News

At its regular meeting on March 9, 2017, the Thorneloe University’s Board of Governors elected Ms. Nicole Charette as its next Chair. Nicole replaces Paul Baskcomb, who served as Board Chair since 2014.

Nicole is the Rainbow District School Board’s Senior Advisor for Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning. She also serves as Freedom of Information and Privacy Co-ordinator for the largest school board in Northern Ontario.

Nicole launched the very first communications program for the former Sudbury Board of Education in 1987 and was responsible for communications during the creation of Rainbow District School Board and the Conseil scolaire du district du Grand Nord de l’Ontario.

In 1998, she joined the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. As a member of the transition team, Nicole was responsible for all aspects of communications during the creation of the City of Greater Sudbury and served as Manager of Corporate Communications and French-language Services for the City until her return to the Board in 2004.

Before entering the field of education, Nicole co-ordinated promotions for Science North. In this role, she was responsible for local, national and international media relations and marketing. She is a former radio broadcaster and newspaper reporter.

After studying Journalism at Cambrian College, Nicole completed an Ontario Management Development Program Supervisory Studies Certificate.  She also earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Laurentian University, including courses from Thorneloe University. She received an Achievement Award for Humanities for the highest academic standing in all courses required for the degree.

Nicole joined the Board of Governors at Thorneloe University in 2008 and, two years later, was elected to the Executive Committee. She has provided leadership on strategic planning and the rebranding of Thorneloe University at Laurentian. She served on the Laurentian University Nominating Committee in 2015-2016.

A lifelong resident of Sudbury, Nicole values volunteerism and has made a significant contribution to a number of committees in the community and beyond. She currently serves on the Greater Sudbury Emergency Management Advisory Panel. She also chairs the Cambrian College Public Relations Program Advisory Committee. In this role, she participated in the Public Relations Program Standards Review for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ Program Standards and Evaluation Unit.

Nicole is a past President and Honorary Life Member of the Friends of Killarney Park. She is also a former member of the City of Greater Sudbury’s Healthy Community Cabinet and French-language Services Advisory Committee.

Nicole is the recipient of an Award for Excellence from the Sudbury Board of Education and Rainbow District School Board. She also has a Northern Cable Community Television Outstanding Achievement Award and was recognized by the Greater Sudbury Emergency Management Program Committee for leadership and dedication to furthering Emergency Preparedness Public Awareness in the City of Greater Sudbury as Chair of the Public Awareness Program Committee.

Recognizing the importance of the arts and humanities, Nicole welcomes the opportunity to lead the Board of Governors at Thorneloe University. “I look forward to working with Board members, the President, faculty, staff, students and community partners in our shared vision of inspiring transformation through education,” she says. Nicole will lead the Board of Governors in the implementation of its new Strategic Plan.

Thorneloe University has offered academic programming in the humanities for more than 50 years. As a founding member of the Laurentian University Federation, on the campus of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Thorneloe is home to the departments of Ancient Studies, Theatre and Motion Picture Arts, Religious Studies, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, as well the Thorneloe University School of Theology.

For more information about Thorneloe University, visit www.thorneloe.ca.

Media contact:

Dr. Robert Derrenbacker, President
rderrenbacker@laurentian.ca
705-673-1730 x101