On September 29, SFU hosted an open forum for SFU community members to provide feedback in the search for SFU’s next president and vice-chancellor.
The forum was a hybrid event, and was hosted in the Diamond Family Auditorium. Whether they attended in-person or over Zoom, members of the greater SFU community — including students, faculty, and staff — were able to share the characteristics and type of background that were important to them for SFU’s next president and vice-chancellor. The event page asked attendees to “carefully review the leadership qualities ahead of time in preparation for a fulsome discussion,” which were linked in the event page.
In late June, president Joy Johnson shared in a message to the community that she has been diagnosed with cancer, and has “decided to step down,” effective December 31 of this year. She noted in the message, “While stepping away from a role I care about so deeply is difficult, I believe this is the right decision for me and my family at this time.”
To assist with the search, the presidential search committee was established over the summer and convened for the first time on September 11, made up of 16 members and led by Dr. Carol Herbert, chair of the Board of Governors. Additionally, a community survey was open until October 1, and feedback via email was accepted until this date.
Dr. Aftab Erfan, executive director of SFU Centre for Dialogue, hosted the open forum. In an interview with The Peak, Erfan explained the presidential search committee’s process in the coming months for choosing the next president and vice-chancellor included defining “14 leadership qualities” to look for in the next president. She shared that “this phase is about consulting with the community” to determine which qualities are priority, because “it’s pretty difficult to find somebody who’s really really great at 14 different things.” The 14 original qualities have been now cut down to 10 qualities following the open forum. The leadership qualities included in the candidate profile will be used during the recruitment and evaluation process of potential candidates. Some of these qualities include leadership and administrative experience, relationship and communication skills, and decolonization, Indigenization, and reconciliation.
“The selection committee will look at the applications and judge everybody against these qualities that we are discussing today. The idea is that before next summer, so probably around May or June, they will select the next president.”
— Aftab Erfan, Executive Director of SFU Centre for Dialogue
The job application for president and vice-chancellor was posted on October 9. Erfan said the process will be as follows: “The selection committee will look at the applications and judge everybody against these qualities that we are discussing today. The idea is that before next summer, so probably around May or June, they will select the next president.”
One trait that Erfan believes is important for the next president is adaptability, especially as AI in education becomes a topic of discussion. SFU currently has an AI Strategy committee, which according to the AI at SFU webpage, “Looks at how the university can explore the opportunities and impacts of AI at SFU.” Erfan said, “I’m just thinking about all the changes in AI and what is happening in the world in that kind of way, so we definitely want a president who is able to adapt to those changes.”
