CNC’s board approved a new strategic plan Friday that defines the college’s priorities, goals and guiding principles for the next five years.
CNC’s Strategic Plan, 2011-2015: Our Charter of Expectations and Commitments outlines six priorities and 18 goals the College will be following in support of its mission, mandate and vision.
“The strategic plan is intended to identify what will be significantly different, changed and improved over the five-year planned period. It cannot, and does not, touch on every aspect of the College’s operations,” CNC President John Bowman said in the report.
The strategic plan contains six overall priority themes and 18 goals including:
• Expanding and strengthening program and service delivery partnerships with UNBC, other post-secondary institutions and school districts;
• Expanding and enhancing instructional delivery methods utilizing online, videoconferencing and other educational technologies;
• Implementing new programs and services in response to community and student needs;
• Increasing aboriginal student access, enrolment and completion rates;
• Preserving and improving the college’s overall financial health and stability;
• Ensuring college employee demographic composition more closely reflects the populations of communities served and is inclusive of designated groups (women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities).
• Increase the college’s capacity to undertake applied research and implement successful projects;
• Demonstrate environmental stewardship in the development of facilities, programs and services and
• Expand International Education programs and opportunities.
The strategic plan also outlines a set of guiding principles designed to guide the college’s operations and “permeate the culture of the institution.” Guiding principles include:
• Focus on students and learning
• Respect for every individual
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Evidence based decision-making
• Partnerships and community connections
• Environmental sustainability
• Diversity
• Indigenous perspectives
• Trust and integrity
• Leadership through involvement and by example
“We are particularly proud of this strategic plan because it involved more input, from more stakeholders than ever before,” Bowman said.
“For the first time we held a joint strategic meeting with members of the Faculty Association, CUPE, the Board, administration and Education Council. The process of getting all of those key stakeholders together and sharing their ideas was very beneficial.”
New programs mentioned in the five-year plan include: Civil Engineering Technology; mining-related programming; transportation-related programming; bioenergy-related programming and agriculture-related programming.
Bowman added that community consultation also increased this year and included talks with city councils, regional mayors, local and area business leaders, MLAs and members of the public. “We are a community college and we really took that to heart in our consultations this year and received input from more people than ever before,” Bowman said.
The results-oriented strategic goals will be translated on an annual basis into more detailed action objectives and specific deliverables through the College Education Plan, Annual Action Plan, as well as through alignment of school, campus and department plans.