Welcome back and updates from the Board

It is great to see the SFU community back on campus for another year of learning, teaching, research and work at the university. We heard that students were especially eager to attend Welcome Day this year and it is heartening to see them so engaged in campus life.

With a new year comes new changes for the Board of Governors. This was my first meeting as board chair, and Mike McDonald’s first meeting as vice-chair. It is an honour to be leading the board during this important time for SFU. We also have several new committee chairs as of our last meeting in July. Thanks to Carol Herbert, Mike McDonald and Neelam Sahota for volunteering their time in this way.

Our refreshed committee structure is one example of the governance work the Board has undertaken in the past year. This work also includes a review of our agenda construction to ensure we are having productive conversations that move the university forward, and a focus on education and relationship-building to ensure that we are well-informed and working in partnership with Senate.

We will continue to evolve and refine our governance model in the year ahead with the aim of providing the best possible support and oversight for SFU.

Welcoming new Board members

At this meeting, we formally welcomed Matt Vickers as a new Order-in-Council Board member. Matt has been entrenched in his Indigenous tradition and has been a top-notch business leader for the past forty-four years. He has built several successful businesses in a variety of sectors including First Nations artwork, technology, and management consulting. You can learn more about him on our website.

We are excited to work with Matt and look forward to the perspective and insight he brings to the Board.

Changes to Board meetings

Ahead of this meeting, we shared several changes with the community around how Board meetings will be conducted.

This year, we will be offering open Board meetings in a hybrid format, which will include opportunities for involvement in-person and online. We have also developed new processes to support those who wish to engage with the Board by requesting a new agenda item or speaking to an existing agenda item.

Our aim is to improve access for the community and provide options for people to participate in ways that work for them, while ensuring that Board meetings are inclusive, transparent, safe and respectful for all. Please visit the Board website for more details on these new processes.

Upholding Truth and Reconciliation

At this meeting, we acknowledged the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. The Board is grateful to Chris (Syeta’xtn) Lewis, the Indigenous Council Office and partners and collaborators across the university for moving forward important work in this space, in consultation with Indigenous community members and Host Nations.

Upholding Truth and Reconciliation is one of SFU’s core priorities as outlined in What’s Next: The SFU Strategy, and the Board will continue to reflect this commitment in our decisions and actions as a governance body.

Next meeting

The next Board meeting will be on November 28. Community members are invited to view the open session meeting in person or via Zoom by completing a registration request form. A full schedule of upcoming meetings is available on our website.

Sincerely,

Paula Martin
Chair, Board of Governors
Simon Fraser University