In choosing to attend Simon Fraser University — a university which opened in 1965 with a campus now recognized as architecturally significant, and which has grown steadily to have two other urban campuses, in Vancouver and in Surrey — you are coming to a welcoming University noted for being student-centred, research-driven, community engaged and global in its goals. You are entering the university, as well, at a moment when, due to the covid-19 situation, the educational mission of the university and the goal of a healthy campus are equally crucial. Faculty and staff are working hard to build a safe and dynamic learning context, even as we deliver courses, seminars, and other programming through a mix of traditional and electronic means.

As a graduate student at Simon Fraser University you will join a community of 5,000 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from over 100 countries, a global fabric that reflects SFU’s diversity of students and our ethos of education as a global social wealth. You will have the opportunity to further your intellectual development and career opportunities at a university that is ranked as one of the top institutions in the world and boasts a strong academic and community history that is internationally recognized.  Reflecting this dynamism, SFU has intensified its research capabilities and now has the fastest growing research income amongst research universities in Canada.  At the same time, SFU works collaboratively with communities on research driven by communities and their concerns and visions – this community engaged research has a long and agile history at our university.

Despite this scale – from the global to the neighbourhood -- every student is valued and recognized, and encouraged to excel in their discipline and in their lives as graduate students, both on and off the campus. You will be supported academically and challenged intellectually and given every opportunity to develop and circulate your research. At the same time, we hope the SFU goals of engagement, and thinking through local contexts and knowledges inspires you. Within this context, and at this moment in history, it is significant that SFU is located on the unceded traditional  territories of the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ), Katzie, and Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm) peoples.

Welcome to SFU and world of thought and engagement it offers. I trust you will make the most of your graduate education and make the university and your community itself a better place.