Dean's Message
The College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan is emerging into a new decade with great possibility on the horizon. Hearkening back to the “Dean’s Bridge” – built by CJ MacKenzie on a one-year leave from the University in 1932 – the college has built bridges out into the campus community. While we live in a time when building walls is a popular rhetoric, we recognize that bridges which bring people together are more powerful than walls, and our plan is built around this idea.
Mission
In our teaching, research and day-to-day work, we inspire and celebrate success, cultivate innovation, build respect, and deliver value. We address important problems to engineer a strong future for Saskatchewan. We know that our actions and our graduates have the potential to change the world.
Guiding Principles
For the first time in recent history, our faculty and staff have spent time exploring what values are most important to the college – what identifies us as unique and distinctive. We believe that our four guiding principles – Inspiring Success; Cultivating Innovation; Building Respect; and Delivering Value – will provide all of us with focus as we move forward.
- Inspiring Success: We inspire and celebrate success in our college community and the engineering profession.
- Cultivating Innovation: We encourage innovation in teaching, research, and college operations. Both our students and our scholarly work are essential ingredients of a strong future for Saskatchewan. Through our graduates and our research, we can change the world.
- Building Respect: We build respect through our actions and words. We honour the strengths of diverse perspectives and skills. We are constructive with feedback and listen with humble curiosity.
- Delivering Value: We deliver value to our stakeholders through outstanding programs, engaging leadership, and research that addresses important problems and delivers practical solutions
Strategic Pillars
Four overarching themes were identified during our strategic planning process as key activities undertaken by all members of our academic community. These themes, known as our strategic pillars, provided a framework for all of the assessment, consultation, and visioning activities includes in our strategic planning process.
| Strategic Pillar | Vision |
| Teaching and Learning | We offer a transformative learning environment that engages and excites our students, helping them gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to thrive as engineers. |
| Research and Discovery | We are leaders in creating knowledge and providing effective solutions that build a healthy and sustainable society, environment, and economy – for our province, the Prairies, and our Peoples. |
| Indigenization | We provide meaningful access to engineering for Indigenous Peoples, while building and maintaining respectful relationships with Indigenous communities. |
| Community Engagement | We value authentic engagement and relationships. Through collaboration, we will enhance our partnerships to strengthen our reputation, student and alumni experiences, and our overall success. |
Aspirations & Commitments
Aspirations are broad, long-term aims that describe how we plans to fulfill the vision for each of our strategic pillars. They are meant to serve as a touchstone for all members of our academic community and guide our priorities over the next seven years. We will advance 20 aspirations by 2025. Put simply, these are entitled our “20 by 25”.
Commitments are strategic initiatives that will be pursued to advance one or more of our aspirations. They are specific, actionable, and are intended to help us inspire success, cultivate innovation, build respect, and deliver value in our community. We will continuously add and subtract from our commitments over seven years.
Aspirations
1.1 Offer exceptional academic programs that distinguish our graduates as well-rounded leaders whose technical, professional, and people skills create positive change in the world.
1.2 Cultivate effective, evidence-based methods in teaching and learning to deliver an innovative, high-quality engineering education and an exceptional student experience.
1.3 Embrace continuous program improvement to enhance learning outcomes and ensure relevance for our external stakeholders.
1.4 Provide meaningful work-integrated and experiential learning opportunities for all students, positioning them for success in their careers.
1.5 Diversify and grow our student body using strategic and effective enrollment management practices.
Commitments
Build an accredited engineering co-operative education program that connects students with opportunities in industry, government, and our community.
Implement a revised first-year engineering program that will be recognized as the most innovative and effective program in Canada.
Introduce new academic programming in these key areas: bioproducts and bioprocessing; sustainable energy and power; robotics and mechatronics; project management with Indigenous communities; and biomedical engineering.Aspirations
2.1 Distinguish ourselves for research excellence, particularly in areas of strategic importance to our province: engineering for agriculture, environment, health, sustainable energy, and mining and minerals.
2.2 Recognize and advance unique opportunities in engineering for sustainable infrastructure, particularly for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.
2.3 Actively engage with industry, government, and the Peoples of Saskatchewan to foster genuine and mutually beneficial partnerships.
2.4 Collaborate with university colleagues to co-create dynamic and impactful knowledge, expand our faculty and graduate student complement, and deliver a superior graduate student experience.
2.5 Support, communicate, and celebrate outstanding research undertaken by individual researchers and interdisciplinary teams.
Commitments
Develop and implement an external engagement strategy that creates clear linkages between community, industry, government, and the college.
Support the success of individual researchers while providing incentives for them to contribute towards college-wide research goals.
Expand research capacity by supporting and establishing research chairs and functional research clusters in each of our areas of preeminence.
Aspirations
3.1 Build respectful and reciprocal relationships between the college and Indigenous communities.
3.2 Partner with Indigenous communities to share knowledge and explore solutions that achieve their social, cultural, and economic goals.
3.3 Facilitate access to engineering for Indigenous Peoples through innovative pathways and holistic student supports.
3.4 Provide an inclusive environment in the college that welcomes Indigenous Peoples, highlighting and celebrating Indigenous understanding.
3.5 Increase awareness of engineering opportunities and expand Indigenous enrollment through outreach and recruitment.
Commitments
Create an Indigenous Resource Centre that is open to all students, staff, and faculty, and designate a space in the building for smudging.
Secure sustainable funding for the Indigenous Peoples Initiatives Community (IPIC) Engineering Access program and increase the number of students that participate.
Implement a community engagement strategy that facilitates meaningful Indigenous engagement and co-creation of knowledge with various First Nations in Saskatchewan.
Develop a Certificate in Project Management with Indigenous Communities program in collaboration with both industry and indigenous community leaders.
Aspirations
4.1 Build a respectful, inclusive, and diverse culture where people are welcomed, supported and encouraged to thrive.
4.2 Build and maintain relationships between faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry, government, and our community partners.
4.3 Communicate, celebrate, and advance the college’s reputation and accomplishments.
4.4 Foster an understanding and appreciation for the need to nurture mutually supportive relationships with our stakeholders.
4.5 Serve as leaders in our community who are responsible and contributing members of the engineering profession.
Commitments
Establish a Dean’s Advisory Council composed of external partners who provide perspective and advice on strategic directions and opportunities for the college.
Develop and execute communications, branding and marketing plans that engage our stakeholders and reinforce our role, contributions, and value.
Establish an alumni lifecycle engagement plan that interacts with our partners and alumni, from Sci-Fi to Planned Giving.
Endorse and support the Engineers Canada commitment to reach or exceed 30 percent female EIT registrants by the year 2030.
Progress Report
We will report annually on the execution of our strategic plan. In fall 2019, we are scheduled to report on Year 1 of our 2018-2025 plan.
Contribute
Realizing our visions, mission, and aspirations requires continuous planning and strong engagement from all members of our academic, local, and professional communities.
Our college invites you to share your thoughts on programs, projects, or initiatives that can help us achieve our aspirations and deliver value in our community. You can share your thoughts by completing an online engagement form or by speaking with a member of the college leadership team directly.
Give
Just as there are many ways that we intend to deliver value to our communities, there are many ways that industry, government, and community partners can help us deliver upon our commitments.
To learn more about how you can support our college and help us fulfill our aspirations and commitments, please contact a member of our external relations team.
Contact
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