Establishing Residence Life Task Force

Residence life at the University of Alberta is extremely important, and for students living in residence, is a meaningful part of their overall post-secondary experience.

Because of this, the Provost’s Office, including the Dean of Students Office, and Residence Services continuously strives to ensure a high-quality residential experience. In recent weeks, we have had numerous meetings with representatives of the Students’ Union and university employees. We have also heard and read many comments, both positive and negative, that have been shared across social and other media. At the core of much of what we have heard is the shared goal of creating the best possible residence experience for our students.

To this end, I am pleased to announce today that we will be establishing a Residence Life Task Force under the leadership of the Provost’s Office and incoming Dean of Students, André Costopoulos. The mandate of the group will be to conduct a comprehensive examination, in close collaboration with our student leaders, of the residence experience at the U of A and develop a plan to optimize it moving forward. The task force will comprise students, staff and others as appropriate, and will be asked to present a comprehensive report resulting in actionable outcomes by the end of the 2016 calendar year.

The Provost’s Office will immediately begin working with students and other stakeholders to discuss terms of reference, operating principles, and goals. Processes and implementation — including a broad community consultation so that all student voices can be heard — will be determined by the incoming Dean of Students after his arrival.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the individuals who have spoken so passionately about the university and its residences. We are listening. Working together, I am confident that we will develop and implement a plan that ensures the best possible residence experience for our U of A students.

Steven Dew
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)