Meeting the Moment - Strategic Directions 2023-2028

MEETING THE MOMENT

Land Acknowledgement

At University Canada West (UCW), we acknowledge that the territories on which UCW and its campuses are situated are the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Sel íl witulh/səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We thank them for having cared for this land since time immemorial, honour their graciousness to the students who seek knowledge here and iterate our dedication to valuing the ongoing contributions of Indigenous peoples and communities.

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our goals

 To exemplify a contemporary Canadian university.

 To be relevant, accessible and innovative.

 To offer career-focused courses that transform students into leadershipready graduates.

 To provide exceptional service and support to students whether they study with us online or on campus.

our mission

UCW is an innovative business and technology-oriented, teaching-focused institution in Canada, offering applied undergraduate and graduate degrees for domestic and international students. The university is a dynamic and growing institution defined by its close connections to the business community and a commitment to outstanding student services.

 To offer flexibility to make education more accessible to those eager to progress both academically and professionally.

 To foster a diverse and challenging learning environment focused on practical application of knowledge and building competencies for scholarship, leadership, and responsible citizenship in a global context.

Meeting the Moment

University Canada West is at an inflection point that coincides with Canada’s shifting position in a changing domestic and international landscape.

Truth and Reconciliation .

Higher education institutions are being called to lead in national efforts to foster reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples. UCW intends to heed that call by taking action that manifests Indigenous presence on our campus and Indigenous perspectives in our curriculum.

Rising demand .

People around the world are seeking out opportunities for a better life. And Canada, like many developed nations, faces a persistent labour shortage at every level of its economy: labourers, tradespeople, service workers, researchers, managers, professionals, executives, leaders. The federal government has responded by opening its doors: Canada has welcomed record numbers of international arrivals in recent years, and intends to break those records in the years ahead to replenish the country’s labour pool and buttress its economy.

All Canadian colleges and universities, public and private alike, are enrolling increasingly large cohorts of international students. To help accommodate this rising demand, UCW has welcomed students to its campus from more than 110 countries around the world. UCW is a positive contributor to Canada and British Columbia as a destination for international education.

A maturing UCW .

Our university has placed a great deal of emphasis on building its reputation with all stakeholders: students, governments, local communities, and our peer public universities. UCW recently became the first private university to send a team of students to both the BC and National MBA Games competitions, and their results — finishing second and fourth respectively — reflected the quality and competitiveness of our students, our faculty, and our program. As a private institution, UCW will deliver strong employment outcomes to our students that meet the measure of our peer institutions, and be a reliable partner to government and industry in establishing new programs that meet clear needs.

A renewed mission .

Amid increasing demand from prospective students and urgent employer needs for skilled graduates, UCW plans to lift up domestic students, diversify international participants, increase Indigenous representation on campus, and provide them all with the skills and the mindset to fill the talent gaps in British Columbia’s and Canada’s economies, and to become future leaders of national prosperity.

“Newcomers play an essential role in filling labour shortages, bringing new perspectives and talents to our communities, and enriching our society as a whole.”

— The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

“We [are] making BC future ready, a province with a plan to remove barriers and make postsecondary education more accessible, more affordable and relevant.”

— The Honourable Selina Robinson, Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills

OUR EFFORTS WILL BE GUIDED BY FOUR STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS.

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SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS

Sustainable Success

UCW will manage its operations with deliberation as it matures into a large university and a key component of BC’s higher education network.

UCW’s success is proof of a compelling value proposition and points to additional, sustainably scalable opportunities. In systems, staffing, physical space, and business processes, UCW will ensure that our resources are capable of supporting our current and future plans. We will nurture and maintain a healthy institutional culture by hiring exceptional people and creating more engagement opportunities for students, faculty, and staff. And we will partner with government in our growth plans to meet the pressing and ever-evolving needs of employers in BC and of the Canadian economy writ large.

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Recognized Quality

UCW will continuously improve its programs and its operations to build a reputation for excellence with students, employers and governments alike.

Reputation is quality acknowledged by others, and it’s driven by more than word of mouth. It’s quality that’s documented and demonstrated at every opportunity. UCW will strive to become an institution whose maturity and dynamism are at the core of its public identity, fostering trust and opening new doors with government, industry, and our peer public universities. And UCW will be a model contributor in higher education’s efforts to integrate Indigenous perspectives into our teachings.

2RECOGNIZED QUALITY

RELEVANCE ENGAGEMENT &

Relevance and Engagement

UCW will embrace real, practical experience as a key part of student learning, a differentiating hallmark of faculty, and a driver of curricular innovation.

UCW’s close ties with the local business community are a valuable resource to higher education, one that arises from our nature as a private institution and our mission to provide a business-oriented education. UCW will nurture and enhance these relationships to keep abreast of changing workforce needs, innovate within our programs, and stay alert to emerging trends and opportunities in traditional, digital, and emerging economic sectors. UCW will honor our privileged location in the heart of Vancouver by encouraging faculty service, student projects, and volunteer engagements that contribute to the community. And we will take action to promote the tenets of reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples, both on campus and in broader society.

Diversity and Diversification

UCW will become a more rounded institution in the composition of its student body and the breadth of its academic programs.

The more diversity you foster, the more diversity’s benefits accrue: in enrollment, in learning, in friendship, in careers, in social unity. UCW will build its reputation, its value proposition, and its academic mission upon true, balanced internationalism, a vision we will promote both domestically and abroad. We will diversify our student body by increasing enrolments from underrepresented regions and from within Canada. We will diversify our program offerings to meet emerging market needs and to mitigate over-reliance upon a handful of programs. And we will strive to integrate Indigenous perspectives throughout.

DIVERSITY &

Conclusion: Relevance, Resilience, and Renewal

The impact of UCW’s four Strategic Directions will be felt within the university and beyond. UCW will be bringing domestic and international students together in a spirit of learning, teamwork, and unity, preparing them for organizational and societal leadership. Alongside our peer institutions, we will contribute to advances that secure BC’s position at the forefront of higher education. We will be an academic force and a community leader for reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples. And we will support and facilitate rapid, deliberate economic growth and transformation, becoming a valued contributor to economic and social resilience in British Columbia and Canada.