This message was sent to faculty, staff and students in Vancouver and the Okanagan.
As announced in July, UBC is launching a process to refresh its strategic plan, to define the university’s priorities and actions for the next three to five years. The existing ten-year plan, Shaping UBC’s Next Century, was launched in 2018 and since that time UBC has made great strides in advancing all aspects of it.
The world has changed a lot since 2018 and we need to continue to adapt. We are calling this process a ‘refresh’ because the intention is not to replace UBC’s strategic plan, but to define a series of priorities and actions focused on our core academic mission of teaching, learning and research. When both higher education and our broader society is faced with so many challenges, the time is right to consider UBC’s priorities as they relate to three broad objectives:
- Envision what kind of university UBC strives to be over the next 25 years, to 2050.
- Define shorter-term priorities and actions over the next three to five years, especially with regards to our core academic and research mission.
- Continue to mobilize and support the achievement of existing institutional plans such as the Indigenous Strategic Plan, Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) Framework, as well as Faculty-level plans.
An integral part of this process is engagement with the entire UBC community. We need your help to define our shared vision for the future. There are a number of ways to get involved over the next few weeks with a program of activity including on-campus ‘pop up’ events, in-person and online workshops, online feedback mechanisms and direct outreach on both campuses. For full details and to register for any of the workshops please go to https://president.ubc.ca/strategic-plan-refresh.
This fall engagement phase is focused on the first objective, with further engagement planned in the new year. A steering committee comprising UBC’s Provosts and the Vice-President, Research & Innovation is guiding the plan refresh, with support from a project team. The aim is to complete it by the end of the 2024-2025 academic year.
I encourage you to take part in an event, or submit feedback and add your voice to this important dialogue. Thank you in advance for engaging in this process. The future is bright for UBC!
Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor