Student Opportunities

One of the guiding principles of the PGOV program is to provide students with more than just their classroom education. In an increasingly competitive professional world, students need more their degree to stand out. As such, PGOV students are provided with opportunities to publish, work, and develop their professional CVs with an eye towards their future careers.

Research Positions

As a smaller institution without a large cohort of graduate students, StFX offers undergraduate students incredible opportunities to participate in research work that they would never find at larger institutions. Many PGOV students have had the opportunity work as editors, researchers, and conference facilitators. This paid work strengthens student CVs, builds networks, and provides a competitive advantage after graduation.

Networking

PGOV students have incredible, privileged access to some of Canada’s policy leaders. In connection with the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government’s Visiting Fellows program, PGOV seminars have included small discussion groups with former Canadian senators, cabinet members, premiers, and policy entrepreneurs. Research work opportunities and engagements with visiting speakers has connected students with government leadership, building relationships that have been leveraged by enterprising students into internships.

Project Travel

As part of their research projects, PGOV professors are often able to provide students with travel opportunities that provide experiential learning.

In recent years, students have travelled with their professor on research trips to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories and to Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Taloyoak, and Gjoa Haven in Nunavut. While being taught how to conduct respectful and effective community-collaborative policy research, students were able to explore Northern communities and travel on the region’s waters, land, and ice.

Students have also enjoyed a range of other project-based travel opportunities: from the archives in Washington D.C. and Ottawa, to conferences in places like Montreal and Victoria, to military bases in Nova Scotia and the North.

Students at Sea

In partnership with the Royal Canadian Navy, PGOV organizes the annual Students at Sea program to engage students in the vital issue of maritime security. On this day-long trip, students visit the Maritime Security Operations Center and Joint Rescue Facility to see how Canada’s maritime security agencies manage search and rescue and monitor the country’s maritime approaches. The trip also normally includes a tour a Victoria-class submarine and a Kingston-class patrol ship, while the at-sea portion normally takes place on a Halifax-class frigate, where students get a first-hand look at Canada's naval capabilities.

Field Trips

Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, PGOV initiated the first Halifax government trip. This field trip allows students to meet and engage with provincial politicians and policymakers. In 2018, Dr. Peter Kikkert organized this trip with Antigonish MLA and Minister of Health and Wellness Randy Delorey. Students were able to meet with officials on the Executive Council and from several departments, including finance, health, and environment.

The trip exposed students to the different career pathways that public policy can set them on. It provided them with an opportunity to hear from the actual practitioners on the skills they should be working on as they complete their undergraduate degree. Students were encouraged to ask questions related to the issues and themes they have been studying in their courses. Many of the participants speak highly of being able to see a government in action and the positive impact of experiential learning on their studies in general. While COVID-19 put this program on temporary hiatus, it is scheduled to be restarted in Fall 2023.