Emily Carr University 2017-2021 Strategic Plan
Topic outline
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Self-defining Excellence: 8 Commitments to an Emergent Future
Executive Summary
This strategic plan contends with Emily Carr University's strengths and possibilities in the next four years. While our University moves to a new campus with new facilities, our community is still confronted with the daily challenges of maintaining excellence in the fields of art, media, and design. We remain unique in British Columbia's post-secondary landscape for our practice-based programs and our ability to produce graduates who excel in their fields — locally and internationally.
This plan looks at eight commitments towards maintaining our core strengths, and developing our emerging and potential strengths. Each commitment has a series of attainable goals, and addresses the actions already under way in achieving each goal.
As a commitment to transparency and continuing a community dialogue around achieving this goal, this version of the strategic plan asks our community to respond to key questions in order to refine our goals, and to develop metrics and measurable outcomes for each strategic commitment.
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Mission:
Emily Carr University of Art + Design is a learning community devoted to excellence and innovation in visual arts, media arts, and design.
Vision: What will be true in 2021
- Emily Carr graduates embody trans-disciplinary, inclusive, and socially engaged art and design. We create communities and solutions that foster social justice and sustainability.
- We are globally recognized and valued for our ability to prepare graduates who are central to their communities of practice and equipped to influence and shape their fields. Our graduate programs and research agenda ensure that our knowledge is shaping new and emerging practices and scholarship.
- Our unique, experiential learning environment fosters creative exploration within a critical, inclusive and engaged community. Our students have full access to trans-disciplinary resources, and our inter-connectivity is constantly creating new possibilities. Our education scholarship is co-created between faculty and students, and demonstrates that our commitment to and respect for indigenous and diverse ways of knowing and unique approach to learning and practice fosters change agency and lifelong learning.
- We create programming that fully embraces our aspirations and builds learning channels We are sought after by partners from diverse communities and environments for innovative research and art and design-based solutions to complex questions.
Moderators for this discussion: Bonne Zabolotney and Dr. Ron Burnett
- Emily Carr graduates embody trans-disciplinary, inclusive, and socially engaged art and design. We create communities and solutions that foster social justice and sustainability.
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Core Strategies: Building on Existing Strengths
During our public discussions throughout 2016, Emily Carr's community articulated several core strengths. These existing strengths and attributes already exist for our community and have contributed to Emily Carr University's unique identity:
- We design and co-create communities that matter: locally, nationally, and globally
- Our environment fosters interconnection and interdisciplinary crossover that enables powerful possibilities
- Our faculty and staff are creative, committed and hands-on to support students in exploring emerging ideas
- Everything we do is experienced within a critical context: what are its implications? What conversations are we joining or changing?
- We are an accepting, inclusive community that celebrates diversity
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Support Research and its Integration in Curricula
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Strengthen, enable, and develop student agency
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Expand our local and global communities of practice
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Expand on the success of our Aboriginal Programming, integrating Indigenous knowledge fully into teaching and learning practices
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Context: As ECUAD moves forward to "Expand on the success of our Aboriginal Programming..." your feedback on the previous events that were significant to you will provide a valuable point of view. What has helped create connections? What about the event did you enjoy? What about the event made it meaningful? This will aid in planning future programming.
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Expand and develop thriving graduate programs
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Emerging Strategies: Building on Potential Strengths
During our public discussions throughout 2016, Emily Carr's community also articulated several emerging strengths. These emerging strengths and attributes require development but will contribute to Emily Carr University's unique qualities in the next 4 years:
- We have a unique ability to enter into unknown space and create emergent opportunities
- Our students develop self-direction, confidence and deep identity: “there is a fierceness and courage about their work”
- We foster the exploration, sharing and incorporation of diverse ways of knowing, including indigenous knowledge and connectedness to all of our ancestors
- We are “adaptive creatives”
- Our alumni are equipped to engage in the workforce and are creating innovation and new organizations and communities
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Develop a sustainable and supportive teaching and learning environment
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Develop flexible infrastructure and support for community need and emerging teaching and learning practices
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Develop and strengthen the pathways and experiences for lifelong learning and inquiry
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A framework of inquiry should lead us to developing ways of measuring our success and understanding where each community can play a part in contributing to the goals and strategies of this plan.
We want our plan to remain flexible and aspirational. What are ways to ensure that this will happen?
What are ways of measuring, monitoring, and celebrating our successes?
Please contribute to discussion groups in this section!