Roula Markoulakis, a University of Toronto student completing a PhD in rehabilitation science, has been chosen as CAUT’s J.H. Stewart Reid Memorial Fellowship recipient for the 2012–2013 year.

Markoulakis, who graduated with a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in kinesiology from Wilfrid Laurier University, was named the winner of the fellowship by the selection committee based on her academic achievements, information in her personal statement and funding eligibility.

Markoulakis is researching how university policies and practices influence service access and use by students with mental health concerns. She is conducting an institutional ethnography — a method of inquiry that explores how activities within an organization are coordinated and socially driven — and serves on the National Post-secondary Student Mental Health Working Group, a group struck by the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services to develop a post-secondary student mental health strategy.

She attributes her PhD research interests to her prior experience at Wilfrid Laurier’s Accessible Learning Centre, where she volunteered as a learning strategist working one-on-one with students experiencing a variety of difficulties, from acute injuries to enduring cognitive or physical impairments and mental illnesses.

“These activities have contributed greatly to the development of my project and will continue to be important as I carry out my research,” she said.

Markoulakis has received nume­rous other scholarships and awards, including three-time placement on the faculty of science dean’s honour roll during her undergraduate years and recipient of the prestigious Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship awarded by the Social Sciences and Huma­nities Research Council of Canada. She has also authored or co-authored journal articles and conference papers.

J.H. Stewart Reid Memorial Fellowships offer PhD students a one-year award of $5,000. Fellowships are funded from a trust established by CAUT in honor of the association’s first executive secretary, an appointment tasked with organizing a national office in Ottawa. Stewart Reid served in this capacity from June 1959 until his untimely death on Dec. 13, 1963, at age 54. The first fellowship to a graduate student was awarded in 1969.