President's report - March Board meeting

These are challenging times for SFU and for all Canadian post-secondary institutions, with budget challenges top-of-mind at the university and across the sector for several months now. To step into our potential while meeting these challenges and establishing a sustainable model, we are making changes to our organizational operations, and some administrative job losses can be expected as a result of these changes.

This is hard news to deliver, and the past month has been difficult for our community. The executive team is working as hard as we can to mitigate the impact of the changes, support our people, and build on SFU’s excellence in research, teaching and learning as we move forward.

SFU is an excellent university poised for a strong future, and I am confident that we will successfully navigate this period of transition and change. Here are the latest updates from around the university.

Administrative updates

University budget

In March, our Provost and Vice President, Academic, Dr. Dilson Rassier, provided an update to the SFU community, as well as employee unions and associations, regarding our budget. Declining international student enrollment has had an impact on our financial situation, and overall costs have increased at a higher rate than our revenues and funding.

The university has made the decision to restructure certain areas of its operations with an aim to reduce duplication and increase efficiency. As part of this work, we will also review service levels and identify work that is no longer required. During this restructuring, some administrative job losses can be expected. We are also extending the hiring freeze into the 2024–25 fiscal year.

 Another strategic measure introduced to reduce ongoing costs is the Voluntary Employment Separation Program. Participation in the program was offered to CUPE, APSA and Excluded (APEX) employees; however, CUPE and APSA declined to participate and the program is moving forward for APEX employees only.

During this time, we continue to work with unions and employee groups to support employees through the restructuring process, ensuring appropriate packages and supports while upholding our commitments to equity. Our plans are aimed at minimizing any impact on teaching, learning and research.

The Board unanimously approved SFU’s 2024–25 Budget and Financial Plan in a follow up board meeting that took place on April 11. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the plan and to all members of the community for continuing to support each other during this time of change.

Enrollments

For 2023–24, 29,190 unique students registered in courses at SFU, a decrease of 0.9% from the previous year. This decline is attributable to a 10% reduction in numbers of international students, which compound the reductions incurred since 2021. The 2023–24 ministry undergraduate target for SFU is 17,274 program full-time equivalents (PFTEs). SFU delivered 18,680 undergraduate PFTEs, exceeding the ministry-funded target by 8%.

On March 1, the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills shared their response to the international student visa cap announced by the federal government in January. We are pleased with the approach the provincial government has taken in distributing the 83,000 undergraduate study permits that were allocated for B.C., with 53% of the permits going to public post-secondary institutions. While we still anticipate some challenges in recruitment, this allocation will allow us to deliver on our Strategic Enrollment Plan and increase the international student population, all while providing a strong academic and student experience. 

We also have reasons to be optimistic about domestic student trends, which highlight the importance of senior leaders asking the provincial government for additional domestic undergraduate funded seats. Projected population growth rates of 18 to 21-year-olds in B.C.’s college regions are estimated to increase cumulatively by 20% from 2023 to 2032. College regions from which SFU draws its students are expected to grow by 16–18% over the same period. This implies that enrolment of new domestic students is likely to increase in the foreseeable future and could perhaps make up for shortfalls in international enrolments.

Recruitment

Student Recruitment and Admissions recently introduced a document upload feature that allows students to submit their required admissions documents digitally. Since launching, this new process has boosted submissions and increased the rate of applied to completed applications by 12% compared to this time last year. Students are now submitting earlier, enabling quicker evaluation and earlier admissions offers. The transparency of the process has also significantly reduced inquiries about document status as students receive a ‘real time’ update in their applicant portal.

Leadership renewal

There are a number of leadership searches currently underway at SFU.

SFU’s Dean of Faculty and Health Sciences, Dr. Tania Bubela, will be leaving SFU to take a new role as Provost and Vice-President Academic at the Aga Khan University, effective July 1, 2024. We are grateful for Tania’s leadership at SFU and wish her the best in her new role. A search for the new dean will be launched soon, and we are appointing a dean pro tem in the interim.

In addition, the Dean of Libraries and University Librarian search has commenced, with an open forum held on February 29. The search for the Dean of SFU’s Beedie School of Business is in the interview phase, and the Dean of the SFU Medical School is in the final stage of the search process.

Advancing strategic priorities

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

Uphold Truth & Reconciliation

• On April 1, the SFU Office for Aboriginal Peoples (OAP), which previously sat under the Provost and Vice-President Academic portfolio, will be moved to the Indigenous Council Office, reporting to Chris (Syeta’xtn) Lewis, Indigenous Executive Lead. This change will help increase capacity and lift up the work that OAP is doing as we continue to foster community, bring together truth and Reconciliation activities from across the university and begin the process of creating a renewed Indigenous Strategic Plan.
• This year marks the formal conclusion of the Aboriginal Strategic Initiative (ASI), a project started in 2017 that set aside $9M in one-time funds to build SFU’s capacity to recruit, educate and support Indigenous students to be successful in their programs, lives and careers. As we continue our journey to uphold truth and Reconciliation in everything we do at the university, we are grateful to the foundational work done by the ASI project team to advance Indigenization and decolonization at SFU. The ASI final report was published in March, accompanied by a closing ceremony to celebrate all we have accomplished together and look forward to the future.

Engage in Global Challenges

• Alumni Relations led a series of events to build engagement and strengthen relationships with alumni in Asia in late February and early March. Following successful visits in 2023, the team returned to Singapore and Hong Kong, and also hosted events in Taipei, Tokyo and Shanghai – areas that have not had an SFU Alumni presence since prior to 2020. They also worked closely with SFU Recruitment to ensure there were strategic engagement opportunities for SFU applicants and their families/supporters during the events.
• In January, SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement hosted a sold out public talk by award-winning Fire Weather author John Vaillant talking about the exponential expansion of climate-change induced forest fires, in conversation with SFU Geography Professor Geoff Mann, SFU Community Engaged Research Engagement lead Tara Mahoney and Climate Emergency Unit director Seth Klein. The public talk was moderated by Am Johal, Director of SFU VOCE and Co-Director of SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative.

Make a Difference for B.C.

• We are pleased that the province confirmed funding for the SFU Medical School through Budget 2024, allowing us to continue planning for the school without drawing on the finances of the university. We expect to receive more details from government about the funding and look forward to sharing those as they arrive. As I expressed in a message to the community, the upcoming year will be focused on internal consultation, approvals and accreditation, working closely with Senate and Board to ensure that approvals move through the proper channels.
• Thirteen new agritech projects aimed at strengthening the province’s food production have received funding from the SFU-led B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation (BCCAI). The projects aim to solve critical challenges facing food producers in B.C., including soil health, pest and pathogen management, Indigenous food sovereignty and training.
• On March 7, we gathered at the Surrey campus for our second annual SFU Surrey Community Mixer. I had the opportunity to share What’s Next for SFU to an audience of community leaders, donors and government reps. Thanks to our Surrey community, we raised more than $39,000 in funds, including a $25,000 donation from the Surrey Fire Fighters Charitable Society, with all proceeds going towards SFU’s Food Security Program.

Transform the SFU Experience

• SFU's EDI Diversity Data survey is set to launch in September. The survey will collect demographic information including but not limited to race, Indigeneity, (dis)ability, gender, sex at birth, and sexual orientation. The data gathered from the survey will fulfill various compliance requirements, support equitable and accountable decision-making and measures progress towards our institutional priorities. Early engagement with key stakeholders began in February 2024.
• I was honoured to attend the annual SFU Awards Gala along with other members of the executive to celebrate award-winning members of the SFU community. Together we celebrated recipients of SFU’s Staff Achievement Awards, 2023 Excellence in Teaching Awards, Community-Engaged Research Initiative Awards and more. Congratulations to all!
• Activities took place across the university this February in celebration of Black History Month, with the theme of “Building Connections for Black Flourishing.”
• In alignment with the People Plan and the need to support leaders at SFU, the People Strategies team hosted a leader’s mini-series entitled “Tools for Leading through SFU’s Current Landscape.” The series aimed to be responsive to leaders’ needs during these times of budget constraint, uncertainty and change, ensuring that SFU’s leadership community is equipped for the challenging times ahead.

Joy Johnson
President & Vice-Chancellor
Simon Fraser University