As we begin the 2024/25 academic year, I would like to warmly welcome our new and returning students, faculty, researchers and staff. I hope you had a great summer and have taken time to recharge and spend time with friends and family.
This past year has presented significant challenges for campuses across North America and beyond. The ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and acute political tensions in the Middle East continue to deeply affect many members of our university community. As a university dedicated to inclusivity and respectful dialogue, we are committed to maintaining a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone. We recognize the rich diversity of backgrounds and perspectives within our community and encourage open, thoughtful, and compassionate conversations. Our goal is to foster a campus where everyone feels valued and respected.
As part of our commitment to a path forward, we have made progress over the summer in advancing several important initiatives.
Engaging with the community
- Carrie Smith, Vice-provost of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, continues to advance the university’s community-driven work, listening to the diverse perspectives of faculty, staff and students.
- In July, the EDI office introduced Moving Through Conflict: harmed-community-driven recommendations towards collective care, conflict resolution, increased transparency and transformative action.
- The EDI office introduced the Mutual Aid Project Micro-grants for U of A groups to foster imagining and learning about ways through harm and grief together.
- This fall, the Universities in Times of Crisis event series will continue so that community members can participate in discussions addressing the role post-secondary institutions play in times of crisis and societal transformation.
- The Office of the Provost invited student leaders, student representatives and members of the U of A administration to form a working group to discuss the demands arising from the protests over the past several months.
- Their first meeting was on August 20, and discussions will continue throughout the fall.
Supporting displaced scholars and students
- The U of A has a long and proud history of supporting scholars and students fleeing their home country due to civil war, persecution, or other life-threatening situations. In response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the university partnered with the World University Service of Canada to establish the David Turpin and Suromitra Sanatani Award for Refugees and Displaced Persons. Since its inception in 2016, this award has supported 32 students from Syria, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Iraq. In 2022, the U of A welcomed and supported 130 displaced Ukrainian students and scholars.
- The university has established an Advisory Committee on Displaced Palestinian Scholars and Students. I am most grateful to Co-chairs Dr. Yasmeen Abu-Laban (Arts) and Dr. Vivian Mushahwar (FoMD), who have agreed to lead this initiative. The committee’s work will begin immediately, and we hope to welcome some displaced students and scholars as early as January of next year.
Supports for all U of A students
- We have increased capacity and responsiveness to ensure that specific academic supports reach U of A students impacted by this ongoing conflict. This includes addressing barriers that may impact a student’s ability to request accommodations or modifications.
- Services are available for U of A students affected by a crisis at home or abroad. These include bursaries + emergency funding available to assist any U of A student experiencing financial shortfall.
Investments and disclosure
- As part of the university’s commitment to transparency and accountability, the Board of Governors unanimously passed a motion to disclose a list of the University of Alberta Endowment Pool (UEP) Investment Holdings.
- In September, we will publish the U of A Endowment Pool Investment Holding reports for 2022, 2023, and 2024.
- The Board is working with an external organization—the Canadian Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE)—to review its investment policies and practices. Working with SHARE is an integral part of the university’s commitment to responsible investing.
- A new web page containing info and additional context on responsible investments is also under development to add clarity and transparency.
- This important work will take some time. We want to be sure we are doing it right and are committed to community consultation as it progresses.
Third-party review
- The Board selected retired Court of King’s Bench of Alberta Justice Adèle Kent to lead an independent third-party review of the university’s response to the encampment. Over the summer, Ms. Kent collected feedback submissions from the university community, including faculty, staff and students. She will now compile and finalize her review. We anticipate receiving her report this fall.
Respecting diverse points of view
- Academic freedom and freedom of expression are core values of the University of Alberta. We are committed to creating space for open dialogues, diversity of opinions, and difficult conversations.
- This past year, we hosted multiple speakers covering a wide range of topics from all points of view and across the political spectrum. These conversations will continue.
- Our university’s Statement on Freedom of Expression reinforces our commitment to free expression, including non-violent protest and dissent.
- Protests must comply with the law and university policy. Protests that prevent the university’s core business of teaching and learning are not permitted.
- The university will not tolerate hate speech or calls for violence.
As term begins, I ask all members of our university community to do all we can to create and sustain a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone, reaching across divides and listening to one another. This commitment is reflected in the university’s key strategic plans, including SHAPE, the Strategic Plan for EDI, Braiding Past, Present & Future and SEAP. Let us all, individually and collectively, recommit to being a university that leads with compassion, empathy and respect for difference while recognizing that universities must be places of respectful dialogue and debate, including the most contested issues of our time.
Bill Flanagan,
President and Vice-Chancellor