After more than four decades in post-secondary education, including 13 at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), Dr. Joanne MacLean is ready for the next chapter of her life. Joanne is retiring as UFV president and vice-chancellor, stepping away with a sense of pride and peace. As she passes the torch on to Dr. James Mandigo, Joanne leaves behind a stronger, more connected university shaped by her steady leadership and bold vision. 

“I feel now is the time to hand over the reins to new leadership with new ideas and doing it at a time when we’re as stable as an institution can be in today’s environment is a really good feeling,” she says. “Our board of governors is well-positioned, our finances are better than many sister institutions, and we have great leadership across the institution as a whole.  

“James is the right leader and he’s going to do very well.”   

Joanne’s first day as UFV’s president and vice-chancellor was May 1, 2018. She became the first woman to hold the title of president at UFV in a non-interim role. Previously the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, she took over an institution that was on the verge of significant growth but needed new, upgraded facilities and a roadmap for the future. 

UFV has been on a steady track of evolving from a community college to a university since receiving university-college status in 1991 and university status in 2008, while prioritizing retaining its community roots. It’s a tricky balance that requires the type of leadership that embraces the strengths of the past while forging into the future.  

“At the time when I started as president in 2018, I felt UFV was on the precipice of really maturing into its university identity,” she recalls.  

From the start, Joanne focused on building strong working relationships with students, faculty, staff, Indigenous communities, alumni, international partners, donors, and governments. Within her first year, she led a university-wide visioning exercise that resulted in new mission, vision, and value statements — foundational principles that have since guided UFV’s strategic direction and reinforced its commitment to Indigenization, equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

“Someone told me something years ago that stuck with me, and it’s no goals, no glory,” Joanne says. “You must have something to strive for, and I feel like it was a great step forward even by doing something as basic as defining a mission statement that everyone could remember — to engage learners, transform lives, and build community. We’ve been able to do some wonderful planning around those three pieces.” 

One result of that planning is the addition of new student housing and a new dining hall at the Abbotsford campus. Championed by Joanne, the six-story residence adds 398 beds, addressing student concerns over housing insecurity. The dining hall expansion is set to open in August 2025, and the student housing will open in January 2026. 

But she’s most proud of what’s transpired in Mission, where a revitalized campus opened in 2024 as the new home to UFV’s School of Education, including teacher education and early childhood education programs. In collaboration with Indigenous communities in the Mission area, the university thoughtfully co-created the space as part of its ongoing commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments that cultivate a sense of belonging for Indigenous learners. 

The project was years in the making. 

“It required a lot of work to secure the resources to renovate and create a purpose-built space for our excellent teacher education program, and I’m very proud of that,” Joanne says. 

She’s also proud of the way UFV has been able to “move the needle on student support” with more resources. 

“I value our student-ready approach of meeting students where they are at, because we’re an access institution and our doors are open to everyone,” Joanne says. “We take the position that education is for everybody, and we help folks achieve their goals, no matter where they’re starting from. 

“That’s always been at the core of UFV from our very beginning. We haven’t lost it, and I don’t think we ever will.” 

Additionally, UFV has enthusiastically embraced the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015, making significant strides, not only in environmental sustainability but in areas like social justice, gender equality, and health and well-being. 

Her tenure was not without adversity, however. The atmospheric river flooding of 2021 and the pandemic that began in 2020 were incredibly disruptive to UFV’s students, faculty, and staff. Joanne’s calm and grounded leadership was essential during those tumultuous times, and she says she’s proud of the way members of the UFV community supported each other. 

As the pandemic forced UFV to shift most courses to online learning, Joanne saw people working together to make the best of a bad situation. 

“It’s not an easy thing to switch gears and pivot to online learning,” she says. “The vast majority of our faculty hadn’t been teaching online, and it took a lot of hard work to adapt. There was so much uncertainty around what was going to happen, but I saw people digging in and doing their part to make sure we all got through it together. 

“I have immense pride that we did get through it. We kept everyone working and we kept students learning.” 

Joanne also battled through serious health challenges that sidelined her for over a year. But she was always determined to come back and did so in 2024, allowing her to celebrate Convocation that year and again in 2025, when UFV celebrated its largest-ever graduating class with more than 3,100 students receiving credentials. 

“I didn’t want to let that define me,” she says. 

Having earned the opportunity to go out on her own terms, Joanne expects she’ll benefit physically and mentally from a slower-paced lifestyle. While she doesn’t have a firm idea of what she’ll do next, Joanne knows she’ll be reading more, spending more time on ski slopes, and travelling with her wife Maureen. 

“I’ve been so lucky to have Maureen’s support, advice, and her sense of right and wrong and what’s important,” she says. 

There’s much that Joanne will miss as she retires. Even after all these years, she’s never lost the simple joy that comes from walking around one of UFV’s bustling campuses.  

“I knew in my second year of university that I wanted to work at a university, and I’ve never wanted to be anywhere else,” Joanne says. “On those days when there are students filling every parking lot and walking between buildings, I still get this feeling of contentment that comes from being at a gathering place like a university campus. 

“And I know I will miss being connected to the work that our faculty and students do in teaching, learning and research, and the importance of that work to our society. But I will be watching from afar.” 

There’s no doubt Joanne has helped UFV reach new heights as an academic institution. Under her steady guidance, the university has fully embraced the opportunity to transform lives, guided by its core values of integrity, inclusivity, community, and excellence. Through her leadership, vision, and unwavering commitment to the UFV community, Joanne has helped shape the university’s future, ensuring its continued success for generations to come.