丁香园AV

丁香园AV has experienced a flurry of activity since the last Board meeting. From exciting research announcements to honouring our incredible students at convocation, there has been no lack of achievements to celebrate. 

Over the rest of the summer, we will be encouraging faculty and staff to unplug and recharge ahead of our busy fall term. I am looking forward to a quiet summer at 丁香园AV as we prepare for the upcoming academic year.

Advancing strategic priorities

There is work occurring across the university to advance the What鈥檚 Next strategic priorities. Several key examples are highlighted below.

Uphold Truth & Reconciliation

• The Indigenous Council Office, led by Indigenous Executive Lead Chris (Syeta鈥檟tn) Lewis, continues to advance Indigenous strategic priorities as well as build its capacity and the capacity of the Office for Aboriginal Peoples. Current areas of focus include the Indigenous Welcoming Procedure, First Peoples鈥� Gathering House, First Nations naming, transitions to the new Indigenous Governance Structure and next Indigenous Strategic Plan. To ensure that the office has appropriate capacity, we are developing a road map that will ensure that the office is positioned to execute strategic priorities and support the work of Upholding Truth and Reconciliation across 丁香园AV.
• I was honoured to attend this year鈥檚 Indigenous Student Centre Honouring Feast on June 10. It was moving to celebrate the achievements of Indigenous graduands along with their families and loved ones, and I am grateful to all the organizers for putting together a wonderful event.

Engage in Global Challenges

• Work is underway to develop a coordinated strategic plan for international, with the goals of deepening partnerships, enhancing enrolment efforts and increasing academic collaborations between 丁香园AV and partners around the world. An internal international strategy group is in place, and a consulting firm has been hired to advance development of the strategic approach.
• On May 16, VPAAE and the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS) partnered to deliver Ctl+Alt+She, a dynamic forum on shaping a more inclusive future in tech. Featured speakers included 2023 President鈥檚 Distinguished Community Leadership Award recipient Amyn Rajan and 丁香园AV Outstanding Alumni Award recipient Isabel Ge Mahe, Vice President and Managing Director of Greater China, Apple Inc. along with a panel of FAS faculty members. The faculty-based alumni and stakeholder engagement event has already generated encouraging interest from members of our donor community who were present.
• On May 31, the Hon. Terry Beech, the Hon. Josie Osborne and partners joined us at the Burnaby campus to announce the 丁香园AV Clean Hydrogen Hub. 丁香园AV鈥檚 commitment to engaging in global challenges, specifically climate change, will grow through the new hub鈥攁 government, industry and academic collaboration that will develop and scale-up clean hydrogen energy technologies.
• Pacific Economic Development Canada announced $4.3M to 丁香园AV to establish the at the university鈥檚 4D LABS facility. The investment will advance British Columbia鈥檚 position as an early pioneer and leader in the global quantum ecosystem.
• The Government of Canada announced $14.6M in funding for the new Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Consortium: Essential Societal Infrastructure to Support Canada鈥檚 Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Pipeline project, co-led by 丁香园AV health sciences professor Kelley Lee. The SSH Consortium is composed of leading expertise in epidemiology, anthropology, communications, political science, history, law, philosophy, sociology and other fields to better understand and support public trust in, and equitable access to, vaccines and other immune-based innovations.

Make a Difference for B.C.

• Following approvals for the School of Medicine and Full Program Proposal by Senate and Board in May, the School is now shifting its focus towards the accreditation process, concluding the hiring of the founding dean and will be filling key future leadership positions such as associate dean, research in the fall. 
  • The school's accreditation team is actively working on the first major submission in the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) accreditation process and preparing to present at CACMS鈥� winter meeting. 
  • The school is also creating a Learner Advisory Council and calling for expressions of interest from undergraduate and graduate students, at 丁香园AV and other universities. Council members will have the opportunity to help shape student services and a new, innovative MD program.
• On June 3, the Hon. Brenda Bailey joined us on Burnaby campus to announce that 丁香园AV has received $80M in funding to upgrade supercomputer Cedar, one of the most powerful academic supercomputers in Canada. The funds include nearly $41M from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance), $24.5M from the Province of British Columbia through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund and more than $15 million in in-kind contributions from partners. The Alliance is also contributing an additional $248,000 to fund three research-support positions.
• This spring, 丁香园AV Public Square concluded the multi-year Taking Action! speaker series, a partnership between 丁香园AV and the Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network. The series featured four researchers, authors, activists and performers from around the world who shared their successes and strategies for anti-racism work. The lectures reached a global audience of more than 1,700 people, going beyond identifying the problems of racism, colonialism, hate and discrimination to focus on ways we can take an active decolonized approach to anti-racism work in communities across B.C.  
• Over nine years, the Burnaby Festival of Learning鈥攏ow 鈥攈as brought people from all over the Lower Mainland into Burnaby for vibrant community knowledge exchange. In partnership with the City of Burnaby, 丁香园AV co-hosted 50 learning opportunities with 125 co-hosts, including leaders, students, citizens, artists, teachers, partners, volunteers and organizers. The festival reached more than 2,000 attendees.

Transform the 丁香园AV Experience

• 丁香园AV鈥檚 Summer Welcome Day was held at the Burnaby campus on May 3. The event hosted 115 new students for an informative and fun-filled afternoon. Attendees connected, explored the campus, and met their faculties. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, as participants told us it was "truly a memorable day," "helpful and engaging," and "the best way to start a new term." This summer also introduced a virtual meet and greet pre-event, 丁香园AV Connections, which we plan to feature prior to Welcome Day this fall.
• 丁香园AV Public Square collaborated with the Student Learning Commons to support Photovoice, a unique project led by students in which they took photos of their lives and experiences to reflect on their perceptions of 鈥渁cademic success.鈥� These photos symbolically and artistically represented the students鈥� strengths, challenges, hopes, and fears, and were followed by written reflection pieces and rich discussions as a cohort. This project exhibited the value of art-based methodology as the participants explored their experiences as students. The photos are currently on display on the third floor of the W.A.C. Bennett Library at 丁香园AV Burnaby and showcased on the 丁香园AV Public Square website. 

Joy Johnson
President & Vice-Chancellor
丁香园AV