President's Campus Update 2015

During his Campus Update on Oct. 6, UVic President Jamie Cassels celebrated UVic’s achievements this past year and addressed university priorities for the upcoming year.

The townhall-style event was attended by over 200 members of the UVic community—primarily faculty and staff. Cassels opted to not use any technology for his presentation, making it more of an informal and collegial atmosphere and emphasizing the conversational format of the event. There were multiple opportunities to provide feedback and ask questions.

Cassels touched upon and responded to a wide range of topics important to our campus community, including UVic’s Strategic Research Plan, the Campus Plan, Enhanced Planning, internal communications, The UVic Edge and student success.

In the first half of the conversation, Cassels referenced the backgrounder that was distributed weeks prior, which reviewed UVic’s progress within six priority areas over the past year.

He celebrated UVic’s achievements and also addressed recent challenges: media reports about employee harassment, pockets of questionable student behaviour during orientation and the sexual assault on campus. These are all reminders of the challenges we face, explained Cassels, and a reminder that we must reaffirm our values and commitment to creating a safe and inclusive campus for everyone.

During the second half of the event, Cassels shifted to our priorities for the year ahead. To ensure UVic continues to be a university of choice for students, faculty and staff, said Cassels, we need to focus on our mission and create the best possible research-enriched learning environment. This year, we’ll be implementing measures identified this past year. 

Some of the specific deliverables for students included a focus on new programs—both in response to student interest and social need—and the expansion of experiential learning opportunities. Cassels referred to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, noting that UVic has long been working to fulfil its obligation to empower Indigenous students and close the education gap. Two-way student mobility was also mentioned—both support for international students and support for domestic students to gain educational experiences elsewhere in Canada and abroad.

We’re both research-intensive and student-centred, explained Cassels, and we have to make sure those things work together in a positive fashion. “Our research addresses issues that matter and make a difference in the community,” said Cassels. A draft of the Strategic Research Plan—which will help us to determine how we can enable, support and strengthen research, scholarship and artistic endeavours—is available to the campus community for review and feedback until Oct. 19.

The draft Campus Plan will also be open for feedback later this month. Most urgent among construction priorities are student residences and a new wing to the Business and Economics Building.

Implementing Enhanced Planning Tools is another deliverable that Cassels identified. “Enhanced Planning is a terrific initiative designed to ensure decision making is evidence-based and transparent,” explained Cassels. The Enhanced Planning website is now live and includes information about upcoming workshops. Data input for decision makers will begin in November.

Cassels also referenced the roll-out of the UVic Edge—our means of describing our strengths and our mission—across campus. Now that we have the language and tools in place, it’s time to “take that message out there, to the community and to the world.”