Dr. James Mandigo has a PhD in Education and Recreation, and served at UFV as the provost and vice president academic since 2019. He is the newly appointed president and vice-chancellor.
On Mar. 26, UFV officially announced that Dr. James Mandigo will be taking over the role of president and vice-chancellor once Dr. Joanne MacLean’s term is up in June. Mandigo sat down with The Cascade and reflected on his journey at UFV and his goals moving forward in his new leadership role.
Mandigo has an extensive background in education and has published 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, among other academic literature. He reflected that part of what first drew him to work at UFV involved their central focus on students.
“It’s clear that UFV has prioritized student learning and student engagement as a really critical piece of who we are. It’s part of our identity and that really inspired me to see that it wasn’t something that the university was saying they prioritized, but [was] actually doing.”
As Provost and Vice-President Academic, Mandigo has worked on several projects, such as UFV’s 2021-2026 Integrated Strategic Plan, which outlines the goals of the university and the necessary steps they will take to achieve them.
“When I first arrived, our President MacLean asked me to lead that process for a new integration plan, so I did lots of consultation with the internal community, external community, and with students … and I heard about their dreams and aspirations for this university moving forward.”
He has also worked on the Strategic Enrolment Management Plan (SEM), which breaks down the university’s goals and strategies for anticipated university population growth in the next 10 years.
Mandigo reflected on some of the hardships he heard from students who were having difficulty enrolling in courses on time for graduation and the importance of creating and implementing a successful SEM plan.
“We developed a SEM plan that really tried to identify the entire educational journey of a student even before they [get] to UFV … we want to make sure that they have the supports they need to be successful to complete their journey with us, so that when they move on to the next step of their educational journey, life journey or whatever job/career journey, that they’re fully prepared to tackle that and be successful.”
Back in 2023, Mandigo was the acting president and vice-chancellor when MacLean was on medical leave. He explained how that prior experience helped prepare him for his new position as he learned the importance of being part of an effective team, where everyone took on additional responsibilities to accommodate and support the university fulfilling their mandate.
Mandigo explained that there was a thorough process for choosing the new university president, emphasizing that the job was a regular posting online that those external to the university could apply for. A selection committee interviewed candidates for the position and narrowed down the list to a select few. Mandigo reflected on what that experience was like for him.
“I feel like I have a good sense of where we’re at and where we’re going, so I’ve got an advantage over some of the external candidates who didn’t know that. There’s pros and cons to being an internal candidate and I just found the experience to be really invigorating each step of the process.”
He added that he was honoured to be selected as the next university president.
“I felt more and more confident throughout the process that this was a great fit for me and I just hoped that the university saw that I was the right fit for them, and they did. [I’m] really honoured for the opportunity to be chosen to help lead that next step.”
As the new university President, Mandigo plans to continue working with the international organization Ashoka as a changemaker institution and partner with other institutions to learn from each other. He hopes that this project will be successful.
Mandigo said his advice for students is to become engaged on campus. There are many great opportunities for them to gain experience in fields they are passionate about, such as working with professors on research projects and having academic papers published while still being an undergraduate.
“You only get out of your degree what you put into it and there are so many opportunities for you to take what you’ve learned in the classroom and apply it in a way that you’re passionate about … there’s lots of opportunities out there for students to do that and so find your passion, pursue it, embrace that, lean into it, take advantage of all the opportunities that you have. UFV is a really special place.”
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.