Last month I had the privilege to meet with members of the Disability Affinity Group. I’d like to thank them for taking the time to prepare their report on accessibility on the UBC Vancouver campus. As I said at our meeting, I will make sure that the current Executive, the Board of Governors, the Senate and both the interim and the 16th President of UBC are apprised of the Group’s work and the associated recommendations.
I will ask the Executive to consider the recommendations and to identify opportunities for immediate, intermediate and long-term projects stemming from them, and which are aligned with the university’s present and future commitments and actions to address our accessibility priorities and obligations. The university will be setting up an accessibility committee, as required by the Province, and that committee will greatly benefit from the work that the Group has already done.
Once again, thanks to the Group for all that it has done to bring forward these recommendations. I regret that my departure from UBC will not allow me to partner directly with the Group on this work. But have no doubt, that they have my gratitude for bringing accessibility to the surface as an important priority for the University.
Santa J. Ono
President and Vice-Chancellor