Message regarding cancellation of CUAC In-person Triennial:
CUAC is an international organization spanning the continents to strengthen leaders, supporting our members in becoming more effective. This pandemic is the first event to have such a serious effect on all our institutions. In April of this year, despite fifteen months preparation, we canceled last July’s Triennial International Conference, and following our members began pivoting virtually, with our first ever Online Seminar on July 1st. 165 participants from 32 colleges and universities, buoyed by 5o from Trinity University of Asia took part in this pivot from the planned London Triennial, masterfully hosted by CUAC Transformational Fellow Dean Jeremy Law with our external keynoters Tim Wu and Karen O’Donnell.
In the last six months, the Board has actively been monitoring the situation across the globe. Alas, we have concluded that in the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not feasible to schedule an in-person CUAC International Triennial Conference in 2021. Rather, we will be holding an Online Seminar next July that will include a Business Meeting to elect new trustees.
While it is abundantly clear that an in-person Triennial is an essential activity for our CUAC members, recognizing that 2022 is too soon for a new Board to properly plan a conference in depth, the next in-person International Triennial Conference is rescheduled, Deo volente, to June or July 2023, resuming the flow of conferences. As a result, we will be reaching out to the 28 delegates from the 2020 Triennial who elected for CUAC to ‘hold’ their registration fees, to issue full refunds.
With the encouragement of participants of the July seminar, we are planning the next online gathering to be held in mid-November: Navigating COVID: 6 CUAC Voices from 6 Continents with a panel of CUAC vice-chancellors/principals/presidents sharing what they are learning from managing during the pandemic. Details for registering will follow soon.
As always, do call on us for any assistance we can offer in these stormy waters.
Godspeed,
Jamie Callaway
GENERAL SECRETARY
