It’s the end of June.
The snow has finally stopped and we are all ready to enjoy what is shaping up to be a spectacular northern Ontario summer. I hope you all will be able to relax and spend time with family and friends in the coming months.
This afternoon the Board of Governors approved our budget for the coming year. You can read the news release here.
Developing this budget hasn’t been easy. We had to balance maintaining the tremendous momentum we have built up in past years, implementing our new strategic plan and moving toward financial sustainability. All this had to be done in the declining demographics of our region and increasing competition in southern Ontario, both of which make recruitment more difficult every year. That said, we are making critical investments right now and have plans to buck the trend.
As you know, this year we held an extensive budget consultation process. Our budget and multi-year plan has been designed with input from all parts of our University. I want to take a moment to thank everyone for their suggestions, support and the hard work that went into putting this budget together.
Critically, this budget incorporates important investments designed to support the values and strengths identified in our Strategic Plan: Together. Ensemble. Maamwi. This includes essential investments in mental health supports, hiring new faculty members, programs in the Centre for Academic Excellence for both students and faculty, and building on our research success.
The budget also makes important investments to improve our ability to recruit students and help them be successful. There are financial supports for graduate students, supports for experiential learning, investments in recruiting and supporting international students, and plans for a digital system to improve communications with applicants. Adding these investments, along with our revised enrollment model will help us meet our enrollment projections. We have also established targets and are developing strategies to return to a balanced budget by fiscal 2019-20.
At convocation, I asked our grads to look at the person next to them as an example of partners in success. I would ask all of you to do the same in your work environment. We are all partners in success.
The time I have spent with Laurentian faculty, staff and students in the last year as Interim President has inspired two strong feelings: the first, is firm confidence in our ability to continue growing our success; and the second is an overwhelming gratitude.
So, let me end by thanking you for your continued passion and work to make Laurentian University the great place that it is.
Gchi miigwech kina wiya!
Pierre