Achieving our goals, together

Official launch of UVic’s new Strategic Framework to be cornerstone of Sept. 19 President’s Campus Update

We apologize to Jewish staff and faculty at UVic for inadvertently scheduling the 2018 President’s Campus Update on Yom Kippur. While we are not able to reschedule the event, there are a number of ways for faculty and staff to engage if they are unable to attend. You may send an email in advance with a question you would like addressed at the Campus Update, and you can view and provide feedback on the video of the Campus Update, which will be uploaded to the Campus Updates web page shortly following the event. Please use pres@uvic.ca for questions and feedback.

On Sept. 19, 2018, the official launch of the university’s new Strategic Framework will take place at the President's Campus Update, at noon in the Continuing Studies Building Atrium. Staff and faculty are invited to come and listen to a panel of their peers discuss what is already being done on campus to support the six strategic prioritiesand to identify opportunities for future implementation.

After eight months of consultation, both on and off the campus, the Board of Governors approved the UVic Strategic Framework 2018-2023 on May 29. The framework serves as a guide to the university’s future, articulating our shared understanding of our vision, values and priorities. The vision captured by the framework is for UVic to be the Canadian research university that best integrates outstanding scholarship, engaged learning and real-life involvement to contribute to a better future for people, places and the planet.

The consultation process engaged more than 2,500 people from the campus and broader community, both in-person and online. As a result the framework reflects a wide range of contributions and ideas from community members near and far.

Driven by a perspective unique to UVic, the Strategic Framework extends the recent and significant operational planningundertaken around research, student success, Indigenization, international activity, equity and diversity, the campus environment, and communications and marketing. It builds upon the strength of UVic’s people and its collegial, inclusive and collaborative culture. The framework confirms UVic’s character as a research-intensive and student-centred university, and its commitment to excellence.

The six priorities

The Strategic Framework sets out priorities, high-reaching goals, and supporting strategies in six key areas:

• Cultivate an extraordinary academic environment
• Advance research excellence and impact
• Intensify dynamic learning
• Foster respect and reconciliation
• Promote sustainable futures
• Engage locally and globally

Next steps

Implementation of the Strategic Framework will be coordinated through the university’s Integrated Planning Committee, chaired by VP Academic and Provost Valerie Kuehne, to ensure a focused and collaborative approach. The Integrated Planning Committee comprises UVic's vice-presidents and associate vice-presidents and its role is to set institutional planning priorities to ensure resource allocation across the university is consistent with the objectives of the Strategic Framework. A report measuring progress on the Strategic Framework priorities and strategies will be shared annually with Senate, the Board of Governors and the university community.

“Bringing the framework’s priorities to life will depend upon engagement and commitment from every part of the university, and I look forward to the contributions of university community members from across campus,” says President Cassels. “Creating a shared understanding of our goals and priorities enables us to coordinate our efforts and work together to meet our challenges and opportunities, and achieve our ambitious vision.”

A range of initiatives will help to measure the success of the framework, including building its priorities into the objectives of other institutional plans and the strategic enrolment management project, and incorporating them into the university’s enhanced planning tools—the reporting and recording system that helps academic, administrative and support units with organizational forecasting and decision making to achieve their goals.

Distribution of the Strategic Framework

Printed copies of the Strategic Framework and posters with the priorities will bedistributed to units across campus in September. UVic community members are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the framework, which is also available online at the Strategic Framework site.