Laurentian University wraps up 5-year plan

Officials with Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. are gearing up for their next five-year strategic plan, while taking time to reflect on the previous half-decade.

The current plan was designed to include the years 2012 to 2017. After a number of changes, accomplishments and disappointments, LU president Dominic Giroux said he's proud of the past five years.

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"The quality of the student experience is paramount," Giroux said. "Students were very involved in our current plan. They were the ones who had a choice in our goals and outcomes, and I'm hopeful this will be the case again as we develop our next plan."

The 2012-2017 plan focused on goals like reaching an eight per cent proportion of international students, bringing back varsity hockey teams and modernizing the main campus.

The university hasn't reached all of those goals, but Giroux said that's part of the system.

"If you accomplish all your desired outcomes and goals, that means you didn't aim high enough," he said.

National recognition

In 2012, Giroux boasted LU's five-page strategic plan that had 40 specific goals, saying it set the bar for other university plans. Five years later, and the school's plan has been nationally recognized for its concision and brevity, Giroux said.

Laurentian has been invited to give other schools workshops on how to develop their own, he added.

"I think it's fair to say we've become a poster child for strategic planning in Canadian university sector."

Giroux attributed the success to some changes the school has made.

"The students told us in 2011'we love the programs, we love the small class sizes, but please address the food, improve Wi-Fi, improve classrooms and the labs,'" Giroux said.

"We've done that, and been increasingly attracting more top students."

Barrie closure 'on track'

Outside of the plan, however, Laurentian has faced a few administrative controversies.

In February 2016, the school's board of governors voted to shut down Laurentian's satellite campus in Barrie, Ont. The arts and business programs will finish up this spring, while the social work programs will wrap in the spring of 2019.

A full exit is planned for May 2019.

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"The decision to no longer deliver programs in Barrie was a disappointment to the communities involved, but it was the right decision under the circumstances," Giroux said.

Giroux said all full-time Barrie staff received offers of employment at the Sudbury campus, and a "vast majority" of them accepted that offer.

Part time and other positions were terminated.

No other locations for another campus are in the works at this time, said Giroux.

'Confident' LU will pass accreditation

Laurentian is also looking to hire more social work staff after the Canadian Association for Social Work Education told school administration its social work schools were understaffed in 2016.

Giroux said the university is now on the hunt for half a dozen full-time positions to be filled, even though the social work education governing body hasn't filed a report stating Laurentian's programs are understaffed it was just a warning.

"So we're all working under expected recommendations regarding accreditation," Giroux said. "But I'm confident we'll meet the expected requirements following our accreditation report."

The 2018-2023 strategic plan will be assembled this year and is slated to be released in early 2018.