Ask any faculty member here what makes Grenfell College such a special place. Invariably, you’ll get the same responses: small classes, close interpersonal interactions between professors, students and staff, interdisciplinary partnerships and the beauty of the campus, surrounded by trees, high above the Bay of Islands.

The collegial – even familial – spirit at Grenfell College spills into our everyday lives. Faculty and staff play hockey at the local civic centre every Friday night. They learn about each other’s personal interests on Wednesdays during a lunchtime lecture series (chewing during lectures is encouraged). Parties, barbecues and get-togethers spring up on every occasion, or for no particular reason at all. At Grenfell, we learn from each other and grow together.

While Grenfell is a small college with a student population of roughly 1,350, it has the advantage of being part of a larger institution, Memorial University of Newfoundland. In addition to the Corner Brook campus on the west coast of the island, Memorial University has two campuses in St. John’s, one in St. Pierre and one in Harlow, England. Memorial University is Atlantic Canada's largest university, with an enrolment of more than 17,000.

The smaller, sometimes one-person departments encourage relationships between disciplines. It’s not unusual for chemistry faculty and theatre arts faculty to work together on projects. The close environment has fostered many interdisciplinary alliances, resulting in cross-appointments between history and classics, chemistry and theatre arts and in a number of interdisciplinary degree programs.