Jennifer White brings wealth of experience to acting dean role

Acting Dean Jennifer White brings more than 30 years of experience as a clinical counsellor, youth suicide prevention educator, researcher, policy consultant and community developer to her new role in the Faculty of Human and Social Development (HSD). 

White, who took up the position of acting dean in August, is a professor in UVic’s School of Child and Youth Care, which she joined as faculty in 2004. Her previous leadership roles include serving as acting associate dean of UVic’s Graduate Studies, from 2020 to 2022, and prior to that, as director of the School of Child and Youth Care for five years. 

Her scholarship focuses on contemporary discourses of youth suicide prevention. White, one of the founders of the International Critical Suicide Studies Network, is co-hosting a Critical Suicide Studies Symposium: Creating Worlds Worth Living, on Oct 21 and 22 in Victoria. The symposium will bring together researchers, students, educators, practitioners, and those with lived experience of suicide to explore suicide prevention strategies and create worlds worth living in.

In collaboration with Indigenous scholars, leaders, Elders and youth, White recently led a project called Wise Practices for Life Promotion, which was funded by Indigenous Services Canada. The website documents a series of wise practices for promoting life based on what is already working and/or showing promise in First Nations communities across the country.

“The work was designed to be culturally relevant and responsive to the lived realities of young people and all who are invested in wellness for First Nations youth,” White says.

White says she is deeply committed to advancing the goals, values and vision of HSD’s strategic plan, and will champion the collective work underway, including the accomplishments of HSD alumni. White herself is an alumna, graduating from UVic in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts. 

“The work that many of us are doing to respond to the challenges of our times to transform our health, public administration, and social care systems to be more inclusive, diverse, equitable and just, is a goal worth striving for together,” she says. 

“I look forward to getting to know more about our alumni and the important work they are doing in our communities.”

White will serve as acting dean until June 30 next year, when Professor Helga Hallgrímsdóttir returns from an appointment as UVic’s acting vice-provost.