VPER action planning

Aboriginal and Indigenous Engagement

SFU’s Strategic Vision identifies “respect for Aboriginal Peoples and Cultures” as one of its six principles and notes that SFU will honour the history, culture, and presence of Aboriginal peoples; that SFU will welcome and nurture Aboriginal students; and that SFU will seek opportunities for greater representation of Aboriginal peoples amongst its faculty and staff. SFU has allocated $9M to support an Aboriginal Strategic Initiative with an Aboriginal Reconciliation Council convened to provide advice to senior leadership about how the funds should be directed. SFU-ARC’s final report outlined 34 calls to action, organized into four clusters, including: creating safe and welcoming spaces for Aboriginal peoples; curriculum innovation and indigenization; student pathways and support; and administration, hiring and project implementation. A working group comprised of representation from SFU's Office for Aboriginal Peoples, SFU's Office of the Vice-President Academic, and SFU's Office of the Vice-President External Relations is working with the SFU Community to identify how best to make progress on each of the 34 Calls to Action.

SFU’s Aboriginal Strategic Initiative is directly aligned with SFU’s priority goals to build equitable, respectful and mutually beneficial community relationships and to develop partnerships to enhance the social, economic and cultural well-being of communities. It reflects priority strategies to support community engaged practice by co-creating solutions to critical societal issues through genuine connection, access and personalized learning that is situated within local knowledge, cultures, landscapes and experiences; and provides a rich opportunity for shared dialogue and storytelling of lived experience. (G2, G3, S3, S4, S7)

Learn more about Aboriginal and Indigenous engagement at SFU →

Art Galleries

Simon Fraser University's art galleries are dynamic centres for the presentation and interrogation of art practices and ideas. SFU Galleries includes SFU Gallery, Audain Gallery and Teck Gallery, and stewards the SFU Art Collection of over 5,500 works. Programming includes exhibitions, public programs and publications.

SFU’s Galleries contributes directly to SFU’s priority goals to maximize the capacities of its campuses to enhance the well-being of communities locally and globally by creating art-based opportunities for practical and experiential learning while also presenting opportunities to inform and inspire research through art engagement. SFU Galleries reflects priority strategies to create authentic and meaningful opportunities for genuine connection, access and personalized learning situated within local knowledge, cultures, landscapes and experiences, and its installations and programs are tangible examples of story curation. (G2, G4, S4, S7)

Learn more about SFU Galleries →

Centre for Dialogue

Founded in 2000, the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue acts as a hub for dialogue and engagement initiatives. As a trusted convener, we create a space for respectful conversations between diverse stakeholders, where mutual curiosity and collaborative inquiry act as alternatives to adversarial approaches. Our Dialogue Fellows, Associates and staff lead dedicated programs in six focus areas and one undergraduate program (SFU's Semester in Dialogue): Civic Engage, Climate Solutions, Peace & Security, Intercultural Dialogue, Urban Sustainability, Health and Wellness.

• Semester in Dialogue
• Civic Engage
• Urban Sustainability
• Health and Wellness

SFU’s Center for Dialogue is a centerpiece example of SFU’s priority goals to be an institution to which the community looks for education, discussion and solutions, offering innovative programs and learning opportunities for students, alumni and the community. Opportunities for dialogue, civic engagement, access and personalized learning are situated within local knowledge, cultures, landscapes and experiences. (G4, G5, S1, S5, S6)

Learn more about the Centre for Dialogue →

Ceremonies and Events

The Ceremonies and Events Office (C&E) advances SFU’s strategic vision of engagement by producing and managing key university celebrations and milestones. Events include leading and managing convocation and the university’s high-profile presidential, institutional, advancement, alumni, ceremonial, government and partner events. Delivering approximately 70 – 80 events annually, locally, nationally and internationally, the department also ensures that ceremony and event protocols and traditions are maintained at events.

SFU Ceremonies and Events contributes directly to SFU’s priority goals to build respectful and mutually beneficial community relationships by supporting major initiatives that maximize the capacities of its campuses to offer meaningful opportunities for genuine connection, access and learning. Through ceremony, SFU Ceremonies and Events enables the live telling and sharing of story helping to showcase what we seek to achieve together and why it is important. (G2, G3, S4, S7)

Learn more about the Ceremonies and Events Office →

Communications and Marketing

SFU’s Communications & Marketing office is a trusted, agile and highly-regarded strategic and creative partner, working with internal and external resources to develop and deliver communications, marketing and creative material that supports, enhances and advances institutional, departmental and faculty objectives, the SFU brand and SFU’s vision of being Canada’s leading engaged university.

SFU Communications and Marketing contributes directly to SFU’s priority goals to build respectful and mutually beneficial relationships and to extend the reach and knowledge of SFU’s people, their ideas and innovations, its campuses and its capacities as a fundamental and integrated components of university mission and brand. They serve to ignite SFU’s brand through storytelling, media, creative design and public relations to show the impact that can be achieved through co-created solutions. (G1, G2, G3, S3, S7)

Learn more about SFU Communications and Marketing →

Government Relations

SFU Government Relations engages our varied community, industry, and government partners to encourage effective and mutually beneficial relationships.

SFU Government Relations contributes directly to SFU’s priority goal to build respectful and mutually beneficial government and community relationships to advance and extend the impact of learning, research, partnership, connection, and civic engagement so that critical thought, theory and knowledge are mobilized into public discourse, policy and community practice to address critical societal issues. (G3, S3, S6)

Learn more about SFU Government Relations →

Office of Community Engagement (that's us)

Explore the pages on this site to learn more about:

• What we do
• Who are
• Ways to get involved
• Strategic values and principles of community engagement

SFU Public Square

SFU Public Square, a signature initiative designed to spark, nurture and restore community connections, establishes Simon Fraser University as the go-to convener of serious and productive conversations about issues of public concern.

SFU Public Square is a foundational example of SFU’s priority goals to be BC’s public square for enlightenment and dialogue on key public issues, offering innovative programs and learning opportunities for students, alumni and the community. SFU Public Square reflects priority strategies to be a trusted convener on key public issues, creating space for respectful conversations, mutual curiosity and collaborative inquiry while increasing community capacity. (G4, G5, S1, S5, S6)

Learn more about SFU Public Square →

Surrey Campus

Simon Fraser University's Surrey campus is a vibrant community hub located in the heart of one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities. Close to the Surrey Central transit station, the dramatic Bing Thom-designed campus is conveniently situated between Metro Vancouver and communities south of the Fraser River.

SFU’s Surrey campus is SFU’s integrative educational and community hub in Surrey that expands SFU’s reach by utilizing its location in Surrey City Centre to create authentic and meaningful opportunities for genuine connection, access, and learning, preparing educated, civically-engaged citizens and growing capacity for community-engaged research as an integral part of SFU’s inter-related academic, research and community-engagement missions. Place-based connection, learning and access; community-engaged learning; community-based research; partnership for impact; civic engagement; dialogue and storytelling are all of strategic importance in campus planning and operations. (G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, S1, S1, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7)

Learn more about SFU's Surrey campus →

Vancity Office of Community Engagement

SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement supports creative engagement, knowledge mobilization and public programming in the theme areas of arts and culture, social and environmental justice, and urban issues through public talks, dialogues, workshops, screenings, performances and community partnerships. SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement provides community educational opportunities for local residents, access to artist talks and cultural events and builds partnerships with community organizations. The Office opened in December 2010 and engages over 9,000 people per year. Working with students, faculty and community, the Office is committed to long term relationship building and creative collaborations between the university and the community, in all its diverse formations and recognizes the arts as a catalyst in social change and transformative community engagement.

SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement is directly aligned with SFU’s priority goals to build equitable, respectful and mutually beneficial community relationships and to develop partnerships to enhance the social, economic and cultural well-being of communities, particularly on the Down Town East Side of Vancouver. The Vancity Office of Community Engagement reflects priority strategies to partner for impact by co-creating solutions to critical societal issues through genuine connection, access and personalized learning that is situated within local knowledge, cultures, landscapes and experiences. Deep relationships off rich opportunities for shared dialogue and storytelling of lived experience. (G2, G3, S1, S3, S4, S7)

Learn more about the Vancity Office of Community Engagement →

Vancouver Campus

Described by the Vancouver Sun as the "intellectual heart of the city," Simon Fraser University’s Vancouver campus transformed the landscape of urban education in downtown Vancouver. The campus is comprised of multiple facilities clustered in the core of one of the world’s most liveable cities.

SFU’s Vancouver campus is SFU’s integrative educational and community hub in Vancouver that expands SFU’s reach by utilizing its location in Downtown Vancouver to meet the lifelong learning needs of students, alumni and the community through innovative programs and learning opportunities for academic, personal and professional development. Community-engaged learning; place-based connection, learning and access; civic engagement; partnership for impact; dialogue; community-based research and storytelling are all of strategic importance in campus planning and operations. (G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, S1, S1, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7)

Learn more about SFU's Vancouver campus →

Woodward’s Cultural Unit

SFU Woodward’s Cultural & Community Programs (SFUW) vision is to enable and promote creativity and leading edge practices in the contemporary arts as well as public community discourse. By supporting professional activities through partnerships, SFUW engages the immediate inner-city community through unique cultural, employment, and public initiatives.

Feature initiatives include:

• Cultural and Community Partnerships
• Speaking of Dance
• Signature Programs
• Creative Residency Program
• 149 Arts Society

SFU’s Woodwards Cultural Unit contributes directly to SFU’s priority goals to maximize the capacities of its campuses to enhance the well-being of communities locally and globally by creating art and culture-based opportunities for practical and experiential learning while also presenting opportunities to inform and inspire research through cultural engagement. The Activities of the Woodwards Cultural Unit reflect priority strategies to create authentic and meaningful opportunities for genuine connection, access and personalized learning situated within local knowledge, cultures, landscapes and experiences, and its performances, installations and programs are examples of the practice of exploration, reflection and learning through storytelling. (G1, G2, G4, S1, S4, S7)

Learn more about the Woodward's Cultural Unit →