UBC's Future with Kelowna: University President Says Partnership is Key

As both Kelowna and UBC Okanagan continue to grow, UBC President Arvind Gupta says the two need to work together for success.

Gupta spoke Friday afternoon at one of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce business luncheons at the Coast Capri Hotel, emphasizing community partnership as a crucial factor in UBC's path to greater prestige. “We know that great cities and great universities exist in symbiosis,” said Gupta. “They feed, inspire, and energize each other. Today, every city that's counted amongst the world's most liveable boasts a world-class university.”\

Aerial view of UBC's Okanagan campus. (Photo Credit: UBC Okanagan)

“I want to impress upon you the importance of this region and this city in making UBC a great university,” said Gupta. “Our relationship is entirely reciprocal. Everything we do to help you, helps us in turn. And everything that you do, as businesses, as community members—as the demanding parents of worthy students—helps to make us better.”

UBC's Okanagan campus has grown exponentially in the last nine years. The student population has doubled, the university has spent $400 million to double the land and triple the square footage, and the annual research budget grew from $6 million to $18 million this year. “I can promise you that a few years from now, $18 million will be considered a small number,” said Gupta.

In his goal to push UBC from one of the top 25 universities in the world to the top 10, Gupta says that Kelowna itself is crucial. Not only that, but Kelowna will also benefit from the university's increased prestige. Already, though Okanagan residents make up only 28 per cent of the student population, 70 per cent of graduates choose to settle in the region. “That's a huge injection of youth and energy for this region,” said Gupta. “Those students, and the more than 1000 faculty and staff, are the reason that we are going to lift UBC into the top 10.”

UBC President Arvind Gupta speaking at the Chamber luncheon. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

He says that though most Canadian communities don't embrace their universities because the institutions are wards of the province, that's not the case in Kelowna. “I think here, because the community did so much to bring UBC to the region, it really has a vested interest in the success of UBC,” said Gupta. “Everyone I meet in Kelowna, the first thing they say is, 'What can we do to help UBC?' You don't get that kind of outreach in other cities for other universities.”

Gupta is committed to building relationships in the Okanagan, both for the university, and for the municipalities. “The question is never what can UBC do for you, or what can you do for UBC,” said Gupta. “The question has to be, what can we all do together?”