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The University of New Brunswick (UNB) and the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association (AFOA) of Canada signed an articulation agreement today in which both organizations signify their intent to work together to establish academic programs that support Aboriginal Peoples. “Education is the cornerstone of our successes in life and AFOA is very proud to grow our relationships with educational institutions like UNB,” said Dana Soonias, chair, Board of Directors of AFOA Canada. “Creating financial and management capacity in our communities is the basis of building healthy communities in the future.” The articulation agreement gives students with an Aboriginal Financial Management (AFM) diploma from the AFOA the option of entering the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program at UNB with advanced standing, meaning it will take them less time to finish their BBA degree. “Articulation is about recognizing academic prior learning and making higher education accessible,” said Dr. Anthony Secco, UNB vice-president Fredericton (academic). “UNB’s new articulation agreement with AFOA eliminates the obstacles for students who wish to obtain their BBA. The University of New Brunswick is committed to providing educational opportunities to Aboriginal peoples”. The AFOA was founded in 1999 to raise financial and management skills in First Nations and build the foundation for self-government. AFOA’s premise is that developing finance and management skills is essential to Aboriginal economic and social prosperity. Since its founding, AFOA has built a solid reputation in developing Aboriginal educational and certification programs for financial managers. The AFM program was designed by AFOA Canada to lead to the Certified Aboriginal Financial Managers (CAFM) designation. The CAFM designation is the only one of its kind in the world. There are currently over 350 CAFMs in Canada. Established in 1785, UNB is one of the oldest public universities in North America. With about 11,500 full- and part-time students from more than 100 countries, UNB has one of the best student-to-faculty ratios of Canada’s comprehensive universities, according to Maclean’s magazine. As the largest research institution in New Brunswick, UNB conducts close to 80 per cent of the province’s university research. UNB has more than 60 research centres, institutes, groups and major projects. For more information, contact Jody Warnes, AFOA Canada at 1-866-722-2362 or jwarnes@afoa.ca; or Belinda Elliott-Bielecki, UNB, at (506) 453-4848 or belinda@unb.ca

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