Two UNBC alumni receive awards

The Alumni Council of UNBC has announced two recipients of the 2018 University of Northern BC Alumni Awards for their leadership and service.

Helen Domshy, who received her Master of Arts degree in Gender Studies in 2001, was awarded the UNBC Alumni Community Service Award for her significant volunteer accomplishments and impact with several volunteer organizations.

Domshy was a full-time mammographic technologist at the University Hospital of Northern BC and a clinical instructor before enrolling in graduate studies at UNBC. She was involved in the university’s Alumni Association executive, initiating a development process for the Memorandum of Understanding with UNBC as well as the full-time Alumni Relations position. Domshy held a position on UNBC’s Senate for three years while also teaching Gender and Women’s Studies 498, Women in Sacred Tradition in 2007 and 2009. In seven years, she raised more than $20,000 for children’s literacy projects in her role as the Literacy Outreach Coordinator for Prince George. She also wrote a history of the Highway of Tears for the PG Sexual Assault Centre and was the primary author for the Northern John Howard report: Spousal Abuse for Men in Prince George and the Literacy Prince George workbook for the Kitchen Table Learning Program.

“I am delighted to be receiving this award. UNBC took me to a new and exciting road to learning. Being an advocate for education and with the expansive definition of literacy, my degree has allowed me to support and work with so many dedicated people in Prince George. UNBC has welcomed me, challenged me and includes me into an on-going discussion of life-learning. I am proud to call UNBC home,” Domshy said in a statement.

The other is Sam Milligan, a Registered Nurse who earned his Master of Science degree in Community Health at UNBC in 2012, who received the Professional Excellence Award. He earns the honour based on outstanding professional contributions to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of society.

Milligan has devoted time caring for the health and wellness of marginalized people including those in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Northern BC. Working at the Carrier Sekani Family Services as an Integrated Care Coordinator since 2015, he was instrumental in developing CSFS Integrated care teams, monitoring and analyzing the quality of care to support initiatives to offer best practices that address patient safety and enhanced quality of care. He has also developed and implemented prevention, testing, and treatment practices to improve services for blood-borne pathogens at Northern Health. Milligan Northern Health work does not stop there, co-developing the Medication Adherence Support Program which works with heavily marginalized clients who otherwise would not have succeeded on HIV treatment.

“UNBC helped my career in many ways, but the two that stand out the most are the access to professors and the regional connections I was able to make through the University Hospital of Northern B.C. I appreciate that UNBC has chosen to recognize the work I have done and continue to do,” said Milligan in a statement.

“As UNBC graduates, both Sam and Helen have made outstanding contributions to their communities and professions in which they serve,” said UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks in a statement.

“They are exceptional leaders who continue to influence those around them.”