A message from Professor Andrew Szeri, Provost and Vice-President, Academic; Professor Gail Murphy, Vice-President, Research and Innovation; and Professor Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal, UBC Okanagan
We are pleased to inform you of the progress that has been made to support the implementation of UBC’s strategic plan. The plan — Shaping UBC’s Next Century — was formally launched in the spring following a thorough consultation process involving thousands of members of the UBC community.
As part of the implementation phase, we want to ensure that those voices continue to be heard. We have therefore developed a robust implementation structure and process that draws on the passion, ideas and expertise that were so evident during the consultation.
Progress over the summer includes:
- Establishment of a Strategic Plan Implementation Advisory Committee, broadly representative of our UBC community. This was convened to provide advice on processes and priorities for implementation. We will share further details about the group and its membership on the strategic plan website later this month.
- Calls for proposals for special Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund projects and Research Clusters were sent out in support of advancing the plan. More opportunities will be announced shortly.
- As an initial step, we have worked with Faculties and Administrative Units on both campuses, to identify projects in support of the plan, to be funded using a portion of the Excellence funds for 2018/19. Additional opportunities for funding projects will be included in the 2019/20 campus budgeting processes. Further details will be shared in the near future. We would like to thank all those who have come forward so far with ideas.
- Both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses will host forums, to help generate ideas and enable campus leaders to seek advice and counsel related to the core areas of the plan: People and Places, Research Excellence, Transformative Learning and Local & Global Engagement.
- The UBC Executive has established a Strategic Plan Coordinating Committee, co-chaired by Andrew Szeri and Gail Murphy. Other members of this group include Philip Steenkamp, Vice-President, External Relations; Barbara Meens Thistle, Vice-President, Human Resources; Ben Pollard, Director, Strategic Plan Implementation Office; David Shorthouse, Executive Director, Academic Initiatives; Julie Wagemakers, Executive Director, President’s Office; and Nicole Udzenija, Director, Campus Initiatives, UBC Okanagan.
In addition to the progress detailed above, we are enhancing the strategic plan website. Updates will be made later this month to include information about the implementation process; proposal submission and review process; priority setting and review of proposals; upcoming budget planning for 2019/20; progress updates; and open calls for funding applications.
Thank you once again to all those who have submitted proposals in support of the plan. These proposals will be reviewed by the Executive Team, who will in turn make recommendations to the President. If you have questions, please email strategic.plan@ubc.ca.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the plan’s development. We appreciate your patience during this start-up implementation phase, as we continue to work towards more open and inclusive communication regarding the overall process, roles and timelines. We hope you will continue with us on this journey, as we bring the plan to life and see the impact we can collectively make as an inclusive, collaborative and innovative university.