Academic Planning Continues at UNBC

September 18, 2015

Good afternoon,

The development of a robust academic plan continues at UNBC. We are continuing to work with the UNBC community on Phase 1, which involves a re-visiting of our mission, vision, values and goals while also engaging with working groups comprised of membership from across our community. These groups are exploring a variety of areas related to academic planning: faculty renewal and development; academic structure; academic administrative organization; enrolment initiatives; and student experience and pedagogy.

We have employed a range of engagement models so far, working with students, faculty, CUPE members, exempt staff, and students. The feedback is being compiled, anonymously, and we will provide that information to the university community. You’ll also see an invitation to the community to help us analyze that feedback.

Yet as I mentioned during an academic planning session this week with Senate members, this first phase is just the beginning, and a process this institution has been through before. We must now determine how to transition from visions and high-level goals to specific strategies and actions.  In the second phase, which will begin in December, we will start to develop those strategies and actions in consultation with our stakeholders. This is where we breathe life into the overarching vision and goals of an academic plan.

This is the community's process. It belongs to all of us. I implore you to have faith in the process, and to continue your diligent work in support of describing and determining our academic priorities. Bill Krane, our Provost, had a roadmap to move this process forward. Our academic planning committees along with key staff members can follow that roadmap in Bill’s absence. We will call upon resources from outside the University to provide guidance and support for our staff, but with your commitment and buy-in to the process, we can certainly achieve what we must – a revitalized, effective and meaningful academic plan that will drive our budget to serve our priorities as an academic institution and help transform us into the UNBC of tomorrow.

Regards,

Daniel Weeks
President and Vice Chancellor