An education for the 21st century
Acadia’s approach of educating the whole person has never been more relevant than it is in today’s rapidly changing society, where an increasingly complex combination of skills, knowledge and capabilities are required in order to succeed and thrive.
Critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, self-motivation, resilience, determination, numeracy, literacy, and the ability to work both individually and in teams are essential components of the character that an Acadia education builds.
In today’s transforming world, managing change, experiential learning, digital and technological competencies, international experiences, engagement with truth and reconciliation, and active learning prepare students for the world of work and the global society of the 21st century.
At Acadia, students learn how to live and thrive in community.
Strategic directions that embrace change
The world is changing at a never-before-seen pace and we cannot predict what challenges lie ahead. One thing is certain, Acadia will continue to deliver the kind of educational experience that will care and prepare our students for the world.
Acadia 2025 provides a strategic framework designed to guide decision-making, priority-setting, and, finally, resource allocation.
The plan’s five overarching Strategic Directions are of equal and interchangeable value, each with supporting goals, objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Revitalizing our
academic core
Compelling and impactful programs, experiential learning, and inspired teaching to prepare graduates for 21st century careers
Maximizing
our impact
Engaged research, innovation, and collaborative initiatives for community cultural and economic development
Sustaining our
institutional future
Optimizing enrolment, fundraising and campus infrastructure renewal
Caring for
the planet
Leading, educating, and researching in environmental stewardship, climate change and sustainability
A blueprint
for tomorrow
By working together toward our common goals, we will rise to the challenges ahead and thrive
The future is ours to create
In 2025, Acadia will be a university that is clearly differentiated within the Canadian post-secondary landscape.
Our faculty will be known as leading researchers in their disciplines and the value to students, alumni, and potential employers of its liberal education model will be widely recognized. We will be an acknowledged leader in reducing its environmental footprint and will be known as a leader in teaching all students how to be stewards of our environment.
Acadia University is proudly located in Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq People.
Acadia 2025 Direction
Enriching the Acadia learning and working experience
One of the distinguishing features of Acadia is that we truly and deeply care about our students and for each other as a learning community. Given Acadia’s small size, students and employees are not merely numbers, they are valued and treated as individuals.
Acadia prides itself on being a community where everyone supports each other, but especially where we all support and care for the welfare and success of our students. This is a key part of Acadia’s commitment to a personalized educational experience, whether it be in small classes where professors know all their students by name, or whether it is from the individual support and mentoring of students by professors and staff alike.
At Acadia, students learn how to live and thrive in a community. This extraordinary learning environment can only be delivered when our employees are fully committed to that goal and are supported in delivering outstanding educational and professional services to our students.
Goals
- Transformational student experiences focused on academic and personal success
- An inclusive and supportive community campus culture
- A campus culture passionate about professionalism, inclusion, service excellence, and leadership
- Caring for our community health and wellness
- Msit No’kmaq – advancing Acadia’s contributions to truth, reconciliation and decolonization on and off campus
Acadia 2025 Direction
Compelling and impactful programs, experiential learning, and inspired teaching to prepare graduates for 21st century careers
When Acadia joined with its Maple League partners to formally launch the Maple League of Universities in 2016, the four partners established the key differentiators that make our teaching and learning environments different from what has become the norm in Canadian post-secondary education. Top among these is the ease with which students engage directly with their professors, colleagues, alumni and community members during their learning process.
Student proximity to and engagement in faculty research is another, as is the ability for students to engage in experiential learning in all programs, and to become part of one of Canada’s most highly community engaged universities. In its 2018 Humans Wanted: How Canadian youth can thrive in the age of disruption, RBC said “they will need a portfolio of human skills such as critical thinking, social perceptiveness, and complex problem solving to remain competitive and resilient in the labour market.”
Regardless of their specific program or area of studies, Acadia students learn these skills due to the rich research environment in which our undergraduates are taught and the engaged community that are part of the Acadia educational experience.
Goals
- Embrace a 21st century liberal education model that is central to Acadia’s vision and mission
- Enhanced support for teaching and learning excellence
Acadia 2025 Direction
Engaged research, innovation, and collaborative initiatives for community cultural and economic development
Overlooking the highest tides in the world in the Bay of Fundy and the majestic coastal landscape of Cape Blomidon and the Minas Basin, Acadia’s unique geographic location in Nova Scotia is a defining feature of the Acadia experience. Acadia is blessed to be in a region that is blossoming economically and socially, and to be part of such a beautiful community as the Town of Wolfville, Canada’s quintessential university town.
Today, we also recognize that Acadia University is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq nation. We value the seven sacred truths of Love, Wisdom, Truth, Honesty, Respect, Humility, and Courage, and we respect and honour the culture, traditions, and traditional knowledge of the Mi’kmaw people. We recognize these as small, but meaningful steps in reconciliation and our continued efforts to build a strong relationship between Acadia and the Mi’kmaq nation, especially the communities of Glooscap, Annapolis Valley, Bear River, and Acadia within First Nations MOU the Mi’kmaq districts of Sipekne’katik and Kespukwitk, two of the seven districts of Mi’kma’ki.
Acadia’s contribution to the growth and prosperity of our region is significant, and we also recognize the enormous contributions of our region and surrounding communities, as well as those of our provincial and federal governments, in supporting Acadia. We will continue to play an increasingly important role in the economic, social and cultural development of our region, our province and our country.
Goals
- New partnerships and collaboration to drive regional development and educational opportunities
- Leadership and impact in environmental, rural and coastal research and innovation
- Acadia's research is impactful regionally, nationally and globally
Acadia 2025 Direction
Optimizing enrolment, fundraising and campus infrastructure renewal
Institutional sustainability takes on many meanings in today’s world. Achieving greater financial security is a top priority for Acadia as we seek to improve our revenue base, without which we will not have the resources to maintain our current level of operations let alone invest in new areas of development. Optimizing enrolment is, therefore, a critical component of our ability to sustain ourselves as a viable institution, as is always the need to maintain an effective level of fundraising.
However, institutional sustainability also involves environmental stewardship, and ensuring that we do everything we can to become more energy efficient, more effective in our use of resources, and work towards net-Huggins carbon neutrality. While some of these initiatives cost more money up-front, they also bring long-term savings, as seen in our recent successes in lowering energy and water consumption, reducing single-use plastics on campus, composting and recycling, and committing to fair trade.
For a university like Acadia, institutional sustainability also includes conserving and enhancing our historic infrastructure, ensuring that we preserve the unique architectural heritage and natural beauty of our campus.
Goals
- Achieve optimal rates of student enrolment to ensure institutional and campus community sustainability
- Establish a culture of sustained fundraising and giving
- Enhance infrastructure renewal and campus development to meet priority needs
Acadia 2025 Direction
Leading, educating, and researching in environmental stewardship, climate change and sustainability
In 2019, the United Nations reported in its Emissions Gap Report that global greenhouse gas emissions rose to record levels. Climate change experts predict that at this rate our planet’s temperature will rise by 3 to 5º C with disastrous consequences. The IPCC special reports on the implications of a 1.5ºC increase in global temperature (2018) and on the oceans and cryosphere (2019) have provided further scientific proof of the existence of a climate emergency.
There is simply no more time to delay the action necessary to reduce emissions, and while governments and industry have the primary role, it is important that organizations and individuals do their part, and that our students are educated about the crucial importance of environmental stewardship, climate change and sustainability.
Today’s students are graduating into a world that is not only changing socially, culturally, economically and technologically at an increasing pace, but due to climate change it is also changing physically in a way that no previous generation has experienced. It is imperative that progressive educational institutions make environmental responsibility and sustainability as core elements in curricula, programming and institutional practice; and make progress towards becoming net-zero carbon emitters.
Goals
- Environmental stewardship and sustainability are signature institutional features of Acadia
- Make measurable progress and establish a target date for achieving net carbon neutrality