Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), English and Classics, 1989
I think the Foundation Year Progamme (FYP) rewrote my DNA. I was a kid from a small city in Cape Breton, and FYP absolutely blew my mind.
Here’s a snapshot of the desk of Laurelle LeVert, Associate Vice-president of the University of New Brunswick, Saint John, a Virgo’s Virgo (although she does not believe in astrology) with her high energy, attention to detail, loyalty and a desire to help others.
“Oh my gosh …(my desk) is an absolute disaster. Always. I am a piler.”
And every few months, Laurelle says with a laugh, she puts a flamethrower to the piles, only to start building them again.
There is ample reason for the piles. Laurelle oversees enrolment, student affairs, athletics, information technology (IT) and library services at UNB. That’s a lot to juggle.
“I think I am one of these people who is a natural administrator. I love organization.”
Which makes the state of her desk, well, “ironic,” she says. But it doesn’t get in the way of doing what she does best.
"The work I've always done is this wonderful mix of people and processes," Laurelle says. She works with diverse groups, solving problems, trying to improve university processes. "Everyone has a slightly different view of how things should work. I relish the messiness of working in that complex nexus."
That “complex nexus” can often bring about disagreement and debate. To help her, Laurelle studied to become a facilitator through Fierce Conversations, a global leadership development and training company. Her favourite module – confrontation.
“We are so bad at confrontation,” she says. But she has learned to see confrontation in a positive way.
“It’s not two people facing each other. The idea of a confrontation is standing side by side with someone, facing an issue, always with the objective of preserving and enriching the relationship.”
It is something she teaches others at UNB and tries to practice herself. But with her typical humility she says she still has much to learn.
And learning is important to Laurelle, as a student, a teacher and administrator. She thinks back to her first year at King’s.
“I think the Foundation Year Progamme (FYP) rewrote my DNA. I was a kid from a small city in Cape Breton, and FYP absolutely blew my mind … You read widely: philosophy, history, literature - that's how we learn about people and ourselves. The real blessing of the liberal arts and humanities is accessing every single world view that's out there."
With that as a background and a career developing her administrative chops Laurelle is well suited to her hectic job. A good day for Laurelle goes like this: “I hit the ground running and I am flat out all day. That might be running from meeting to meeting, finishing a report, engaging in conversation, mentoring my staff, laughing a lot.”
And then at night, when she goes home, it is quiet. No TV, rarely the radio. It’s how Laurelle re-energizes. It’s a little like the medieval monks she studied for her PhD.