Alumni News and Views - Conestoga College

Leanne Holland Brown is a name
students, staff and faculty at Conestoga
will soon come to recognize.
Holland Brown is the new student
life coordinator at the College. She
said her position with the school is
mainly about enriching the student
life experience.
“One element of this position
includes centralized communication
around all of the wonderful things
that are happening at the College:
student success and achievement,
opportunities for students to get
involved and meet other students and
workshops and presentations that are
helping students to achieve academic
success” Holland Brown said.
One of the projects Holland Brown is
currently working on is maintaining
the new Student Life website, called
CONNEX. Connex was designed to
connect students to activities,
initiatives and opportunities taking
place at Conestoga that will affect
student life.
“We’re hoping that students will get
into the habit of checking CONNEX
regularly” Holland Brown said.
“Every Monday, there will be new
information in the news and updates
section of the site.”
“Everyone has been really receptive
and really excited about Connex and
I think it’s going to benefit the
students tremendously,” Holland
Brown said.
A link to the Connex site can be
found in the Current Students section
of the College’s website.
Carol Gregory, Director of Student
Development at Conestoga, said one
of Holland Brown’s mandates is to
develop the overall plan for student
life at the College.
“Within that, she would be working
on developing student leadership
opportunities,” Gregory said. “We
think it’s important, to encourage
students throughout the various
College campuses to develop into
student leaders.”
Gregory said Holland Brown is going
to help the student life experience
Campus Update
Student Life Coordinator
Leanne Holland Brown
Jason Sonser**
tremendously. “Leanne is very
passionate about student life and
she’s got the breadth and depth of
experience.”
Holland Brown said another aspect
of her position as Student Life Coordinator
is creating and providing
student leadership opportunities.
“(That) translates into opportunities
for engagement and involvement at
the College. Student leadership
initiatives provide students with
opportunities to learn, grow and gain
life skills that will benefit them
immensely down the road”. I’ve only
been here a short time and already
I’ve learned there are so many
fantastic things happening at the
College in the area of student
accomplishments and student success
– there are many committed and
wonderful students here,” she said.
Holland Brown said, as in any
institution, communication about
events can be difficult sometimes.
“I’m really hoping a lot of that
information will come through
CONNEX so we can share, with the
College community, all of the great
things that are happening with staff,
faculty and students.”
Holland Brown thinks it is a great
time to be at Conestoga because
there is a lot of change and transition
happening. “It’s a terrific time to be
starting when people are very openminded
to new ideas and excited
about new initiatives.”
Holland Brown said for a lot of
people, student life was never a term
that was really part of their own
educational experience. “I think
student life has become an important
element of the post-secondary
education experience” she said.
“Student life is about creating a
positive and engaging experience
that encompasses the out-of-theclassroom
experience. Student life is
about supporting academic success
while providing opportunities to get
involved in meaningful ways, learn
about yourself and taking advantage
of opportunities that lead to personal
growth and development”.
“That means opportunities for
engagement with students, staff and
faculty, as well as opportunities for
involvement,” she said. “I also think
a significant piece of it is creating
opportunities for developing life
skills that are valued by employees
and give students an advantage over
other students.”
Holland Brown said people seem
genuinely excited about having her
at the College. “I have had the most
warm, welcome reception here that
I’ve ever had,” she said. “Everyone
has been so helpful and so friendly.”
Gregory said she is thrilled about
having Holland Brown as the student
life co-ordinator. “We needed
someone with her focus. She’s the
right person to do it. She’s passionate
about it and she’s got some
tremendous ideas. I don’t think we
could have asked for a better person.”
Holland Brown graduated in 2000
from the University of Waterloo from
the Waterloo/Brock Concurrent
Education Program with a Bachelor of
Education degree in French Teaching
Specialization. However, she never
taught French after graduation. She
worked as a Residence Life
Coordinator at Wilfrid Laurier
University for three years, then spent
a year in England teaching English.
Most recently, Holland Brown
worked as Residence Life
Coordinator at the University of
Waterloo for a year.
Connections - winter 2006
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