Valuing and Supporting Our People
Strategic Direction 4
Laurentian will focus on becoming a trusted employer that values, empowers and grows its people.
This strategic direction was inspired by the following insights from the consultation and research process:
- There is a need to better cultivate a learning and supportive working environment for Laurentian’s dedicated and passionate faculty and staff, equipping them with the resources and support they need to transform the university to elevated new heights of connection, innovation and impact. There is a need to enhance internal communication and collaboration at Laurentian University to break down silos and foster an environment of interdepartmental and interfaculty collaboration and academic interdisciplinarity to differentiate Laurentian from its competitors.
- Make Laurentian an employer of choice in a competitive local, regional, national and international market for faculty and staff.
Strategic Goals and Initiatives
To advance Connection, Innovation, and Impact with its people, Laurentian will:
Cultivate a Supportive and Inclusive Team Culture
- Value the Excellence of Our People: Enhance initiatives at Laurentian to recognize and celebrate teaching, research, and community engagement excellence among faculty, staff, students, and administrators.
- Deliver Proactive and Strategic Communications: Develop an annual institutional strategic communication and stakeholder engagement plan to enhance the quality and reach of communications and engagements with internal and external stakeholder audiences to build connection.
- Build Internal Relationships: Invest in continuous training and knowledge exchange programs / events to build intra-and inter-departmental relationships, strategy alignment, and tricultural understanding and competencies in all Laurentian staff, faculty, and administrators, including bringing the University community together to review the progress of the strategic plan and to share/align on go forward priority initiatives.
Take Care in Developing Our People
- Take a Talent Focused Approach to Developing People: Develop a talent management model that integrates policies, programs, and processes for strategically developing, engaging, and retaining faculty and staff talent across the employee career span (from recruitment to succession).
- Strengthen Competitiveness for Talent: Conduct, and implement the recommendations of a strategic review of the alignment of Laurentian’s human resources/talent policies, processes, and compensation and incentive structures with its bilingual and tricultural mandate and the need to competitively attract, recruit, and retain an equitable, inclusive and high-quality workforce.
Support Laurentian Leaders in Driving and Sustaining Transformation
- Operational Transformation: Prioritize the implementation, and annual reporting on progress measures, of the Laurentian Operational Transformation Plan and develop a continuous improvement plan to support University leaders and staff in sustaining and enhancing the benefits of the transformation over time.
Drive Excellence in University Governance
- Improved Bicameralism: Board of Governors and Senate to develop an improved bicameralism that enables information flows between bodies, reasserts the Board as the governance body accountable for financial and business outcomes and the Senate as the governance body responsible for academic policies, regulations and standards for degree programs.
- Execution of the Strategic Plan: The Board of Governors and Senate to make oversight of the execution of the Strategic Plan a regular focus of their deliberations.
Related Goals within Academic Plan
- Goal 15 Promote and Support Excellence in Teaching
- Goal 16 Celebrate Excellence in Teaching
Related Goals within Strategic Research Plan
- Goal 13 Showcase Research Excellence
- Goal 14 Develop Programs and Support for Equity-Deserving Groups
- Goal 15 Strengthen Research Skills and Professional Growth
2025 Key Performance Indicators
LU Honoured with King Charles III Coronation Medal
Laurentian University proudly celebrated the remarkable achievements of four esteemed members of the University community—Dr. Peter Beckett, Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk, Dr. John Gunn, and Martin Bayer—who were honoured with the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal. This accolade recognizes Canadians who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to their communities
and service to the country.
and service to the country.
LU celebrates the inductions to Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) announced its 2025 cohort of Fellows and College members, an honour that recognizes the country’s most accomplished scholars, artists, and scientists. This cohort formally welcomes two members of the
Laurentian community among the inductees: Dr. Linda Ambrose as Fellow to the RSC, and Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk to the College of New Scholars.
Laurentian community among the inductees: Dr. Linda Ambrose as Fellow to the RSC, and Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk to the College of New Scholars.
Laurentian University Unveils Honorary Doctorates
Laurentian awarded four honorary doctorate degrees during the spring convocation ceremonies: Thomas (Tom) R. Greco, Dawn Madahbee Leach, Kristan Straub, and Luciano Galasso.
Transformation Program: 2025 Year in Review
The 2025 calendar year marked a period of significant momentum for Laurentian University’s Transformation Program. Transitioning from planning to execution, the university successfully modernized key policies, administrative processes, and underlying technologies. By December 2025, the program achieved approximately
Transformation By the Numbers
High-Impact Project Accomplishments
Key Operational Milestones
Payment Flexibility: The launch of the credit card tuition payment option saw immediate uptake, processing over 900 payments in the first academic term alone.
Accessible Micro-Credential Registration: The launch of the Instant Enrolment portal for micro-credentials and non-credit programming extended the registration window
and alleviated administrative burdens, directly driving increased enrolment.
Student Card Modernization: A significant upgrade to the OneCard system was completed, introducing digital functionality that allows students to manage funds via the 360U app and use the card for payments at all on-campus food services.
Policy & Governance: Fortified financial control environment by developing the Signing Authorization Policy and conducting comprehensive structural reviews setting the foundation for a modernized governance framework that ensures robust oversight and operational integrity.
Talent Attraction: Launched a comprehensive talent attraction strategy that highlights Laurentian University’s Tricultural mandate and uniquely Northern brand, featuring redesigned digital and physical recruitment materials, including the careers webpage on laurentian.ca.
Data Integration: Successfully implemented data integration software, creating a “data highway” to enable seamless information flow between administrative and academic applications.
Laurentian University completes sale of real estate assets to Province
The sale of real estate assets to the Province of Ontario was completed on August 28, 2025. This was a critical and necessary step in implementing the Plan of Arrangement negotiated with creditors and in exiting the CCAA process.
As outlined in the Plan of Arrangement, the list of real estate assets includes:
- East Residence
- Northern Ontario School of Medicine/Health Sciences Building
- Security and Maintenance Building with parking lots 2 & 3
- Parking lot 15 (the “Pit”), with the exclusion of the Apology Cairn site
- Willet Green Miller Centre (land only) and vacant adjacent lands
- Additional institutional lands (adjacent to NOSM U–South Bay Road)
- Vale Living with Lakes Centre and Watershed Building (sale previously completed)
An agreement to lease three properties back from the Province was also finalized. This allowed Laurentian University to continue to benefit from the use of the facilities and to support financial stability with certainty of costs moving forward. No changes are expected to the way in which our community uses these facilities.
2025 Strategic Goals Progress
Cultivate a Supportive and Inclusive Team Culture
| Strategic Initiatives | KPI | 2025 (baseline) |
|---|---|---|
| Value the Excellence of Our People: Enhance initiatives at Laurentian to recognize and celebrate teaching, research, and community engagement excellence among faculty, staff, students, and administrators. | Number of internal and external staff and faculty excellence award winners | 18 |
| Number of staff and faculty with more than 5 years of service | Phased in for later implementation | |
| Deliver Proactive and Strategic Communications: Develop an annual institutional strategic communication and stakeholder engagement plan to enhance the quality and reach of communications and engagements with internal and external stakeholder audiences to build connection. | Annual reach for earned media and social media | Earned media: 11B impressions Social media: 12,169,937 impressions with |
| Traffic volume to news section of website | 32,858 user visits with 50,970 views of news items | |
| Build Internal Relationships: Invest in continuous training and knowledge exchange programs / events to build intra-and inter-departmental relationships, strategy alignment, and tricultural understanding and competencies in all Laurentian staff, faculty, and administrators, including bringing the University community together to review the progress of the strategic plan and to share/align on go forward priority initiatives. | Number of events held and event attendance | Phased in for later implementation |
Take Care in Developing Our People
| Strategic Initiatives | KPI | 2025 (baseline) |
|---|---|---|
| Take a Talent Focused Approach to Developing People: Develop a talent management model that integrates policies, programs, and processes for strategically developing, engaging, and retaining faculty and staff talent across the employee career span (from recruitment to succession). | Professional development budget spent per staff FTE | Phased in for later implementation |
| Strengthen Competitiveness for Talent: Conduct, and implement the recommendations of a strategic review of the alignment of Laurentian’s human resources/talent policies, processes, and compensation and incentive structures with its bilingual and tricultural mandate and the need to competitively attract, recruit, and retain an equitable, inclusive and high-quality workforce. | Implementation of new recruitment and onboarding process | Underway |
| Completion of compensation review market assessment | Complete |
Support LU Leaders in Driving and Sustaining Transformation
| Strategic Initiatives | KPI | 2025 (baseline) |
|---|---|---|
| Operational Transformation: Prioritize the implementation, and annual reporting on progress measures, of the Laurentian Operational Transformation Plan and develop a continuous improvement plan to support University leaders and staff in sustaining and enhancing the benefits of the transformation over time. | Percentage of plan completed | 29.5% |
Drive Excellence in University Governance
| Strategic Initiatives | KPI | 2025 (baseline) |
|---|---|---|
| Improved Bicameralism: Board of Governors and Senate to develop an improved bicameralism that enables information flows between bodies, reasserts the Board as the governance body accountable for financial and business outcomes and the Senate as the governance body responsible for academic policies, regulations and standards for degree programs. | Number of joint Senate and Board activities | 1 |
| Number of reports and updates presented to Board and/or Senate | 1 | |
| Execution of the Strategic Plan: The Board of Governors and Senate to make oversight of the execution of the Strategic Plan a regular focus of their deliberations. | Number of strategic plan updates presented to Board and/or Senate | 2 |