CANADA’S ENGAGED UNIVERSITY:STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS FOR YORK UNIVERSITY 2010-2020

PATRICK MONAHAN, VICE-PRESIDENT ACADEMIC & PROVOSTACADEMIC PLANNING FORUMS

MARCH 2010

CONTEXT FOR THE WHITE PAPER

- White Paper situated within the academic and resource planning context at York

- Demographic trends: opportunities for growth and diversification

- Government policy directions and funding context

- Strategic Counsel student survey

- Reputational issues

- Global context

- Technological developments

BUILDING ON STRENGTHS

York has many strengths on which to build in responding to challenges:

• distinctive academic program and research strengths based on interdisciplinary and integrative approaches

• award-winning internationalization strategies

• long history of community engagement and commitment to social justice

• pedagogical innovation

• program reputation

• leadership in sustainability

• location in a fast-growing and diverse area with community partnership opportunities

WHITE PAPER PROCESS

Green Paper process:

• working groups

• consultation meetings with all Faculty Councils and other constituencies

• two open forums in November

White Paper process:

• release of draft White Paper on February 8

• meetings with all Faculty Councils for feedback

• two March open forums

• meetings with range of constituencies

• written submissions to whitepaper@yorku.ca

White Paper to be revised following consultations for consideration by Senate in April

WHAT? HOW? HOW DO WE KNOW?

Focus of development of White Paper has been three fundamental questions:

- What? What do we want to achieve? the goals?

- Enhancement of academic quality

- How? How can we go about pursuing the goals? what strategies and initiatives?

- Through becoming a more engaged university

- How do we know? How will we measure our progress?

- Improved reputation and student satisfaction

THE ENGAGED UNIVERSITY

- “engagement” as a vehicle to enhance quality

- engagement can be defined as the collaboration “between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”

- Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2005

- quality and engagement are embedded in York’s planning documents, e.g., University Academic Plan

- York Task Force on Community Engagement

PRINCIPLES

Two overarching principles:

1. The principle of full funding (both capital and operating) is a precondition for future growth at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

2. Over the next decade, the growth rate in full-time faculty complement must exceed the growth rate in student enrolment.

BENCHMARKS FOR PRIORITY AREAS

1. Deepen and broaden institutional engagement with research partners and networks.

2. Increase research performance, especially externally funded research.

3. Become a more comprehensive university through expansion of medicine, health, engineering, applied science, business-related and professional programs.

4. Increase admission standards.

5. Introduce an enhanced first year program by 2012.

BENCHMARKS FOR PRIORITY AREAS (cont’d)

6. Expand experiential education opportunities for all students by 2012.

7. Increase PhD completion by end of Year VI.

8. Improve research profile and quality of graduate and postdoctoral programs.

9. Enhance accessibility through expansion of online course delivery.

10. Increase proportion of international students.