Provost and Vice-President Academic Report to Senate – March 2023

The following update is from Wade Parkhouse, provost and vice-president academic, pro tem. It has been sent to all faculty and staff.

I’m pleased to present a summary of some key initiatives discussed at Senate on April 3, 2023. It’s my hope this update provides useful context about how work is getting done at the university and how decisions are being made.

You can also read SFU President Joy Johnson’s message from the March 2023 Board of Governors meeting here.

And Board Chair Angie Lamarsh’s report here.

SFU Medical School project

A medical school at SFU is part of the provincial government’s long-term commitment to improve access to primary care. ​By educating the next generation of doctors, we hope to help meet the needs of B.C.’s growing and diverse populations, particularly underserved and Indigenous peoples.​

So far, we’ve established working groups of SFU senior leaders, external medical education experts, faculty and staff, and partners to shape options for curriculum, space, workforce, and research. The next two months will focus on completing a business case for the province’s investment by May 31, 2023. A critical part of the business case is developing the overall project cost and the team is working hard to make sure this is as accurate as possible. We have also been granted applicant status for the accreditation process with the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). Accreditation is a multi-year process and we need to start now to be ready for September 2026 when we plan to welcome our first class, assuming all approvals are in place.

We’ve been engaging with internal and external community members and partners in March and April. The project is still very much in the design stage. Starting June 1, we will shift from building the business case to building the foundations of the medical school including pursuing accreditation, searching for an inaugural dean, and building relationships with community partners to inform curriculum design. The provincial government continues to provide funding for this planning work. However, we will not proceed with implementation of the medical school until we have sufficient funding to do so.

We will be following SFU governance procedures for the establishment of a new school or faculty, including approving the curriculum and admissions standards, etc. That means going through Senate, the Board of Governors, and the Degree Quality Assurance Board within the provincial government as we would with the establishment of any new program. We will be initiating the search for an inaugural dean soon.

For more information and to listen to recordings from recent information sessions with the SFU community, see the SFU Medical School website.

Leadership renewal

It’s a busy time for the important function of leadership renewal within the Provost and VP Academic portfolio.

• Dean of Education search has shortlisted candidates.
• Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies search is nearing completion.
• Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Learning & Teaching search is progressing.
• Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Academic (AVPA) started taking applications from internal SFU candidates on April 3.

For the latest information about openings, see the Provost and VP Academic website.

How we’re supporting international student enrolments

In-person international recruitment returned this fall and we’ve onboarded additional admissions staff to help expedite processing. International offers made to date have increased by 25% compared to the same date in 2022. Most offers were to be made by the end of March, well ahead of previous cycles, allowing recruiters time to work with students to accept their offers, and providing admitted student more than four months to prepare visa applications.

To help move admitted international students to accepting their offers, we’re holding numerous online and in-person events. Earlier this spring, we had applicant events in India and UAE, and we are currently running events in Indonesia and Vietnam. We have large campus events coming to Surrey and Burnaby, along with events in Kelowna, Victoria, and Calgary. 

In addition to this, we’ve developed an International Excellence Entrance Scholarship for new incoming international students who enter directly from high school. These are offered to students who have excellent academic standing, are from specific geographic regions and are entering programs that align with the strategic enrollment plan of the university. We plan to make offers to about 50 students.

Recognizing the 2022 Excellence in Teaching award winners

In March, a professor and two lecturers received the 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award, SFU’s highest recognition for teaching. We also created new awards this year to recognize an additional five teachers at different career stages and for specific kinds of teaching—introduced as part of SFU’s new policy for teaching awards.

You can read about all of this year’s winners here.

Thank you

As we get close to the end of the spring term, I want to thank faculty and staff for all the work they do every day to create an excellent experience for our students. Your efforts are appreciated.

Wade Parkhouse
Provost and Vice-President Academic, pro tem
Simon Fraser University