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The Access Program supports the hearts, minds, bodies and spirits of a diverse student population on their journey to academic success. Since 1975, Access has supported over 700 UM graduates. Here are the stories of two students.

Brett Naylor

Brett Naylor worked as a cook for 20 years, and then he realized he missed being outside and close to nature like when he was growing up in Thompson and Gimli, Manitoba. He wanted to explore his options so he came to the University of Manitoba where an academic advisor and former Access student suggested he explore the Access Program.

Now the member of the Bloodvein First Nation is studying biological sciences in the Faculty of Science as an Access student. He plans to return to his community one day to advocate for it, and to encourage Indigenous kids to consider university.

Naylor fondly remembers his initial orientation with the program, and now he makes a point of speaking to new Access students at their orientation.

“University is hard. I had no idea what it entailed. It was reassuring to meet some students who were succeeding. A couple of mature students assured me I had a place here. I was not an outsider. I was not going to be alone.”

When he attended a science class with instructor, Emily McKinnon, he knew he wanted to pursue sciences. “It reminded me of my childhood on the lake and in nature.”

With Access, he says, “I got to see the university through a different set of eyes, from an Indigenous perspective. At Access, I felt more at home.”

Initially, Naylor worried about being a mature student in large classes full of 18-year-olds who had privileges he never had like being able to live at home during their studies.

“Access was pretty perfect. Smaller classes, other Indigenous students, other mature students, access to counselling, tutoring, cultural support, smudging… I got more exposure to my culture.”

Access helped him make the transition to university.

“I invite kids to check out the program all the time. Kids from up north are worried to come to Winnipeg. It’s a big city, culture shock. You are changing everything. You are thrust into adulthood, having to figure out the bus, rent, food, where to do your laundry. You spend half your time just trying to get by. It’s not just education. Access supports your ability to deal with life. It’s such an open, welcome place. Everyone’s nice and friendly. It is worth checking out.”

Naylor looks forward to stopping by the open house. “You get to know people. You are not just a face in the crowd. You form relationships. That’s really nice. University can be lonely. Just seeing a friendly face helps. It’s nice to touch base, to see where everyone is at. I will go to Migizii to say hi, to catch up with people from my first-year classes.”

Jesse McGregor in his white coat at Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Jesse McGregor

Jesse McGregor put on his white coat last week to start his medical studies at the Max Rady College of Medicine. This First Nations student from the Mispawistik (Grand Rapids) Cree Nation who grew in in Norway House began his journey at the University of Manitoba with the Access Program.

“I have always been a helper. It’s important to my identity to take on a caregiver role,” says McGregor, noting this calling is reflected in the Indigenous name he was given in ceremony when he was still in high school: Pimichiwan (Flowing Water), as water serves as a healer. His mom is also an inspiration, serving as a nurse in the north.

“Life on the reserve and life in the city are like two different worlds,” he says. “I remember walking in University Centre and feeling like I was a little fish in a big sea. Students were walking in many directions. There were moments of doubt. Every student is trying to find their way.”

The feelings of culture shock, the loneliness, the longing for home are tough for a bush kid who has come to the city, he says, sharing that his choice to go home for the weekend instead of study for his first exam led to him failing it.

“Access supported me through that. They really care. They helped to create a plan for me. They provided a tutor for me.  I passed the course. Without the support, what would I have done? I had no plan. I was learning new skills. I needed guidance. It was a tough experience but I pulled through.”

McGregor is still friends with the fellow students he met in his first-year classes with Access. He attended many of their academic workshops to build his skills.

“The Access Program was always my place to go. Even after I transitioned to the Bannatyne Campus, I had their support system. They really did take great care of me.”

During a recent job as an Indigenous Student Recruitment Officer, McGregor had the opportunity to encourage others to pursue a university education and he always recommends the Access Program.

“They are the most down-to-earth, incredible team. On their 50^th anniversary, I wish them all the best, many more students and many more years of success.”

Learn more about the Access Program

Guided by MomentUM: Leading Change Together, UM is committed to empowering learners through dynamic learning experiences that meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. Investing in SoTL enables instructors and faculty members to examine their teaching practices, incorporate evidence-based findings, and ultimately, improve student success.

The 2025 SoTL Support Fund has awarded five Seed projects, a stream within the scaffolded-funding program which supports time-limited and innovative new teaching and learning research ideas with a budget of up to $6000. These projects span a range of disciplines, each offering an innovative approach to advancing research-based teaching and learning at UM.

Empowering Statistical Minds: Data Exploration for Student Engagement

Project lead: Hina Shaheen, Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science

Bridging the gap between theoretical statistical concepts and real-world applications can be challenging for many Statistics students. Traditional lecture-based approaches often encourage rote memorization of formulas rather than deep understanding. This project will introduce small-group, collaborative experiments using real-world databases, promoting active learning through data exploration and statistical decision-making. The hands-on problem-solving activities aim to strengthen students’ analytical reasoning, decision-making, and statistical interpretation skills. Analysis of students’ behavioural, emotional, and social engagement outcomes will inform and support ongoing initiatives aimed at enhancing student success and career readiness.

Live Podcasting in Teacher Education: Amplifying Engagement, Dialogue, and Multimodal Literacies

Project lead: Amir Michalovich, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education

This project examines the extent to which live podcasting in class can cultivate engaging, dialogic, and multimodal classroom discussions for students in teacher education. Given the rapid advancement of generative AI, it is increasingly important to explore classroom-based assignments involving students co-developing and demonstrating their knowledge. While some research has explored the use of pre-recorded or edited podcasts in post-secondary education, it has rarely examined digital multimodal assignments conducted live in class. This study addresses that gap by exploring how these tools can impact student engagement with course content, participation in dialogic learning, and development of communicative skills across multimodal literacies (e.g., speaking, listening, writing, viewing, and representing). 

Team-based collaborative learning from the head to the toes to better health for all

Project lead: Dr. Laura MacDonald, Dental Hygiene, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

This project pilots an interprofessional team-based collaborative experiential learning program aimed at facilitating the integration of oral health within comprehensive health care. It will examine students’ perspectives of a novel interprofessional education (IPE) initiative delivered in a dental clinic setting. Both existing research and the outcomes of a recent Rady Faculty of Health Sciences interprofessional simulation indicate a persistent gap in incorporating oral health within comprehensive health-care practice. Situating this intervention within a dental clinic is intended to help health professional students connect oral health with overall health and roles and responsibilities to ensure comprehensive health care. Findings will offer curriculum IPE developers valuable insights into the key traits students believe support interprofessional collaboration competencies, specifically relationship-focused care, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and collaborative leadership.

Case-Based Learning in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design

Project co-leads: Yuhao Lu, Department of Landscape Architecture and Mark Meagher, Environmental Design Program

In landscape architecture and design education, students often struggle to build and apply an accurate vocabulary for describing spatial patterns. Relying solely on memorized definitions limits students’ abilities to recognize or articulate design intensions in new contexts. Applying case-based learning principles, which emphasize that deeper understanding emerges from exposure to concrete examples, this project will give students access to real-world cases in the form of project drawings and photographs. A curated collection of design patterns and vocabulary will be developed from an extensive database of precedents and enhanced through state-of-the-art machine learning. Students will submit their own sketches, which the system will analyze to generate key vocabulary terms to describe the patterns and examples of related patterns across multiple design disciplines. Pre- and post-project surveys will assess the tool’s impact on students’ design literacy, pattern recognition, and communicative competence.

Collaborative Proof Writing: Enhancing Mathematical Understanding and Communication Skills Through Group-Based Learning

Project lead: Jamie de Jong, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science

Writing mathematical proofs can be a significant challenge for undergraduate students, who must shift from the computational problem-solving emphasized in high school to the formal reasoning required in university mathematics. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of targeted in-class group activities designed to strengthen both mathematical understanding and communication. The activities will focus on analyzing and writing mathematical proofs, with opportunities for immediate feedback from both instructors and peers. While peer feedback is well-established in writing-intensive fields, its application in proof-based mathematics is limited. Surveys and assessments of student performance will be used to measure the effectiveness of this teaching approach.

Learn more about how UM is supporting teaching excellence.

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