Strategic Plan update from Dr. Neil Fassina

The following update has been sent by Okanagan College President Dr. Neil Fassina.

Hello everyone,

I am excited to share with you an update about the next steps in our strategic planning process, and to give you a sense of the three significant steps to making our plan come to life.

The first step will commence immediately. Its focus is on listening, researching, and creating ideas. In this first step, the goal is to hear from as many people who are willing to provide their insights and ideas. The ideas that are received during this first step will be used to help shape our strategic options that will be reviewed in step two. For OC team members, this first step began on Monday, May 31 and will be taking place over the next four weeks.

Although I would love to be able to host members of the OC team in person, we are not quite there yet. So, we will embrace a couple of the technological tools we have to achieve much the same outcome – that is, hearing from you. Details on how you can join me in a Zoom meeting, provide comments through a ThoughtExchange or simply send me an email can be found here: OC Strategic Plan.

The second step is about developing and refining our options. During this step, the goal will be to hear from people both inside OC and from our external communities about proposed strategies for the College. This round of feedback will be critical in making sure our strategies will provide us with an inspirational and motivating direction forward in the years to come. This second step will take place early in the fall.

The final step – and perhaps the largest – is about approval and implementation of our plan. This step will begin early in 2022. As members of the OC community, you have an important role to play in all three steps. Not surprisingly, each and every one of you will have a significant impact on step three – turning our thinking into action. To bring a plan to life requires individuals and teams, organizational culture and passion, and the appropriate resources to make things happen. While step three does not really kick in until 2022, please know that we are already getting ready and thinking about how we can create and allocate resources to make our dreams become a reality.

To get us started in step one, I will be asking you to consider three questions based on three themes. 

Theme 1 - The first theme is about our various regions and communities. 

I would like you to imagine that it is 2030. We are well through the COVID pandemic. Individuals and groups throughout our regions are embracing new opportunities and tackling both ongoing and new challenges as they strive to improve the social, economic, environmental, and cultural fabric of their communities. What do you think will be the greatest challenges and opportunities facing our regions and communities in 2030?

Theme 2 - The second theme is more focused on our mission statement – transforming lives and communities.

By 2030, our regions, our students, and the communities we serve will likely be quite different than they are today. By then, what does Okanagan College need to be doing to make sure that it is making a difference in the lives of our students and making a difference in our communities throughout our regions?

Theme 3 - The final theme is about us as a college.

Specifically, as a college that is heavily connected to our communities, one may say that we are a reflection of our students, our alumni, and of our communities – and vice versa. Because our students and our communities will continue to innovate, adapt, and change, what can Okanagan College do to make sure that we are also innovating, adapting, and changing to keep pace?

For these first sessions, please focus on the “art of the imagination.” That is, I hope you permit yourself to be as creative and ambitious as you want to be about the potential future of our College and the numerous regions and communities it supports. Consider ideas that stretch well into our future. Draw upon your personal knowledge, passions, background, and understanding as you generate ideas.

Focus on those things that will – in your mind – make Okanagan College even better than it is today.

Consider those things that will make Okanagan College standout from other Colleges.

Think of those things that will make you incredibly proud to be part of the College’s community in the future.

Please take the time to join me in a session or two and be sure to send your ideas electronically. It is my hope that every member of the OC community has an impact on the future of the College.

Thank you in advance for engaging with this important opportunity to shape the future of OC. Needless to say, I look forward to hearing from everyone.

Respectfully,

Neil Fassina