UNBC is looking to the future and wants the community to help shape that vision.
UNBC announced it is launching a multi-year strategic planning process where it will engage with individuals and communities across the region to set the university’s direction for the next five years and beyond.
Centred on UNBC’s motto En Cha Huná, the collaborative effort will guide the university’s next chapter.
“It is important for us as an institution to always look at where we are and as I said the landscape of higher education is shifting and we need to shift along with that,” said UNBC President Dr. Geoff Payne.
“Coming out of the pandemic with COVID-19 and some of the lessons learned I thought this was a really important time to look at ourselves as an institution both here and in the north and in the province of B.C. and in Canada and internationally.”
He said the strategic plan will examine all facets of the institution including academic programs, research offerings, and UNBC’s vision as an institution.
The process will build off the 2018-2021 Strategic Roadmap, the Academic Action Plan and the 2019 Campus Master Plan.
“We got the question earlier ‘Are we starting afresh?’. I would say no we are not starting afresh. There is a very solid foundation of success at this institution for 30 years and now we need to take that and look at where we want to go next,” said Payne.
The strategic planning process will also begin with extensive community consultation not just in Prince George but throughout the region which will include a survey, a series of one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and town halls planned from now through February 2023.
Payne said the community consultation piece is extremely important and is “core to who we are."
He notes that UNBC was founded by the passion of 16,000 northerners who came together more than 30 years ago to start a petition to establish a university in the north and that UNBC has since grown into a research-intensive university with more than 16,000 alumni.
“The steps the community had when they wanted a university in the north, they didn't know how it was going to come out, but they built a vision and for the past 30 years we have taken that to where we are today,” said Payne.
“This strategic planning process is an opportunity for UNBC to check in with the communities we serve, validate what we are doing well and learn how we can adapt to the changing realities in northern B.C. and beyond.”
Sloane Zogas, an undergraduate student and vice-chair of UNBC senate, said she has always felt welcome and comfortable, yet challenged as a student at UNBC.
“I acknowledge that throughout these past years the experience of UNBC students has been anything but predictable,” said Zogas, who started her studies in 2019 before the pandemic.
“However, the entire community has shown resilience and the challenges we have faced can become tools to inform a great future and the strategic planning process will help shape the future and provide a sense of stability and direction for not only our students but for the institution as a whole.”
She also noted that it’s important for students to engage in the process because its not only important for students and alumni but also for the entire, community, region and province.
“I want to let future students have the experience that I have had and to keep improving upon that experience and enhancing it.”
Throughout the process, UNBC’s Strategic Planning website will be updated with details about how you can engage and share your ideas about the future of UNBC.
