Wrap up the expansion of the Residence at Chatham’s Thames Campus. Start the development of a new Residence at Windsor’s Main Campus. Launch construction of the Sports Park, and pin down the financing of the new Academic Tower. Find a private-sector developer to construct and manage a parking garage at Main Campus.
Those are the concrete (literally) projects that the college will be working on during 2018-19, according to the Strategic Directions for the year that were approved by St. Clair’s Board of Governors (BofG) during its May 22nd meeting.
President Patti France presented the report to the Board, noting that the Strategic Directions reflect the intentions voiced by the Governors during their April goal-setting session.
In addition to the architectural projects noted above, here are the remainder of the Strategic Directions for the coming year – some of them brand-new initiatives, others representing the on-going implementation of long-standing plans:
Academic Sector
• Continue to increase the current number of student pathways (credit transfer arrangements with other colleges and universities);
• Ensure that all new and existing programs contain appropriate levels and types of Work-Integrated Learning (placements and internships);
• Establish criteria to ensure program health and sustainability (that is, guaranteeing that all programs have financially viable enrolment levels);
• Arranging for two new Bachelor of Applied Arts degree offerings to be approved by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD) by 2019;
• Plan and conduct professional development sessions for research by faculty, and research, scholarship and innovation days for faculty;
• Engage in regular scholarly dialogue sessions and research with faculty;
• Promote exemplary faculty research currently being done to inspire other faculty.
Student Topics (Success, Grad Rates, Entrepreneurship, International Enrolment and Services)
• Develop a list of strategies and metrics to support student success and increase retention (that is, reduce the incidence of drop-outs);
• Reduce the number of student issues and compliance with the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities (particularly, fostering comprehension of academic integrity topics – curtailing plagiarism and cheating);
• Increase the number of students who are utilizing services such as tutoring and academic advising;
• Increase “campus life” activities by three events per year;
• Formalize and publish Athletic Performance Indicators: collective varsity GPA, athletic scholarship achievement rate, win/loss records, provincial/national athletic achievements, increase revenue generated by the Athletics Department;
• Development and communication of standards for student services;
• Increase international enrolment by three percent (fall of 2018 versus previous year);
• Maintain domestic enrolment at a stable level;
• Renovate academic space to appropriately accommodate enrolment for 2018-19.
Communities (Leadership, Communication and Partnership)
• Increase Corporate Training revenue by three percent, in part by adding five new clients;
• Encourage, foster and document annual contributions in our community by staff and students (college-spearheaded projects benefiting community-based agencies, for instance);
• Commence formal fundraising and a college branding campaign.
Human Resources
• Continue new staff orientation sessions;
• Allocate one percent of budget for staff professional development;
• Develop annual college staffing plans (succession planning).
Financial Health and Viability
• Achieve balanced budgets annually;
• Meeting or exceeding ministry-defined benchmarks for financial sustainability;
• Implementation of enhanced budgeting tools (to cover “what if” scenarios);
• Complete interim financial reporting based on pre-determined deadlines (meaning more frequent budget-to-actual updates for both the administration and the BofG).
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Also during the BofG meeting, France reported on two recent achievements by college groups: the phenomenal results of students and their faculty advisors during the Skills Ontario competition (see: http://stclair-src.org/news/need-know-news/skillful-students-are-golden-and-silvery-and-bronzed), and the award-winning first year of operation of the college’s chapter of the Enactus entrepreneurship and social advocacy organization (based in St. Clair’s EPIC Genesis Centre).
At a recent national convention in Toronto, St. Clair’s Enactus group won the “Spirit Award”, while Michael Spadotto captured the “Rookie Faculty Advisor” trophy. Students/Enactus members Teodora Milovanovic and Breanne Anderson won the organization’s Founder Bursary in recognition of their leadership abilities. For more info about Enactus, check https://www.facebook.com/enactus.stclair/
KPI DELAY
France also updated the BofG on the status of the annual Key Performance Indicator (KPI) student surveying of academic, facility and service quality … basically by reporting that there is no update.
The provincially mandated surveying took place a month later than usual this year, due to the rescheduling associated with the faculty work stoppage in the autumn.
And that means that the compiled data for the province’s two dozen colleges probably won’t be available until “sometime this summer”, France said – as opposed to its usual release in April/May.
That somewhat complicates the administration’s work-plan for the summer. Usually, it identifies problems and short-comings pinpointed by KPI results, and tries to implement immediate remedies in time for the commencement of the next academic year. But that will probably be impossible if this year’s results aren’t available until July or August.
Alternatively, France said, the administration (and assorted departments) will continue to chip away at issues identified in the 2016-17 KPIs as part of its summer-time work-plan.
