The Planning Process
Acadia’s previous strategic plan was published in 2006, two years before the worldwide financial crisis crippled economies and only two years after the launch of Facebook, the unofficial birth of social media.
If we think about this for a moment, our world and the expectations of post-secondary institutions have so fundamentally changed that as the end of the first quarter of the 21st century draws near, a new strategic plan for Acadia is an inescapable imperative if we are to reflect the time in which we live, the new realities in which we operate, and the academic space we will need to occupy in order to remain relevant and sustainable.
The Acadia 2025 planning process began in March 2018 with a Town Hall presentation and publication of a Strategic Framework document. It then proceeded through three stages toward Plan Finalization – Ideas for Acadia, Strategic Directions, and Plan Development
Ideas for Acadia
The ideation stage saw the creation of the Acadia Ideabook, a product of consultations and input from over 200 individual and group submissions.
Strategic Directions
A Strategic Planning Task Force comprising members from across the Acadia community and external representation engaged in a community-wide consultation process to identify key strategic directions for shaping the plan. The Task Force report, Acadia 2025: Charting a Course, identified where we must concentrate new efforts such that by 2025, Acadia further differentiates itself from its competitors in a manner that amplifies the university’s contribution to regional and provincial social, cultural and economic prosperity.
Plan Development
Several working groups comprising members of the Task Force and the Acadia leadership team produced an initial draft plan which was refined and re-drafted after further consultation with the Board of Governors, the Senate, and the Acadia community.
Plan Finalization
The final draft plan was subjected to further consultation phase and was approved by the Board of Governors at its meeting in March 2020. Days later, Acadia University was thrust into a response to COVID-19 and a global pandemic.