Université Sainte-Anne

Université Sainte-Anne is a French-language university in Pointe-de-l'Église, Nova Scotia, Canada. It and the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick are the only French-language universities in the Maritime Provinces.

History
It was founded on September 1, 1890 by Gustave Blanche, a Eudist Father, to facilitate the higher education of Acadians in Nova Scotia. The University was named after Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.

In 2003, the provincial government merged the university with Collège de l'Acadie, a French-language community college with campuses throughout Nova Scotia.

Its enrolment for the 2005-2006 academic year was around 650-700 students, while in 2018, it had 390 full-time undergraduate students, 120 part-time undergrads, and 30 graduate students.

From 3 March 2022 to 20 April 2022, the 39-member faculty union went on strike. At 49 days, it was one of the longest university strikes in Canadian history.

Beginning in September 2023, a student-led anti-rape culture campaign, SA Change Now, posted more than 60 anonymous accounts of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape at the university. They included the accounts of victims of a serial perpetrator who, in 2018-19, while working as a student security officer, assaulted and raped students; the university community was never officially notified or warned and the perpetrator went unpunished. The campaign is, among its five recommendations, calling for better lighting on the main (Church Point) campus, an on-site counsellor and a sexual-assault complaint officer, and an overhaul of the university's sexual-assault hearing process. The university released its sexual violence policy, the revision of which had already been in the works, and hired a counsellor who is on-site three days a week. The campaign also requested that the rector acknowledge and apologize for the rape culture; the faculty union voted in November 2023 to recognize that there was a rape culture on campus.

Academics
Université Sainte-Anne offers many university-level programs as well as college-level diploma programs. It has two faculties and one school: the Faculté des Arts et Sciences, Faculté des Programmes Professionnels and the French Immersion School. In the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, one may pursue studies in several fields: French language, literature and linguistics, history, Canadian studies, Acadian studies, commerce, English language and literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, General Sciences, Pre-Veterinary Studies, and Health Sciences. In the Faculty of Professional Programmes, students may pursue studies in Administrative sciences or in education. The most popular majors are: French, commerce, business administration and education. In addition to the Pointe-de-l'Église main campus, students may take courses through the university at other locations: Tusket, Halifax, Petit-de-Grat and Saint-Joseph-du-Moine. Its Halifax campus offers a 1-year Bachelor of Education program and a Master of Education program.

Degree programs
At the Université Sainte-Anne, students may pursue the following degrees and diplomas:


 * Master's Programs
 * Master of Education, teaching French as a first-language (M.Éd.)
 * Master of Education, teaching French as a second-language (M.Éd.)
 * Master of Education, teaching French as a first-language in a minority environment (M.Éd.)


 * Baccalaureate Programs
 * General studies (B.A.)
 * Science (three-year program) (B.Sc.)
 * English studies (B.A.)
 * Canadian studies (B.A.)
 * Acadian studies (B.A.)
 * French studies (regular degree or Honours program) (B.A., B.A. Hon.)
 * History (B.A.)
 * Commerce (B.A.)
 * International Commerce (B.A.A.)
 * Social Work (B.A.)
 * Business Administration (regular degree or co-op program), (B.A.A.)
 * English and French studies with concentration in translation (B.A.)
 * Health studies: public health (B.tech.)
 * Education (two-year program) or Arts/Education combined degree (B.A., B.Éd.)


 * Diploma Programs
 * Business Administration, Administrative assistant diploma
 * Business Information Technology or Computer Technology
 * Entrepreneurship and Small Business
 * Federal Government Office Clerk
 * Early Childhood Education or Special Education: Teaching Assistant
 * Health Sciences or Pre-veterinary Sciences (two-year programs)
 * Human Services, Human Services Counselling or Continuing Health Care Services
 * French (Diplôme de français fonctionnel)
 * French as a second language (beginner, intermediate and advanced)
 * English as a second language

Immersion
Sainte-Anne is known for its French Immersion programs. Programs take place year round including winter, spring and summer intersessions. The program is very strict about using immersion to learn the French language. If a student is caught speaking in any language other than French three times, the student is asked to leave the program, without a refund. Cultural activities and workshops are designed to allow for French to become second nature, even at a beginner level.

Notable alumni

 * Louis LaPierre (B.A. 1964; honorary Ph.D. 2001), former professor of ecology and professor emeritus at the Université de Moncton, who resigned as professor emeritus at the Université de Moncton and also resigned from the Order of Canada after it was discovered that he had falsified his academic credentials.