Happy New Year, and welcome ‘back’

While we are starting the winter semester apart, I am writing to wish you a Happy New Year, express my gratitude for you all and share my optimism for the year ahead at the University of Calgary.
 
My optimism is rooted in the community spirit I’ve seen over the last two years. COVID-19 has not been easy on any of us, but through it all I’ve seen incredible generosity, humanity, patience and compassion from this community. Our UCalgary family is an exceptional group of students, faculty and staff and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for this university and for each other over the course of this pandemic. Whatever comes next, there’s no group of people with whom I’d rather face it.
 
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has thrown us another curveball and forced us, out of prudence, to start our semester primarily online. We do not know what the future holds and there may be more times in the future where we will be forced to shift quickly between in person and online as we navigate our transition out of the pandemic. 
 
We continue to monitor the progression of the Omicron wave and will update you no later than Jan. 17 if the current plan to return to primarily in-person learning on Jan. 31 changes. 
 
Once again, happy new year and I hope you had time to rest and recharge over the holiday break. Here’s to a great 2022.
 
Ed McCauley
President and Vice-Chancellor