100 days as dean

The law-adapted KAIROS Blanket Exercise at the powwow grounds of Maskêkosihk (Enoch Cree Nation)

Dean Fiona Kelly recently marked a milestone in her tenure as the new dean of the U of A Faculty of Law, completing her first 100 days since the start of the fall term.

We sat down with her to talk about navigating the learning curve of these early days, the highlights she’s experienced along the way and what lies ahead.

Connecting and listening

After undertaking a 14,000 km move last summer from Melbourne, Australia, where she served as dean of La Trobe University Law School, Kelly was ready to start forging connections as the fall term got underway.

“When you start in a role like this the temptation is just to jump in and start doing things, but connecting and listening are probably the most important tasks that you can take on as a leader,” she says.

As Kelly has gotten to know students, colleagues, alumni and donors, it’s become clear to her what people value most about the faculty – collegiality, teaching excellence and pursuing research that has an impact on community and society.

She’s also had the chance to work with senior university leadership and start to think “innovatively and creatively” about ways the Faculty of Law can contribute to projects and initiatives across campus.

A deep dive into faculty life

Kelly’s schedule over the last six months has been jam-packed with events: from  welcoming the Class of 2027, to attending student and alumni mixers, class reunions and annual awards celebrations throughout the fall.

She’s also taken part in some unique experiences she may not have foreseen – like launching the popular weekly “Pets of the Week” series, where students and staff members share their pets with the U of A Law community, and being cast in a cameo role for the 2025 Law Show, a musical theatre extravaganza staged annually by law students.

While there have been many highlights, one of Kelly’s earliest standout experiences was the Launchpad Into Law program.

The program, which is led by the Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge (WLGL), takes place over two weeks in late August to familiarize incoming first year Indigenous students with Indigenous legal traditions.

Shortly after, Kelly also attended her first law-adapted KAIROS Blanket Exercise, a learning opportunity co-hosted by the WLGL and the faculty for all 1L students.

“The WLGL has done an extraordinary job at building a vibrant Indigenous community,” she says. “To see Indigenous students in leadership roles at the Blanket Exercise was such a wonderful way to foreground Indigenous law as part of law school at the U of A.”

Kelly has also been excited to explore the opportunities provided by the faculty’s experiential learning initiatives – such as the Low-Income Individuals and the Law program and the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic – which she believes are important for students to build confidence and develop a culture of service.

Experiential learning is an area where she sees great potential for future growth and would ultimately like to offer a placement guarantee for students to complete a clinical experience during their degree.

The faculty is currently hiring for an Experiential Learning Team Lead position that will help move this work forward and develop new opportunities.

Another goal Kelly has started working towards is mending and building relationships with Black students, who historically have had low enrollment numbers in the faculty.

Through collaborations with the newly-formed U of A chapter of Black Future Lawyers (BFL), including an upcoming conference co-hosted by ELITE Program Pathway for Law, BFL and the faculty, she hopes to encourage both high school students and U of A undergraduate students to consider the faculty their law school of choice.

“For me, it’s about building relationships of trust and making it really clear that we are a faculty committed to attracting Alberta’s top Black talent,” she says.

Moving the faculty forward

After spending her first 100 days building a deeper understanding of the faculty, Kelly is optimistic about what comes next.

The faculty recently completed a series of strategic planning focus group sessions with faculty, staff, students and alumni that will help set priorities for the coming years. Kelly is aiming to launch the plan by the end of the summer.

She also shares that there is an “enormous amount of behind the scenes work going on” related to a number of large and exciting development projects that are in the works.

“I’ve really been struck by how much people value this community and want to invest in it,” she says. “I feel very lucky as a dean to be in a faculty that has healthy endowments and a strong culture of giving back.”