Student-retiree interviews provide new perspective for students

September 19, 2012 - Rowan Grant and Nicole Rutherford

To commemorate the University of Victoria’s 50th anniversary, which occurs in 2013, students from Dr. Elizabeth Grove-White’s Professional Writing for Print Media class were asked to interview UVic retirees familiar with the school’s transitional moments. The interviews became an assignment from which we would author profiles on the retirees, but they also provided the opportunity to explore and preserve unique aspects of UVic’s history through the recording our interviews for preservation in the university archives. Many of us were new to the interview process and took away invaluable experiences from the project.

Nicole’s experience

“Do I give my consent?” said Dr. Michael Best as he looked over our interview waiver, “Never!” He smiled from behind his bifocals, “You realize, I hope, that I’m being ironic.’”

It was at this point in the interview process that I finally let out a sigh of relief.

When we were assigned the student-retiree interview project a few weeks earlier, I was excited but nervous. With only four previous interviews under my belt, I was motivated to conduct the best interview I could and went through pages of paper trying to come up with the strongest questions possible for my interview subject who, after some preliminary research, I realized was quite an impressive figure.

Not only was Dr. Best a three-time chair of the English department, but he is also a digital pioneer for the humanities, establishing and running one of the foremost Shakespeare websites in the world. We arranged to meet on the Ides of March (a term used in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that, as an anthropology major, I admittedly needed to look up).

Upon meeting Dr. Best, I was immediately put at ease by his personality and sense of humour that allowed the interview to flow naturally. The process aided me in learning the rhythm of informative speech: how to recognize strong answers, continually develop questions in response to these answers, and how to draw upon my research and questions I had devised. The entire process was thrilling and reaffirmed my interest in journalism. Simultaneously, it gave me a unique look at the university’s past and a cross-generational experience I would not have had otherwise.

Rutherford's profile of Dr. Michael Best

Rowan’s experience

The archive project gave us students the opportunity to meet outstanding academics, athletes, and visionaries of UVic’s past. But in requesting an interview subject, I wanted to dig a little deeper. I wanted to learn about UVic from a different perspective and explore a part of its history many students overlook. James Pearce gave me just the angle I was looking for.

As UVic’s manager of maintenance and operations from 1986 to 2006, Pearce was able to offer a unique account of UVic’s history. His knowledge of the campus’ technical aspects—down to every minor particularity—goes unparalleled.

During the interview, he spoke of how school’s grounds and facilities have evolved into the campus we know today, and his tenure saw the coming and going of many buildings.

With a passion for making things run more efficiently, Pearce also played a large role in bringing the school’s maintenance systems into the 21st century in terms of sustainability. His plan to replace the older buildings’ outdated fluorescent lighting with newer models has saved the university an estimated $10 million in utility fees, and his decision to update the buildings’ power meters with digital models revolutionized UVic’s ability to monitor the way it consumed power. Pearce proved not only the ideal interview subject for a project focused on preserving UVic’s past, but a reminder that clever thinking in universities doesn’t just come from its academic side.

Most students come through UVic without a sense of how it has changed. Having interviewed Pearce, I understand not only that the grounds are different from what they used to be, but also that UVic will be a different place when I revisit it 20 years from now.

Grant's profile of James Pearce

On behalf of our class, we would like to thank the University of Victoria, the UVic Retirees Association and Dr. Grove-White for the hands-on opportunity to learn about the interview process and explore UVic’s history.

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Nicole Rutherford is a fourth-year anthropology/professional writing student.

Rowan Grant is a third-year English/professional writing student.
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