December 3, 2020

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of 2020, a year which we will all remember as one full of challenges, heartache and unprecedented change, but also one which propelled the world forward on a number of fronts, including anti-racism, social justice and renewed calls to address the climate crisis.  UBC has fared well through the pandemic due to strong leadership and execution by the Administration and Faculties, joined together by the University’s vision of inspiring people, ideas and action for a better world, pursuing excellence in research, learning and engagement to foster global citizenship and advancing a sustainable and just society across British Columbia, Canada and the world.

As we approach the end of Winter Term 1 and the close of 2020, I would like to take the opportunity to highlight a few accomplishments.

First, on behalf of the Board of Governors, we extend our warmest congratulations to our 3,275 fall graduates, who celebrated the completion of their degrees at a virtual convocation November 25, 2020.  We are all very proud of your accomplishments, especially because they were achieved in such unique times.  We wish you well as you move onto the next phase of your life, whatever that may be.

UBC was recently recognized in Times Higher Education graduate employment rankings as 28th in the world, an astounding climb from number 61 last year.  No other top-50 university has made such progress in how it is viewed by the world’s largest employers.  So to those recent graduates, and all of our alumni, you should be doubly proud of your UBC degree and what it means in your ability to truly make a difference.

Also, on November 25, 2020 the Honourable Steven Point was formally installed as UBC’s 19th Chancellor in a virtual ceremony.  Chancellor Point was robed in UBC’s beautiful new Indigenized academic regalia by his wife Gwen, and welcomed to his new role by a number of dignitaries including the Lieutenant Governor, the Prime Minister, and the Premier.  If you have not had a chance to view this ceremony, it is available for viewing at https://virtualgraduation.ubc.ca/chancellor/

I would also like to congratulate the nine honourary degree recipients selected by the Vancouver Senate, and the seven honourary degree recipients selected by the Okanagan Campus.  They have, through their life’s work and accomplishments, contributed to the betterment of society.  The full list of honourees, including a summary of their contributions, can be found at:

2020 Honourary Degree Recipients, UBC Okanagan

2020 Honourary Degree Recipients, UBC Vancouver

Every meeting we recognize three scholars of notable distinction at UBC:

  • Teaching Category
    Professor Anthropology Sabina Magliocco, Faculty of Arts

Dr. Magliocco came to UBC in 2017 after 20 years at California State University–Northridge.   A recipient of Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright and Hewlett fellowships, Dr. Magliocco has published on religion, folklore, foodways, festival and witchcraft in Europe and the United States.  Prof. Magliocco has been awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Anthropology Student Association in recognition of her dedication to her students’ journeys, and inspiring her students in transformative lectures.

  • Service Category
    Professor Dominique Weis, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Dr. Weis is a Canada Research Chair Tier 1 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She is also Director of the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research at UBC, a world-class analytical facility.  Dr. Weis has been awarded the Mentorship Medal from the Canadian Federation of Environmental Sciences in recognition of her passion for helping students to achieve their potential.  Throughout her career, she mentored over 60 students and many more early career researchers.  Dr. Weis is an esteemed leader in the innovative use of trace elements and isotope geochemistry. Her previous awards and recognitions include the Faculty of Science Award for Research, the Geochemical Society Fellowship, and the André Dumont Career Award.

  • Research Category
    Professor Peter Zandstra Professor, Founding Director, School of Biomedical Engineering and Director, Michael Smith Laboratories

Dr. Zandstra has been elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, which represents one of the highest honours in the Canadian health sciences community.  He is internationally recognized for his distinguished contributions to the field of Biomedical Engineering and is advancing our fundamental understanding of how stem cells develop into mature blood cells. Using this knowledge to design and implement new technologies that enable stem cell-based therapies for diseases such as leukemia, Dr. Zandstra is driving the development and clinical testing of these new therapies with Canadian biotechnology companies.  Dr. Zandstra is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has received numerous high-profile awards including an E.W.R Steacie Memorial Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

To these distinguished faculty members, and the others whose research, scholarship, teaching and other academic contributions have recently been recognized, we offer our recognition and appreciation.

On November 1, 2020, UBC achieved a significant milestone in the transformation of its technology infrastructure, as we went live with Release 1 of the Integrated Renewal Program.  Program teams included over 600 employees, contractors and consultants and over 2.6 million person-hours of effort, equating to 1,300 person-years of work effort.  It involved the entire University community, and included 225,000 hours of training.  To further highlight the scope and scale of this project in the days following go-live, 17,800 faculty and staff logged in, almost 26,000 direct deposits occurred in the first payroll, there were over 21,000 views of the Workday knowledge base, 2,686 people applied for jobs in Workday, 68,600 journal entries were recorded – and those are just a few examples.  While no system implementation is perfect, all indications in the initial days of usage suggests that UBC’s success is nothing short of remarkable given the size and complexity of this project.  This is directly due to the commitment and collaboration of the team and the user community.  Once again, I would like to commend and thank every one of you who had a part of this monumental and transformative project.

Today, we are fortunate to welcome two guest speakers.  First, we will hear from University Librarian Dr. Susan Parker on the strategic plan for the Library, how the Library has been impacted by and has adapted to the pandemic, and how the Library supports UBC’s overall strategic plan.  Second, we will hear from Dr. David Patrick, Professor at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and co-chair of the BC COVID-19 Strategic Research Advisory Committee, about UBC’s role in the pandemic, UBC’s research response, and long-term lessons for the future of Canadian research.  I am confident you will find these topics engaging, enlightening and thought provoking.

I would also like to briefly report that Board and Senates Committee Chairs held a joint meeting earlier this fall.  The meeting addressed planning for the 2021-2022 academic year, development of a joint procedure for Presidential appointment and reappointment, and progress and strategies to advance UBC’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.  On this last item, I would like to extend my deep appreciation for the support of Governor Jeanie Malone.  She has been spearheading the initiative to develop a joint statement of expectations for respectful environment, culture and policies at UBC.  At the joint meeting, with the support of UBC’s AVP Equity & Inclusion Dr. Sara-Jane Findlay, the ways in which UBC’s principles and values for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are stated and integrated into UBC’s governance processes were discussed.  To support the Inclusion Action Plan, it was proposed that Goal 4 on inclusive excellence and 2a on systems change and decision-making incorporating EDI principles, be actioned via the Equity & Inclusion office through the creation of Action Teams.  A timeline was set out to establish and bring back to the Board and Senates the work of the Action Teams.  I look forward to working jointly on these leadership imperatives to ensure that EDI goals are advanced at UBC.

As we look forward to a new year [I am not sure we have ever so looked forward to a new year], we have hope that 2021 will bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunity to move forward into a new world informed by all that we have collectively learned in 2020.  Much of 2020 was focused on reacting, pivoting, accepting and adapting to the situation, but 2021 is a year of hope.  Hope that a vaccine will allow us to resume those things we lost in 2020, the ability to connect with those we love, the ability to collaborate with others, the ability to experience new places – and at UBC, the ability to return with resolve to our strategic objectives, to a new normal.  It will be a few months yet until this future materializes, but I am optimistic and hopeful for what the new year will bring.  I wish you all a much-deserved rest over the holidays, and that you return in the new year with that same sense of hope and promise for 2021.