University of Calgary announces “Energizing Eyes High” at annual Community Report
By Scott Strasser, September 16 2016 —
The University of Calgary announced a new strategic direction for the next five years at its annual Community Report on September 16 in MacHall A and B.
“Energizing Eyes High” aims to build on the university’s Eyes High strategy that was in place from 2011–16. The strategy will run from 2017–22.
The Eyes High strategy aimed to make the U of C a top-five research university in Canada, while turning the U of C into a “global intellectual hub.”
With many Eyes High goals not reached by the strategy’s conclusion this year — the U of C is currently sixth in Canada’s ranking of the top research institutions according to Research Info. Source — the Energizing Eyes High strategy aims to continue where Eyes High left off.
“People resonate with Eyes High,” said U of C president Elizabeth Cannon. “Eyes High speaks to our past and our tradition, but it’s very much about looking forward and looking upward.”
Notable attendees of the Community Report included U of C Chancellor Robert Thirsk and past and current U of C student-athletes Allison Beveridge and Kirsti Lay. The pair recently won bronze for Team Canada as part of the women’s cycling team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“[The Community Report] is a chance for our community to come together and celebrate our success. It’s been a banner year for the U of C and now we’re in our 50th [year]. It’s about celebrating not only our past year, but starting to look ahead,” Cannon said.
Cannon outlined the university’s highlights from 2015–16 in her address. She mentioned how the U of C accepted more than 1,400 evacuees following the Fort McMurray forest fires in May, opened the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning in April, hosted the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in May and launched a campus-wide mental health strategy in December 2015.
Cannon also mentioned some of the U of C’s upcoming projects for 2016–17, which include creating a campus Indigenous Strategy, opening the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Engineering Complex and finalizing the university’s long-range development plan.
The U of C will consult with students, staff and alumni until the end of November to gauge feedback and refine the new strategy.