At the core of Deputy Provost Teri Shearer’s work at Queen’s has been a commitment to listening to students’ needs.
Shearer is retiring at the end of 2024 after working for almost 27 years at the University, announced the Queen’s Gazette on Nov. 19. Starting as an Associate Professor in the Smith School of Business, Shearer became deputy provost in 2016 and stepped in to be interim provost before the hiring of Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Matthew Evans. In 2019, she held the position of the interim Dean of the Smith School of Business.
Throughout her time at Queen’s, Shearer reflected on many valuable lessons she learned, one of which was to never underestimate a group of ionate students.
“It could be advocating for a cause on campus, or it could be organizing a charity fundraising event, or it could be organizing a conference around some theme that’s important to students, but if you spend a lot of time on a university campus, it’s hard to escape,” Shearer said in an interview with The Journal.
Shearer specifically focused on Indigenization – Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility (I-EDIAA) efforts during her tenure. She spearheaded the establishment of the Yellow House, a student centre for equity and inclusion in 2019 and launched the University Council on Anti-Racism in 2017 to coordinate initiatives addressing racism and diversity. According to Shearer, her efforts were inspired by conversations with students.
“When you listen to people and you listen to the challenges that they encounter as equity deserving students and the ideas they have […] and if you’re in a position where you can
influence some of that stuff, then that’s what you want to do,” Shearer said.
Shearer also reflected on a time when fall reading break didn’t exist and highlighted the collaborative effort between herself, the AMS, and various student groups to implement a break that became crucial for students.
“There was a lot of people coming together making compromises and trade-offs to get to, what I think, is actually a really important outcome,” Shearer said.
As she closes this chapter of her life, Shearer hopes the University can continue its traditions and respect the history of the institution without being afraid of change and adaptation in the future.
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