Campus Updates

Vancouver Campus Closure

February 4, 2025

To the FDU Vancouver Community,

Due to inclement weather conditions across the Lower Mainland, FDUV campus (Cambie and Georgia locations) is CLOSED today, February 4.

  • All in-person classes are cancelled. Students who were scheduled to be on campus will receive communication from their instructors for directions on classwork.
  • If your class or work is available remotely, this closure does not impact you. Please log in remotely in accordance with your usual schedule.
  • Faculty and staff who were scheduled to be on campus will work remotely. If you are unable to work remotely, please inform your direct supervisors.

Please continue to check your email for further updates.

Vancouver Campus Closure

February 3, 2025

Due to inclement weather conditions, the Vancouver Campus (Cambie and Georgia locations) is closed, and all in-person classes are cancelled for Monday, February 3, 2025. Faculty are asked to follow standard procedures for make-up classes, and staff can either work from home or come on campus if able to safely travel. 

Please check your FDU emails for future updates and notifications.

FDU Vancouver 

Inclement Weather Warning

January 21, 2025

As we prepare for winter, we would like to alert the FDUV community in case of inclement weather.

In the event FDUV closes due to inclement weather, employees and students are asked not to travel to campus out of an abundance of caution.

  • Employees working remotely will continue as a regularly scheduled day.
  • Employees who were scheduled to physically attend a campus will work remotely.
  • Instructors will be encouraged to hold their classes online.

FDUV has a plan to ensure a timely and coordinated. Please note that FDUV will physically remain open during normally scheduled hours unless weather conditions pose a hazard to public safety.

FDUV considers many factors when deciding to physically close the university. These include public transportation availability, road conditions, and forecasts. The senior leadership team determines whether the university will be closed. In the event of a campus-wide closure, FDUV will email the community prior to 6:30 a.m.

Mark Chiarello, MBA, P.Log     
Deputy Campus Executive
Vancouver Campus

BC PNP Changes Affecting FDU Vancouver MSACS Graduates

March 20, 2024

Yesterday, the BC government announced updates to the International Post-Graduate stream of the BC Provincial Nominee Program, which is a program that enables the province to select prospective immigrants to address provincial labour market needs.  It applies to specific university programs: for FDU Vancouver this only applies to the Master of Science in Applied Computer Science.

We appreciate the many emails and social media messages that we have received from students who may be affected by these changes.  Please know that the leadership of the Vancouver Campus and the MSACS program understand the concerns raised.  We are fully committed to supporting all of our students navigate these changes to the best of our ability.   We are reaching out to the province to gain further clarification regarding the proposed changes to provide accurate information to those affected.

At this time, we ask for patience and understanding as we do our best to understand and respond to this unexpected announcement. We will provide an update as soon as new information becomes available to us.

 

Wilfred Zerbe, Ph.D.
Campus Executive
Vancouver Campus

FDUV Welcomes Federal and Provincial Initiatives

January 30, 2024

Fairleigh Dickinson University–Vancouver welcomes the recent federal and provincial initiatives to protect the quality and integrity of international education in Canada and British Columbia.  FDU is committed to providing high-quality and student-focused university education and meeting the needs of our students and the provincial economy for valued and relevant degree programs. 

FDU Vancouver is an independent, not-for-profit institution that grants its own degrees under the authority of the BC Degree Authorization Act and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

FDU Vancouver has been granted the Education Quality Assurance (EQA) designation by the BC Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training.  The EQA designation is the provincial seal of quality in post-secondary education in B.C.

This designation is reviewed annually and EQA designated institutions must meet and maintain EQA requirements:

  • Hold good standing with quality assurance body/government. 
  • Be financially stable. 
  • Provide clear and transparent information to current and prospective students. 
  • Operate with integrity toward students and the public.

At least every five years, each FDUV program undergoes both an internal academic review and self-study and a rigorous external review by the BC Degree Quality Assurance Board. 

The recent initiatives will have a positive impact on all institutions that provide a high-quality university experience, including Fairleigh Dickinson University Vancouver.

 

Wilfred Zerbe, Ph.D.
Campus Executive
Vancouver Campus

FDUV Communicable Diseases Prevention Plan

October 5, 2023

This document describes the prevention measures implemented by Fairleigh Dickinson University – Vancouver Campus to reduce the risk of communicable diseases, including COVID-19, on campus. These measures follow the most recent recommendations from The BC Centre for Disease Control (CDC), last updated on April 6, 2023.

Context

Given the low-risk of in-class learning, a highly immunized population, and significant social benefits of in-person instruction, FDU – Vancouver Campus continue with on-campus instruction unless otherwise directed by the Public Health Office.

  • As it has become endemic in our population, exposure to the COVID-19 virus will occur irrespective of a student’s attendance at face-to-face classes on campus. According to VCH, most exposures to the virus tend to occur in high-risk settings, such as in homes and in informal social gatherings.
  • Educational settings are low-risk settings for COVID-19 transmission, particularly given the high rate of vaccination among the population, and among the student population in particular.

Actions to Mitigate Risk of COVID-19 Transmission

No one measure of protection against COVID-19 will be perfect.  However, when multiple measures are implemented to work together, the risk of transmission is greatly reduced.

People who have COVID-19 are no longer required to self-isolate. However, it is still important for people with symptoms to stay home to reduce any potential spread of illness until their symptoms have improved, and they are able to participate in their usual activities.

Personal Actions

  • Get vaccinated: vaccines are the most effective way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 on campus. Vaccines are freely available to everyone, including international students and their families. Everyone eligible is strongly encouraged to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and the seasonal flu.
  • Assess yourself for COVID-19 symptoms daily:  students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors should assess themselves daily for COVID-19 Symptoms before entering either location of the Vancouver campus. Please use the BC COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool for guidance and follow the instructions provided.
  • Stay home if you have symptoms: If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should stay at home to reduce any potential spread of illness until your symptoms have improved, your fever is gone, and you are able to participate in your usual activities. Please follow the Self-Isolation and Self-Monitoring guidelines recommended by the BCCDC.
  • Assess yourself for communicable disease symptoms daily:  similarly, students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors should assess themselves daily for the symptoms of other communicable diseases, such as the flu, and take appropriate action.
  • Stay home if you are sick: if you are ill, or have any symptoms of a communicable disease, you should stay at home.
  • Inform your instructor: if you need to miss class due to a communicable disease, please inform your instructor via your FDU email account, or through WebCampus, that you cannot attend class due to illness.
  • Hand hygiene: avail yourself of regular opportunities for hand hygiene, including washing your hands with soap and water or using the hand sanitizer stations located throughout both campuses.

FDU Administrative Actions

  • Air ventilation and quality: the West Georgia Street location is a modern building constructed in 2015 to LEED Gold certification standards. This certification ensures the highest standard of indoor air ventilation quality and monitoring.

At the Cambie Street location, facilities management has made improvements to increase the volume of outdoor air ventilated through the building. Air filters have been installed that capture 98% of airborne pollutants (incl bacteria and viruses) and are replaced quarterly.  The indoor air quality has been tested and is within the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) guidelines. 

  • Sanitizing stations: numerous hand sanitizing stations and sanitizing supplies have been strategically located throughout the campus and in classrooms, offices, and public workstations.
  • Informative guides: A variety of information guides have been posted throughout the campus to provide students information on best practices to aid in mitigating the risk of COVID-19 contagion.
  • Contact tracing: contact tracing is no longer considered to be an effective public health intervention for control of COVID-19 in the community. FDU will provide notifications to faculty, staff or students about potential or confirmed communicable diseases cases (including COVID -19) only if requested to do so by the Medical Health Officer.

Exciting News: GRE Waiver for all FDU Vancouver MSACS Program Applicants!

September 20, 2023

We have some exciting news to share about our Master of Science in Applied Computer Science (MSACS) program.

Starting with the Summer 2024 term, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) requirement has been officially removed from our admissions requirements. This change applies to all prospective students applying to the Summer 2024 term, making it easier than ever to apply for the MSACS program.

While GRE scores are no longer a mandatory part of your application, we understand that some students may still choose to submit them to enhance their academic profile. You have the option to include your GRE scores if you believe they will strengthen your application.

We hope this change simplifies your application journey and makes it even more accessible to all aspiring computer science and engineering students. At FDU Vancouver, we are committed to providing a supportive and inclusive environment for your academic pursuits.

If you have any questions or need further clarification, please feel free to reach out to our Recruitment team at vancouver@fdu.edu.

FDU Vancouver Lowers Undergraduate Tuition

January 6, 2023

As a non-profit institution, FDU is committed to ensuring that the cost of degree programs is competitive and represents excellent value for high-quality education.

Effective for the Fall 2023 semester, tuition for international students enrolled in FDU undergraduate programs on the Vancouver Campus will be US$700 per credit hour.  The scholarship levels provided to high achieving students have also been revised.  This tuition and scholarship reset will clarify and simplify the cost of a FDU Vancouver undergraduate degree.  For returning students the tuition rate and scholarship level awarded them on admission will continue to apply. All students will be subject to any annual tuition increases that may occur in the future.

Tuition for undergraduate students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents will follow the domestic student tuition framework. 

 

Wilfred Zerbe, Ph.D.
Campus Executive
Vancouver Campus