Vancouver and SFU, then and now

Planning a downtown campus began in earnest in 1979, and a storefront office opened at 822 Howe Street in February of 1980. From there SFU moved to leased space shared with BCIT at 549 Howe Street, while both institutions sought ways to build a campus suited to the particular teaching, research and outreach needs of their students and faculty.

On May 5, 1989, Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre officially opened its doors in the Spencer Building at 515 West Hastings. The founding of the downtown campus was a turning point in the history of the institution and of the city of Vancouver.

Twenty years later there are many accomplishments to celebrate and an opportunity to reflect on the way forward as we prepare to bring SFU's School for Contemporary Arts into a magnificent new building on the Woodward’s site, a brave experiment in urban renewal.

Simon Fraser University suffered serious retrenchment in the early 1980s, experiencing staff lay-offs, faculty cut-backs, declining enrolments. Many of the founding faculty and department heads expressed concern that the bright promise of innovation signaled by the bold architecture and visionary curriculum of the 1965 campus was fading. What the young university needed was a bridge to the future, and it could not build it alone.

The realization was profound that the university could flourish only through partnership with the community and those who governed it, but partnerships are built on the perception of mutual benefit. To develop a shared agenda, which would be the foundation of many ongoing alliances, SFU came down from the mountain and began the ongoing conversation with community, government and business leaders that continues today.

Every year since the opening in 1989, those who work and study at the Vancouver campus have come together for a few moments of celebration and encouragement at 10 am on May 5. This year the invitation is wider and the conversation will be shared among the campus founders and community and university leaders. While there is much to celebrate, there is also much to discuss as SFU and Vancouver face the challenge of the economic crisis in a global economy.

Lifelong Learning: A teaching and research agenda “in the city and of the city”

The vision for the Vancouver campus included professional graduate programs, research related to the urban setting, undergraduate education leading to degree completion, and professional and intellectual development.

Professional Graduate Programs

Canada’s first EMBA program predated the Vancouver campus, but it was clear that mid-career education for business and the professions belonged downtown. Concurrently new professions were emerging. Publishing, Gerontology and Public Policy are areas of advanced study which took root in the urban core.

Research Related to the City

Research related to urban concerns and which benefits from proximity to collaborators has flourished at the Vancouver campus in the areas of business, criminology, urban studies, health and communication.

Professional and Intellectual Development

The greatest concentration of working adults in the Lower Mainland in 1989 was in downtown Vancouver. It made sense to offer professional development close to the workplace and to collaborate with employers to determine what those needs might be. The knowledge economy required an approach to lifelong learning that allowed constant interaction between the academy and the workplace and which integrated part-time study with full-time employment. At the same time a great city needs a marketplace for ideas, a place where the issues of the day are examined and discussed. The Vancouver campus was envisioned as a thought centre for the urban population.

Anniversaries: A time to reflect and a time to think about the future

Looking back on the almost thirty years since the doors opened at our store front office at 822 Howe Street is an interesting trip down memory lane for the hundreds of faculty and staff and thousands of students who are part of the campus history. One way to consider the success of the campus is to count the cumulative successes of the many people who study and work here. How has SFU Vancouver made a difference in your life and work? How do you think SFU Vancouver has affected city life? These are the questions we ask you to consider on the eve of our 20th year at Harbour Centre. We invite you to contribute a story that represents an important or emblematic time for you at the campus. You can send it by email, or if you like, record it at the campus history booth on May 5.