Dawson’s own Alice Havel, one of the College’s longest serving professionals and a pioneer and visionary in the design and implementation of services provided through the Student AccessAbility Centre has been recognized for her long and illustrious career at a ceremony today in Chicoutimi by the Association québécoise de pédagogie collégiale (AQPC) at its annual conference.

The prize is named for the co-founder and first DG of the AQPC and celebrates the careers of individuals who have built important programs and rallied others to the cause. Dawson students with learning and physical difficulties throughout the years have had no greater champion than Alice Havel. The award cites her professional affiliations with several organizations dedicated to the inclusion of students with disabilities, her commitment to the hundreds of students who have passed through her doors, and her research to change pedagogical approaches.

The Board of AQPC also noted Alice’s intellectual and human qualities and her work within the universal design learning model as well as her enormous contributions to taking a social and cultural approach rather than a medical approach to help students with special needs succeed, and lauded her generosity in sharing her findings with the whole CEGEP network.

Congratulations Alice!