To Faculty, Staff and Students on the Vancouver and Okanagan Campuses:
In light of our strategic objectives, I have been considering the Provost model at UBC and having conversations with my peers both in Canada and internationally. To this end, we are going to initiate a review of the Provost model, including how it might be strengthened as well as its relationship to the University community and senior leadership.
To provide the fullest capacity for such considerations, our UBC Vancouver Provost, David Farrar, has decided to step down from his role as Provost and Vice-President Academic effective June 30, 2015. I am extremely grateful that David will be continuing at UBC, reporting to me as Advisor to the President. We both look forward to a future announcement about this role in the coming weeks.
Please join me in expressing our deepest gratitude to Dr. Farrar for his extraordinary commitment as Provost and Vice-President Academic.
We have much to be thankful for as a result of Dr. Farrar’s eight years of service to our community, and much to look forward to with his ongoing commitment to the University. He is a tremendous colleague who embodies the University’s commitment to a respectful environment in which to learn, work, and live; he has been dedicated to ensuring the University becomes an even more inclusive place that values difference.
He has led processes that have recruited talented Deans, Vice-Provosts, and senior staff to the Vancouver campus. With his facilitative style and sheer hard work, he has enabled and sustained conversations about academic strategies, the budget, the Academic Health Sciences Network, and the role of technology in supporting teaching, learning, research, and effective decision-making.
Dr. Angela (Anji) Redish will become the interim Provost and Vice-President Academic on July 1, 2015. Dr. Redish has served as an outstanding Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Enrolment and Academic Facilities. She is also a Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Arts. Please join me in thanking Dr. Redish for her willingness to step into the interim role. I know that all of us will welcome and support her as she transitions into her new role.
Arvind Gupta
President and Vice-Chancellor