Consultation for Energizing Eyes High comes to a close
By Scott Strasser, February 14 2017 —
Results of the three-month public consultation for Energizing Eyes High were published on the University of Calgary’s website on Jan. 31. The results outlined feedback from community members regarding the U of C’s new strategic direction.
The published results include a consultation summary and three working papers based on analyses of the three-month period’s findings.
Energizing Eyes High will be the U of C’s strategic direction for 2017–22. The strategy intends to build on the Eyes High strategy that was in place from 2011–16. Eyes High aimed to make the U of C a top-five research university in Canada, while turning the campus into a “global intellectual hub.”
From September through December 2016, the university conducted surveys, focus groups, weekly polls, roving booths and an environmental scan related to the refined strategy’s five commitment areas — teaching and learning, research and scholarship, community engagement, student experience and campus culture.
SU president Stephan Guscott sits on the strategy’s oversight committee // Photo by Justin Quaintance
More than 4,000 people participated in the consultation period.
Students’ Union president Stephan Guscott sits on the strategic oversight committee for Energizing Eyes High and was heavily involved throughout the consultation process.
“The biggest piece for me with the Energizing Eyes High process was to ensure that lots of students participated, because all the consultation data feeds into how the university develops the actionables for its next strategic plan,” Guscott said. “I think a substantial number of students voiced their concerns and I’m happy with those numbers.”
While the feedback shows a general acceptance of the U of C’s goals and priorities, some respondents were concerned about student support and the state of physical spaces on campus, including social and study spaces.
“The two things that I think came out strongly from students was a focus on concern for spaces — infrastructure or classrooms or study spaces — and access to resources,” Guscott said. “There’s a number of other things that came up too, like access to undergraduate research opportunities. Quality of instruction also came up.”
U of C president Elizabeth Cannon presented the consultation results to Students’ Legislative Council on Feb. 14 alongside Haskayne School of Business professor Loren Falkenberg, who chairs the Energizing Eyes High secretariat.
“It’s really important that this does resonate to the students,” Cannon told SLC. “This is particularly your opportunity to really embed in the strategy document what you think the student experience should be.”
The results of the Energizing Eyes High consultation will be presented to General Faculties Council on Feb. 16 and other governing bodies on campus throughout February. The final Energizing Eyes High strategy is scheduled to be introduced at the end of April.