Message from President Cassels: Navigating challenging times together
Dear colleagues,
I hope you are well and safe as we continue to navigate our way through these challenging times together. They are unprecedented in our lifetimes and call upon the great strengths of our university community.
Yesterday, the Chair of the Board of Governors shared the news that I have agreed to stay on in my role as President beyond my planned end date of June 30, 2020. The Chair emphasized the need for stability and continuity right now and I am committed to serving you until the university is in a better position for the transition to new leadership.
Thank you for everything you're doing
To some it might look like we are slowly closing down the university, given all the recent measures we have enacted to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our community strong and healthy. I want to assure you, however, that while on-campus life has certainly slowed, our university remains open and active—albeit in a different way than usual.
In reality, just behind the scenes, there is a cast of thousands who are delivering courses to students with the aid of technology, who are continuing our critical research within physical distancing requirements, and who are working on-campus and remotely to provide our core services to students and employees.
From every quarter of our university, I am hearing heartening stories about the innovative and proactive approaches our faculty, staff and students are taking to get the job done.
Thank you again for your exceptional levels of engagement and flexibility through these uncertain times.
Supporting each other now and for the future
While the immediate future of this global event is uncertain, we continue to plan, as best we can, for all possible scenarios. Since I last wrote, many have been hard at work preparing for the summer academic term to ensure students who want to learn, can.
We have also established new bursaries for students experiencing emergency financial need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our faculty have been making every effort to ensure students can complete this current term and receive credit for their hard work to date.
Our staff quickly mobilized, transferring their work lives to their homes. Those staff who remain on campus are maintaining operations while physically distancing.
I remain deeply appreciative of our faculty, staff and students who have answered the call to work remotely. Your distance is keeping our campus safe for those members of the UVic community who have to be here as they attend to the health and safety of others, and maintain our facilities and infrastructure.
I would like to acknowledge all of our dedicated onsite staff, whether you are in residences, housekeeping, food services, security or facilities management. Thank you.
We are continuing to provide assistance to our students who were on international placements to return to Canada, as well as those on campus who have been able to head home early.
We are also working to ensure that our students who hoped to celebrate their convocation in June 2020 are able to do so, perhaps at a different time or through different means.
Planning for what's next
The business of the university continues as well.
Our Board of Governors met via video conference earlier this week and approved the university’s 2021-2023 Planning & Budget Framework. You will shortly be hearing more about that from your budget leads. Much work remains to fully understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on our students and the university, but I can assure you there is extensive work underway to do so and the university will be prudent in its approach.
I know you will all be interested in the state of the university and our plans for the future and we will try to communicate frequently. None of us have ever experienced anything like this and there is no playbook but I can assure you we will always be doing what we think is the right thing, based on the information that we have.
UVic is part of the solution
We are also considering how we can contribute further to our region’s and nation’s response to the significant disruptions that are taking place.
As you can imagine, our campus community has been very active and creative in finding ways to respond to the crisis. From offering much needed advice and expertise to necessary research, UVic is committed to being there for our communities.
Our response will evolve as we work together with other post-secondary institutions, public health officials and our provincial and federal governments to do our part to slow and reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission. Updates on our efforts will continue to be shared on social media and through a new dedicated website.
We are all in this together
The last few weeks have been nothing like we could have ever imagined. I am continuously inspired by how people find new ways to take care of each other in our communities.
We are all in this together.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to follow public health guidelines but I also want to encourage you to take some time each day to focus on your mental health and wellness. Make sure to get outside to the extent advised by health authorities, enjoy our beautiful Pacific coast environment, make virtual connections with family and friends, and seek out positive stories.
UVic continues to monitor the provincial, national and global situation and we will keep you updated with any news that affects our institution. We are committed to meeting the immediate needs created by this global challenge, while planning for a time when we can return to our normal work routines.
I thank each and every one of you again for all your efforts.
Together, we will emerge from this crisis as an even stronger and more connected community.
Jamie
Jamie Cassels, QC
President and Vice-Chancellor