Welcome everyone who is joining our meeting here and to those who may be joining via livestream as we convene this Board of Governor’s meeting at our Vancouver campus.
I would like to acknowledge that UBC’s Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam people, and that UBC’s Okanagan campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. Board members and others are joining us remotely from many places near and far, and I’d like to acknowledge the traditional owners and caretakers of those lands as well.
To our students, faculty and staff on both campuses and beyond, welcome back! On behalf of the Board, I hope the first Term of your Winter Session is off to a great start.
I would like to acknowledge that this will be the last meeting that Santa Ono, our President, will be with us for before he leaves the University in October. Santa, I am aware of a number of farewell events that have occurred over the past month, including a dinner with current and former Board members. I hope that you have heard how much the University community has valued and appreciated your service and leadership over the past six years. I know, too, that you have been recognized for your time as UBC President by many people beyond our own University community.
For myself, it has been wonderful working with you and I can speak on behalf of the Board in saying, Thank you so much, Santa for all that you’ve done. We wish you the best in your new role as President of the University of Michigan.
Of course, with Santa’s departure, we have some big shoes to fill. To update the University community, the Board and its Executive Committee have been working diligently to identify an Acting President to serve while we also work in parallel to form the Presidential Search Committee and identify a firm to support the search for our next President. I look forward to updating the community on the Acting President in the very near future.
Our Interim Vice-President Finance, Karamjeet Heer, will also be leaving UBC at the end of October to take up a new role at Simon Fraser University. Karamjeet, you have always been a pleasure to work with and your work in financial reporting – particularly through the transition to Workday – has been so important to the University. On behalf of the Board, we wish you all the best and thank you for stepping into the Interim VP Finance role this year.
Today is the first Board of Governors meeting that our newest Governors will attend. I want to officially welcome Marianne Legault, a faculty-elected member from the Okanagan campus, and Byron Thom, a newly appointed member of the Board. Welcome Marianne and Byron!
I would like to mention that this coming Friday, September 30, is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also referred to as “Orange Shirt Day”. Some of us are wearing our orange shirts as we gather today. The Orange Shirt is worn to recall the experience of residential school Survivor Phyllis Webstad, who at six years old was stripped of her new orange shirt on her first day attending residential school. On this day, we remember and honour survivors, their families and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process. I encourage everyone to spend some time in reflection, education and awareness activities, or by visiting UBC’s Residential School History and Dialogue Centre to learn more.
Today we will hear from the leadership of UBC’s student unions: the Alma Mater Society and Graduate Student Society from the Vancouver campus, and the Students’ Union Okanagan from the Okanagan campus. The Board greatly values the annual presentations from our student leadership each year, and we look forward to your presentations this morning.
I am proud to note that the Royal Society of Canada has announced that 13 UBC faculty members are among this year’s Fellows and Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
Ten UBC faculty members have been named Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada:
- Barbara Arneil (Political Science, UBCV)
- Jiahua Chen (Statistics, UBCV)
- Villy Christensen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, UBCV)
- Nicholas Coops (Forest Resources Management, UBCV)
- Marcel Franz (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
- Kai Li (Sauder School of Business, UBCV)
- Steven Miller (Pediatrics, UBCV / BC Children’s Hospital)
- Fabio Rossi (School of Biomedical Engineering / Medical Genetics, UBCV)
- Margaret Schabas (Philosophy, UBCV)
- Sunera Thobani (Asian Studies, UBCV)
Three UBC faculty members were named as Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists:
- Kimberley Brownlee (Philosophy, UBCV)
- Eric Li (Management, UBCO)
- Christoph Ortner (Mathematics, UBCV)
These distinguished individuals from all branches of learning have made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life.
As we always do, I would like to acknowledge three faculty members of notable distinction:
- In the research category we have Professor John Graham from the School of Social Work in the Faculty of Health and Social Development on the Okanagan Campus. Graham was named as a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and is the first Canadian to be so inducted. Dr. Graham’s current research focuses on homelessness reduction in small and medium sized cities within and beyond the Okanagan, and offering evidence-based approaches to mitigate and eradicate homelessness across our communities.
- In the service category we recognize Associate Professor Minelle Mahtani from the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice in the Faculty of Arts on the Vancouver Campus. Mahtani was appointed the university’s first Senior Advisor to the Provost on Racialized Faculty in 2018. She also teaches courses on storytelling and race, using storytelling to highlight issues of equity and inclusion. Dr. Mahtani was honored with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and was recently honoured with the Gold Digital Publishing Award for Best Personal Essay.
- In the teaching category we congratulate Professor Rose Hatala from the Faculty of Medicine. Hatala is a general internist and palliative care physician at St. Paul’s Hospital and a Professor in the Department of Medicine. She has extensive front-line experience as a clinical educator for undergraduate and postgraduate learners. Dr. Hatala has been awarded the Faculty of Medicine’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Education for a second time; she previously received this recognition in 2013.
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.
There were a number of Committee meetings scheduled for September 19, which became a National Day of Mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A number of meetings scheduled for that day were deferred as a result and consequentially, we do not have a full slate of committee reports this meeting. Thank you so much to everyone on the Board and in the Administration for supporting us to accommodate the day to recognize the Queen’s passing.
