“Think about it” — UBC’s new president invites campus to redefine its mission

The University of British Columbia is poised to become Canada’s
pre-eminent university, but must redefine its academic mission to
meet the challenges of the 21st century, UBC President Martha Piper
said today as she was installed as the university’s 11th president.

Piper challenged faculty, staff and students to engage in a “full
and open discussion” to redefine the nature of the university’s
research and learning environment.

“Over the next several months, we will collectively engage in developing
the academic vision for the University of British Columbia for the
21st century. I invite each of you to participate in this dialogue
and to actively think about our future,” she said.

Piper said that in redefining the academic environment, the university
community must take into account three trends: increasing internationalization,
inter-disciplinarity, which allows for the cross pollination of
knowledge, and the rapid expansion of information technology.

As well, universities must re-examine the purpose of the undergraduate
educational experience, she said. In particular, ways must be found
to integrate research activities — a strength at UBC — with undergraduate
education.

“Such is the challenge: to create a learning environment, based
upon our outstanding research and scholarship, that will prepare
the next generation to think — to think about themselves, to think
about the world in which they live and to think about the key roles
they will play in the betterment of the human condition,” Piper
said.

At the installation ceremony in UBC’s Chan Centre for the Performing
Arts, Chancellor William Sauder conducted Piper’s swearing-in and
exchanged her academic robes from McGill University, where she earned
her doctorate, for the robes of UBC’s president.

The ceremony capped a day of events, many of which featured students
in prominent roles. It began with Piper meeting a randomly chosen
group of 25 students for breakfast.

Later in the morning, the new president took part in a forum titled
“Thinking the Future of Learning,” an exploration of the possibilities
for undergraduate education at UBC. At the forum, Piper challenged
the university community to come up with innovative methods of learning.

An informal outdoor reception for the entire campus community immediately
followed the installation ceremony.

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