President's Message to the USask Community 

March 31, 2020

Colleagues, students, staff and alumni:

Like every university community in the world, we are adjusting to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have had to make major changes to our operations to help keep us all safe during this difficult time.

Understandably, there is considerable personal stress and anxiety. On behalf of my leadership team, I’d like to thank you all for the many contributions you are making, in a multitude of different ways, to fight this very serious disease threat.

We are finding ways to help the city, the province and the country respond to the crisis, and to take care of our population’s most affected and vulnerable.

We’ve got world-class research that’s on the front lines of the fight against the virus—at VIDO InterVac, for instance, where researchers are working tirelessly on a vaccine and potential medications, but also through many other university experts, working on everything from modelling the pandemic’s spread to helping reduce individuals’ anxiety levels. 

We are finding opportunities to help our local health communities through our health sciences colleges and units and schools.

We’ve got students rallying to get supplies to people in need, and tracking Covid-19 cases in Canada.

And we’re supporting our international students and our Canadian students who are far from home.

As well, our highly trained alumni in many fields are making a difference here and globally in the fight against the pandemic.

In short, we are working together to be the University the World needs in this health crisis.

This is of course new territory for all of us.  I am grateful to all of you who’ve had to make the unprecedented move to working from home, in isolation from colleagues and the campus.

I thank all our faculty and students for making the unprecedented move to on-line teaching and learning and with only three days preparation and five days’ notice, as well as the complete move to on-line exams. The move off-campus of our workforce is of a scale almost never before seen in this university’s history.

Our decision-making about these changes is evidence-based and closely aligned with the federal, provincial and municipal governments; and Canada’s post-secondary community. In this regard, I’d like to thank the university’s Crisis Management Team – your work is crucial and is being undertaken at a relentless pace to protect the interests of the public and this small city that is the University of Saskatchewan.

I thank you all for your hard work, flexibility, and responsiveness.  We need to continue to look for how we can support one another at every turn – any difficulties each of you is facing, you can be sure is being faced by someone else as well. We all need each other’s help and support.

What an era we are witnessing.  We will make it through, and a stronger university with us.

In closing, please help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by ensuring safe physical distance from others, and ensuring self-isolation if necessary, in accordance with any federal and provincial orders to do so. If you have not been requested to be on campus, please do not come to campus, as we need to ensure those needed on site are able function in a safe environment.

Please continue to follow all guidelines as outlined by the province, and stay well.