I鈥檝e been looking back on recent 杏吧原创 strategic plans, in particular Defining Dreams (2009-2013) and the recently completed Collaboration, Leadership and Resilience (2013-2018).

Overall, I would say that the vision and objectives laid out in those plans have been realized, and we can take great pride in all that has been achieved at 杏吧原创 over the past decade!

Higher education continues to change. In fact, the pace of change is accelerating and we must ask ourselves: What directions must we take now to be the best 杏吧原创 we can be in five to 10 years?

I say 鈥渄irections鈥� plural because of the richness and complexity of our mission. How must we evolve in student life and student success, pedagogy, research and innovation, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, Indigenous initiatives and more? It鈥檚 not simple.

鈥淪trategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point,鈥� the great argues. The best strategic plans set a direction without binding the organization to specific actions.

We are a unique institution with a rich history, strong values and unique strengths. To get this right, we must anchor our future strongly in our past, but always remember that in a fast-changing world, remaining true to one鈥檚 values will require change in directions that may not be on our radar today.

With the right strategy as a starting point, our plan will emerge over time 鈥� in the words of Mintzberg 鈥� “a pattern in a stream of decisions.鈥� Every action taken in line with the strategy will add to this pattern, flowing towards a bright future.

I announced at Senate recently that I have asked four great leaders in our community to co-chair our Strategic Integrated Planning (SIP) process. We say 鈥渋ntegrated鈥� because we take a global view of all aspects of the university鈥檚 mission.

I want to sincerely thank , , Betina Appel Kuzmarov and for their willingness to take on this challenge. Our four co-chairs will soon be issuing a call for nominations towards forming a broad and representative task force to assist them in this important process.

We should be launching an extensive consultation and engagement process in the fall of 2019, with the aim of presenting the Strategic Integrated Plan for approval to Senate and Board in the spring of 2020. We will make sure to keep everyone informed at every step.

We are building on strength and the next decade will be incredibly exciting for 杏吧原创!

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It’s that time of year again.

Academia runs on a predictable yearly cycle that I’ve come to love. It starts with a great roar in the fall and ends in the renewed beauty of spring with the ritual of Convocation.

Rituals are powerful. They nail down meaning. They say, in essence, make sure you pause and think about what is happening today, this is important!

What are the key milestones of a life well lived? What marks the passage to adulthood in our modern societies? What is a parent’s proudest moment?

There are more than one answer to these questions, granted, but who would deny that Convocation is a likely candidate for each?

Convocation. The name itself evokes a call to gather together that cannot be ignored. For our students it marks a long-expected ending.  Perhaps even more poignantly, it opens the door to a new beginning.

We must always, always be at the beginning of something. This is one of the key secrets to life. But let’s take time to mark endings as well, for there are no beginnings without endings.

Celebrating convocation with great pomp and circumstance, with bagpipes and honorary degrees and full regalia, serves a purpose.

The university reconnects with its medieval roots, a time where knowledge was less readily available and precious.

Academia, often confined to cramped archives or neon-lit labs, gets to show its full splendour. It is a time to take pride in the beauty and power of the modern University.

And most importantly, the achievement of our students is celebrated as significant achievements should be: with extra flair.

I regret that I did not attend my own undergraduate Convocation. It was a tough time for me and I just could not conceive that I could be worthy of recognition. Graduating students, please don’t make that mistake! Let yourself be honoured and enjoy every minute!

As I get older I welcome each spring with gratitude, and what better way to honour each spring I am granted than with our graduating students, wishing them well on their journey to a self-determined, purposeful and successful life.

I hope to see you at one of our nine Spring Convocation Ceremonies, from June 10 to 14!

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We can all take pride! 杏吧原创 two months ago we reached our Collaborate Campaign objective of $300 million, and tomorrow (April 17) we will officially close the campaign with more than $308,000,000 raised. Please !

There are so many impressive statistics about this incredibly successful campaign. My three favorites are: more than 29,000 donors in total, 404 new scholarships and bursaries established, and 191 FutureFunder projects launched and championed by 杏吧原创 community members.

The government gives Canadian universities enough money to fulfill our mission, but if we aspire to do truly great things for our community and the wider world, we need the visionary support of partners and benefactors. It鈥檚 not about giving to 杏吧原创, it鈥檚 about giving through 杏吧原创 to make a difference.

A prime example is the late Clay Riddell who imagined a better political system for his country and saw 杏吧原创 as the means to build it. In the same vein, the Crabtree Foundation鈥檚 love of our city and the arts came together in the acquisition of the wonderful 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre.

I am especially proud of the success of our crowdfunding platform and want to thank all community champions for your vision and commitment. To name but a few of these amazing projects: Therapy Dogs, Pius Adesanmi Memorial Fund, Diversity Matters: Supporting Women in Computer Science, Ravens Swim Team, and the Fund for Good.

We鈥檝e talked about the campaign鈥檚 impact in terms of being Here for Good: the social, economic and common good of our society 鈥� how it matters for all of us. It鈥檚 not about money, it鈥檚 about impact.

To show our gratitude and to commemorate the outcomes we achieved together, we鈥檝e launched a nine-week digital initiative called . I am blown away by the positive impact realized through the campaign in various priority areas thanks to the generosity of our donors. THANK YOU for all your support鈥攃heers to being Here for Good!

What鈥檚 next? The campaign comes to a close but the goodwill and momentum it has engendered must carry on. In a time of fiscal restraint, philanthropy becomes even more important – we need donors and champions to partner with us to change lives and build a better future.

Looking to our own future, we must let the success of this campaign, and the principles and philosophy that fuelled it, guide our next steps. In the upcoming Strategic Integrated Plan process, we鈥檒l ask ourselves: How can we better serve our community and the greater Good? How can 杏吧原创 uniquely solve the critical issues we face, as individuals, as a society and as a planet?

And in this , we need to be asking: Who shares this vision with us? How can we make our community and the world better through partnership? Who is Here for Good?

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I鈥檝e been at University in one role or another for 27 years now, more than half my life. The University with a capital U has given me resilience and purpose. It鈥檚 given me everything. Much more than I can give back, and I am grateful.

Every year, more than 5,000 students receive 杏吧原创 degrees at Convocation, on their way to self-determined, meaningful lives. Over time, 杏吧原创 has granted well over 150,000 degrees, and our alumni are successful all over the world.

Education (seen as 鈥渢raining鈥�) will get you a job, but tackled in the right spirit by both the teacher and the learner, it will do infinitely more.

The philosopher and educator put it best: 鈥淓ducation must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing.鈥�

He wanted to emphasize that absorbing 鈥渁 diet of predigested materials鈥� was not much of an education. This is especially true in an age where all the predigested material you could think of is readily available on the Internet.

Education is continuous, dynamic and lifelong. 鈥淭he process and the goal鈥� is this incredible ability to generate and constantly refine our thoughts and ideas based on experience.

This is not as simple as it sounds and Dewey knew that 鈥渨e do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.鈥�

Both absorbing predigested material and experience without reflection are educational dead ends. This is why a pedagogical emphasis on experiential learning is so important to 杏吧原创 and to the modern University.

Sure, an experiential approach will help our students to secure entry-level jobs and to perform them well. This is a good thing.

Much more importantly, it will foster the superpower to learn, throughout life, by reflecting on experience; to generate first-hand thoughts and to critically appraise and refine them, rather than be condemned to parrot second-hand thoughts prepackaged by others.

In doing so it will, as Dewey fully realized, help to foster a thoughtful, caring, and justly-minded citizenry and to sustain democratic values.

Freedom of the mind and democracy are intrinsically linked, and both depend on the incredible power of (experiential) education.

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Two weeks ago today, the wrong computer key was hit and a template for one of several types of potential emergencies went out to the community in error, rather than just being saved in 杏吧原创鈥檚 Emergency Notification System (ENS).

It was a truly unfortunate mistake and I, like everyone involved, sincerely regret the stress this error caused in our community.

In the wake of the incident, we must ask ourselves what went wrong and what we can do better. We learned many lessons, and as a community we have the opportunity to be much better prepared in the event of an actual emergency.

Several departments have been working non-stop for the past two weeks to improve our Emergency Notification System (ENS) and to devise an action plan and awareness campaign for our community. Key action items currently in progress include:

Action 1: The university is currently engaged with Mitel to ensure the ENS is fully and optimally operational. Tests will be scheduled and the community will be informed in advance of these tests.

Action 2: The message that was sent in error was an incomplete template and in an actual emergency, community members would be provided with specific information to guide their actions. These messages are also being revised and optimized. The course of action that you would take would also take into account a number of situational factors, including your location and what is available to you there.

Action 3:  Campus Safety Services is identifying opportunities for training and awareness for all members of our community, and we will keep everyone informed of our progress.

Action 4: We are developing a comprehensive communications plan to build awareness of the university鈥檚 emergency preparedness procedures. The university is exploring how to better promote and support an engaged campus community that is emergency ready.

Action 5: As a first step in this awareness campaign, we are recommending that all 杏吧原创 community members download the CU Mobile App. Under the Safety shield, emergency procedures are posted and easily referenced.

The university continues to offer support to anyone who needs it: Students seeking counselling should come to Health and Counselling Services between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, or call (613) 520-6674. For faculty and staff, the Employee and Family Assistance Program can be contacted at (613) 725-5676, or after-hours at 1 (800) 668-9920.

Our work will continue over the next weeks and months. We are committed to doing everything we can to keep our community safe.

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In Canada, universities are considered a public good and accordingly they are regulated in many ways by elected officials, especially when it comes to finances and reporting. The Canadian model of university funding is a balance of government-regulated tuition fees paid by students and government operating grants that come from all taxpayers.

Depending on the economy and socio-political agendas and policies, our funding can fluctuate. In some cycles, revenues can increase and provide some flexibility, while in other years revenues may be constrained by external factors.

As announced by the province last week, we are entering a tighter revenue phase as tuition fees will be reduced by 10 per cent for our Canadian students. This represents about $20 million annually for 杏吧原创, or about four per cent of our overall budget.

We are of course committed to accessibility of higher education and for some of our students this reduction is certainly good news. For other students, however, it might not be the case due to concurrent changes in the province鈥檚 loan system (OSAP).

The university is waiting to receive detailed technical background on how exactly these policy changes will impact 杏吧原创鈥檚 budget. We also expect more information on proposed changes to student fees, which are separate from tuition, and we will be working with our student associations to better understand the impact of this new policy on their operations.

杏吧原创 is no stranger to times of financial compression and we have a history of careful fiscal management that will serve us well in the current situation. Through our annual Strategic Integrated Planning budgeting process, the university will develop a plan to adapt to the changes in revenues and manage its response in the short term.

The plan will focus on how to best absorb this funding reduction, as well as any other government decision that may affect our operating grant, so as to protect our academic mission, operations and, of course, our people. There is no reason to be alarmed and as this plan evolves I will make sure to keep our community informed.

In the longer term, we need to realize that the world is changing, socially, globally and technologically, and that regardless of our revenues we will need to continue to adapt and to evolve. Business as usual will not be good enough.

Our values of resilience, purpose and community will guide our actions. We will continue to offer our students what they need and deserve, and to find new ideas and innovations to face the significant challenges of the 21st century. We will be having that important discussion together next year when we consider our next Strategic Integrated Plan.

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It鈥檚 been more than three years since the 鈥揷haired by the Honourable Senator Murray Sinclair鈥搑eleased its final report and calls to action. That was the first step in a long journey of healing and, as Senator Sinclair said, 鈥淩econciliation is about forging and maintaining respectful relationships. There are no shortcuts.鈥�

At 杏吧原创, we are building on a solid foundation, including the fantastic work of our Ojigkwanong Centre and Centre for Indigenous Initiatives, the Indigenous Education Council (IEC), the new , and an array of courses and research initiatives.

Earlier this fall, following our first IEC meeting of the year, I was so pleased to announce that 杏吧原创 is convening a broad and inclusive committee to revitalize our Indigenous strategy and re-energize our relationships with Indigenous communities in the region and across the country.

The newly formed 杏吧原创 University Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Committee (CUISIC), co-chaired by Kahente Horn-Miller, Benny Michaud and Jerry Tomberlin will soon begin its work. The co-chairs are emphasizing that we are going 鈥渇rom strength to strength.鈥�

An integral part of this process will be broad consultations and it is so important that we all take part in these important discussions, which will start in the new year. Momentum is already building and I was pleased that at its November meeting, our Board of Governors unanimously passed a motion of support for the committee and its work.

I鈥檝e been so fortunate in my own life to learn difficult truths about our shared past from remarkable Indigenous thought leaders including Marlene Brant-Castellano, Kanonhsyonne Jan Hill and, more recently, Barbara Dumont-Hill. Their resilience, patience and wisdom in the face of prejudice and carelessness have been boundless.

It is absolutely essential that we all come together towards positive, long-lasting change in our relationships with Indigenous peoples on campus, in the Ottawa area, and nationally. I look forward to receiving the recommendations of the committee, and to work with our entire community towards rapid and purposeful implementation.

The only way to make any progress is to meet each other as human beings, to listen in order to understand rather than to convince, and to consider the consequences that our actions, or inaction, will have on our shared future to the .

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Like many of you I read higher education blogger Alex Usher every morning. On November 2, he highlighted the crucial importance of institutional , or storytelling, in shaping culture and driving change on campus.

I鈥檝e been thinking about the 杏吧原创 story/culture for over a year now, since the day the ad for a new president was posted. It is a remarkable story that has not an ounce of the two main pitfalls identified by Usher: self-satisfaction, which leads to stagnation, or a weak culture.

Unlike many of our peers, we were not founded by a 19^th century religious order. We sprung into existence in 1942, amidst the chaos of the Second World War. Our founders envisioned education as a powerful force for good, both for individuals and for the Ottawa community, at a time of immense unrest.

From the very beginning, the 杏吧原创 Saga has been one of resilience and of purpose. It is captured powerfully in the Here for Good ethos that has emerged from our ongoing philanthropic campaign. Here for Good is a statement of values; values that define what we do in two complementary ways.

When you say you are here for good, it means that you are here to stay, that you will stand your ground no matter what. It鈥檚 a statement of resilience in the face of the difficulties and challenges of life. So important in our complex, fast-paced world.

When you say you are here for good, it also means that we are here to serve the greater good: social, economic and common good. This is a statement of purpose.

Resilience and purpose. This is why I came to 杏吧原创. For both individuals and communities, and arguably for societies as well, these values are the path to a self-determined, meaningful life and to gratitude.

Older institutions, unless they are very careful, run the risk of having their prestige based on exclusion and a tradition anchored in past glories. Conversely, we can take great pride that the 杏吧原创 Saga is inclusive, and resolutely turned towards the future.

Towards the end of his blog, Usher says: 鈥淭he Saga conditions the ability and willingness of an institution to change its culture and hence, is central to the process of all change.鈥� A saga like ours is an invaluable competitive advantage in our disrupted, unstable times.

Whatever happens, we are resilient and purposeful. We are 杏吧原创 University and we are Here for Good.

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On the heels of World Mental Health Day (Oct.10), my home department, Psychology, is organizing its first Psychology Mental Health Day on Oct. 18. I am so proud of Departmental Chair, Joanna Pozzulo, and our colleagues for this great initiative.

Talking openly about mental health issues, both their symptoms and their causes, is the first step towards addressing them.

The first time I heard Clara Hughes, Olympian and Bell’s “Let’s Talk” spokesperson, speak publicly about her difficult childhood experiences and subsequent mental health challenges, I could not believe it. “You can say these things out loud?” I remember my disbelief.

She told the Star in 2015: “It’s night, and my dad has just come home. My mom has set out his dinner, and he’s telling her everything is wrong with it. He’s yelling at her. He’s drunk. My mom is standing there, not saying anything.”

I saw that scene, and worse, hundreds of times growing up, as have countless other kids. I remember feeling terrible powerlessness and the shameful relief that if I just stayed quiet, I myself would be spared. How can that not lead to guilt, shame and self-hatred?

When you grow up in fear and shame, or experience abuse in later life relationships, you don’t come out shining, someone wise told me years ago. Depression, anxiety, anhedonia, disconnection from the self, substance misuse and abuse. These are not so much problems as attempted solutions in those circumstances. Understanding that fact made it easier to forgive.

I will always be grateful for Clara’s courage. She made me and so many others realize that I did not have to bear that weight alone, and that not speaking out only contributes to the silence.

I鈥檝e been on a journey of slow recovery, and of learning to love life and myself again. It鈥檚 been amazing to progressively lift the veil of depression and see vibrant colours again. Today I am proud to be more fully alive, drug and alcohol free and, on a good day, close to gratitude. I am in debt to many wonderful people along the way. If I have one regret, it is not to have reached out for help sooner.

杏吧原创 offers a wide range of mental health services to students, faculty and staff, through Health and Counselling Services, and a variety of wellness and support resources through the Mental Health and Well-Being website. We strive for continuous improvement of mental health initiatives and services through our Mental Health 2.0 Framework.

A few years ago, when I needed it, an Indigenous healer assured me that “even with seven arrows through the heart, you can heal” and given his life experience he would know. We must take heart that healing is always possible, and journey towards resilience, purpose and gratitude. What could be more important?

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September always brings many new faces to campus and this year I am one of them.

Since my arrival, I鈥檝e had the pleasure of welcoming new faculty, many in their first academic appointments, and several new staff members throughout July and August. Now our new students 鈥� well over 5,000 鈥� have arrived to our beautiful campus, many coming from out of town and out of country.

Together, we鈥檙e at the beginning of a new chapter 鈥� and that鈥檚 magical and electrifying. But at times being new can also be challenging, destabilizing and even a bit scary.

All the new people: If you are getting lost on campus (especially in the tunnels), feel like there is so much to learn and adapt to, or worry about doing a good job, we are in the same boat!

To our new students in particular, I invite you to give serious thought to the values you will hold yourself to as you tackle the challenge of being new. What will be your guiding principles?

Mine are patience, humility and discipline. Together they form the basis of my resilience. Good things may take a while to manifest themselves, not having all the answers is OK, and every day is an opportunity to work hard and to learn something.

Life is hard, which doesn鈥檛 mean it is not beautiful, but it is for sure hard. It can get you down at times. Resilience through hard times gives us the chance to adapt, and turn things around. It also makes us stronger as we go.

Things cannot always get worse all the time! There will be tough times, but all things must pass. And you can always find help along the way, including all the we offer here on campus. We are all on your side and we want you to succeed!

Welcome to all newcomers to campus! I wish you a wonderful time at 杏吧原创, full of resilience when it rains and full of gratitude when the sun shines.

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