enVISION
SFU
Simon Fraser University is Canada's leading comprehensive universiry, with deep
commitments
to undergraduate teaching, advanced research, graduate studies and
community
bettennent. As President,
I
believe the time is right to articulate a
vision
of SFU that embodies these commitments.
I
am therefore undertaking a
consultation
process called
enVISION
SFU.
The purpose of enVISION
SFU is
to develop a strategic vision that reflects
SFU's
strengths
and enhances its reputation as an institution that is
stlldent-centred, research-driven, amI community-engaged.
SFU's
achievements
have resulted from the initiative of its faculty,
students, staff,
alumni and community partners.
It
is your energies
and
commitments,
supported
by govemment and other ftmders, that have enabled
SFU to grow in
size
and gain
in stature.
en
VISION
SFU is intended to provide a forum not
only
to express your
views,
but
also
to engage with others, to
seek common
ground,
and
to discover
synergies
that will help
SFU direct its efforts where it can enjoy the greatest
success.
Tlzis process will produce a strategic vision that I hope will be embraced by
the entire SFU c0l111l11mity.
Building on SFU's Academic, Research and other plans, this discussion paper
provides a framework for the consultation. As well
as
focusing
on
the
academic
Inission
of the university,
I
am
seeking input about SFU's
commitments
to the
communities
we
serve.
TillS will
also
lllghlight the
significant social and
economic
benefits provided by
SFU and by post-secondary education generally.
In
addition to consultations with Senate, Board
of Govemors,
faculty, students,
staff,
alUllllll
and communiry
associations,
there will be
opportunities
for discussion
through the
enVISION
SFU web
site,
focus groups, open
sessions,
social media,
and surveys such as
the one attached to
tillS paper.
I am eager to hear from each of you about your vision and ideas for SFU's
future.
I
anticipate that a rich and diverse
set
of perspectives on the University and its
future will
emerge
from this process. A White
Paper drawing upon these
perspectives will be prepared and further input sought over late
spring
and
summer
of
20
II.
Beginning in the fall
of
20
II,
SFU's
strategic vision wiII
provide
a set of
goals and
values to help position
and
guide us over the next five
years.
I
look
forward
to your
views
and ideas as we work together to
shape
an exciting
future for
SFU.
[signature
1
How can you participate?
http:
//
env;s;oll
.
s(il.ca
Draft Dec. 15,2010
S
.
11-2
We want to hear from
you ...
Whm
is
distinctive about SFU?
How
can SFU
increase its impact
and relevance?
What prospects
and opportunities
is
SFU miSSing?
How
can
SFU improve its
teaching and learning?
How
can
SFU improve the quality
oj
student experience?
How
can
SFU
enhance
the
quality
and impact oj its research
How
can
SFU strengthen its
comnl/mity engagement?
How
can
SFU maximize synergies
between teaching, research
and
community engagement?
What other values need
to
be
reflected in
SFU's strategic
vision?
How
can
SFU
ensure it
has the
resources to
achieve
our
goals?
page 1
Draft Dec. 15,2010
enVISION
SFU
... commitments and synergies
This discussion paper assumes that Simon Fraser University's strategic vision will build upon our defining
strengths: our commitment to students; our dedication to research; and our engagement with community.
This is the very foundation
of SFU' s success as a comprehensive university: SFU provides an exemplary
undergraduate program in an academic milieu that celebrates world-class research and graduate studies. Our
students inspire and energize the level of intellectual and academic enquiry, even as they benefit from their
exposure to accomplished scholars, talented graduate student mentors, and advanced research practices. And
they do all this in an academy that is arguably more connected to community than any other in the country.
This interplay of strengths dermes and differentiates Simon Fraser University as
the best of its kind.
>
Student Centred: Our vision will describe an environment that contributes to engaged learning and creates
an enriched experience for both undergraduate and graduate students.
>
Research Driven. Our vision will celebrate and support SFU research, through which faculty and student
curiosity and creativity contribute to knowledge and to community well-being.
>
Community engaged. Our vision will acknowledge and promote our dynamic presence in local, national
and international communities, and our engagement with a multiplicity
of groups and interests.
Our challenge is to unite these components into a vibrant and compelling strategic vision - one that
describes a university that offers students and faculty rich and diverse learning and research opportunities while
extending the academy's contributions to the communities it serves.
How can you participate?
http://envis;on.s(u.ca
pagel
Draft Dec. 15,2010
en
VISION
SF U . .. Context
It
is increasingly recognized at all levels of government and society that Canada must have a well-educated
population to participate in
'the knowledge society' - to meet challenges to our social fabric and our
environment. With rapid changes around the world and in every sector, we must respond with intelligence and
agility. The economic and demographic landscape is changing. There are changes in expectations for teaching,
research and learning - changes
in student expectations; changes in the postsecondary world; changes in
research funding structure.
77%
of new jobs require some kind of postsecondary education, but only 66% of the current labour force have
this level
of education.
In BC, the population is stabilizing, but an expanded number of undergraduate universities now offer
unprecedented choices for BC students. Accordingly, we can expect a reduced rate of growth in the 18- to 24-
year-old sector - the traditional student population - and more interest in post-secondary education among mid-
career students and new immigrants, who will have diverse educational goals. With
15 per cent international
undergraduates, from 155 countries,
SFU is a leader in providing a diverse and enriched environment for
learning.
In
British Columbia, new immigrants will be required to fill one-third of the 1.1 million job openings to 2019;
yet
BC's share of immigration to Canada has decreased from 19% to 16% over the past decade. With
international students who transition to immigrant status experiencing an
86% approval rating, the number of
transitions doubling in the last five years, and Canadian work experience and education accounting for a $1 Ok
wage difference, SFU is contributing in a demonstrable way to the reduction of the labor deficit.
Research and development in Canada are concentrated
in the university sector and are largely government
funded.
In
turn, universities playa central role in knowledge mobilization. SFU is committed to this
transformative process through its fundamental research, the
Venture Connection
initiative, its high rate of
technology transfer, and its community-focused research.
Confidence
in the world economy has declined, as have returns on investment - compromising the ability of
governments and donors to respond to demand. The downturn has also affected students' ability to pay fees,
which are a significant component
of SFU' s operating budget. Nevertheless, opportunities for funding exist for
innovative and compelling initiatives.
With its distinguished research, student-centred learning and commitment to community,
SFU is particularly
well positioned to respond to this challenge. To do so,
we must provide experiential learning and other evolving
pedagogies that enrich the student experience without lengthening completion times.
SFU must achieve its
objective
of expanding the number of Aboriginal students. SFU's strong international focus and its ties to
diverse and multicultural communities will continue to provide opportunities.
How can you participate?
http://envision.sfu.ca
page 3
Draft Dec. 15,2010
enVISION
SFU ... who are we now?
SFD's mission is to advance knowledge through teaching, research, and engagement with the community.
Values and Commitments
•
We are an open, inclusive university whose foundation
is
intellectual and academic freedom.
• Our scholarship unites teaching and research: we celebrate discovery, diversity and dialogue.
• Our students and communities can expect teaching that is personal and learning opportunities that are lifelong.
•
We champion the liberal arts and sciences and pioneering interdisciplinary and professional programs.
• We are a university where risks can be taken and bold initiatives embraced.
Upon these foundations, we will engage all our communities in building a robust and ethical society.
Throughout its 45-year history, SFU has thrived as a unique, vibrant institution. Committed to excellence
in
teaching, we have seen our students graduate and flourish as engaged and successful citizens. Our researchers
are celebrated and rewarded.
We value our increasing alumni group and the diverse communities with whom
we interact.
We are a leading comprehensive university, combining the attributes of a research intensive university and a
strong commitment to an outstanding undergraduate student experience. Building on traditional strengths
in
science, the social sciences, and humanities, SFU has continued to transform the breadth, size, and shape of its
learning and research environment. Recent initiatives include: a renewed focus
on improving the student
experience; new faculties
of Health, Environment, Communication, Arts and Technology; the Office for
Aboriginal Peoples; the Surrey Campus; Vancouver's
Segal Graduate School of Business and School for the
Contemporary Arts.
We have strong international partnerships in research and student programming. We excel as well in cognate
disciplines
of deep concern to British Columbia and the world - health, business, technology, education, and the
environment.
We are a leader in technology transfer and have productive partnerships with the private sector.
Over five years, SFU has seen growth of ••.
19% in undergraduate students
22.6% in graduate students
18.5% in academic employees
7% in operating grant
SFU is nationally and internationally recognized for its student success, advanced research, employment
relationships, and architecture - providing external measures
of the quality of our education, scholarship,
community engagement, and physical infrastructure.
It
is this level of quality and accomplishment that enables
SFU to equip learners, researchers, and community partners both with insights into the important issues of our
time and with the critical capacities and knowledge associated with a liberal education and an understanding
of
the scientific world.
SFU has over .••
100 undergraduate major and joint major programs
45 graduate program offerings.
100,000 graduates
How can you participate?
http://env;s;on.s(u.ca
page 4
Draft Dec. lS, 2010
Research Matters
With its supportive research environment and a strategic research plan that encourages collaboration, SFU seeks to engage
all
of its communities
in
research. Investments in state-of-the-art infrastructure enable us to pace the world in research
areas such as micro- and nanofabrication, drug research, infectious disease research, and population data analysis and
modeling. Many of SFU' s 68 Research Centres and Institutes work closely with communities to fonnulate relevant
research questions and to provide them
with practical solutions. SFU's expertise
in
lmowledge mobilization and
knowledge transfer ensures that the public receives the maximum benefits from its research investments. Benefiting from
the guidance
of high-calibre research and entrepreneurship mentors and exposure to modem research and incubator
facilities,
SFU's students have unique opportunities to discover how
research matters
to their undergraduate experience.
Over the last decade, SFU has:
Quadrupled its research income, to more
than
$85 million
Secured
$500 million in capital funds for state-of-the-art research facilities to attract and retain the
best students and faculty
Consistently exceeded national success rates for NSERC and
SSHRC grant competitions
Established
50 new Research Chairs
Provided $4.5M in seed funding to support interdisciplinary research teams
in areas of strategic
importance
Developed research partnerships with health authorities, school districts, rural and urban
communities, business, and other community groups
Filed over
250 patent applications to protect SFU's intellectual property
Established 23 spinoff companies and received $4.6M
in royalty income
An International Model of University-Community Engagement
Each of SFU' s three campuses is a distinctive model for community engagement. The Burnaby Mountain
campus now includes UniverCity, a visionary development that supports and enhances the university even as it
demonstrates best practices in sustainability.
In downtown Vancouver, SFU has become what the
Vancouver
Sun
describes as the "intellectual heart" of the city. In addition to Harbour Centre, the Vancouver campus
encompasses the Wosk Centre for Dialogue, the
Segal Graduate School of Business, and the School for the
Contemporary Arts in the reincarnated Woodward's complex. Across the Fraser River,
SFU Surrey is, with the
enthusiastic support
of Surrey municipality, the nucleus of a vibrant new Surrey city centre.
Last year, the Institute
of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) honoured SFU with a gold award for public
sector leadership
in education. IP AC noted that SFU had ''turned around the fortunes of struggling
communities and set the stage for new levels
of university-stakeholder partnerships that enhance the region's
ability to support growing knowledge-based economies with a highly trained
workforce." The Institute went on
to note that
SFU has "built a template for institutionally-driven urban renewal that schools across the country
are now studying."
SFU is partnering with Yennadon Public School in Maple Ridge to develop and evaluate a new curriculum that
will take students out
of the classroom and into the natural environment.
SFU's connection to community enables it to deliver different programs in different ways - and provides
exciting learning and research opportunities.
It
also gives rise to important new challenges: in the South Fraser
region,
SFU is committed to addressing the post-secondary education needs of a diverse and rapidly growing
How can you participate?
http://env;.\';on.sfu.ca
pageS
Draft Dec. 15,2010
population; in Vancouver, the university is reaching out to residents of the Downtown Eastside through
community programming associated with its new School for the Contemporary Arts.
More generally, the ethnic
and cultural diversity of Lower Mainland represents a critical strength that can assist
SFU to attract international students and to promote other forms of internationalization. Domestically, SFU
must expand its work with K-12 and postsecondary institutions to ensure an integrated and successful
progressive learning experience. Through its Aboriginal Strategic Plan,
SFU is also working to meet the needs
of Aboriginal learners and to forge closer links with Aboriginal communities.
SFU Business Learning Strategies Group is a partner in the
Industry Council for Aboriginal Business Leadership Exchange
SFU's community commitment extends to wherever our students originate: the tri-cities, the north shore - to
British Columbia and the whole world.
Bringing students, research
and community together
SFU engages communities in university research, in technology, industry, business, health, rural and urban
settings, preschool-12 education, la francophonie, Aboriginal communities and in immigrant communities. Our
track record in downtown Vancouver demonstrates
SFU's capability to inspire bold urban renewal projects in
Surrey and around the Great Northern Way campus. We have a unique opportunity for the School for the
Contemporary Arts
to engage the Vancouver community with its cultural infrastructure - to firmly ensconce
SFU as the cultural, as well as the intellectual, heart of the community.
We must continue to avoid the artificial divide between research, teaching, and community without
compromising the integrity
of the core social sciences, humanities and scientific disciplines. We live in a
pluralistic society, culturally, racially, and ethnically. SFU must provide leadership in educating students about
human differences in a diversified world in order to help develop civil citizens
and a civil society. Through our
teaching and research, we must instil in our students appreciation
of societal structures and social and scientific
responsibility for a sustainable world.
How can you participate?
http://envis;on.sfu.ca
page 6
Draft Dec. 15, 2010
enVISION
SFU
In envisioning our future, we seek to generate a broad vision and an associated set of goals that leverage our
strengths and help to define and differentiate
SFU as the best Canadian university of its kind. Through this
process,
we will foster a culture of collaboration and inclusion, aligning priorities, developing widely supported
criteria for success, encouraging initiative and celebrating achievement.
Recognition
All of us - students, researchers, alumni, and community members - will recognize our
role within
SFU's strategic vision, just as we recognize the contributions of others to
SFU's and to our own success. Those less familiar with or new to SFU will come to
understand the quality and importance
of SFU's contributions to higher education, as well
as to local and international engagement.
We will celebrate SFU's history and build on its
successes, taking account
of our 'Values and Commitments', academic, research, and other
institutional plans, and the aspirations
of our Alumni and the communities we serve.
Differentiation
We will know and celebrate what is special about SFU. From its inception, SFU has
offered a distinctive learning and research environment, and has provided an educational
experience that extends well beyond the classroom to engage students and faculty with
external communities.
We will articulate a vision that highlights and strengthens these
distinctive features to define and position
SFU as the best university of its kind.
Direction
Inspiration
What next?
Our vision will lay out a path for the next five years, building from where we are today
toward
an exciting yet realistic future. This vision will help us to evaluate and seize
opportunities that fit within our strategic framework while rejecting those that do not. It
will help us to advocate for
spurs priorities to our communities and to the world.
Our contributions to society through research and learning are made better through being a
part
of the mutual adventure that is SFU. Our vision will demonstrate to the rest of the
world
SFU's unique contributions to the development of knowledge and to the bettennent
of society. It will invite and inspire others to join us in achieving our goals.
Discussion and engagement throughout the
Spring of2011 will provide invaluable input into a comprehensive
white paper, which will
be issued in June 2011 to stimulate further discussion and feedback. SFU's strategic
vision will
be launched in Fall 2011.
But that is hardly the end. On the basis of the strategic vision, an action plan will be developed over Fa112011.
A key part of the vision and action plan will be to monitor our progress in achieving the vision and where we
are deficient, work to improve.
How can you participate?
http://envb~ion.sfu.ca
page'
Draft Dec. 15,2010
enVISION
SFU ... We want to hear from you!
What
is
distinctive
about
SFU?
How
can SFU
increase its impact
and
relevance?
What
prospects
and
opportunities is
SFU missing?
How
can
SFU improve its teaching and learning?
How
can
SFU improve the quality
oj
student experience?
How
can
SFU
enhance the quality and
impact
oj
its research
How
can
SFU
strengthen its
community engagement?
How
can
SFU
maximize
synergies between
teaching,
research and community engagement?
What other values need to be reflected in SFU's
strategic
vision?
How
can
SFU ensure it
has
the
resources
to achieve our goals?
•
Sign up for the President's campus consultation (date
,
time
,
place, link)
•
Participate in a Presidential
'cafe'
(dates
,
times
,
locations, link)
•
Participate
in
a focus group (dates, times, locations
,
link)
•
Participate in the Alumni consultation (TBD)
•
Contribute to the online discussion
,
follow the Blog (link)
•
Fill in the comments form (print and mail it in or fill in online
--
link)
•
Email us(envision@sfu.ca)
•
Organize your own event
A
series
of community consultations are being
scheduled.
•
Keep up to date by following the discussion at
http://envision.sju.ca
How
can you participate?
http://ellvisioll.s(il
.
ca
page 8
