A Strategic Framework for Memorial University

Preamble

Since its first Convocation in 1950, Memorial University of Newfoundland has exercised a role in the economic and social development of its region that is unique among Canadian universities. Responsible for shaping the minds that shape the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Memorial has graduated 50,000 alumni who occupy key positions throughout both public and private sectors. Through its programs of teaching and research, the University has established an enviable position in marine sciences, the study of coastal cultures, and professional disciplines appropriate to the remarkable geography and heritage of its cold ocean setting.

Memorial's distinctiveness begins with the commitment to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador expected of the Province's only university. Its future success depends not only on renewing and sustaining a proud record of community service but on responding effectively to major changes in both the external and internal environment. A diminishing young population, increasing competition from other educational institutions, rapidly evolving technologies, and an aging professorate simultaneously challenge Memorial and create opportunities for future development. This document charts a strategic framework one purpose of which is to confirm and cement our place as the foremost university for studies related to the North Atlantic.

Memorial took a preliminary step toward the development of a strategic framework in Launch Forth, a mission statement approved by Senate in September 1993. This statement is reaffirmed here in Part I of this document. A comprehensive Planning and Priorities process began in 1998, the first phase of which culminated in the approval by Senate in May 1999 of a set of Principles and Goals which form Part II. These represent the academic heart of the university. The second phase included further consultation, including staff and students and with the external community, the results of which were summarized and circulated for comment. They give further practical shape to our goals and are presented below in Part III as a list of priority areas where the University commits itself to develop and improve.

Overview

Memorial's history and geography have enabled it to develop special strengths in undergraduate programs, interdisciplinary studies, cooperative education and distance education. Memorial will continue to provide strong academic support to undergraduate students and to support extensive involvement of regular faculty in undergraduate classrooms and laboratories, but in response to the needs of a changing economy it will also expand research and graduate teaching as high priorities. The demands of a knowledge-based economy and society for higher education make scholarly research more important than ever, so that Memorial will address a growing demand for graduates with advanced degrees, making graduate studies expand in relative importance.

Combining these imperatives, Memorial will enrich undergraduate education by helping students to experience the excitement of intellectual discovery, introducing undergraduates more effectively to the wider academic enterprise. These students will include not only recent high-school graduates but also those who seek to benefit from life-long learning and the advanced tools that open up new avenues of education. All learners will enjoy flexible programs within an environment of continuing renewal and connection with the community. They will experience the benefits of the University's participation in the province's Strategic Social and Economic Plans, opportunities for internships and co-op placements, our partnership with the College of the North Atlantic, and the diversity occasioned by activities onshore and international, rural and urban, island and Labrador.

In reaching out and responding to a provincial, national and international constituency, Memorial recognizes trends that present the University with important challenges. The annual pool of graduates from the province's high schools is projected to decline from 6,745 in 1999 to 4,300 in 2010. Improved recruitment and retention of students will be essential to sustain Memorial's ability to provide the full range of programs required of today's best universities. Improved recruitment will include greater success in attracting students from the entire province, especially from Labrador and the western portion of the island, while the fabric of the University will be enriched by the presence of more students from our native communities, other parts of Canada and other countries. We will also provide opportunities for university education to a growing proportion of the population: increased access to higher education is necessary if Newfoundland and Labrador are to avoid a deepening social cleavage between those who enjoy and those who do not enjoy its benefits. Finally, the health of the University depends upon the intellectual vigour of its faculty and staff, which must be continually renewed through professional development and new appointments. Although we have entered a period of strong competition for the best teachers, scholars, and technicians, more opportunities will be found to employ new, recently educated professors and staff members, whose energy and fresh ideas will complement the knowledge and experience of senior personnel.

Vision

As Memorial University moves forward into the new century, it reaffirms and strengthens its traditional commitments to the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador, whose university it is proud to be. At the same time, Memorial will seek to realize its full potential not only within the province but regionally, nationally and internationally as Atlantic Canada's foremost university. The actions called for in this plan will enable Memorial to win that recognition through the realization of its goals.

I. Mission

In Launch Forth, Memorial identified the following general mission.

Memorial University is committed to excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, and service to the general public.

Memorial University recognizes a special obligation to educate the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador, to undertake research on the challenges this province faces and to share its expertise with the community.

In achieving our mission, we will strive to enhance the character and culture of Memorial University. In specific:

The university is a citizen of the world, recognizing its obligations to advance knowledge and utilize its resources for the betterment of all people, as well as to build the linkages that are essential in the recognition, development and diversification of sustainable economic opportunities in our community.

• The university is dedicated to providing a superior learning environment through responsive and innovative teaching, supported by excellence in research and scholarship, creative activity and service to the community.
• The university is an accessible institution, whose aim is to be human, humane and collegial in word and deed, and egalitarian in outlook and action.
• The university is committed to responsible and innovative leadership in developing, transmitting, transferring and applying knowledge and values.
• The university is responsive to Newfoundland and Labrador's unique geographical, cultural and economic milieu and to the diverse needs of the student population of the province.

By these means and through its graduates, the university reaches out from its base in Newfoundland and Labrador to serve society by providing to all its students the educational opportunity to prepare themselves to live as informed and responsible citizens, committed to lifelong enquiry, learning and innovation.

II. Principles and Goals

Following widespread internal consultations, including submissions from all faculties and schools and a series of three University assemblies, Senate adopted these principles and goals as a basis for further discussion and planning.

A. Principles

In pursuing its mission, the University is guided by principles which are fundamental to its nature. These principles spring from the requirements of institutional autonomy and academic freedom. They are also founded on two basic understandings; taken in conjunction with our mission statement, these reflect a high degree of consensus about our historical strengths, present realities and continuing commitments. The understandings are:

that Memorial University's current size and basic character as a medium-sized comprehensive university offering a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in basic Arts and Science disciplines and in selected professional areas are essentially right, and

that provision of undergraduate teaching of the highest possible quality is an essential and continuing requirement of our mission.

The principles by which we are guided are as follows:

Academic needs are paramount

Because Memorial exists in the first instance to educate the people of this province, we undertake to provide our students with teaching of the highest possible standard, conducted in an intellectual, cultural and physical environment constructed to enrich students' experience both within and outside the classroom. Sound teaching and support for teaching and learning go hand in hand with original research and scholarship, while the administrative services required by all academic functions must be designed and implemented so as best to facilitate the university's academic mission.

Equitable resource allocation is an important means of achieving the University's goals

The distribution of resources according to accepted principles and through an equitable and transparent process is essential in a university community. The requirements of different units and of different disciplines vary widely: resource allocations must be largely determined by the established priorities of the University as well as by program quality and demand and by efficient management of resources.

Important decisions must be taken collegially

Collegiality is an essential ingredient of academic life and university governance; it must include a defined process of widespread consultation undertaken in a spirit of mutual respect and genuine willingness to acknowledge the legitimacy of competing viewpoints, include all constituencies within the university community, and make relevant information available in an accessible form to those involved.

Provincial needs must help shape our decisions

As the only university in Newfoundland and Labrador, Memorial has a special responsibility to address the intellectual, educational, economic and cultural needs of the province, through its degree, diploma and certificate programs and research. Its mission also encompasses an enduring intellectual and cultural dimension transcending immediate market forces or political imperatives. The university provides leadership in the province by helping to define the economic, social and cultural needs of our community and by identifying how we can best help to satisfy them.

We must foster a spirit of institutional adaptability

We must be able and willing to adjust to rapid change, in order to sustain our intellectual vigour, to grasp new opportunities as they present themselves, and to respond appropriately to new societal expectations. To succeed, we must create structures flexible enough to allow us to respond to change quickly, effectively and rationally. Decisions must be reached in a timely as well as collegial manner.

B. Goals

Our goals express in concrete terms what we hope to attain. The value of each goal must be determined not in isolation but in relation to other goals, and those goals whose realization can be shown to contribute to the realization of other goals will be given priority.

One group of goals focuses on the vigorous development of selected units of the University. To achieve the full potential of the professional schools will require an endorsement of their dynamic nature, as expressed in their entrepreneurial character, in their contribution to the economic and social well-being of the province and in their commitment to providing continuing education to the members of their professions. Continued development of the Marine Institute as an innovative and entrepreneurial unit of the University, will mean continuing to explore opportunities for distinctive, alternative programs that offer functional connections to other sectors of the University. To strengthen Grenfell College as a liberal arts and science institution offering degree programs tailored to provide opportunities complementary to those available at the St. John's campus will necessitate refinement and promotion of the College's distinctive character.

A second group of goals focuses on achieving or regaining and on maintaining a high level of performance in key areas. Renewing support for the University Library, widely recognized throughout the university and the province as a cultural and intellectual treasure, will mean building on its areas of strength in order to provide effective support for teaching and research. To ensure the vigour of Arts and Science requires a recognition that these faculties are integral in their own right to the intellectual life and mission of the university. Improving our recognition of and support for research and teaching means recognizing the complementarity of activities that spring from the fundamental dictates of the professional conscience of teachers and scholars. Regardless of discipline, the advancement and application of knowledge through basic and applied research is an essential part of our mission. Effective teaching and successful research require up-to-date facilities: we will find the means to improve significantly both classroom and research infrastructure. To improve undergraduate recruitment and retention, we will work to encourage larger numbers of qualified students from all parts of Newfoundland and Labrador and from elsewhere to enrol in undergraduate programs at Memorial; we will use all means at our disposal to ensure the success of our undergraduates by fostering an environment for learning that is equal to that of the best universities elsewhere.

Finally, three goals address potentially serious institutional challenges. The goal of raising graduate enrolments is a response to societal expectations and labour market requirements alike. Graduate study and teaching have an intimate and necessary connection with a research mission and with undergraduate programs. Implementation of a policy of faculty renewal is essential if the intellectual vitality essential to institutional well-being is to be preserved. Increasing collaboration and coordination, which is essential to making the very best use of the resources at our disposal, calls us to identify and remove both unnecessary duplication and barriers to collaboration both inside the institution and in our outside relationships, and makes it incumbent on individual units to pursue their objectives in a manner which contributes to the achievement of the University's goals.

III. Areas for Strategic Development

A University Forum on both the St. John's and Corner Brook campuses in May 1999 and meetings in November between members of the senior University administration and community representatives at five locations throughout the province have permitted the formulation of priority areas for development. A brief definition of each area is accompanied by specific actions aimed at achieving the desired results. The actions are illustrative rather than exhaustive.

1. The University and the Community

In all its endeavours, Memorial will keep its responsibilities to the wider community clearly in view. The University has been entrusted with a leadership role in the social, cultural, professional and economic life of the province. To continue to exercise this leadership effectively, it will be vigorously responsive to the realistic aspirations of the community and cooperate actively with other educational institutions and with public sector and private sector agencies, confirming the deeply rooted sense of pride and affection for Memorial in the community. Memorial's teaching, research, and outreach programs will aim consistently to serve the needs of communities, which, like the University itself, are experiencing profound transformations. Effective service requires the development of a comprehensive plan for identifying and responding to provincial and community needs.

Actions

1.1. Increase accessibility to Memorial by expanding first- and second-year transfer courses and permitting direct entry to a broader spectrum of programs, and providing forms of prior learning assessment for mature students. Working with the college sector, school teachers and counselors, and our own Faculties, we will help facilitate entry to the University for all capable students.

1.2. Expand and improve the delivery of courses through distance methods, making distance courses and programs more flexible in timetable and course scheduling and in format. We will expand the availability of Web-enhanced and Web-based courses and increase opportunities to complete programs by distance using appropriate technology.

1.3. Communicate more clearly how communities can take appropriate advantage of the research capacity of the University. Working with the Economic Zone Boards, regional committees, town councils and school boards, we will identify expertise in graduate-students and faculty, and professional staff expertise which responds to local needs in mutually beneficial ways.

1.4. Give effective practical expression to life-long learning in response to alumni and community needs and to the requirements of the professions for continuing education. In-service programs for teachers, nurses, and other professionals, business development, and innovative, interdisciplinary masters programs in petroleum studies, employee relations, information technology and other areas will provide opportunities to remain abreast of knowledge in one's field.

2. Student Recruitment and Retention

To ensure its future success, Memorial will remain a university of approximately 15,000 students, with a balanced range of programs in arts, science and professional disciplines. By strengthening and improving its offerings for students beyond the main campuses, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, it will renew its commitment to being a university for the whole of the province. To maintain its current size in the face of demographic change, it will improve its capacities to recruit and retain able students, with all that this implies about engaging its alumni, communicating its strengths more effectively, creating a more welcoming and supportive environment for learners, giving unflagging attention to improving the quality of student life, and increasing the potential for educational success. Strengthened programs of student recruitment and retention will include a carefully planned strategy for attracting native, mature, out-of-province and international students in greater numbers in order to enrich the intellectual climate for all. Within the general framework of its current size and composition, Memorial will also place greater emphasis on graduate education, increasing both graduate enrolments and the number and range of graduate programs, and integrating graduate students more effectively into its programs of teaching and research.

Actions

2.1. Develop a well-coordinated and aggressive plan to recruit students from rural as well as urban areas of the province, the rest of Canada and internationally. The distinctive liberal arts and science alternative to the St. John's campus provided by Sir Wilfred Grenfell College will be an important element of this plan. Enrolment there should grow to 1500.

2.2. Take steps to make the transition from high school to university more manageable for our students and to achieve a higher retention rate in undergraduate programs. In each of the next 5 years, measures will be undertaken to improve integration of students into the Memorial community and to enhance the quality of their academic and social life with a view to increasing retention by 2% per year for each year of study from admission to graduation.

2.3. Recognize that students have reasonable expectations of employment or graduate studies, and provide better preparation for and assistance with their transition from Memorial to the world of work or further education. Expanded co-operative and experiential learning programs, academic counseling, and career placement services will be important parts of this strategy.

2.4. Promote the continued growth of graduate studies, bringing graduate enrolments into line with the developing needs of the province and the requirements of research. The active role graduate students can play in enriching undergraduate education will be realized by integrating them more fully into teaching activities.

3. Research and Creative Activity

As an integral part of its mission, Memorial must maintain strong programs of pure and applied research and uphold its role as a catalyst in creative activity for the province and the nation. Successful research programs require the support of external agencies, including national granting councils, other government programs, industry, and private foundations. They also depend on the existence within the University of strong graduate programs and a culture of embodying research and creativity in teaching at all levels. Despite some important successes, Memorial has done less well than most comparable universities in attracting research funding, and it has relatively few graduate students pursuing research degrees for a university of its size. The University will develop plans for attracting more external research funding from traditional sources for student and faculty support and the development and maintenance of research infrastructure, and will identify and exploit new sources of funding. To fulfill its special responsibility to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, it will also suggest ways to place the interdisciplinary capacities of the University at the disposal of local communities in support of their educational, social, cultural, and economic development. A key strategy for improving community access to research expertise and scholarly creativity is the development of more effective partnerships with other educational institutions and with local and provincial bodies who are already active in community development. In Labrador, a strengthened Labrador Institute will help to further these objectives.

Actions

3.1. Identify and draw on new sources of funding for research and creative activity and draw more effectively on existing sources. Partnerships with other institutions and with the private sector, together with more aggressive use of the federal granting councils should enhance research revenue substantially. Given increases at CIHR, CFI, NSERC, SSHRC, and the arts councils a target of 15 % per year is achievable.

3.2. Improve success rates in external grant competitions by promoting the development of high-quality proposals from faculty members at all levels of seniority and in all faculties and schools. We will improve support and incentives for applicants and ensure that faculty who seek and obtain external funding are appropriately recognized.

3.3. Create and cultivate appropriate partnerships with the College of the North Atlantic, the Federation of Municipalities, the Economic Zone Boards, the network of Arts and Culture Centres, local industries, labour and the community-based sector. We will establish benchmarks for all of these actions, measure our progress against them, and publish an annual report on research and creative activity.

4. Faculty and Staff: Renewal and Development

The health of Memorial University depends in large measure on the intellectual vigour, diversity and commitment of its faculty and staff. Strong human resources depends on continuous renewal. New ideas and fresh energy must constantly be introduced to the University and an appropriate balance achieved between senior, experienced professors and professional staff and more recently appointed personnel. Current Memorial faculty are heavily clustered in the senior ranks, especially in Arts and Science, where the median age is 52.1 years. The recruitment of new faculty and staff will depend in large measure on creating salary scales which are competitive in the national market. The ratio between students and full-time faculty must also be broadly consistent with norms for comprehensive universities elsewhere in the country and distributed across units in a manner that is commensurate with student demand and the pedagogical requirements of specific disciplines. The high proportion of undergraduate courses taught by tenured faculty and the serious attention devoted to teaching are recognized strengths of Memorial. Faculty complements must be defined in such a way as to preserve this strength while achieving an appropriate allocation of limited resources to salary, operating, and capital expenditures.

Actions

4.1. Define appropriate faculty and staff complements for the University as a whole and for individual academic units. We will develop an equitable method for determining the distribution of professional personnel and making adjustments for changing patterns of teaching need and research concentration.

4.2. Raise salary scales to levels comparable to those at the Canadian universities with which Memorial compares itself and competes for professors and support staff. The necessary funds will come from new revenues and redistributed resources.

4.3. Provide for the appointment of new faculty and staff where such appointments are called for by needed renewal, academic excellence and demand for programs. We will use bridging appointments, industrial chairs, Canada Research Chairs, and other means for achieving a renewal rate of at least 25% over the next 7-year period.

4.4 Promote, recognize and reward excellence in teaching within and across disciplines. We will provide resources for professional development in teaching for all faculty, with particular emphasis on new faculty members, and give full weight to good teaching as well as good research in matters of tenure and promotion.

5. Resources and Resource Management

Memorial will develop strategies for obtaining sufficient funding from all available sources to ensure that its operations have adequate resources. At the same time, however, we will keep sharply in focus the principle that the University's activities must flow from the resources available to support them, both by increasing the effectiveness with which it manages the resources at its disposal and by ensuring that program development does not outstrip the resources available. Allocation of resources within the University must be equitable and must support the principles and goals which have been defined for the institution.

Actions

5.1. The province's only university has been and is now essential for coping with and benefiting from periods of social and economic change. We will show clearly that post-secondary education is a crucial public investment for Newfoundland and Labrador.

5.2. Maintain strong revenues by maximizing funds from existing sources and by developing new sources of income. International tuition fees, together with partnerships and contracts that support graduate students and the acquisition of needed equipment, will be a significant part of this new income.

5.3. Take full advantage of opportunities presented by educational technology and internationalization for student recruitment, program design and delivery, and relationships with other institutions in Canada and abroad. The School of Continuing Education has the capacity to facilitate the development of degree programs that seize these opportunities.

5.4. Create and use partnerships and consortia to reduce library, program, and infrastructure costs where sole ownership is not a requirement. Space-saving arrangements among Atlantic university libraries and academic programs enhanced by sharing instructional resources will become examples of effective inter-institutional cooperation in an increasingly inter-connected educational environment.

6. Academic and Administrative Reforms

Reforms in administrative and academic structures are also clearly required for the continued success of Memorial University. Like all large organizations, the University tends to generate complex regulations and procedures. These checks and balances are a source of institutional strength, but, if left unreviewed, can become unintended obstacles to the achievement of its true goals. Structural, procedural, and regulatory reforms will increase flexibility, transparency and opportunities for collaboration within the institution. More effective methods of internal communication can also be devised. Improved communication will result in different parts of the University developing a better knowledge and deeper appreciation of each other, thus leading to increased collaboration and better working relations.

Actions

6.1. Simplify and clarify academic regulations throughout the University. We will seek greater consistency of expectations among our faculties and schools and give these expectations clear expression through a user-friendly Calendar and other publications.

6.2. Devise ways to make cross-faculty collaboration easier and reward successful collaboration. By ensuring that the savings remain with the responsible units, we will promote academic cooperation which conserves resources and encourages new partnerships and initiatives.

6.3. Find ways to facilitate the exchange of information both "horizontally," across unit boundaries, and "vertically," through all layers of the university administrative structure. The Planning and Budget Committee will review Faculty and administrative structures for current effectiveness.

6.4. Ensure that Memorial's programs do not take longer than necessary to complete, especially when compared to those offered at universities in the Maritime provinces. The Planning and Budget Committee will review each program for consistency with this objective.

6.5. Where appropriate, grant greater autonomy to academic units in areas such as fund-raising, program development, and the forging of international linkages. The missions and operation of the central offices responsible for such functions will be changed to stimulate, facilitate and coordinate these initiatives.

7. External Communications

Memorial University's strengths and achievements are remarkable. They include excellent educational programs and research and the preservation and enhancement of an important maritime culture. Yet in many respects its accomplishments in higher education resemble an undiscovered island. The University is generally little known outside the province. Few people realize that there is a Memorial campus in Harlow, England, which could serve as a portal to Europe for our students. The University's relatively small class sizes and supportive environment are less widely known than they deserve. Among our obligations to government and the public is that of communicating Memorial's importance to the social, cultural and economic well-being of the province. Greater success in explaining its goals, strengths and achievements will foster stronger ties between the University, its alumni, and the community and enhance the University's national reputation and international stature.

Actions

7.1. Develop and enhance a distinctive image of Memorial as Canada's foremost Atlantic university and leader in North Atlantic studies. Establish a regular forum at which University Relations and other central offices come together periodically with academic administrators, faculty, students, alumni and members of the community to improve the accuracy and power of our self-representations.

7.2. Develop a comprehensive plan for improving our image with the outside world. Such a plan should publicize strengths and achievements while identifying sources of "negative images" and addressing damaging misconceptions. Research and evaluation will be cornerstones for the development of an overall marketing strategy that will include advertising and other promotional activities.

7.3. Develop programs for disseminating knowledge about Memorial's research activities more widely throughout the province and nation, especially as regards research directly related to the lives and concerns of Newfoundland and Labrador communities. Progress on these programs will be part of the annual research report.

Implementation*

A strategic framework is not fixed for all time but evolves as circumstances change. Developing the details of this strategic framework will be a responsibility widely shared across the university, with implementation proceeding simultaneously on several fronts. For example improvements in the retention of students cannot be successfully pursued without the central involvement of the Dean of Student Affairs and Services in conjunction with Deans and Directors both academic and administrative. The following table shows the person or office that bears primary responsibility in each case, anticipated time of initial reporting, and sources of approval required.

Through University Relations, those responsible for progress towards implementation will ensure that both the Memorial University community and the wider community inside and outside the province receive regular news of steps taken towards the actions called for in this framework.

January 11, 2001