Santa Ono named UBC's 15th president

By Samantha McCabe  ·  June 13, 2016, 1:51 p.m.
Santa J. Ono greets the crowd as the next president of UBC. Photo Geoff Lister / The Ubyssey

Last night’s speculation was correct — Santa Ono has left the University of Cincinnati to become the 15th president and vice-chancellor of UBC.

At 10 a.m. this morning, Ono was announced as president at a ceremony at the Peter A. Allard School of Law building to a packed room of students, staff, faculty and news outlets. Amid the announcement of his selection, Ono received a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd.

“I see my job as working on behalf of the entire UBC community. I am working to serve you, and not vice-versa,” said Ono in his announcement speech to the crowd. “One of the things that I shall never forget is that I am a professor … and so my philosophy of leading is to lead from within the faculty.” 

Ono promised to be an “accessible university president,” including even to the “freshmen on their first day on campus.” He noted his strong focus on research and discovery, something that he described as fundamental to the core of UBC as a research institution.

“I am greatly humbled by the opportunity to lead one of the world’s greatest universities,” said Ono, as quoted in a press release released by the university. “I relish the opportunity to help UBC realize its aspirations and destiny as a truly global university.”

The presidential search committee was composed of 21 members, including deans, faculty, senate and Board of Governors members, and alumni from both campuses. The search began in January of 2016, and the team was looking for “a prudent record of extraordinary and diverse skills,” according to board chair Stuart Belkin. After several rounds of interviews, mostly in May, the committee recommended Ono to the Board of Governors and the board then approved this choice unanimously.

“It truly is a wonderful time to be joining the UBC family,” said Martha Piper — interim president since the resignation of Arvind Gupta — during the ceremony, welcoming Ono to the role.

Ono has extensive experience leading a university, as he was president of University of Cincinnati since August of 2012 and held various other positions before that in administration and teaching roles at universities throughout the United States.

Students at UC visibly loved their president, and tweeted Ono regret and their best wishes upon hearing the news. 

During his announcement speech, Ono expressed his love for the university and acknowledged that he will be sad to leave, but that he feels they are on solid footing and is excited for the opportunities that UBC presents him.

“I am committed to making UBC a better institution,” said Ono. “I will be a strong promoter of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

According to a press release from the UBC PR department, “Dr. Dave Farrar, previous UBC Provost and Vice President Academic and Senior Advisor to the current President, has agreed to take on the role of Interim President after June 30 and prior to Dr. Ono’s arrival.” 

Ono will officially begin serving as the president of UBC on August 15 for a set term of five years.

“Thank you for your enthusiasm and passion and love for the University of British Columbia. I will work hard every day on behalf of this great university, the province, and the country.” said Ono to the crowd. “Thank you for making it possible for this Vancouver boy to return home.”

Follow us on Snapchat at TheUbyssey to see live coverage of the announcement.

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  • Santa J. Ono greets the crowd as the next president of UBC.

    Photo Geoff Lister

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U of C attack increases UBC's precautions against ransomware

By Malcolm Wilkins  ·  June 14, 2016, 8:23 p.m.
Photo Geoff Lister / The Ubyssey

The University of Calgary was recently forced to pay a $20,000 ransom to regain access to their computer systems after they were hacked. UBC frequently faces cyber attacks given the large volume of information that is transferred over the course of even a single day, sometimes including ransomware necessitating precautions.

“These attacks often come in the form of email attachments, or links, that unsuspecting recipients open or click,” said Don Thompson, deputy chief information officer, in an information technology (IT) alert to faculty and staff. “I would like to request that everyone remains diligent as some of the fraudulent emails appear to come from official UBC sources.”

These emails often appear to be bank statements, income tax refund issues and random warnings from known sources. While UBC uses technology to block and dispose of such emails, newer version of malicious software have been found to exist, making it difficult to successfully detect and block all possible threats.

“It is here that caution must be exercised,” urged Thompson. He recommended vigilance amongst staff, faculty members and students, since UBC as a “research-intensive university faces a greater threat because [of the amount of online activity such as] clicking on an e-mail or opening a link or an attachment.”

He also emphasized that those who are suspicious of a certain email or link should contact the UBC IT help desk at 604-822-2008. Faculty and staff can also forward suspicious emails to security@ubc.ca.  

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    Photo Geoff Lister

Santa Ono's appointment met with praise and excitement

By Sruthi Tadepalli  ·  June 13, 2016, 11:42 p.m.
Piper congratulates Ono after he is appointed UBC's 15th President. Photo Geoff Lister / The Ubyssey

The appointment of UBC’s new president, Santa Ono, has so far been met with universal praise. From the search committee to the AMS, everyone seems to have found Ono to be likeable, experienced and up to the task of running a university that is still in the aftermath of what has been termed a governance crisis.

The chair of the presidential search committee, Lindsay Gordon, for one, noted that Ono is “literally the perfect person to lead UBC into its next century.”

“If you go back to the consultation, we came out with a selection criteria. When you think about his background he absolutely stands out as meeting those key criteria — fantastic academic pedigree, great leadership skills, great communicator, very good values, ethics, emotional intelligence, his focus on diversity, his international experience … and very importantly the focus and commitment at least on aboriginal engagement,” he said.

Aaron Bailey, one of the student representatives on the search committee, emphasized his track record with students and commitment to student engagement.

“One thing I found interesting about Santa is … he isn’t someone who tokenizes consultation with students — he is someone who very genuinely wants to engage,” said Bailey. “He considers himself a servant leader, he goes out to to the community before he does anything.”

Bailey noted that his emphasis on consultation becomes especially apparent when you look at his presence on social media — especially twitter.

“He is absolutely adored by the entire community of the University of Cincinnati (UC), students especially though, he takes the time to literally respond individually to every student.”

The current AMS President, Ava Nasiri, is also supportive of the new president saying that his philosophy of servant leadership — meaning that he believes his role is to serve all members of the UBC community — mirrors her own philosophy as a president.

“We definitely look forward to collaborating with Dr. Ono to continue shaping and facilitating the campus experience and environment into something that can really shape student success,” said Nasiri.

UBC’s Okanagan campus also gave President Ono a warm reception, according to the deputy vice-chancellor and president of the UBCO campus, Deborah Buszard. She also commends the experience and knowledge he brings to his new role. 

"I think he’s got a really good sense of the issues modern universities face,” she said. “What I’m looking forward to is working with him on growing the success and impact of the Okanagan campus. For us, a ten year old campus, we’re still very much in the beginning of our development and I think we have a great start and we’re a young campus and I think there is so much for potential for us.”

Mark Mac Lean, the president of the faculty association — which has expressed a lack of confidence in UBC's governance, was also pleased with the new president and his initial words.

“I'm encouraged by both his past experience and actions at other institutions and by the peaceful language at the address today that he is sincerely aware of the level of governance crisis that we've had at UBC and he is going to help engage with faculty to try to strengthen collegial governance at the university. So I'm maybe hopeful by what he's saying and what these early days will actually have a hope at playing out into change at the institution,” he said.

Ono himself is also very optimistic about the future.

“There are challenges everywhere,” he said during a press conference after the announcement of his appointment. “When I was first elevated as interim president and then president at UC that was right after the sudden departure of my predecessor. I think the university is actually in very good shape with Martha Piper, what she's done. That doesn't bother me at all. This is fundamentally a world-class institution and I look forward to working with the members of this community to move it from strength to strength.”

Ono also emphasizes his strength as a communicator and the strong focus he puts on being available to students.

“I’m very student centered — that’s the last thing you need to worry about,” he said in an interview with The Ubyssey. “I’m going to continue my student engagement. I can’t wait for Imagine Day, I can’t wait for Block Party, I can’t wait to get involved in your traditions — I hope that students will reach out to me.”

He encourages students to follow his twitter and to realize that he’s an accessible president.

“I want [students] to know that I’m going to meet with different clubs and organizations and those sorts of things and I can’t wait to get to know the students of the university. I’m excited,” said Ono.

“Tell them I’m pumped.”

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  • Piper congratulates Ono after he is appointed UBC's 15th President.

    Photo Geoff Lister