McGill Tomorrow Strategies, Plans and Compacts: Where we are and where we are going

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McGill TomorrowStrategies, Plans and Compacts
Where we are and where we are going
The Faculty of Arts Today, Tomorrow and
Yesterday Faculty of Arts Retreat 2007 Thursday,
7 June 2007

• Laura R. Winer, Ph.D.
• Executive Director
• Office of the Provost

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General principles underlying strategic planning
activities

• planning
• objective, flexible, and adaptive
• assumptions
• realistic, sensitive to contexts
• goals
• attainable and sustainable over several years
• allocations
• coherent processes and transparent distributions
• results
• measurable
• appropriate and agreed upon indicators
• selected peer institutions

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General principles (contd) McGills is

• identity
• international
• inquiry-based
• interdisciplinary
• innovation
• infrastructure
• integrity

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General principles (contd)

• academic priorities are the drivers resource
  allocations should be aligned with prioritised
  academic goals
• strategic statements The White Paper the
  Principals Task Force on Student Life and
  Learning, the Master Plan
• operational compacts (budgets and other resource
  allocations)

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General principles (contd)

• tools are needed to fund new initiatives and
  priorities
• resource generation mechanisms
• internal reallocations also at the unit level

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General principles (contd) Budget planning
decisions

• means of helping responsible, authoritative,
  accountable individuals to take decisions
• not a mechanical substitute for good judgment,
  political wisdom, and leadership of those who
  must take decisions
• reasoned approach to decisions i.e., quantified
  common sense

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Plans and compacts

• development of a regular cycle of implementation,
  evaluation, and adjustment across the University
• multiyear budgeting driven by academic priorities
• yearly operational budget compacts
• alignment of all resource allocations to
  strategic priorities

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What is a compact?

• within the new multiyear framework, annual
  operating funds must still be allocated
• compacts reflect academic priorities that can be
  funded to meet a Facultys goals and objectives
• academic renewal in all of its aspects
• University-wide and Faculty-specific allocations
• expressions vary Faculty by Faculty

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Significant actions and programs

• Academic renewal
• Student life and learning
• Graduate student funding
• Master Plan
• Comprehensive campaign
• Sustainability
• Staff development
• Effective organisational practices

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Goals, objectives, and strategies developed in
the white paper

• McGill will consistently rank among the top 10
  publicly-funded, research-intensive,
  student-centred universities worldwide
• in selected areas our performance will
  unambiguously position the University among the
  world leaders
• implement the plan over the next 5 years

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1. academic renewal plan

• CRCs for external recruitment, internal
  McGill-Dawson programme, and endowed chairs
• transition help for families
• mentorship, start-ups, CFI
• academic salary policy and benefits
• NTT issues

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Arts specifics

• continue program reviews with special examination
  of
• Programs with small enrolments (i.e., undergrad
  majors lt100)
• Enrolment and resource planning for BASc
  programs
• U0
• integration of aspects of aboriginal studies,
  comparative nationalism and diverse sexualities
  within existing programs
• program issues
• enhance internship program
• potential minor with Law for European Studies
• Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy
• vision for developments for offerings for First
  Nations and Inuit communities

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Arts specifics, contd

• workload issues
• assessment of field studies activities on
  teaching loads
• manage course offerings requested by other
  Faculties
• structural issues
• languages, literature and culture

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Arts specifics, contd

• moving to target complement for the Faculty
• 266.8 TT target TT complement is 279.3
• Academic renewal plans for MSE with Arts
  Science explore other FacultiesEngineering?
  Law?
• operating budgets
• increase operating budget
• diversify sources of revenue

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2. enriched student life experience

• targeted growth in specific undergraduate
  programmes
• residential life experiences
• fee increases and increased student financial aid
• academic advising
• research-informed teaching and learning
• international experiences
• implementation of the recommendations of the
  Principals task force on student life and
  learning

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Arts undergraduate students

• 2006 fall UG enrolment
• Arts 6,523 (4,288 women, 2,235 men)
• Arts Science 212 (149 women, 63 men)
• goal stable undergraduate enrolment

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3. improved graduate studies environment

• increase numbers of graduate students in research
  programmes
• improve the quality of their experiences
• increase completion rates and reduce time to
  completion

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Arts graduate students

• Arts will work to
• Increase graduate FTEs to combined 450 MA and PhD

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4. foundational disciplines and
inter-disciplinary developments

• centres, institutes, and other structures, with
  shared infrastructure platforms, equipment,
  networks, and technology
• cognitive, biological, and behavioural
  neurosciences, including pain
• public and social policy, including health and
  society
• environmental sciences and studies
• computation, statistical inference and modelling
• nano-sciences, nanotechnology, and advanced
  materials
• integrative systems biology
• languages, literatures, and cultures
• develop other directions where McGill can become
  a leader

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Arts partnerships to develop

• with research centres
• McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
• Institute for Health and Social Policy
• Social Statistics
• Book Project
• Making Publics
• Centre for Research on Religion
• European Studies (Law)
• Quantitative Economics (UdeM)
• Letters and traditions (Laval)
• Diversity in Quebec (UQAM)
• Human Development (Concordia)
• develop other directions where McGill can become
  a leader

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5. highest quality service from all support areas

• library
• information, service, and innovation
• information system and technology
• teaching, learning, and research efforts
• highest quality of service
• avoidance of costly duplication
• major projects
• facilities developments
• renovations to modernise existing laboratory,
  classroom and museum spaces
• integrate that thinking into Master Plan

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6. professional development

• mechanisms leading to
• enhanced productivity
• improved job satisfaction
• make McGill one of the top university employers
  in Canada

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7. internal performance indicators and
benchmarking against selected peer institutions

• Faculties, departments, centres, institutes,
  programs
• internal goal setting
• comparison of data for selected indicators
• standard institutions are G13, AAU ( 9 better
  funded and 9 empirical peers), U21

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Decision-making processes

• interplay between centralisation and
  de-centralisation
• aspects of the way McGill must and has chosen to
  do its business have changed dramatically
• the University expects more from Faculties
• Faculties have been given more resources and
  broader mandates
• Deans have to make decisions
• tough, sometimes unpopular ones
• aggressive re-purposing of space and human
  infrastructure

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• Questions?
• Comments?
• Suggestions?
• Criticisms?
• Concerns?
• Complaints?