I hope you were able to safely spend special time with family and friends over the holiday season, and had the opportunity to rest and recharge as you return to begin the new semester at USask. As always, your health and safety remain our No.1 priority. I appreciate the support for previous public health measures that helped allow us to return to largely full in-person classes and labs, as well as to convocation and award ceremonies and events, in what is shaping up to be a memorable 2022/23 academic year.
For those of you just starting your academic and professional journeys with us here in 2023, we are delighted to have you join our campus communities.
Whether you are returning to USask or just beginning your time at our university, we begin the new year focused on our academic and research missions as one of the country’s leading medical-doctoral institutions, and as a proud member of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.
Students, you will have the opportunity to learn from some of the leading faculty members and award-winning academics in their disciplines, and from world-renowned researchers searching for local solutions to global problems. You will have access to some of the most advanced equipment, state-of-the-art technology and world-class facilities, including the full spectrum of specialized training for the next generation of health-care practitioners.
USask is proud to be home to four flagship national research centres: the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO); the country’s only synchrotron at the Canadian Light Source (CLS); the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN); and the new Global Water Futures Observatories (GWFO).
We also aim to be the most welcoming campus community we can be for all students, staff, and faculty, and are committed to creating a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and equality, and to advancing Indigenization and reconciliation. Our increase in student satisfaction has been reflected in our recent rise in a number of leading university rankings, and we have reached record enrolment of over 26,000 students in 2022 that we hope to build on this coming year.
However, we know that more work lies ahead for us to be the university community that we want to be. And for all students who may need assistance in the coming months, I encourage you to ask for help and to access all the support systems that we have in place for you. Whether you need a doctor or dietician, academic guidance, a mental-health specialist or simply a friendly ear to listen, please reach out to the university’s Student Wellness Centre. And for our faculty and staff, you also have a full array of support services and resources to help, accessible through our Wellness site.
I am pleased to welcome you to 2023 at the University of Saskatchewan, with all the hope, new opportunities and new experiences the new year will bring. And always remember that you have an entire university community dedicated to supporting you throughout your academic and professional journeys at USask.
Take care and have a wonderful winter semester.
Sincerely,
Peter Stoicheff
President and Vice-Chancellor
University of Saskatchewan