DRAFT STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Thank you for choosing to get involved in shaping Fanshawe’s future, by reviewing the first draft of Fanshawe 2035: Our Strategic Direction.
After 2 months of consultation with you, our Fanshawe community, we want to make sure we heard you and we are on the right path. Below, you will see our draft Strategic Direction.
After you review this draft, you will be invited to assess it through a 10-minute survey, based on the criteria that was collectively agreed upon during Phase 1.
We sincerely hope this updated Strategic Direction lives up to the task you gave us. Thank you again for your valuable time and input.
Why we exist:
We transform potential into impact.
Who we are:
Human at its core, rooted in community, bold in change.
What we do:
We provide a guided, academic learning journey to ensure our graduates are ready for work and for life, today and tomorrow.
You will know you are at Fanshawe because you will see everyone:
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Put people at the centre
This means we lead with care and empathy, where care means being responsible, with clear, realistic expectations and mutual accountability, and where empathy means recognizing the whole person and the individuality of needs.
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Act with reciprocity
This means we contribute to the success of others while being equally open to receiving support, feedback, or recognition. We foster relationships where there’s shared ownership of outcomes.
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Build connections
This means we recognize that we are ONE Fanshawe, made of networked communities who respect each other's identity, leverage each other’s uniqueness, optimize our interdependencies, and collaborate to achieve even greater results.
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Measure, learn and adjust
This means we evaluate our impact with rigour, and continuously reflect, assess, report, take action to improve as a college, and to grow individually. Everyone at Fanshawe is a learner.
Put people at the centre.
Act with reciprocity.
Build connections.
Measure, learn and adjust.
Over the next 5 to 10 years, we are going to prioritize our efforts and resources toward:
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Using what we have, differently
We want to work within our means yet improve the experience of all learners.
That is why our work will be to:
- Adapt current programming and services into accessible, modular, flexible, customizable options to fit individual needs.
- Adjust, reformat, restructure existing supports and systems to better align with the needs and preferences of our students, including mature, Indigenous, international, and equity-deserving learners.
- Develop mechanisms that invite individuals to design their own learning journey, fully knowledgeable of what services to access, how, where and when.
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Taking charge
We want to evolve our operations and achieve financial sustainability.
That is why our work will be to:
- Deliver digital and organizational transformation initiatives purposefully modernizing and improving our operational efficiency, accountability and transparency (EWR, Workday).
- Show local, institutional, and system-wide leadership in innovation, equity and proactive change.
- Teach and use technology (like AI) with ethics and intention.
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Making a difference
We want to strengthen and communicate the impact we know we have.
That is why our work will be to:
- Demonstrate our commitment to meeting labour market and community needs with up-to-date, relevant, always evolving programming and learning resources.
- Grow partnerships with industry, government, and local organizations.
- Measure and communicate how we contribute to public good, regional economic, social, cultural development.
Using what we have, differently.
Taking charge.
Making a difference.
Over the next 5 to 10 years, we will expect the following tangible results:
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Using what we have, differently = Improved learning experience
We will know we have an improved learning experience when we start seeing:
- Increased uptake of and satisfaction with academic and staff development programs.
- Increased uptake in available support services, with increased satisfaction related to access, alignment with personal needs, and ease of navigation.
- Increased number of students and staff reporting they feel informed and supported.
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Taking charge = Evolved operations and financial sustainability
We will know we have evolved operations and financial sustainability when we are able to report:
- Stabilized funding and diversified revenue.
- A reduction in manual administrative tasks and increase in cross-departmental data workflow and integration.
- Receiving external recognition (award, publication, partnership) for several equity-focused or innovative operational practices.
- Increased uptake in new technologies with students and staff reporting satisfaction related to the ongoing, up-to-date guidance provided and the positive impact on their learning or work.
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Making a difference = Strengthened impact
There will be evidence of our strengthened impact when we see:
- An increase in the number of external and internal partnerships we have and the number of co-designed curriculum with experiential learning initiatives.
- An increased pace of review and updates of academic programs, with 100% of programs reviewed within a shorter time frame. The pace and prioritization of reviews are aligned with labour market needs.
- Appreciation from our stakeholders for our public, user-friendly, dynamic dashboard showing our performance and contributions toward community, workforce and government priorities.
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People, Reciprocity, Connections, Measurement = Values-driven culture
We will know we have a values-driven culture when people at Fanshawe are able to consistently share numerous examples of how they and others are:
- Speaking candidly, offering supportive feedback, sharing information freely
- Feeling supported, safe, valued and connected as individuals
- Walking the talk, demonstrating alignment between what is said, written, and done
- Modeling the behaviours they expect of others
- Seeking, accepting internal collaborators and creating several internal partnerships
- Reflecting, assessing, learning, unlearning
- Measuring outcomes and taking accountability for the results
Improved learning experience.
Evolved operations and financial sustainability.
Strengthened impact.
How we will GET THERE:
The path to get to the results will be developed jointly, across all areas, with local input and action plans. These plans will add quantitative and / or qualitative targets for each outcome and will cascade across the organization. Local plans will create a line of sight that will translate all the way to individual contributions and accountabilities. These will be developed internally in the fall of 2025.