The President and the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver, are examining the current system of overseeing and supporting graduate studies at UBC with a view to determining whether that system provides faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows with the best possible conditions for research and learning.
This current process is not structured as a formal review under Senate policy J-305 (i.e., it is not intended primarily to assess the Faculty’s programs and weigh in on the quality of leadership). Rather, it is a high-level assessment intended to inform the President and Provost on the vision for graduate studies at UBC, and to examine the structure and operation of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the resources needed to fulfill its role.
This assessment offers the opportunity for students, faculty and staff to submit comments, and includes interviews with key stakeholders, conducted on site by a team of visiting reviewers. You can access the terms of reference here.
Four experienced academics have been invited to conduct the assessment, and will visit the UBC Vancouver campus on February 3-4, 2025. They are:
- Dr. Alan Harrison, Professor Emeritus and former Provost, Queen’s University,
- Dr. Susan Tighe, Provost and Vice-President Academic, McMaster University,
- Dr. Scott Mabury, Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships & Vice-Provost, Academic Operations, University of Toronto, and
- Dr. Angela Redish, Professor, School of Economics, and former Provost, UBC Vancouver.
The team will meet with senior administrators, faculty members, staff, students and other appropriate individuals and groups that interact with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Members of the UBC community are invited to provide written comments relevant to the matters under review to Dr. Herbert Rosengarten, coordinator, at hjr@exchange.ubc.ca, by Saturday, February 1, 2025. Please include your name and affiliation to UBC.
Your comments will be held in strict confidence and will be forwarded to the team conducting the assessment. Their findings will be of value to the senior administration, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and the University community as a whole.
Thank you in advance for engaging in this process.
Gage Averill
Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver