McGill TomorrowStrategies, Plans and Compacts:

Where we are and where we are going

Laura R. Winer, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Office of the Provost

The Faculty of Arts: Today, Tomorrow and YesterdayFaculty of Arts Retreat 2007

Thursday, 7 June 2007

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

General principles (cont’d): McGill’s “i’s”

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

General principles (cont’d)

• academic priorities are the drivers; resource allocations should be aligned with prioritised academic goals

– strategic statements: The White Paper; the Principal’s Task Force on Student Life and Learning, the Master Plan

– operational compacts (budgets and other resource allocations)

General principles (cont’d)

• tools are needed to fund new initiatives and priorities

– resource generation mechanisms

– internal reallocations also at the unit level

General principles (cont’d): 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”

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

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 Faculty’s goals and objectives

• “academic renewal” in all of its aspects

• University-wide and Faculty-specific allocations– expressions vary Faculty by Faculty

Significant actions and programs

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

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

1. academic renewal plan

• CRC’s 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

Arts specifics

• continue program reviews with special examination of:– Programs with small enrolments (i.e., undergrad majors <100)– Enrolment and resource planning for BA&Sc 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

Arts specifics, cont’d

• workload issues– assessment of field studies activities on teaching loads

– manage course offerings requested by other Faculties

• structural issues– languages, literature and culture

Arts specifics, cont’d

• 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 Faculties—Engineering? Law?

• operating budgets– increase operating budget

– diversify sources of revenue

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 Principal’s task force on student life and learning

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

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

Arts graduate students

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

PhD

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

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

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

6. professional development

• mechanisms leading to:

– enhanced productivity

– improved job satisfaction

– make McGill one of the top university employers in Canada

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

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

• Questions?

• Comments?

• Suggestions?

• Criticisms?

• Concerns?

• Complaints?