One of the most significant undertakings in the course of my work at KPU has been to have the opportunity to be able to discover and respond to the pulse of an entire university community. The privilege of meeting, discussing, and sharing stories and anecdotes with long-time and recent KPU community members has re-affirmed my understanding of our complexity and my appreciation for the passion that underscores our calling. As Provost and VP Academic at KPU, I have had the honour to lead this process and to have had the privilege of shaping and sharing a community's aspiration with our internal and external audiences.
The collective effort of assembling and discussing this Academic Plan 2023 would not have been possible without the trust and authenticity that our community brought to the many gatherings and events leading to this plan.
Given the scope of participation and direct involvement in the plan preparation, it is both interesting and important to acknowledge just how we got here:
Here are some statistics:
Beginning in October 2017, KPU hosted 64 department meetings, representing 83 departments across all university Faculties and Schools.
In addition, the Academic Plan was presented, discussed, edited and reviewed through the assistance of Academic Council, the Polytechnic University Executive, the Senate Standing Committee on Governance, the Senate Standing Committee on Academic Planning and Priorities, Senate, the Provost's Office, the Kwantlen Student Association, the KPU BCGEU office, the Kwantlen Faculty Association, the Office of Teaching and Learning, Office of the Vice Provost Students, Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Research and Scholarship, the Special Assistant to the Provost on Open Education, select working groups at the University Library, the Learning Centres, the Office of Indigenous Services for Students, KPU International, the K-12 Curriculum Transformation group, the Institute for Sustainable Horticulture, the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems, KPU Elder in Residence, Lekeyten and Dr. Thomas Carey, Executive-in-Residence for Teaching and Learning, BC Association of Institutes and Universities. Trusted external reviewers and sectoral partners also brought their wisdom and perspective to this academic endeavour. In addition, members of the KPU community were able to regularly contribute throughout the development of the plan through our Provost and Vice President Academic SharePoint site.
The Academic Plan 2023's attractive visual presentation was designed and produced by graphic artist and KPU Marketing Services Production Specialist Camille Souliere under the guidance of Nicole Lotz, KPU's Manager, Marketing and Brand Strategy and Joanne Saunders, KPU's Executive Director, Marketing and Recruitment.
Dr. Parthiphan Krishnan from our Geography and the Environment department in the Faculty of Arts generously designed our regional map.
A very special thank you goes out to the Confidential Assistant to the Provost, Linda Krenz for her organizational, operational and editing assistance in planning and scheduling our events and the final document.
A warm thanks to the hundreds of KPU community members for making this a truly collective effort and an exciting launch into our promising future.