It is my pleasure to announce that the Board of Governors has approved the appointment of Professor Simon Bates as Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Teaching & Learning, for a five-year term. He will take up the role once he returns from administrative leave on July 1, 2024.
The role of Vice-Provost and AVP, Teaching & Learning, oversees several administrative units, including the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT), UBC Extended Learning (ExL), the Academic Director of the Learning Exchange, the Academic Integrity Hub, and other initiatives related to enhancing teaching and learning at UBC. In this role, Simon will continue to advance experiential learning programs, work closely with students, faculty and staff to develop and implement innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and focus on enhancing student learning outcomes, as well as oversee Continuing Education, with responsibilities across both campuses.
Since joining UBC in 2012 as one of the first cohort of Professors of Teaching in the Educational Leadership stream, Simon has served as Senior Advisor to the Provost, Teaching and Learning, Academic Director of CTLT, and Associate Provost, Teaching and Learning, before being appointed as Vice-Provost and AVP, Teaching & Learning, pro tem in July 2022.
Over the decade of his time at UBC, his contributions to the university have included academic leadership and strategy for CTLT and ExL, advocacy for the development of the Educational Leadership faculty stream, oversight of evolving technologies to support learning, the institution’s teaching and learning response to the COVID-19 pandemic, development of central support for academic integrity through the creation of an Academic Integrity Hub, cross-campus partnerships and policy developments with UBC Okanagan, and nurturing an expansion of a range of funding opportunities in support of teaching and learning enhancement.
I wish to thank the members of the President’s Advisory Committee for their commitment and counsel throughout the search process.
As previously announced, Dr. Christina Hendricks will be stepping into the role of Vice-Provost and AVP, Teaching and Learning, pro tem, for the period July 2023 – June 2024.
I look forward to continuing to work with Simon, as he brings an extensive focus on the importance of teaching and learning to the academic mission of the university. Please join me in congratulating him on this appointment.
Gage Averill
Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver