Dawson College’s commitment to student success
WELL-BEING FOR ALL
To promote student success, Dawson’s Strategic Plan 2024-2029: Creating caring learning communities places special emphasis on two values:
Well-being for all: an over-arching value
All Dawson students and employees are respected, valued and supported in the pursuit of their unique educational and professional goals. Together, we cultivate stimulating, inclusive and caring communities for learning and working. As individual and collective growth are grounded not only in supportive communities but also in a healthy environment, we encourage awareness and actions that contribute to our stewardship role in the natural world. In sum, we act in service to the long-term well-being of people, communities and ecosystems.
Student achievement
By focusing on the quality of student learning and opportunities for growth, we help students develop their highest academic and personal potential. We accompany students as they define their interests and work towards the fulfilment of their educational goals.
ORIENTATIONS
The three broad orientations of the strategic plan contain approaches that advance Dawson’s primary mission of student success — to provide quality higher education that educates, engages and enriches —and support the well-being of students.
STUDENTS
The nested structure of the three orientations — the student within the community within the environment — illustrates the idea that what best serves students is at the heart of what we do. The specific goals and actions at each level compose a larger system of connections that echo and reinforce each other. Progress in any one action should have positive ripple effects on multiple other actions.
RESILIENT, ADAPTABLE, SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS
Support well-being through academic, personal, and social development of the whole person, such that students are able to define their own purposes and realize their full potential.
Goal 1: Enhance student success by improving the quality of academic programs
Key points:
• Support the development of teaching approaches that promote increased student engagement and deeper learning;
• In response to Law 14, further support students in developing their French language skills through services such as CLÉO as well as para-academic activities;
• Identify and better support students who are at risk of failure in courses and programs;
• Optimize student workloads for academic success and well-being.
Goal 2: Deliver services to students that contribute positively to the quality of the student experience
Key points:
• Ensure that the delivery of services to students and communications with students are accessible, consistent and effective;
• Refine approaches to welcoming new students, supporting their transition to college and accompanying returning students on their college journey.
Goal 3: Encourage students to make the most of the opportunities for academic, social and personal development as expressed in the outcomes of the Graduate Profile
Key points:
• Increase student awareness of the links between academic, para-academic and extra-curricular activities;
• Develop new opportunities for students to explore different ways of learning about themselves and developing broad inter-personal skills;
• Create possible common time blocks during which broader groups of students can participate in activities and projects.
Graduate Profile outcomes
Learning to learn
Mastery of program competencies
Communication
Critical thinking, problem-solving skills and creativity
Teamwork and leadership skills
Digital literacy
Health and well-being
Ethical understanding and behaviour
Social responsibility and community engagement
CREATING JUST AND CARING LEARNING AND WORKING COMMUNITIES
Collaboration and innovation are enhanced by mutual respect and understanding across diverse communities and by support for the well-being and development of every individual.
Goal 4: Establish a comprehensive approach to the Indigenization of Dawson
Key points:
• Close the educational gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students by increasing the access of Indigenous students to college, and particularly to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields) programs;
• Strengthen and broaden support networks for Indigenous students to improve their retention;
• Engage all students in learning historical and contemporary truths to move forward together in decolonizing and indigenizing.
Goal 5: Dawson’s learning communities are equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible
Key points:
• Conduct a campus climate assessment to determine where students have issues concerning equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility;
• Implement measures to support underserved students.
Goal 6: Foster an institution-wide culture of well-being
Key points:
• Implement strategies that foster the well-being of students.
Goal 7: Enhance the physical environment to support student success
Key points:
• Redesign learning, study and collaboration spaces to support student learning;
• Improve the accessibility of college spaces.
HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT
Infuse sustainability – environmental, social, economic – throughout the academic sector and all services to expand awareness and create opportunities for individual and collective action
Goal 8: Promote the understanding and practice of social, economic and environmental sustainability across the entire Dawson community
Key points:
• Create opportunities for student learning and action on sustainability and well-being, stressing the linkages between the social, economic and environmental.
To consult the full version of the strategic plan, follow this link. For a full list and description of services for students, follow this link.
