CREDIT: THINKINGFUTURES.NET

Fanshawe has released its Strategic Plan for the 2013/14 school year, and it's a doozie of a document. Its 60-plus pages outline the College's strategies for student success, retention, expansion and more in the coming years.

The Strategic Plan outlines how Fanshawe is moving forward with priorities set by the Board of Governors and describes the planned initiatives for the coming year. The document is the combined effort of Fanshawe's managers and senior management, explained Bernice Hull, Vice President of administration at the College.

“When you look at the details of the Plan, you'll see that there are a lot of elements included that are focused on students,” said Hull.

One of those elements is “flexible learning,” new initiatives that will make it easier for students to attend college. Fanshawe plans to offer a range of alternatives to traditional classes, including pure online classes; hybrid programs that combine in-classroom and online learning; and fast-track programs, which reduce the time a student spends in school.

In September, Fanshawe will launch a pilot program called Weekend College, in which working adults can upgrade their skills in their spare time. The five programs that will be offered during the pilot are Construction Techniques, Construction Engineering Technician, Pharmacy Technician, Personal Support Worker and Autism and Behavioural Science. (For more information, go to www.fanshawec.ca/weekend.)

Seven new full-time programs are being offered for the coming school year: two-year diplomas in Theatre Arts Production — Technical Production, Aviation Technician — Aircraft Maintenance and Adventure Expeditions and Interpretative Leadership; one-year graduate certificates in Theatre Arts Production — Costume Design, Online Game Development and Artisanal Culinary; and a four-year Interior Design degree.

“Fanshawe already has several four-year degree programs, and this will expand the menu,” explained Hull. “By having that range of programming, depending on the student's interest and what they want to do from a career perspective, they can select amongst that programming to lead them in the best path for them to what they want to do in their career.”

In addition to expanding Fanshawe's degree program offerings, the Plan describes a focus on “new pathways” to education through articulation agreements, which will allow students to leverage their education into other opportunities, such as completing international degrees. Fanshawe has articulation agreements with universities as far away as Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and as close as Western University in London, Ontario, and is working to expand and strengthen these partnerships for a variety of programs.

This past year, Fanshawe created the position of the campus life facilitator to enhance the overall student life experience on campus. Jennifer Gillespie will be working to increase student engagement on campus, and will help students with their co-curricular record, which will recognize a student's participation on campus alongside his or her academic achievements. “Participating in campus life activities, being part of the Student Union, volunteering for various initiatives — those things that are campus life and volunteerism that we think, if it were recognized on a transcript, it would be a value to the students when they're out looking for jobs,” Hull said.

The Strategic Plan also outlines Fanshawe's budget for this fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

Fanshawe's $206 million operating expenses are $3 million over budget, but according to Hull, this is a planned deficit. “We had some surpluses a few years ago from some late announced grants coming from the government that we really hadn't planned for. They were a surplus at the end of the year,” she said. The Board of Governors anticipated challenging financial times ahead, and so they set that money aside. “We fully anticipated at the time that over the course of the next several years, we would be drawing down that surplus to pay for some things we wanted to do,” including program expansions, the development of online courses and Weekend College. “Those are based on strategic investments that we're going to use that money for, with the intent that those investments will pay off in the future.”

Fanshawe's $52.8 million capital budget will be invested into major capital projects that are currently underway, such as buildings like Fanshawe's new downtown location, the Centre for Digital and Performance Arts, which is scheduled to open in September. It also covers renovations on existing buildings to update current infrastructure and modernize classrooms and laboratories.

The Strategic Plan is Fanshawe's roadmap for the years ahead. “We're really trying to focus on some key priorities that we believe to be important for the College to move forward in the future,” said Hull.

For more information, read the full Strategic Plan at tinyurl.com/fanstratplan2013.