All members of the university community are invited to provide input and discuss
the draft Academic Plan at a meeting to be held Sept. 21 at the Chan Centre
for the Performing Arts.
The meeting, hosted by President Martha Piper and Vice-President, Academic
and Provost, Barry McBride, will take place from 12:30-2:30 p.m.
The plan aims to address the diverse opportunities and challenges UBC faces
and provide a framework to guide academic units in setting priorities for developing
their own academic plans.
A variety of resources, including a new Academic Opportunity Fund and a revised
Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, will be available to help realize the
initiatives identified in the plans crafted by academic units.
The draft is available on the Academic Plan Advisory Committee Web site at
www.oldadm.ubc.ca/apac/. Copies of
the plan will also be printed and distributed prior to the meeting.
During the past year, a 35-member committee representing a broad cross-section
of UBC faculty, staff and students and chaired by Commerce and Business Administration
Prof. Michael Goldberg, has met with members of the campus community and the
public to draft the academic plan.
The need for an academic plan was identified at the outset of the Trek
2000 vision statement.
Consistent with the goals outlined in Trek 2000, the plan proposes
strategies for maintaining quality and fostering innovation in a context of
tight budgets while preserving the academic freedom and independent critical
thinking and learning that are central to a university.
It sets out broad planning goals and priorities in five key areas: retention
and renewal of faculty and staff; the student learning environment; extension
of research excellence; strengthening links with the communities the university
serves; and effective governance.
Among its proposals are that faculty, researchers and staff be appropriately
recognized for helping to realize Trek 2000 goals, increased financial
support for students, improvements to research infrastructure, and mechanisms
to encourage the participation of the broader community in educational initiatives.
The plan also proposes governance planning and reform to facilitate the proposed
integrative goals, eliminate redundancies in university functions, and enhance
flexibility and innovation in order to make more time available to faculty,
staff, and students. It also includes a process for realizing the goals with
special reference to sources of funding.
