted to drive the Zamboni, too.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
It means this place is welcoming to everyone — that everyone here deserves to have a great experience, to be treated well, and to grow as a person.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Climate change. I’m really worried about our environment.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Challenging. Enlightening. Fun.
About Suzanne Butler
Suzanne Butler is the Transition Year Program Coordinator at the Aboriginal Student Services Centre. She grew up near Enoch Cree Nation and attended school on reserve, and works to bridge western and Indigenous learning and build inclusivity within the education system. She holds a BEd (Secondary) and MEd from the University of Alberta.