The Nature of Our Context
The development of an academic plan brings with it the necessary contemplation of both supports and barriers to moving forward. There are obvious considerations in planning and implementing strategic direction within the academic realm including our federated status (e.g., the development of new programming must follow University of Saskatchewan procedures), our Academic Partnership Agreement with Arts and Science (e.g., enrolment target of 8500 cu's) and the existence of our collective agreement. Similarly, we must be mindful of resource issues including energy, time and money.
In addition, due consideration must be given to College culture. Relationships between individuals inside the College as well as between STM and Arts and Science (University of Saskatchewan) can be challenging but are critical to the success of our Academic Plan. Similarly, there must be recognition that due to competing demands on faculty time, the level of engagement with College planning varies. Yet, successful implementation of the Academic Plan requires a high degree of engagement from a majority of faculty.
Another aspect of our context includes
leadership. In particular, with the departure of our President and the
term of our current Dean coming to an end in 2011, we face uncertainty
in key administrative roles. Given the changing nature of our
relationship with our founding order, there is certainly reason to
question what the future holds with regard to Basilian sponsorship and
our viability as a Catholic college. During our most recent strategic
planning exercise, the College committed considerable energy to this
important matter by focusing an entire team on "The Culture of
Transition". The strategies produced by this team will assist the
College in navigating change. (See the section on Culture of Transition in the 2010 - 2013 Strategic Plan.)
Our goal is to create a plan within which faculty members will find a place to focus their time and energy. Given limited resources, we need to prioritize what we set out to accomplish. Successful development and implementation of this Academic Plan rests on the fact that this is a community of which we are all a part.
