Here's what you need to know about Laurentian University's 5-year plan
It’s a hopeful, new beginning or the start of a new chapter for Laurentian University.
On Wednesday morning, school administration unveiled Laurentian’s new five-year strategic plan in a bid to carry the school forward over the next half a decade.
"The views of over 2,500 people contributed to the process,” said interim president and vice-chancellor Sheila Embleton.
"I believe this plan reflects the diversity of the community while bringing together realistic goals that reflect the university’s identity and potential. This plan sets forth a positive path forward through a clearer articulation of who we are, where we are going and the shared priorities."
Embleton spoke to a room full of staff although her comments were broadcast in a town hall to the university community by video.
The new plan identifies a vision, mission, values and four key priorities as the focus of the academic institution along with goals and initiatives to achieve them.
The priorities include enhancing the student experience, energizing the academic and research mission, building up the community Laurentian serves and valuing and supporting its people.
Read more about how the university will approach these goals here (see pages 7-10).
"Through the strategic planning process, we worked hard to identify values that would be important to Laurentian," she said.
"While developing the strategic plan, it was also clear that to a certain extent that the values we were to define would be somewhat aspirational given the harm that the challenges of the last few years have done to our community culture."
It’s also one of the first real directional documents it has issued since emerging from insolvency, short of its transformational plan released last year, that focuses on the future as it looks to leave its financial fallout and prioritizes what it calls 'the leaders of tomorrow.'
"I don’t know of any other university which has undertaken two such huge plans at the same time and really in record speed, working against mandated timelines,” said Embleton.
"So brave to us all in getting it done."
Work on developing the strategic plan first began in July 2023 and featured extensive participation from the Laurentian community.
Officials said there were workshops, consultations, town halls and surveys to organize the feedback gathered from students, staff and faculty.
StrategyCorp was hired as a consultant as it worked to make sense of the input and perspectives of the more than 2,500 people who participated.
It’s already being implemented and school staff say in the coming months, academic and research plans will have an important role in defining how key elements of the strategic plan will be put into place.
Embleton said a lot of the success that school receives will depend on how they can implement the values they are hoping to achieve into action.
Laurentian used the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to declare insolvency in February 2021, which led to layoffs, program cuts and the end of its agreement with federated universities.
Embleton's last day in the interim role of president and vice-chancellor is on Thursday.
The new president, Lynn Wells, is slated to take over the helm on April 1.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Blind Sask. boy heading to international braille competition hopes to increase accessibility for visually impaired
A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.