AU Research Centre
Featured Researcher
Dr. Sandra Collins
I have been with the Graduate Centre for Applied Psychology at Athabasca University for 11 years.
My research interests include multicultural counselling, feminist practice, and social justice; counsellor education and online learning; and career development.
I have just completed a three year research project that assessed the social justice competencies of career practitioners in Canada and Australia using both quantitative and qualitative data collected through an online survey. This project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Much of my other writing is theoretical and applied practice focused. Our book, Arthur, N., & Collins, S. (Eds.). (2005). "Culture-infused counselling: Celebrating the Canadian mosaic", won the Canadian Counselling Association national book award in 2006. The second edition will be released this summer.
My recent manuscripts have focused on multicultural supervision, women's multiple cultural identities, and social justice in counselling practice.
My personal aim for my research and writing is to promote attention to cultural and social justice issues in counselling/psychological practice and to shift the focus away from exclusively working with individual clients in isolation to facilitating change in oppressive social, economic, and political systems that lead to client distress in the first place. I hope this will make a difference particularly in the lives of members of non-dominant populations in particular, as defined by gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, ability, and so on.
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Research Centre
Athabasca University (AU) supports scholarly, research and creative activities, which contribute to the mission of the University and ultimately provide intellectual, social and economic benefits to society. The University is committed to the highest professional standards of scholarly research and research ethics. It acknowledges that excellence in research flourishes only in an atmosphere of free inquiry, and adopts a broad definition of research in order to include a wide range of creative and innovative scholarly activity.
The 2006-2011 Strategic University Plan (SUP) commits Athabasca University to building new capacity as a research institution, and provides a framework for the development of a viable and purposeful research agenda. Within this framework, Athabasca University will:
- foster and expand its research and scholarship
- continue to support provincial research goals
- reflect the priorities of national research councils
- and to participate in federal government initiatives.
This site provides information for researchers regarding external and internal funding opportunities and current research conducted by staff and graduate students. Information is also available regarding the University’s Research Ethics Board and Research Ethics Appeals Board.
The role of the Research Centre at Athabasca University is one of support, to our faculty and staff, as well as to students involved in research activities. Research Centre staff also work closely with government funding agencies to further advance research activities.
The Research Centre provides administrative assistance for research activities at Athabasca University. The Research Centre team works together to develop and maintain efficient business processes and practices that provide seamless and consistent support to researchers and staff regarding research administration-related matters for both internal and external awards in the core activities of:
- Finding Funding
- Applying for Funding
- Receiving Funding
- Managing Funding
Organizational Structure
The Research Centre utilizes a centralized model for the provision of research services at Athabasca University. All inquires about research administration related matters may be directed to the Research Centre staff, who in turn collaborate with the Finance Office, Contracts and Procurement Office, Human Resources and other departments throughout the University as required.
The Research Centre Organizational Chart can be found at: http://www.athabascau.ca/vpa/web/documents/research-staff.pdf
Student and Academic Services - Last Updated May 12, 2009, 09:15:01 MST/MDT
