Overview

Christopher Stoney was faculty in the School of Public Policy and Administration from 2003 to his untimely death in December 2021. Chris was recognized for his teaching excellence receiving the SPPA Teaching Award in 2004, 2017, and 2020; the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Master of Public Administration Society in 2006 and 2017; the Faculty of Public Affairs teaching award in 2009; and the Carleton University teaching award in 2010.

While these awards recognized Chris’ excellence in the classroom, they also recognize that his contribution to student learning outside of the classroom was also exemplary. Chris thrived on working with students. He supervised 6 PhD students, was on 21 doctoral committees, supervised 20 Master theses, 14 Master Research Essays, 36 directed studies and 16 BA Honour’s theses. He went beyond supervising students and collaborated with his students on 15 published co-authored papers. He supported the CAPPA case competition and coached the Carleton team for many years. He took the team to a silver in 2018 and 2019, and a gold in 2017. He organized and guided a tour of parliament for SPPA students.

On the 80th Anniversary of the School of Public Policy and Administration, friends and colleagues created this fund to recognize Chris’ dedication to enhancing the student experience.

The Background

SPPA is committed to providing experiential learning opportunities for our students. Experiential learning advances learning outcomes and encourages reflection and application of skills and knowledge in contexts that prepare students for the workplace and civil society. These opportunities create links from the theory covered in our courses to the practice of policy analysis and public administration. They develop skills in students to become lifelong learners.

This fund will allow faculty and instructors in the SPPA to offer more experiential learning opportunities and continue to improve the quality of the opportunities further enhancing the student experience.

The Rollout

The SPPA offers students many experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom. These opportunities will continue and instructors will be able to develop new experiences.

There are many examples of experiential learning events in which SPPA participates:

1. The SPPA has always participated in the annual CAPPA Case Competition and has frequently won gold. This event requires teams to analyze a policy scenario and prepare a briefing in a week.
2. In 2024, Carleton will send a team to the Model International Civil Aviation Organization (https://www.modelicao.com/presentation) for the first time. Students will represent a country, conduct in-depth analysis, participate in a mock international negotiation, and meet representatives from the country.
3. We offer Professional Skills Workshops three times in each of the Fall and Winter semesters to provide students with skills which are essential for profession success and are not necessarily covered in the core curriculum such as “briefing up” to superiors or tips for increasing productivity.
4. Students interested in sustainable energy have participated in annual field trips to locations such as The Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre wastewater treatment facility and the Wolfe Island wind facility near Kingston, Ontario.
5. We organize an annual trip to Washington, DC to meet with policy makers working in an international setting and an annual trip to Toronto, ON to meet with those working in the provincial setting.

The Impact

SPPA’s alumni are successful managers in the public sector and civil society (https://carleton.ca/sppa/carleton-75-alumni-videos/). By providing more and better experiential learning opportunities for our students, future cohorts will have a stronger base as they enter the workforce and will continue this tradition of success.