University of Prince Edward Island President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz and Dean of Education Miles Turnbull recently visited Iqaluit, Nunavut. They were there just as two weeks of intensive face-to-face summer courses for UPEI’s Master of Education in Leadership in Nunavut (Nunavut MEd), and Certificate in Educational Leadership in Nunavut (CELN) were drawing to a close. Forty-four students from across the territory participated in these summer courses.

After a lively, open discussion with the MEd students about the program, Abd-El-Aziz and Turnbull met with representatives from Nunavut’s Department of Education, including: Kathy Okpik, Deputy Minister; Peter Geikie, Assistant Deputy Minister; Cathy McGregor, Executive Director, Curriculum and School Services; and Darlene Nuqingaq, Leadership Development Coordinator. 

The Nunavut MEd program was developed as a partnership between UPEI and the Nunavut Department of Education. This part-time, ten-course blended delivery program allows qualified Nunavut teachers to access graduate-level education without leaving the Territory. Discussion during this visit focused on the special convocation for the current cohort to be held in Iqaluit in June 2013. This ceremony will mark the graduation of a second cohort of Nunavut students with master of education degrees from UPEI.