Recently appointed to the Order of Canada, Dr. Skip Bassford, the former president of UFV, graciously sat down for a virtual interview to speak about the prestigious honour that was bestowed upon him in 2022.
How did it feel to be named to the Order of Canada and how has this impacted your life?
It is not something one expects in life or even works towards. Nominations are confidential so you don’t have any idea you’ve been nominated, who did it, or who the references were. It just came out of the blue and it was fantastic actually. But it certainly makes you proud…and it is pretty amazing to be included in such a distinguished group of people and be told that what you have done in your life has helped advance your country. That feels pretty great.
I also keep thinking about how much I owe to others. Everything I accomplished at UFV happened only because of the hard work and buy in of the UFV community. I will always remember, for example, the 900 people who turned out to tell the provincial government it was time for University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV) to have university status.
Can you explain to students what it means to be named to the Order of Canada and what type of recognition you received?
Basically, the Order is one of the highest recognitions Canada can give for people’s achievements that have made a difference to the country. The Governor General makes the appointments on the recommendation of an advisory council, chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada. The citation accompanying the announcement of my appointment was: “For his leadership as a university administrator and for his contributions to applied ethics in the health field.”
What are you most proud of accomplishing in your career in education administration?
Successfully leading the drive to have UFV recognized as a university is probably my proudest administrative accomplishment. It was certainly the most time-consuming task while at UFV. It required first making sure UCFV met all the standards for being a university [such as] breadth of academic programming; sufficient faculty with advanced degrees; a research profile; athletic teams competing in the university league, etc. Then, it required getting the Fraser Valley communities behind it. I gave well over 100 presentations to community groups, both to show them the advantage of university status, and to reassure them that we would keep the university-college model of both applied and theoretical studies and of its community focus. And thirdly, it required constant government lobbying. As Premier Campbell said when he announced our university status, everywhere he went, “there was Skip.”
Close behind in pride during my tenure is the university’s success in incorporating the cultural fabric of the Valley into UFV, successfully working with the Indigenous, Indo-Canadian and Mennonite communities to set up relevant programmes and centres. Nor do I forget the new Chilliwack campus, which has the space needed to accommodate student demand as the Fraser Valley continues its rapid growth in the years to come. Getting us to be the largest partner in the Canada Education Park certainly took a tremendous partnership effort between UFV and Chilliwack.
What are your thoughts on the way education is being administered during the present pandemic-turned-endemic, and what would you say to students who are currently studying online?
My suspicion (and it is only that since I am not involved in teaching anything) is that many students are doing pretty well with online learning as the only current option, but some are not. And I am sure that many students are missing the on-campus university experience terribly. Hopefully this will change shortly. When it does, there will be more learning options than ever, suiting more people’s learning styles. This may be one of the very few positive outcomes of the pandemic.
The trauma of this pandemic has been extensive for everyone […] for many of us it has made us stronger. And things are going to get better. I know everyone thinks that things are worse than they have ever been, but actually we are in a time of stress. The pandemic will go away [and] they have existed throughout human history.
I think about the changes in general and while we may be afraid of it, it’s also the case of so many scientific advances going on now. I don’t mind being old, but I’d love to be one of those 22-year-olds starting out again and seeing what’s going on and what I can do in this world. It might be hard, but it sure as heck is going to be thrilling.
Interview was edited for length and clarity.
Image courtesy of Skip Bassford
Rachel is working towards a BA with a concentration in English and Theatre. She has been employed at The Cascade since Fall 2021 as a Staff Writer and a Jr. News Editor. Currently, she is the sectional News Editor and enjoys meeting and interviewing people as well as taking long walks in nature. Rachel also likes to stay up to date on the latest trends and informs students through her fashion column entitled Campus Fashion.
