Message from the President: Strategic Plan Process

Hello Colleagues,

With the guidance of the Board of Governors, over the last month or so I have been developing a process that will help guide us in the creation of our next strategic plan. I am pleased to let you know that the Board approved the general process at its April 27 meeting. While there will be more details to come, I want to get a couple of highlights out early.

Hopefully not surprising is that the process will be highly collegial.  To help support this approach, we will be using two teams: a steering team and a working team.  How they fit together is outlined within the diagram below:

The Working Group that will be putting “pen to paper” will be seeking input and feedback from the entire OC community – both internal and external – at multiple points in time. Because we are limited in our ability to connect in-person these days, we will use a few digital tools to gather your viewpoints, ideas, and perspectives – especially during the early stages.

I am confident that together we will be able to create a vision for our future that will inspire a generation about the transformative impact of Okanagan College for our students and our communities.

To that end, I can only hope that that you will give yourself permission to flex your imagination and share your aspirations for the College so that we may successfully build on our rich history and embrace those things what will make us a leader among community colleges. Having had the chance to chat with some of you already, I know we will be able to share our own passions and at the same time provide others with the space to do the same – especially when their perspectives are different than our own. It is through many different ideas that we will be able to create a path forward.

A Steering Team will be created to help ensure that our strategy fits with our culture today and how we want our culture to adapt into the future. The team will look to confirm that we are embracing new ideas, staying focused on our future, ensuring that we are inclusive of diverse perspectives, and willing to challenge our norms. 

The Steering Team will be made up of volunteers from around the institution. If you would like to become a member of the steering team, please submit your name to Joanna Campbell (jcampbell@okanagan.bc.ca) by May 25.  Note that the Steering Team will be meeting at regular intervals (see dates below) over the next nine months to meet our timelines. If we are unable to accommodate all the volunteers on the Steering Team, there will be plenty of opportunity for people to engage throughout the process. A description of the Steering Team can be found below.

I have referred to the next phase of the planning process as “exploration, listening, and research.” I am anticipating that this phase will stretch into July. During this time, a series of invitations will come out to the OC community seeking your input and engagement of ideas. Please do keep an eye out for those invitations in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I know that the College continues to follow and adapt to the changing COVID related health restrictions – including planning for the fall. For that, I thank you. At the same time, you know that we need to continue projects and initiatives at the college which cannot wait for the new strategic plan to be complete. Please make sure you are working with your respective leaders to continue these important activities in the interim. I would simply ask that you continue to use the Toward 2020 Strategic plan as your guide for these activities until we can finalize our next plan.

I look forward to connecting with many of you in the weeks and months to come as we not only work toward developing our future together, but also giving me the chance to learn so much more about the College.

Respectfully,

Neil Fassina,
President, Okanagan College

Steering Team description

The Steering Team will serve as a "sounding board" for the Working Group as the Working Group develops ideas. In its role as an advisor to the President, the Steering Team will engage in open discussions with the Working Group. These discussions will ensure diverse ideas and perspectives are advanced in the creation of the strategic plan. The Steering Team will be established by seeking volunteers from the Okanagan College community. Appointments to the Steering Team will take into consideration diversity in location, gender, and ethnicity. Although final appointment decisions will be made by the President, appointments for individuals who represent specific employee groups (e.g., BCGEU) will only be made following input from the appropriate representative group leadership.

Advisory to the President, the Steering Team will be:

• President of the College (Chair ex-officio)
• Two Appointed Members, Board of Governors
• Chair, Education Council
• One Member, BCGEU (Support)
• One Member, BCGEU (Vocational)
• One Member, Okanagan College Faculty Association
• One Member, Administrators Association
• One Member, Excluded Support Staff
• One Member, Leadership Team
• One Member, Executive
• One Alumni
• One Student, Okanagan College Student Union
• One Student, Vernon Students’ Association

Steering Team meeting dates

• Monday, Aug. 9, 2021
• Monday, Aug. 30, 2021
• Monday, Oct. 18, 2021
• Monday, Nov. 29, 2021