With no fanfare, Laurentian University’s board of governors approved the university’s 2024-2029 strategic plan, entitled “Laurentian’s Plan for Connection, Innovation, and Impact,” during their Feb. 16 meeting.
You can view the 22-page strategic plan document online here, through the board’s package materials.
Laurentian’s second governing body, its senate, already endorsed the strategic plan earlier in the week, at their Feb. 13 meeting.
The document was approved by the board of governors without comments from any members. Laurentian has also not yet issued a news release announcing the plan’s approval, with university communications staff saying this will come this week.
However, this was far from the first time the governing body had seen the document - the draft strategic plan was on the agenda for its December meeting.
Chris Loreto, managing principal of StrategyCorp, the consultant that helped Laurentian craft its strategic plan, said the document is similar to the document presented to the board just before the Christmas break, but “just looks a lot prettier now.”
As he did with the Laurentian senate earlier in the week, Loreto brought the board of governors briefly through the implementation plan for the strategic plan.
With the approval of the strategic plan, Laurentian has fulfilled one of its major legal obligations following insolvency.
Following 22 months of insolvency restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Laurentian exited creditor protection in late 2022.
As part of the plan of arrangement approved by its creditors, Laurentian was obligated to create a new strategic plan with the help of consultants.
It was originally supposed to have approved the strategic plan by the end of 2023, a tight timeline, given consultations only started last spring, but Laurentian was allowed to push final approval to this month.
Last year, Laurentian also approved a transformation plan for the university, something that was also mandated under its plan of arrangement.
The strategic plan document was the result of consultations with more than 2,500 individuals over a seven-month period.
The plan features four overarching strategic directions: 1. Enhancing our student experience; 2. Energizing the school’s academic and research mission; 3. Building up the communities serve by Laurentian, and; 4. Valuing and supporting staff, faculty and students.
Identified goals in the strategic plan include:
- Becoming the northern university of choice through recruitment locally, provincially, nationally and internationally;
- Enhancing extracurriculars;
- Refreshing Laurentian’s campus master plan;
- Expanding academic and research excellence in areas of northern impact, such as mining and critical minerals;
- Re-imagining the Laurentian Voyageurs varsity brand;
- Transforming Laurentian’s operations following insolvency, and;
- Improving the university’s governance.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.