Robert Simmonds, QC, chair of the 2012 conference

Welcome to CUBA 2012
Leadership on the Edge

Out here in Newfoundland and Labrador we’re on the edge.

Geographically, we are on the extreme eastern edge of Canada.
Our leaders have been described as edgy – our humour edgier.

We are sometimes told by visitors that our language is edgy (which is why professors at our university created the Dictionary of Newfoundland English).
Our university, like your universities, occupies the leading edge of many teaching, learning and research activities with global significance.

An edge can also be a boundary – and a true leader never hesitates to push boundaries.

As the leaders of Canadian university governing boards, we all walk the edge often. We make decisions involving tens of thousands of people – students, faculty, staff – and involving millions of dollars. We make easy decisions and we make tough ones.

On behalf of Memorial University and the organizing committee of CUBA 2012, I invite you to explore the leading edge of innovation with us. Over the next several days, we plan to inform you, engage you in lively discussion and entertain you in ways that will reinforce your proven ability to balance on the edge as governance leaders in your institutions.

Together let’s push the boundaries and explore beyond the edges of conventional thinking.

Robert E. Simmonds, QC
Chair CUBA 2012 Conference
Chair of the Board of Regents, Memorial University