As our university enters its next century, we have an opportunity to pursue our aspirations through a new strategic plan, UBC’s Next Century.

While looking ahead to UBC’s future, we intend to build on the achievements of the past. UBC has been well served by both Trek 2000, introduced by President Martha Piper in 1998, and Place and Promise, the plan introduced in 2009 by President Stephen Toope.

Thanks in large part to those plans, today UBC ranks among the world’s leading universities. We are the most international university in North America, thanks to a commitment to global citizenship that we first adopted in Trek 2000. At the same time, UBC needs to revisit its goals and priorities to reflect our changing world. We now have an opportunity to set the course for the next 25 years, to take an outstanding university and make it even better.

During December and January, I invited you to share your initial thoughts via an online survey. Thank you to all those who took the time to share your ideas. We are in the process of finalising a report outlining what we heard, which will be posted in the coming weeks.

We have also established a Steering Committee, which will play a key role in this process. The committee is made up of UBC faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members. The results of the recent online survey will be shared with this group, along with other feedback as the process progresses.

UBC has already achieved great things and we are recognized worldwide for the quality of our research, our innovative teaching, our international outlook and our community engagement. To preserve and enhance that reputation, we need to make strategic investments in the people and initiatives that form our community.

There will be a number of opportunities to engage with the strategic planning process over the coming weeks, through further surveys and events. Together we can transform an already outstanding institution from excellence to eminence.

Whatever the nature of your relationship with UBC, I encourage you to take part in the shaping of UBC’s future.