Professor Heather Campbell re-appointed as SCARP's Director

We're pleased to now announce that Professor Heather Campbell has been reappointed as SCARP's Director for a second five-year appointment!

A little about the first five years

Professor Campbell was appointed SCARP's Director in 2018. Before then, she was already one of the world's foremost Planning theorists, and had previously headed the University of Sheffield's Department of Urban Studies and Planning and served as Deputy Chair of both the Research Assessment Exercise Sub-panel for Town and Country Planning and the Education Commission of the Royal Town Planning Institute, the largest planning institute in Europe.

Since then, among many other accomplishments, she has:

• Spearheaded the production and first implementations of SCARP's transformational Strategic Plan
• Overseen two re-accreditations of our MCRP program, as well as an overhaul of its curriculum to better prepare tomorrow's planners for tomorrow's challenges and to further immerse SCARP's teachings in Indigenous understandings
• Overseen a substantial External Review of the School, whose impressed response to who we are and what we represent has afforded us further recognition and potential

Begun a robust growth of SCARP's faculty and staff, each addition representing a tangible new capacity for the School, in research, teaching, partnerships, programs, and depth of knowledge

The process

The appointment extension consideration was conducted in accordance with UBC policy AP9 and established procedures in the Faculty of Applied Science. Appointment committees met with the incumbent and sought written feedback from members of their school/ department, which ultimately led to her reappointment.

The Faculty of Applied Science's Dean James Olson said of Professor Campbell's reappointment:

Dr. Campbell is currently on a one-year administrative leave and will start her second term as Director when she returns on July 1, 2024. In the meantime, Professor Kelly Clifton has been SCARP's Director, pro tem. While Professor Clifton has been continuing Professor Campbell's vision for the School, Clifton has engaged the School in robust community-building that has rejuvenated us in a busy time. In Kelly's words, "I'm not here to re-invent Heather's mission, I'm keeping the School thriving, with the help of a great student faculty and staff base". More than that, Professor Clifton remarks, "We look forward to her continued leadership in SCARP over the next 5 years." 

Congratulations Professor Campbell!