The Associate Vice-President,
Institutional Research and Planning
Pierre Mercier was appointed Associate Vice-President, Institutional Research and Planning in 2004
Pierre Mercier was born in Beauport, formerly Courville, in the eastern suburb of Québec city, in 1953. His playground included the Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans. He completed his elementary studies at the École Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur and his secondary studies at the Externat classique St-Yves, until Belles-lettres, to then become part of the first generation of Cegep students at the Collège de Limoilou. Next, he completed his Baccalaureate (1973-76) and his Master's (1976-78) degrees in Psychology at the Université Laval. During this period, he held scholarships from the Fonds pour la formation des chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche du Québec (FCAR) as well as the Medical Research Council of Canada (CRM) and he worked in the field of awareness and behaviour modification under the supervision of Professor Robert Ladouceur. Finally, he completed his doctorate in the same discipline at McGill University, in 1983, specializing in learning and cognition under the supervision of Professor Andy Baker, holding a scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). During this period, he also perfected his skills in inferential statistics and applied computing.
As a Professional Associate at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Research Unit of the Allan Memorial Institute of McGill University, he worked as a statistical analyst and computer expert in a psychiatric research team directed by Dr. Guy Chouinard. Returning briefly to his home town as a Research Associate at the École de psychologie of the Université Laval, he co-authored the book Fondements de l'apprentissage et de la cognition in collaboration with Professor François Doré. He also developed an independent research program in cognitive psychology funded by NSERC.
In 1987, he moved his research program to the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, first as Assistant and then as Associate Professor. Over the years, this research program evolved to comprise various aspects of associative learning and its computer simulation, causal judgement, decision making, confidence, and risk perception, giving rise to 35 peer reviewed articles and 60 scientific communications. He has supervised the theses of six doctoral students.
Since his arrival at the University of Ottawa, he has taught the psychology of learning and statistical analysis of psychological data. He has continually participated in the organizational aspects of our community as Director of undergraduate programs in psychology, Director of the doctoral program in experimental psychology, Assistant Director and then Director of the School of Psychology and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (2001-2004) before his nomination as Associate Vice-President, Institutional Research and Planning.
Outside the office, he can be seen riding his motorcycle with his son Samuel or travelling with his spouse, Celine Pinsent, to visit the in-laws on Prince-Edward Island.
Role:
The Associate Vice-President, Institutional Research and Planning determines information needs, implements systems and trains a special team that can study issues and support the University in its decision-making process. Provides analytical expertise and support for the strategic-planning process; designs and publishes performance indicators to gauge the attainment of stated objectives. Interprets and applies the policies and directives of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities relating to the registration and tuition-fee reporting requirements.
