September 26 marks our first Board of Governors meeting of the new academic year, and my first as Board Chair. I am excited about the opportunity to engage with, and serve, our community in this role.

As we prepare for this meeting and our full-year proceedings, it is our commitment to do so in line with SFU’s core value of engagement and openness.  

This year, to further embed our values in our governance systems, we will be offering our open Board meetings in a hybrid format which will include opportunities for involvement in-person and online. This change will ensure the community can witness the Board’s business in an open, transparent and public format. 

You can find all upcoming meetings for the year on the Board of Governors website.

Engaging with the Board

If you are interested in presenting to the Board, or speaking to a specific agenda item, we have two new processes this academic year to support you:

• Those who wish to request a new agenda item to present to the Board can do so on the Board website. 
• Those who wish to speak to an agenda item already scheduled for the Board meeting can submit their request on the Board website at least 3 days in advance of the meeting.

Attending a Board meeting

Each open Board meeting will have limited space in the gallery to accommodate guests who have been invited to present or speak to the Board. Any remaining seats are available for those who wish to watch in person.

If you are interested in watching the meeting in person, you can complete a registration request form. We are asking in-person attendees to read and respect our Guidelines for Attendees to ensure meetings remain safe and respectful. 

Where interest in attending a meeting in person exceeds the available remaining seating, a lottery system will be implemented with attendees selected at random. Community members can also register to watch the proceedings virtually via Zoom with the same registration request form.

Our aim is to improve access for the community and provide options for people to participate in ways that work for them. These changes will also help ensure that open Board meetings are inclusive, transparent, safe and respectful for all, creating space for a variety of subjects and views to be discussed and considered.  

The Board will assess these changes on an ongoing basis; if you have feedback, I encourage you connect with Margarita Fullerton, University Secretary, at board_admin@sfu.ca. 

I look forward to engaging with and serving the SFU community over the coming year. 

Sincerely,

Paula Martin 
Chair, Board of Governors 
Simon Fraser University