Message from the Provost: supporting students for the return to campus

This message is sent on behalf of Catherine Dauvergne, vice-president, academic and provost. It has been sent to all faculty and staff.

Dear faculty and staff of SFU,

The province has announced that those aged 18 and above can make appointments to be vaccinated. This is remarkable progress and SFU will play an active role in encouraging students to be vaccinated. 

Through our national and international advocacy we know that supports are in place for international students to be vaccinated on arrival in Canada. This is important and we will continue to do all we can to support our international students. This means supporting them to safely arrive in Canada, including ensuring they have priority access if they have not yet been vaccinated. It also means ensuring course access for those who cannot get to Canada for the fall term. 

As President Johnson noted in her message last week, we anticipate that most of our faculty and staff will be engaged in some level of on-campus work starting in July in order to support our substantial return to in-person teaching in the fall. This will require preparation, and I ask that you begin to consider necessary arrangements now.  

There are a number of management teams and working groups across SFU looking at every aspect of our return to campus. We will continue to adapt our recovery plans based on input from our community. A second faculty and staff town hall event will be held in the coming weeks, following the announcement of our finalized fall term plan in late May. 

We know how much our students want to be back to in-person learning and how critical our in-person research is to societal impact. So many people across SFU are working on plans to support the teaching, learning and research mission of the university. Thanks to each of you for your efforts. 

Sincerely,

Catherine Dauvergne, QC
Vice-President, Academic and Provost
Simon Frsaer University