Message from the President

From: "Prof. Peter Scott, President" <president@athabascau.ca>

Date: April 7, 2022 at 9:37:38 AM MDT

Subject: Message from the President

Dear AU community,

On March 24, 2022, Alberta’s Premier and the Minister of Advanced Education attended a meeting in the town of Athabasca, hosted by the town’s mayor. At the event, both the premier and the minister made some comments and expressed opinions on the operations and strategy of this university. The comments and opinions expressed by government officials during the town meeting were not indicative of the reciprocal and consultative relationship that AU has had for many years with the Government of Alberta and the Ministry of Advanced Education.

Consequently, we have received several inquiries from AU team members regarding reports of these comments. I would like to underline that our operations, mission, and mandate remain unchanged.

AU’s mandate, developed by the Board of Governors in consultation with the Minister of Advanced Education, provides the direction under which the Board is obligated to manage and operate the university under the Post-secondary Learning Act [PSLA s.60(1)(a)]. AU is leading the future of open and accessible education and our mandate and direction are clear. We are committed to “…open access and digitally enabled lifelong learning [as] … Canada’s only public and research-intensive university offering fully accredited distributed learning from its online virtual campus.”

AU’s ongoing work with our near-virtual workforce will continue to support our online virtual campus in Alberta, across the country, and around the world, particularly for those learners in rural and remote communities. In Spring 2020, AU’s board voted unanimously in favour of extending this work, a decision that was supported by the AU community through a survey in September 2021. Two-thirds of AU team members who were in place-based roles prior to the pandemic responded to this survey, and 81% said they support the university’s efforts to transition to a near-virtual work environment. This is an exciting journey into a future that will benefit Athabasca, Alberta, and the world.

The university has been clear in every meeting with the Government of Alberta, the town and county councils of Athabasca, and local community members that AU has no plans to leave the community, that we are reaffirming our primary physical location is in Athabasca by ending office leases in Calgary and Edmonton, and that we will continue to give preference to suitably qualified candidates for both place-based and virtual roles who live in, or are interested in moving to, the Athabasca region.

We are excited to hear more about the Athabasca community’s plans for economic growth and development. However, to ensure AU’s future success, long-term sustainability, and the success of our learners, the university will continue to prioritize the needs of our more than 43,000 learners worldwide by ensuring we continue to hire and retain the best and the brightest talent.

Sincerely,

Prof. Peter Scott, President