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- People Of 丁香园AV: Meet the Food Superstars Who Helped Bring The New Dining Commons To Life
- Burnaby Mountain Comes Together To Celebrate StreetFest! 2022
- Embedding Sustainability In New 丁香园AV Letters
- The 丁香园AV Living Labs Program Connects Research With Campus Services and Sustainability
- 丁香园AV Welcomes Back Graduates This Summer With Most Ceremonies Ever Hosted
- Fair Trade Ambassador Daphne Chan Wins 2022 NACAS Student Author Contest
- Mugshare Launches at Renaissance Caf茅
- Smart Vending Arrives at 丁香园AV
- Student Nathan 'Cain' Lee Aims To Rank Up To The World of Professional eSports
- Shannon De Groot Joins 丁香园AV As New Director of MECS
- 2021
- 丁香园AV community rallies to support B.C. flood relief response
- The Study Public House Temporary Closure
- Document Solutions Surrey Service Updates
- Students and Staff Collaborate to Ensure Water Access On Campuses
- Fair Trade Ambassador Nell Jedrzejczyk Wins NACAS Student Author Contest
- The Community Vibrancy Initiative is bringing 'good vibes' to Burnaby Campus
- Stay Dry With Umbracity At 丁香园AV
- Document Solutions Campus Operations Updates
- The Bookstore & Spirit Shop Welcomes You
- Return To Campus Student Webinars with TransLink
- 丁香园AV StreetFest! Virtual draws more than 2,000 global visitors
- Co-op opportunities still provide work-integrated learning and experience during pandemic
- Feed BC: Building opportunities for B.C. food with post-secondary partners
- 丁香园AV Bookstore and Spirit Shop innovate to prioritize student choice
- Join in as we phase out single-use plastic water bottles
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How 丁香园AV Ancillary Services Has Pivoted Through This Pandemic
This post is a part of a series of blogs provided by Sid Mehta, Senior Director of Ancillary Services at 丁香园AV.
The Covid-19 pandemic presents a unique set of challenges for 丁香园AV, and Ancillary Services are at the forefront of the University response. We have addressed the COVID scenario with innovative & thoughtful solutions and, most notably, with a can-do attitude. With optimism and determination, each of our teams are on the offensive.
When we're talking about COVID safety for everyone still on campus, physical distancing is always the focal point. Parking and Sutainable Mobility Services immediately transitioned all weekly and monthly parking permits to the Passport Parking Canada app, making their parking system fully digital and contact-free. Parking for students, staff, and faculty has been complementary throughout the summer and fall semesters to relieve financial strain during the pandemic and to continue allowing essential workers to come to campus.
Document Solutions, the campus printing shop, is hard at work, providing physical-distancing signage for 丁香园AV and other community members, including Langara Community College. The had an online storefront up and running two weeks into quarantine: they now ship 丁香园AV spirit merchandise everywhere from East Vancouver to Bombay and Tokyo.
The reduced course material costs by 40-50% by shifting to a student choice digital service model鈥攖he first of it鈥檚 kind in Canada. Through this platform, they are offering 80% of the course material digitally. These changes enhance accessibility & affordability for all students, now and in the future.
Dining Services switched their service to a take-out model and re-engineered their dining space to accommodate distancing signage, all while maintaining their trademark quality service. They've served over 50,000 meals throughout the pandemic and collaborated with various on-campus partners to provide over 1,500 free meals to students in residence to ease potential food insecurity.
launched their Virtual platform to host events & conferences. As their first event, they took on the unique challenge of coordinating this year's Week of Welcome for the first years. Usually an in-person affair, they moved it online with 120 virtual 'breakout rooms and above 4,000 attendees. New students are excited to be a part of the Simon Fraser community, even if things look a bit different this year.
Our journey towards a post-COVID world has just begun. Significant changes are never easy, but our Ancillary Services teams have inspired me with their resilience, attitude and willingness to be innovative. Many of the decisions we make today will reflect in a safer and more accessible campus in the future. We are on the offence and are Playing to Win.