Student Profiles

SPP Students

Jan Mahoney

Jan Mahoney - I have been a registered nurse for 20 years, working with patients in all areas health care, in hospital and in the community.  Most recently I have been working in quality and safety and with the Ministry of Health’s Patient Care Quality Review Board.  As a nurse your ability to care for patients is impacted by public policy, yet your ability to influence policy decisions is limited.  The links between policy, health and social well being have inspired me to pursue masters in Studies in Policy and Practice.  I hope to gain a greater understanding of the links between policy, policy decisions and societal wellbeing, which will lead me to future opportunities to build healthy communities.

Jayna Brulotte - I entered the SPP program in September 2009.  I moved to Victoria from Edmonton, after completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Alberta.  I was attracted to the SPP program because I wanted to critically engage with health and social policy. I wanted to learn more about issues involving the creation, implementation, and implications of policy.  Further, I was looking for a program that was both practical and theoretical, in order to prepare me for a career in the public service or non-profit sector, as well as allow me to continue on in academia, if I so choose.  My primary research interests involve drinking water policy at all levels, including federally, provincially, locally, and within institutions. I am also interested in bottled water policy, including the implications of bottled water bans, in terms of both environmental and human rights discourses. In my free time, I play box and field lacrosse; teach hockey and skating lessons; and volunteer with Oak Bay Volunteer Services.

Kim Lyster - I am truly excited to have joined the SPP community.  The values, course work, and faculty were key reasons for applying to particular graduate program. The return to post-graduate studies marks a long held desire to continue my education. For much of my 25 year professional career, I have worked in the community living movement in support of the emancipation of individuals with intellectual disabilities, both as a provincial advocate and as a community based, service provider.  The experiences, lessons and relationships I forged through this work have provided me with key values that frame the critical analytical lens I apply to my graduate work. I received a Bachelor of Education in 1980, and taught briefly in the public school system however employment opportunities weren’t plentiful at that time. I turned to work in the non-profit sector, where I have been fortunate to be able to use my academic training to provide professional development to a variety of audiences across B.C., throughout the Pacific Northwest and also in Scotland.  I have also written extensively, both articles and curriculum, and have taught at the college level. For the last 9 years, I was the Executive Director of a multi-service, non-profit organization in the South Okanagan/Similkameen region of BC. The Society has a strong history of community development, bringing together citizens to solve community problems, and address social justice issues. These commitments mirror my own values and my work has always led me to attend to human rights, social change and justice, advocacy, and community development issues. I have held diverse leadership roles in the Interior region of BC, including as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Child & Family Services of BC and collaborated extensively with both Ministry colleagues as well as colleagues in the community service network.  I was a member of the Executive Director’s network of the BC Association for Community Living, and co-chaired a regional Early Childhood Coalition for 4 years. This coalition was successful in generating a strong, community driven child and family presence. I continue my association with these advocacy issues through committee work with Community Living BC and the Representative for Children and Youth.

Jason Stabler – My educational work and volunteer experiences have instilled in me a strong commitment to values of social justice, equality and community service. My most formative experiences have included: volunteering with Planned Parenthood Toronto; participating with Youth Challenge International in Guyana; living in Nunavut as part of a travel-study program; starting and co-directing a student chapter of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights; and volunteering and working for the University of Manitoba Students’ Union. Prior to coming to SPP I worked as a Policy Analyst with the BC Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, Social Policy Branch. Currently I am actively involved in the NDP as the President of my local constituency association. In addition to furthering my interest in social justice the culmination of all of these experiences has led me to appreciate the complex nature and interrelatedness of social policy issues. It is this appreciation, which led me to choose the SPP program. The SPP program’s balance between critical academics and practical application, its interdisciplinary nature and its requirement that applicants have practical experience have produced a stimulating learning environment and effective tools for analysing complex and interrelated policy issues. I plan to apply these tools to research on housing policy, in particular on whether community design is an effective technique for increasing social cohesion.

SPP Graduates

Pam Alcorn – I came to the SPP Program hoping to reconcile the contradictions I was seeing between the intent and implementation of policies at various community and political levels. My employment career began in my early twenties in a shelter for assaulted women. Realizing the systemic and institutional nature of the social problem of male violence against women, I began to engage in more explicitly political activities. As I did so, I noticed a frustrating divide between various components of our social framework. The question of how can we improve connections between elected officials, people working within the bureaucracy, service providers, and those who require services seemed crucial. The Studies in Policy and Practice Program provided me with an opportunity to critically explore the nature of program design and implementation in relation to the political, bureaucratic, and direct service provision. I particularly appreciated focusing on considerations such as who can be harmed, who benefits, what I am bringing to the work, and the implications of a project, policy or research piece. Since completing my Master of Arts Degree, I work as a freelance consultant specializing in Organizational Development, Policy Analysis, and Community and Government Relations.

Rachel Gold is from Ottawa, ON. During her years as an undergraduate psychology major at McMaster University, Rachel spent her summers working with the Christie Lake Kids community at its summer skill-building and recreational camp for Ottawa’s children-at-risk. At Christie Lake Camp she served as a counsellor and later developed its Leadership-in-Training program and co-ordinated its Behaviour Policy program. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Rachel moved to New York City as a social justice fellow in Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps. In New York City she worked serving homeless and homebound elderly, participated in weekly seminars with local social justice leaders and attended workshops at a spectrum of New York City anti-poverty organizations. Rachel’s involvement with the Big Brothers Association, the Hospital for Sick Children, the YM/YWCA and New York Cares, as well as her participation in courses at both the Center for Urban and Community Services and Community Service Society of New York have shaped her motivation to understand, and work to progress, Canadian social issues. Rachel felt privileged to have been an SPP student at the University of Victoria – its critical approach and its dedicated faculty create an engaging and exciting graduate school experience. (2008)

Melanie Hope has been a front line worker in a variety of social service settings, including shelters, community centres, government and non-profit societies. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree while working 2 days a week as a housing outreach worker. Melanie was attracted to the SPP program’s reformist policy perspective that seeks to consider the spectrum of voices in our community; especially the voices that may be the most impacted by a given policy. The multidisciplinary aspect to the program invites lively discussion as each student reflects on their own practice experience and considers it in a new light. (2007)

Shauna Janz  -  My undergraduate academic background was in anthropology and archaeology, which gained me incredible experience doing excavations and research in both British Columbia’s prehistoric West Coast sites and in China’s prehistoric settlements dating 8000 BC. My time in China encouraged my travel bug. After two years of living and travelling throughout S.E. Asia, I returned to Vancouver Island with a re-evaluation of my career path and a desire to dedicate myself to individuals who were still living! (Although my nostalgia for digging in the dirt is ever-present!). I became a support worker for individuals with acquired brain injuries. This work experience led me to seek out Studies In Policy and Practice to learn and gain a more critical stance on the broader political contexts that were influencing my own frontline work and the individuals that I was supporting. My thesis explores the process of accreditation in B.C.; how it re-organizes frontline work and client interactions, and how its standards of social service delivery become aligned with broader shifts in public management. I am thoroughly enjoying my experience in SPP, with all that it has to offer and with the opportunities that it has opened for me. (2009)

Philippe Lucas was born and raised in Montreal and then Ottawa.  Following completion of a BA in English Literature at Carleton University, Philippe moved to the west coast in 1991, completing a post-degree certificate in Secondary Education at UVic.  Perhaps best known for his work on drug policy, he is the founder and Executive Director of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, one of North America’s most respected non-profit medical cannabis research and distribution centers.  He has had the opportunity to share his expertise and research at home and abroad, including presentations before both the House of Commons and Senate special committees on illegal drugs, and recent consultations with the state of New Mexico and the Israeli Ministry of Health.   This year the provincial Green Party of B.C. invited him to modernize their drug policy, and the resulting Green Strategy for Substance Use is already being hailed as the most progressive, evidence-based drug policy of any political party in North America. Philippe was elected to Victoria City Council in November of 2008, and spends much of his free time addressing homelessness and harm reduction in the community.   A passionate organic gardener and cook, he was instrumental in establishing a pocket-market in Quadra village where he still volunteers on weekends.  He is currently a Master’s candidate in UVic’s Studies in Policy and Practice and a graduate research fellow with the Center for Addictions Research of British Columbia, and was recently awarded the University of Victoria’s Blue and Gold Award for academic excellence and community service.  Philippe and his wife Mary had a daughter named Sophie in October 2008, and look forward to raising a family in Victoria. (2009)

Dan Vandersluis values the interdisciplinary nature of the SPP Program as it creates a forum for students from several disciplines to learn from, be challenged by, and interact with each other. He finds the Program to have met a good balance between theory and practice and continues to be surprised at the congruence between his studies and work. His research interests are in the area of family and social policy, with a particular focus on the areas of separation and divorce. (2005)