THE FUTURE OF TREK & UBC'S LONG-TERM PLANNING

DISCUSSION PAPER

Click on image for PDF version of The Future of Trek & UBC's Long-Term Planning

LOOKING BACK

In 1998, UBC issued Trek 2000:A Vision for the 21st Century, a strategic planning document that spelled out the University’s goals and the steps by which it hoped to achieve them, in five general areas: People, Learning, Research, Community, and Internationalization. This document was supplemented by a series of pamphlets outlining specific operational targets for the periods 1999-2000, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003. There were also several “report cards" that summarized the University’s progress in achieving the goals it had set for itself in the Trek program.

Trek 2000 stated the University’s vision: “The University of British Columbia, aspiring to be Canada’s best university,will provide students with an outstanding and distinctive education, and conduct leading research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.” In the five years following the articulation of that vision, UBC has taken a number of important steps in every area identified by the Trek document.

PEOPLE

Recognizing that a university’s principal asset is its people, Trek stated that UBC’s first goal should be “To attract and retain outstanding faculty, students, and staff.” To that end, the University established an overall academic plan to set priorities and provide guidelines for faculty growth and renewal; increased student financial assistance at both graduate and undergraduate levels; developed new opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to live on campus; greatly improved transit access; streamlined and upgraded services to students; and hired over 260 new faculty members between 1998 and 2003.

LEARNING

Trek encouraged the development of “an intellectually challenging education,” and guided the Faculties towards a substantial investment in new teaching and learning technologies, including on-line instruction and campus-wide connectivity. Students were given new opportunities to experience hands-on learning through an expansion of co-op education and learning abroad. In pursuit of Trek’s goal of improving the University Library, the Main Library is currently being renovated and expanded to become one of the nation’s leading information and learning centres.

RESEARCH

UBC researchers have had outstanding success over the last five years, taking us a long way towards meeting our Trek goal of becoming “the leading research university in Canada and one of the leading research universities in the world.” UBC has gained the largest share of Canada Foundation for Innovation awards by any Canadian university; its total of research funding has almost tripled in five years; it now lies second only to the University of Toronto in the number of active faculty who are members of the Royal Society of Canada; and it is a leader in the Canada Research Chairs program that has become a major tool in recruiting and retaining top researchers across Canada. To increase UBC’s attractiveness as a research centre for graduate students, financial support has been substantially increased, and tuition awards have been introduced for students in years 1-4 of PhD programs.

COMMUNITY

In line with Trek’s stated goal of achieving a downtown presence, UBC has firmly established itself in Vancouver through the Learning Exchange (an educational centre in the Downtown East Side neighbourhood), the Robson Square campus in the heart of the city, and a rapidly-developing campus at Great Northern Way. The last-named, a joint venture with SFU, BCIT, and Emily Carr Institute, meets another Trek objective, of working more closely with other institutions in pursuit of common goals for the benefit of society. To provide the President with advice concerning university-community relations, a permanent Community Advisory Council was established, and faculties have begun to set up similar advisory bodies.

INTERNATIONALIZATION

Pursuing the twin goals of advancing global education and supporting international scholarship, UBC has greatly increased the numbers of international students it welcomes to the campus each year. In addition to a twelve-year-old program that brings 100 Ritsumeikan University students to UBC from Kyoto each year,we now host 100 students annually from Korea University, and another 100 from Tec de Monterrey, each group being housed in special residences on the Point Grey campus. In recognition of its location on the Pacific Rim, UBC has taken a leading role in the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU); and through membership in the international consortium Universitas 21, UBC has also strengthened its links with a number of leading research universities around the world.

NEXT STEPS

The implementation of the strategic plan presented in Trek 2000 has had a significant impact on almost every aspect of life at UBC. Though some of its goals are still to be attained, Trek 2000 has proved to be enormously helpful in providing a timetable and framework for action at both the macro and the micro levels. Preliminary indications from the President’s Advisory Committee, which includes faculty, staff and student representatives, are that a document similar to Trek 2000 in structure and general approach should continue to guide the University in its long-term planning. That said, most people seem to agree that the time has come to reassess our goals and priorities, because over the years the University has changed, and to some extent its needs and priorities have changed also.

Accordingly, over the next several months we plan to consult as widely as possible to find out what a revised and updated Trek document should contain. We have tentatively called the project “Trek 2010” because that title maintains an element of continuity with Trek 2000, and more importantly, sets a reasonable horizon for the accomplishment of a new set of goals. We should also not overlook the special significance of the year 2010 for all British Columbians.

At this point we want to identify the principal priorities and expectations that should inform our planning. We hope that you will take a few minutes to fill in and return the accompanying questionnaire, and thereby help us produce an effective set of goals and strategies for a “Trek 2010” program.

The end date for submitting responses is Dec. 15, 2003.

Click here to get started on the questionnaire.

TIMELINE

Sept. 2003

• Preliminary consultation with President’s Advisory Council
• Format, design and production of “Discussion Paper” with feedback form

Oct./Nov. 2003

• Distribution of Discussion Paper, both in hard copy and on the Web
• Consultation with UBC community through meetings with faculty, staff, students and alumni
• Review of Discussion Paper by University Senate
• Discussion Paper circulated to external groups, including President’s Community Advisory Council

Nov./Dec. 2003

• First version of Trek 2010 (“Green Paper”) prepared
• Distribution of Green Paper and subsequent consultation with campus and external communities as above
• Discussion of Green Paper with President’s Community Advisory Council
• Review of Green Paper by University Senate
• Green Paper presented to Board of Governors for information and feedback

Jan./Feb. 2004

• Preparation of final version of Trek 2010

March 2004

• Trek 2010 brought to University Senate, Board of Governors for approval
• Circulation of final version of Trek 2010 in hard copy to all members of the UBC community and all interested external groups; also published on the Web

QUestionnaire: The Future

• Click here to get started on the questionnaire (end date Dec. 15, 2003).