Message from the President: Transforming the SFU Experience
In recent years, our sector and university have experienced an unprecedented level of change due to many external factors. It has been a difficult time, but we have made the necessary changes to ensure the long-term sustainability of the institution and our ability to achieve our vision.
We are all doing more with less. What I hear from across the university is the need to make it easier to do our most meaningful learning, research and work. Our systems, structures and processes need to modernize to support students, faculty and staff to flourish while ensuring long-term sustainability.
To that end, I have asked Provost and VPA Dilson Rassier, interim VPFA Karamjeet Heer and VPPEI Yabome Gilpin-Jackson to co-sponsor a university-wide focus to transform the experience for students, faculty and staff. We will soon begin engaging with the SFU community to help identify and prioritize pan-university projects that will have the greatest impact on:
- Service optimization: identifying and addressing obstacles that make work more difficult or complex for students, faculty and staff (as raised through What’s Next, the Strategic Research Plan, the People Plan and others).
Program pathways: through normal collegial governance processes and aligning with Academic Plan goals, we will identify ways to reduce complexity and enhance the student experience through supporting efficient pathways to completion, ultimately ensuring the long-term sustainability, responsiveness and relevance of our academic programming in a changing post-secondary landscape.
Over the next few months, faculty and staff will be invited to participate in engagement sessions to help us understand which service optimization projects would make the biggest difference for our community. Please watch the Campus Connections SharePoint site and your email for opportunities and plan to make your voice heard.
Thanks to all of you for your work to adapt and innovate in the face of changes across the institution thus far. SFU’s greatest strength is our community, and I know that you will continue to support each other as we move forward together.
Joy Johnson
Pronouns: she, her, hers
President & Vice-Chancellor
Simon Fraser University