Greetings, and welcome to the third instalment of my weekly blog on the development of the Academic Plan. I’m feeling quite pleased with myself, since so far I have actually managed to get a weekly update done! One of the most basic questions: why do we need an academic plan?
CNC faculty and staff are dedicated to student success: we know we offer a great student experience and education. CNC students and alumni make a difference and we should be proud of their accomplishments and contributions to our region
An academic plan will help us remember who we are as an institution, how we want to develop and deliver our programs, and most importantly, how to ensure we continue to offer a quality education that prepares our students for the changing social and economic environment in which we live. The world is changing more quickly than ever, and CNC must continue to evolve to prepare students for the future and the changing world of work.
An academic plan will make sure we are all on the same page, driving towards the same goals, and that we know what our priorities are. It will help us to work together to make those goals happen. The plan will help us to plan and deliver our education and training opportunities in a mindful way, so that we continue to support the success of current and future students.
A second question is how is the Academic Plan different than the Strategic Plan? The academic plan is more of an internal plan than the strategic plan - lhulh whuts’odutel’eh (we will learn together). It will focus on what we are here to do – how we will take concrete steps towards making the CNC vision and mission a reality. It will help us to do an even better job for students.
This is our academic plan. It should reflect the energy, ideas, and hopes of the whole CNC community. This where we need your help. Without your input, it won’t be the best plan for us and our unique context. You have the insight and the knowledge to move us forward in the best possible way.
This isn’t just an exercise. It will provide clarity, which will empower us all to fulfill our roles. The plan will drive what we do in every academic area for the next five years. This is an opportunity to describe and reflect the CNC academic ethos, so we can all be confident that we are living our promises to students every day in everything we do.
So please – watch for the schedule for the engagement sessions around May Days, and keep sending in your questions and comments to
academicplan@cnc.bc.ca. Next week, we’ll be able to share some of our findings so far.