Dr. Joy Fraser is Associate Professor of Health Administration in the Centre for State and Legal Studies at Athabasca University, an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta and a Research Affiliate at the Prairie Centre for Newcomers.  Joy received her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Educational Administration, Policy Studies, and her Master and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (With Distinction) from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.  She has assisted in the development and evaluation of a range of courses and programs at Athabasca University since she began her employment in 1991.

Joy is a local and international consultant on education, evaluation, accreditation, social justice, human rights and cultural competency.  Joy engages in accreditation and program approval visits across Canada and is a quality assurance reviewer and an external examiner for the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. She is a member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Steering Group and has assisted with the planning and implementation a Clearinghouse of information on quality assurance in Higher Education, a project which is partially funded by the World Bank.

Dr. Fraser has been a consultant on educational program planning and evaluation with the World Health Organization since 1999 and completed a project on evaluation of training programs for health professionals in Jan 2007.  She is currently a member of the WHO Task Force which has been has been created to lead a process of reviewing and updating the WHO Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery Services.

Besides her academic research and teaching, Dr. Fraser participates in a range of community activities and is active on many non-governmental and government boards. Joy has been Chair of the Human Rights City Edmonton Project since 2005. She has volunteered her time and resources with the Soweto Home-based Care Cooperative in South Africa and the Genocide Women’s Centre in Rwanda. She received the Global Citizen’s Award from the United Nations Association in Canada in 2005 for her contribution to building a more peaceful and equitable global community. At the United Nations Global Youth Assembly in August 2007, it was announced that Dr. Fraser had been chosen to receive a Prestigious African Award for her work in education and human rights, presented in Nigeria on March 25, 2008.

Joy has recently been asked by the Canadian Human Rights Commission to provide input into their development of a prototype of a Human Rights Report Card for Canada.