As I look forward to my 10th and final year as president and vice-chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, I have been thinking about the importance of momentum as the university enters into a number of transitions.
Universities everywhere have been going through a period of significant change. Laurier shares in the realities of significant change. But we also have much to be positive about, a wonderful asset as we move ahead.
Like every university in Canada, Laurier has had to adapt to financial challenges, changing student expectations, and evolving societal needs. What we have done differently, however, is take charge of our transition through strategic choices that have generated real momentum — a positive, forward motion that will enable the university to build on a solid foundation for years to come.
Let me provide some examples.
- Faced with sector-wide financial challenges, Laurier chose to undertake a number of changes aimed at long-term financial sustainability. These ranged from pension reform to a program-prioritization process known as Integrated Planning and Resource Management (IPRM). The IPRM process has given the Laurier community a clearer understanding of university priorities at all levels — institutional, faculty and administrative. It also yielded a new budget model — Responsibility Centre Management — that will enhance transparency and accountability and better link spending decisions with priorities. Taken together, these transitions have created the kind of momentum needed to build financial stability. And financial stability, of course, provides the university with a greater ability to shape its own future.
- Studies show that the number of university-age youth in Ontario will continue to decline, on aggregate, for at least five years. As a result, post-secondary institutions are competing more than ever for students. At Laurier, we have developed an integrated recruitment strategy, grounded in the development of innovative academic programs, and all guided by a new Strategic Academic Plan. Exciting new programs include: a Game Design and Development degree; a joint law-degree program with the University of Sussex in the UK; a partnership between the Vancouver Film School and our Film Studies program; ongoing collaborations with Conestoga College; a fully online BA in Policing; and a User Experience Design degree, to name just a few. In addition, Laurier has strengthened its recruitment systems and supported them with a strategic marketing campaign that includes targeted online advertising and a fresh new website to engage students. By taking a more strategic approach to recruitment, we have generated real momentum: Laurier is one of only five Ontario universities to demonstrate growth in confirmations from Ontario high school students in each of the past two years.
- Over the past few years the university has quietly laid the groundwork for a major fundraising campaign. To be publicly launched this fall, the $130-million Catalyst Campaign will benefit students in all faculties. Despite being in a "quiet phase" for several years, Catalyst has received generous support to date. It has, among other things, helped us build the magnificent Lazaridis Hall on the Waterloo campus and to begin construction of the Laurier-YMCA recreation centre in Brantford. Both projects are a testament to the momentum currently propelling the entire university forward. If you haven’t done so yet, I urge you to give to the Catalyst Campaign. It is an investment in our students and in the future of Laurier.
Transition is also occurring among our senior leadership. Not only is a search underway for a new president, we have also welcomed a new chancellor — alumna, business leader and board-governance expert Eileen Mercier. As well, Laurier has a new vice-president of finance and operations, Deb Dubenofsky; a recently appointed vice-president of research, Rob Gordon; a new university secretary, Rebecca Wickens; and two new acting deans — Dawn Buzza in the Faculty of Social Work and Tamas Dobozy in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
I look forward to working with them and the entire Laurier community as we continue to accelerate forward to position the university for ever-increasing success.
Max Blouw is President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University.
