Institutional Vision, Proposed Mandate Statement and Priority Objectives

A submission to begin the process of developing strategic mandate agreements (SMAs)

To:

The Honourable Glen Murray Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Alan Wildeman President and Vice-Chancellor University of Windsor 519.253.3000 ext. 2000 president@uwindsor.ca

From:

Part I University of Windsor Mandate Statement

The University of Windsors unique and defining characteristics
The University of Windsor is uniquely located on the Ontario-Michigan border, within a community and region of Ontario that has had a rich history of entrepreneurism and innovation in manufacturing, agriculture, and other sectors key to the provincial economy. As the only university in the region, it has played a key role in the economic and cultural development of Windsor and the surrounding region. A snap-shot of our enrolment demonstrates our importance in the region and our international engagement. Of our 16,000 students in the 2011/12 academic year, 65% of the undergraduates and 36% of the graduate student body came from the Essex-Kent-Lambton counties. Of the remaining undergraduates, 14% are from the GTA, 13 % from elsewhere in Ontario or Canada, and 8% are from 82 countries around the world. While our graduate student representation from the GTA and elsewhere in Canada is similar to our undergraduates, 31% of our graduate students are international, and increasing year over year. About one third of our total alumni population of close to 110,000 reside within the region. Our student body is also distinctly diverse, reflecting the international cohort, but also the rich multicultural diversity within the Windsor-Essex region. The University is seen as being absolutely essential for the regions long term aspirations to have a more diversified economy, and one that is better buffered from the kind of shock created by the economic downturn in 2008 and disruption of the manufacturing sector. As a result of this geographic distinction, and the absence of another university in close proximity, the University of Windsor has developed a comprehensive set of teaching and research programs to serve this part of the province and Ontario. In addition to a full range of offerings in arts and sciences, a vibrant cluster of professional programs spanning business, law, engineering, nursing, kinesiology, acting, social work and education have played a crucial role not only in driving the local economy, but in training graduates who have careers locally, nationally and internationally. Our recently opened Medical Education Building now houses the Windsor program of Western Universitys Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, bringing a full medical school into our midst.

Alignment of the University of Windsors goals with Ontario government priorities

The University of Windsor strongly embraces the principles of putting students first, meeting the needs of the creative economy, and focussing on productivity, innovation and sustainability. Two years ago, the Universitys Senate and Board of Governors approved our strategic plan, Thinking Forward Taking Action. This plan was developed through a consultation process that engaged more than 2000 students, faculty, staff, Five Strategic Priorities alumni and community members. It lists five #1 Provide an exceptional undergraduate experience strategic priorities. Under each of these priorities #2 Pursue research and graduate programs that build on strengths we identified five specific actions that would help us fulfil these priorities. The Strategic Plan #3 Recruit and retain the best faculty and staff acknowledges that while we are comprehensive #4 Contribute to the economic and social well-being of Windsor-Essex in academic programs, in research and graduate #5 International engagement through recruitment/programs built on strengths education we have made a commitment to building on our recognized strengths. This plan was underpinned by an agreed upon set of values that we continue to reinforce in all of our decision making and communication. These values include a commitment to: consider the student experience in all decision making; the highest intellectual standards; the highest standards of human rights and freedoms; civility and respect of others; apply teaching, research and creativity activity to issues of importance; responsible stewardship of people, culture, resources and the environment. Our Strategic Plan is prefaced by a Mission Statement, Enabling people to make a better world through education, scholarship, research and engagement. Our fundamental goal is to enable people. Our Vision Statement identifies the path we will follow to do that. It identifies our commitment to our students and our Vision Statement: The University of Windsor is a progressive commitment to make a difference in the community around us. student-centred University, where the challenges of communities It is the commitment to students and communities that makes and of a world in transition inform the education we provide, the the University of Windsor the vital contributor to southwest research we do, and the creative endeavours we pursue Ontario that it is. It builds upon our reputation for creating an engaged student experience, and it specifically identifies that we as scholars and creative thinkers and researchers have a role to play in our community as it continues to respond to the challenges brought on by changes in the world. Increasingly, we are creating opportunities for students to be a part of that creativity and engagement with the world around us, through teaching, research, co-op, entrepreneurship, and other activities, and through the very design of the campus we are building. Our immediate community is Windsor-Essex, but in the multicultural and diverse tradition of Windsor-Essex, we have also embraced international engagement that builds on our recognized research strengths and distinctive academic programs. A university is a large and complex institution, with many changes underway at any one time. Some developments that are representative of what we believe in are as follows:
We are the only university in Canada that offers an internationally recognized certificate program in university teaching We continue to expand upon agreements to enhance student mobility and now have a range of agreements in place with ten different colleges in Ontario, and have appointed a Coordinator of College-University Partnerships

 We have appointed the University of Windsors first Director of Open Learning, who will shepherd our increasing engagement in online learning opportunities and ability to be a full participant in Ontario universities online future We have employed a Civic Engagement Coordinator to work with students in the humanities and social sciences to find practicum placements in the community We launched our 4Winds STEM program for aboriginal youth in grades 6 to 8, involving our Faculties of Education and Science, to introduce them to science, technology, engineering and math as pathways to a university education Our Centre for Teaching and Learning offers a full range of programs to assist faculty members with their teaching We have moved key productivity indicators over the past five years: a 2% increase in admission averages; elimination of $34M of operating expenditures and a balanced budget for 2012/13; appointment of sustainability coordinator to keep us on our continuing trend of making our campus greener and reducing power consumption

A commitment to seeing us fulfill our Strategic Plan and our unique role in Ontario
Innovation is about being smart and creative, doing things differently to better enable the reaching of goals, and shifting paradigms when necessary. Innovation occurs when people are engaged in diverse ways toward common goals. At the University of Windsor we know as well or better than most institutions that innovation is essential. Close to two-thirds of our students come from our region, and those families know what a turbulent economy can do to livelihoods and hope. We are laying the stage for innovation to occur through how we use our resources and how we interface with our community and strategic partners. And we have highly committed and creative faculty and staff who believe in innovation and believe in what we are doing for our students and our community. a) Allocating operating budget resources in support of creative ideas We have put an emphasis on aligning our resources in ways that can support our strategic priorities. From the standpoint of our operating budget, we created a Strategic Priority Fund. On an annual basis, we allocate $1.5M for new and innovative initiatives that support our Strategic Plan. At a time when well over 80% of our $230M annual operating budget is committed to fixed costs such as salaries, wages, benefits, scholarships and bursaries, this Fund represents a significant annual redistribution in support of innovative ideas generated by faculty and staff. Further in support of our Strategic Plan, we increased our efforts in public accountability. In addition to our various accountabilities to governments and funding bodies, we have now created an on-line annual report (uwindsor.ca/annualreport) that summarizes for all of our stakeholders the initiatives underway in support of our Strategic Plan, and the key performance indicators that speak to the quality and performance of the institution. We report on first year class size, undergraduate and graduate enrolment, research funding and outcomes, fundraising, graduate employment rates, and more, all with the purpose of informing our communities of stakeholders what we are doing, and helping us monitor how we are progressing. Every project supported by our Strategic Priority Fund is itemized and described. b) Working with our community to build a university that supports and inspires We have coupled this commitment to planning and budget prioritization with a future vision for our campus. The University of Windsor has now publicly launched a Campus Transformation Plan that is leading to significant reconfiguration of our facilities. These are not new facilities just for the sake of new facilities, but are spaces that will provide teaching and learning environments in which students can see how their education is relevant in the world around them, and research and creative environments that facilitate collaboration and engagement of partners. It is about connecting our classrooms and laboratories to the future. Our newly opened Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation offers the entire engineering experience, from exceptional interactive classrooms, state-of-the-art research facilities for our faculty, and an industrial centre where companies can set up and work, benefitting from the expertise of our faculty and staff and the specialized research equipment that the University has. Importantly, the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation has located to the industrial centre within the building, dramatically broadening the bandwidth between the education and research capacity of the University a capacity that spans across the sciences, the arts and professional programs and the economic development goals of the region. The direct partnership between the University and regional economic development is a dynamic one, the likes of which does not exist elsewhere in Ontario. Across the street from our new Engineering centre, with the support of a $3M gift from a private donor, we are expanding our Odette School of Business to enable it to better house entrepreneurial and leadership opportunities for students. In one of the University of Windsors flagship student entrepreneurial programs, the Centre for Enterprise and Law, students in our Business and Law Faculties, and now from other Faculties across campus, are working with companies to help them develop business cases, assess intellectual property, and assess business strategies. This program has attracted funding from multiple partners including the Ontario Centres of Excellence. Situated adjacent to the Engineering and Business Schools, construction has begun on our 40,000 sq ft Innovation Centre, which will house organizations and companies that are partnering with us to create a true regional address for innovation, creating more opportunities for students to be engaged with organizations helping to strengthen and diversify our regional economy. Furthermore, and in a way unprecedented in our Citys history, we have now partnered with the City of Windsor and the province to develop a new campus location in the downtown core of the City. The City has provided $10M, and donated two exceptional

historic properties (one of them being the Windsor Armouries) for this venture. The province has provided an additional $15M. As well, the University has acquired the historic Windsor Star building in downtown Windsor, and allocated additional long term borrowing, to add to this downtown development. The downtown campus will become the home to our School for the Arts and Creative Innovation, created through a merger of our former music, visual arts, and film programs. It will also be home to our School of Social Work and our Centre for Executive and Professional Education. The downtown campus has the same over-arching vision as the cluster being developed around Engineering and Business this vision is to create a learning and innovation experience that is more readily connected to the needs of the community and the province. Where engineering and business will help drive innovation in that part of the economy important for manufacturing and business, the downtown campus will help drive innovation in the arts and a better quality of life for our community. The downtown campus will contribute major economic revitalization to our city. For example, in announcing our plans, we have informed the community that our downtown campus will not include cafeterias. Feeding students, faculty and staff is something that businesses will readily take on as a welcome challenge. In addition, and importantly, the downtown location places us in direct proximity with St. Clair College, which already has a presence in the city core. This proximity is opening many possibilities for new kinds of academic and service collaboration. In creating dynamic teaching and learning spaces, new facilities are also enabling us to strengthen our commitment to research and graduate programs. In the Windsor tradition, there are examples across our institution where the research efforts of our faculty are directly linked to the needs of our region. Whether it be helping in the design of new wastewater management facilities, our nationally recognized Community-University Partnership program helping to understand and better serve the needs of people living in low-income housing projects, development of child safety seats, work with local medical clinicians on novel cancer therapies, curriculum development with First Nations partners, engagement of seniors in cardiac wellness studies, or a host of other activities, we provide a spectrum of research and graduate training opportunities that are of the highest quality and directly relevant to making a better world. In the same way as we want our students to see the connection between the classroom and the future, we want our community to see the connection between research and scholarship and the future.

Productivity
Within our broad mandate of degrees and professional programs, we recognize the need to stretch resources further, and to offer those degrees and other programs in ways that take advantage of technology, maximize the use of resources, minimize the cost to students, and maintain a commitment to quality. Over the past five years we have achieved some productivity gains by reducing growth in expenditures. The University of Windsor is the only Projected enrolment university in the province that has been deemed to be below the 2012 2017 2022 enrolment corridor, and hence we have not received incremental UGrad Dom. 13,000 14,000 15,000 government funding while our enrolment has increased by 600 Grad Dom Masters 800 1,000 1,200 students over that time. At the same time we have absorbed Grad Dom Doctoral 200 300 400 increases in salaries, wages and benefits to keep us competitive Total Domestic 14,000 15,300 16,600 within the provincial system, and balanced our budget through an annual realignment exercise that has pared $34M of those UGrad Intl 1,120 1,500 1,800 projected expenditure increases. In addition during this time, we Grad Intl Masters 760 1,200 1,600 have added over $1M to scholarships, bursaries and other forms Grad Intl Doctoral 150 180 220 of student support. Our best estimate is that over the past five Total Intl 2,030 2,880 3,620 years we have achieved significant gains in productivity, on the order of 5-10%. Total Enrolment 16,030 18,180 20,220 With new facilities, and a focus on our Strategic Plan and our recruitment efforts, we are projecting enrolment growth as shown in this table. The 2012 projections remain to be finalized in November. The projections are realistic, and reflect our anticipation of the impact that the new facilities will have on student recruitment and program development. We are striving to attain an international cohort of 15% in the coming years, something that we believe achievable because of our already wide diversity, the new specialized undergraduate and graduate programming we are offering, and relationships being developed with partner institutions abroad. We also recognize that we will have to achieve this growth through innovation both in teaching and in how we provide services to our students. Our faculty and staff have been adapting to new modes of teaching and services, and will continue to do so, since everyone recognizes that significant expansion of the workforce in universities is simply not possible in todays economy. Our growth projection forecasts an increase of 20% in our student body over the next ten years. We do not have an expectation that our workforce will significantly increase over that time, although we will need to hire people to bring unique skills and to add capacity in areas where it is unquestionably needed. Balancing our growth projections against some projection of modest growth in our workforce, we believe we can achieve productivity gains of 12 to 16% over the next ten years. Our expectations for enrolment growth are grounded in a commitment to accessibility and student mobility. With respect to accessibility, we have increased our scholarship and bursary support over each of the past five years, and now allocate over $18M (8%) of our operating budget to student support. In the interests of preparing students to succeed, new incoming students from high school are invited to Head Start, a spring program that introduces them and their parents to the University, and what they can

expect when they begin their studies. We are also aware of the importance of retention to accessibility. Our Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, with 45% of the undergraduate enrolment, runs a Fresh Start program. It is available to students at the end of Year 1 who would normally be required to withdraw because of low grades. Students receive individual monitoring, and instruction on academic writing and learning skills. We have also strengthened our commitment to student mobility, and have appointed a Coordinator of College-University Partnerships. In addition, our Office of Open Learning is expanding opportunities for delivery of on-line courses and positioning us to be a full participant in a provincial on-line initiative. Credit transfer opportunities are readily viewable on our college transfer web site. As a member of the Pan-Canadian Consortium on Admissions and Transfer, we are fully engaged in dialogue with other institutions policies and practices regarding credit transfer.

Part II University of Windsor Vision

Our vision statement, presented above, was approved by our Board and Senate after broad consultation. It aligns directly with our mandate statement, and our universitys distinctive focus on students and our community is at the heart of the three priority initiatives proposed in Part III.

Part III University of Windsor Priority Objectives

We have identified the following three priority objectives to pursue our goal of to become more innovative, build on our strengths and our uniqueness in Ontario, and make the experience rewarding and more affordable for students. These priorities map directly onto the University of Windsors Strategic Plan, will have an impact at the institutional level, and dovetail with many other actions we are taking to fulfil our Vision Statements commitment to students and to community. Priority 1 Transforming the large classroom experience The first priority objective relates directly to the first and foremost priority of our Strategic Plan, which is to provide an exceptional and supportive undergraduate experience that emphasizes independent learning, interdisciplinary opportunities, flexibility in degree completion pathways, and successful year to year transition. Some of the key actions under this priority, identified in our Strategic Plan, which are receiving support under our Strategic Priority Fund, include: 1. Focus on the quality of instruction, beginning with first year students 2. Strive to have positive instructor-student interactions that encourage independent learning 3. Improve the undergraduate academic advising process so that advising is timely, consistent, and effective across and within disciplines over the academic career of the student Our first of three priority objectives under our proposed Strategic Mandate Agreement directly addresses this first priority of our Strategic Plan, specifically in the context of large introductory courses that are the cornerstone of the first and second year experience of university students. This priority objective touches several of these five actions, and aligns with our value statement to demonstrate responsible stewardship of our resources. We refer to it as the Core Undergraduate Studies Program, or CUSP. This Program is inspired from the findings of the Pew Charitable Trust Program in Course Re-Design, and the University of Calgary's "Project Engage", a nationally recognized initiative to promote course re-design in first-year arts and sciences courses. CUSP Windsor will target our 25 largest undergraduate courses, and seek to completely transform our approach to course delivery. These courses now serve 21,000 registrants from 282 distinct programs, reaching over 30% of our undergraduate students. By focusing on this high density cluster, we will be creating an impact that will particularly affect students early in their programs, where classes are the largest. CUSP Windsor will be a unique and strategic program of course re-design that builds upon capacity we have begun to invest in, specifically in our leading edge development and use of open access educational resources, texts and course materials. It will improve student learning, foster collaborative pedagogical innovation, and lower course delivery costs. Through harnessing online and mobile communications technologies, open access e-book materials, and flexible approaches to course organization, we will create a much more agile, efficient, and effective education experience. We can optimize investment, benefit from efficiencies in resource development, and inspire cross-disciplinary leadership for educational innovation.

a) Enrolment The CUSP initiative promises to improve course-completion rates and student success. A key outcome will be a reduction in the costs per course, enabling us to accommodate the projected enrolment growth and better enable access to courses that students want or need for their programs. b) Institutional advantages, capacity and strengths that will be used to drive CUSP Windsor The University offers a proactive administrative framework for educational innovation. The Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning is a key member of the senior academic team, leading both the Office of Open Learning Services, and the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL). A strong track record in HEQCO-funded research, provincial teaching awards, and leadership at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and the Council of Ontario Educational Developers further indicate institutional

preparedness for this initiative. The project has cross-campus administrative support and the campus community has a strong infrastructure for and history of faculty-led institutional improvement. A number of these initiatives have prepared the way for CUSP Windsor:
Led by an award-winning teacher, the Universitys two-course Fundamentals of Academic Writing (FAW) program provides peerreviewed and mentored writing instruction to approximately 2,000 first-year students. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) Mentorship Program , currently the focus of a HEQCO-funded study of effective large-class strategies, provides course-based academic mentors for five of the largest first-year courses in FASS, with an expansion to Faculty of Engineering courses planned for 2013-14. The Universitys recently established Office of Open Learning spearheads the development of innovative, engaging, costeffective open learning programs. The first Director of the Office, Dr. Christine Smith, brings a wealth of expertise in European and British open and distance learning models, offering a unique opportunity to adapt these highly evolved models to the Ontario context. The Universitys Leddy Library has piloted open-access e-book platforms through partnerships with companies such as Flatworld Knowledge. This project offers a crucial opportunity to position both the University of Windsor and Ontario as leaders in determining sustainable distribution and development models for e-textbooks and research materials at Canadian universities. The Leddy Library is a leader in the development of open access journals, in proactive approaches to copyright issues in the digital context, and in the development of open access digital repositories.

c) Timeframe, Resources, Metrics The university aims to complete its fundamental reorganization of these 25 core courses over a three year period. In addition to the Universitys commitments, we would benefit from additional resources that would significantly help us with course redesign, with renovation of space in the Library that will be designed to support faculty development and support students in the courses with the resources in question, and with the development of open source material for these courses. The impact of the initiative will be assessed by comparing student success, average marks, and perseverance rates for the courses in the program, and by collecting feedback from students and instructors involved in the course. Cost efficiencies will be calculated using a version of the National Center for Academic Transformation's Course Planning Tool, adapted for the Ontario context. d) Existing initiatives consistent with objective Please see B above. e) Any public policy tools that you need to achieve the objective We see this as a project which can be transferrable to other institutions, and a basis for super courses that serve students across the province and beyond. Provincial support in this regard would be welcome. f) Correlation with government's principles and parameters Principle 1: The CUSP initiative seeks to improve students' access to multiple modes and approaches to learning through the adoption of learning technologies and pedagogical approaches that reduce dependence on traditional face-to-face lectures. At the same time, it seeks to make education more affordable both in terms of delivery and by providing effective alternatives to expensive conventional textbooks. Over time, the project can help shape the future of online learning and the e-text industry in Ontario and Canada. Principle 2: At its core, CUSP Windsor seeks to expand students' access and success in post-secondary education, fostering a more independent approach to learning consistent with the economy's need for employees with the skills and commitment to lifelong learning. Principle 3: The CUSP project will enable UWindsor to become a leading developer of pedagogical and organizational approaches, materials and resources. Over time, the courses and materials will evolve to become a powerful compendium of materials and resources and opportunities, allowing both learners and instructors to adapt and maneuver within this learning environment.
Priority 2 Strengthening community engagement and postsecondary collaboration The second priority objective relates directly to the fourth priority of our Strategic Plan, which is to engage the community in partnerships that strengthen the economy, quality of life, and well-being of the Windsor-Essex region. Several actions in our Strategic Plan in support of this priority are: 1. Develop criteria for valuing efforts to nurture community development 2. Work with other educational institutions in Windsor-Essex to create collaborative opportunities to promote a knowledgebased economy 3. Embrace the University of Windsor as an innovative and accessible institution that is integrated into the community We refer to this priority objective as the Downtown Resource Initiative for Value in Education (DRIVE). The University of Windsors downtown campus will create an important cultural hub for our community, providing access to services and new ideas. Opening in the Fall of 2014, it is creating new spaces where our students, faculty and staff can be engaged in innovative teaching, learning

and discovery, and where they can more effectively partner with the arts community and social agencies to make a difference to the living experience in our community. The School for Arts and Creative Innovation, the School of Social Work and the Centre for Executive and Professional Education will transform the landscape of downtown Windsor and lead to significant rejuvenation of the downtown core. Furthermore, our new downtown campus places us in direct proximity with St. Clair College, allowing us to build on existing and new collaborations in exciting and cost-effective ways. The DRIVE project will see us pursue four objectives: pursue academic and community programming that will see full year round use of these facilities; greater partnerships with the business community that shares our objectives and that can provide services ; work with St. Clair College in areas where we have complementary programming to develop student pathways that will lead to an honours university degree and a college diploma over a minimum span of time; maximize efficiency of resource utilization through greater strategic alliances with St. Clair College and their growing downtown campus. The downtown campus is being designed totally around our vision for the arts, social work, and professional education. This programming has intrinsic interest to our community, and it will enable us to move toward year round programming and greater experiential learning that will be good not only for education pathways but for community revitalization. An important component of DRIVE will be the pursuit of pathways that address both the barrier of credit transfer and student costs. We will seek to have year-long learning in collaboration with St. Clair College for the purpose of undergraduate honours degree/diploma completion, with a target goal of seeing this achievable within 3.5 years of study. Beginning with summer transitional learning between high school and university that provides advanced student support and training in critical thinking and study skills, the target time frame can be achieved with students completing 13 academic credits per year including a double credit practicum/internship/entrepreneurial experience each year. The President of St. Clair College is supportive of this goal, and between our two institutions we believe we have the infrastructure and capacity to support it, right in the downtown core. The downtown campus will take our community connections to a new level. We will be seeking greater engagement with the business community, and looking for ways in which they can provide services in cost-effective ways that enhance the student experience and allow us to stretch our budget resources as far as possible in the direction of our core programming. The financial support of the City of Windsor is evidence of their belief in and commitment to seeing our community have a vibrant and creative university that brings revitalization to a community that has a proud history and is looking to a new future. a) Enrolment DRIVE will result in increased enrolment (factored into our enrolment projections summarized above) by attracting students who want the advantage of coupling a theoretically driven university degree with an applied, career-oriented college diploma. Another positive spin-off will be increased efficiencies by providing additional course offerings during the summer semester, providing all university students with the opportunity to gain elective credits. As evidence of the desire for year-long learning, this past summer there were 2,000 enrolled in arts and social science courses. b) Institutional advantages, capacity and strengths that support DRIVE The new downtown campus of the University of Windsor provides the ideal platform upon which to launch the DRIVE initiative. It is designed to deliver arts and social science programs in flexible pedagogical space, high technology space, and open learning space. Proximity to local businesses provides an ideal opportunity for student based internships and entrepreneurial opportunities. Resource sharing opportunities between the University of Windsor and St. Clair College will provide the platform upon which to launch a number of integrated degree/diploma programs. Award winning faculty, teaching support through the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the newly established Office of Open Learning, and extensive co-operative education programs will all provide validation of a commitment to quality driven educational initiatives. c) Timeframe, Resources, Metrics We are looking at a three year time frame to fully meet the goals of DRIVE. The University will undertake in partnership with St. Clair College to have integrated degree/diploma programs operating within that time frame, which will allow for the appropriate planning and approvals. We will not require additional support for the development and design of four new integrated degreediploma programs, but we will need resources for summer transitional programming for high school students entering university in the fall, and in-course summer programming involving work-study and internships. The issue of student success, and many of the challenges post-secondary students face, are common ground between universities and colleges, and our shared proximity to St. Clair College in the downtown will enable us to collaborate in more cost-effective ways on services that can assist students in areas of counselling, mental health, medical services, libraries, co-op placement, etc. We will require an initial investment that will allow us to develop shared student services programming at the downtown campus in collaboration with St. Clair College. d) Existing initiatives consistent with objective The University of Windsor has invested almost $2M in initiatives designed to enhance student learning through the adoption of open-access resources and technology driven pedagogies. Our innovative mentorship program in arts and social science, which employs senior students trained in mentoring first year students, has a proven track record for enhancing learning and retention. Existing degree completion agreements with St. Clair College (including Nursing, Computer Science, Engineering Technology), and

joint programs (including Psychology/Education/Early Childhood Education) indicate an established working relationship between the institutions. e) Any public policy tools that you need to achieve the objective A more efficient university system is one that can adapt more quickly to changing conditions. To this end, an alignment of the College and University program approval systems that provides for a more expedited quality approval process would significantly further this initiative. f) Correlation with government's principles and parameters Principle 1: DRIVE puts the student first by providing both quality and differentiation in educational programming. It provides a set of advantages to students and all Ontarians. Students will benefit from a program that offers university scholarship and college training, reduced time to completion, and a more cost effective degree. The provincial economy will be strengthened by those initiatives, including reduced student debt, job ready graduates, and enhanced productivity. Principle 2: DRIVE meets the needs of the Creative Economy. DRIVE creates job-ready graduates through a combination of applied, theoretical, and hands-on learning in the arts and social sciences. This breadth of learning will produce a marketable and entrepreneurial graduate who can work in a variety of settings locally, nationally, and globally. Its location in the Windsor downtown core further supports the Universitys engagement with the community, expanding partnerships for experiential learning, and local businesses by increased student numbers that will add further vibrancy to our rejuvenated downtown. Principle 3: DRIVE differentiates the University of Windsor from other Ontario institutions. This arrangement advances our leadership in innovative programming and institutional partnerships in combination with civic renewal. It builds upon our outstanding Arts and Social Science degree programs and offers students a unique combination of credentials in a creative and flexible set of offerings unavailable elsewhere in the province. It could serve as a model for other university-college collaborations. Priority 3 Building research and graduate programs, and international engagement, on our strengths The third priority objective relates directly to the second priority of our Strategic Plan, which is to create a more researchintensive university with graduate programs that build on academic and professional strengths, and the fifth priority, which is to promote international engagement through student recruitment, student and faculty and staff exchanges, and partnerships that complement our teaching and research strengths. Several actions identified in our Strategic Plan in support of these priorities include: 1. Foster research excellence and the greatest societal impact of research and creative activity through the encouragement of intra- and inter-disciplinary research groups and a commitment to provide supportive research services 2. Focus the creation or expansion of graduate and professional programs in units and cross-disciplinary areas where there are clusters of academic expertise that make the University of Windsor a destination of choice for the most capable graduate students 3. Involve undergraduate students in enhancing the university's research profile and reputation by integrating research and creative activity into undergraduate curricula 4. Provide encouragement and support to University of Windsor centres or groups that have the capacity to significantly engage in international research and graduate training opportunities In support of our institutional Strategic Plan, we have also now completed a year-long consultation that has led to our Senate approving an institutional Research Plan. It does two important things. First, it articulates performance metrics that the institution will use in assessing our research and creative output. These metrics are comprehensive and include publications, funding, Masters and Doctoral supervision, commercialization, participation on external bodies, and other indicators of engagement in research. Second, the Research Plan identifies six areas of strength that we can build upon. These areas relate directly to the University of Windsors unique and defining characteristics, and to where we know we can apply research, creative activity, and graduate education for the betterment of our future.
Strategic Research Plan Areas of strength #1 Automotive research and innovation #2 Environment and Ecosystems #3 Advanced Materials #4 Health and Wellness #5 Culture and Social Change #6 Cross Border Strategies

Our third priority objective for our SMA, Cross Border Strategies (CBS), builds upon research and novel academic programming that link us with Michigan, a key Ontario partner, and provides capacity that will contribute to the anticipated new international crossing now being developed in the Windsor-Detroit corridor. We sit directly on the Canada-US border, and the government of Ontario is making enormous investments in this new border crossing for Windsor. Our provinces ability to navigate borders is crucial to our economic well-being, and it is therefore our goal to become a provincially and internationally recognized centre for education and research on cross border strategies. The University has been on a steady course of greater engagement in programs that are relevant in the context of our unique location directly on the Canada-US border. This has included development of new courses and the pursuit of research initiatives. Our Law School is widely known for its offering of a Dual Juris Doctorate in partnership with University of Detroit Mercy, which allows graduates to practice in both Canada and the US. From visual arts and architecture, to political science and public policy, and to social work, we have similar academic partnerships with institutions across the border from us. Our Great Lakes Institute

for Environmental Research (GLIER) is Canadas only university-based research institute focused on Great Lakes issues, and it collaborates extensively with US partners on this vital resource. In addition, for the past two years, the University of Windsor has been laying the groundwork for an Institute for Border Logistics and Security, that would take up education and research opportunities across fields of public policy, engineering and science, law and others to became a centre of excellence in cross border issues. Our Cross Border Strategies program will see us continue to build upon this capacity. This will include new courses that address border issues, engineering research on new electronic systems for tracking the movement of goods, and research on public policy and legal matters that affect trade and human rights. Building on the tremendous success of our Centre for Enterprise and Law (CEL), we will increase opportunities for students to be engaged in learning and problem-solving in real-world situations as they relate to dealing with borders. We sit in a region where there is direct access to many businesses that depend on cross border trade, from the manufacturing sector to health care, providing unique and important opportunities for student engagement. The Cross Border Strategies project not only creates exciting and unique academic and research opportunities it encompasses issues that are vitally important to the future of the Windsor-Essex region and to Ontario. a) Enrolment Todays knowledge-based society needs more workforce ready graduates. We will build upon the experience of our Centre for Enterprise and Law to look at broadening internship, co-op, and business consulting opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to help them develop professional, leadership and entrepreneurial skills. The development of student-run consulting services that can assist businesses will be an increasingly important component of the Cross Border Strategies program. By focusing on the wide spectrum of border issues that exist, which are of strategic importance for Ontario, our Cross Border Strategies initiative will create new recruitment opportunities for students seeking experiential learning opportunities in the classroom and in the community that will help them develop core competencies in communication and collaboration abilities; media and technology skills; critical thinking and problem solving abilities; a strong sense of productivity and accountability; and social and cross cultural skills. b) Institutional advantages, capacity and strengths that will be used to drive CBS The University of Windsor has extensive experience developing cross-border collaborations. We also have experience with our Centre for Enterprise and Law, which is creating community-based opportunities for students to be engaged in helping businesses in our region. The innovation cluster being developed on campus, with the co-location now of the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation, provides the ideal backdrop for aligning student educational opportunities with entrepreneurs and businesses. Our planned Institute for Border Logistics and Security has been identified by provincial and federal organizations as a strategically important focus for us to be developing. c) Timeframe, Resources, Metrics We will be launching our Institute on Border Logistics and Security this year, which will be advancing many of the research interests of our faculty relevant to the border. The Cross Border Strategies Program can begin to be expanded immediately, and over the next two years we will review our current undergraduate and graduate course offerings and look to develop new courses/programs that will ensure we have the right mix for our students. We will require some additional resources to establish a Cross Border Strategies Coordination and Outreach office that can coordinate and liaise with businesses and other organizations that our students can be engaged with as they are going through their programs. Key metrics include the number of students in border-related programs, external research funds attracted, and number of businesses engaged. d) Existing initiatives consistent with objective The University of Windsor has one of Ontarios Research Chairs in Public Policy, our Chair in Cross-Border Transportation. Our Centre for Enterprise and Law already has experience with student-business engagement. The Institute for Border Logistics and Security is our signature development in relation to the cross border strategies opportunity identified in the Universitys Research Plan. e) Any public policy tools that you need to achieve the objective We are not aware of any gaps in public policy that will restrict successful growth of the Cross Border Strategies program. f) Correlation with government's principles and parameters Principle 1: This Project is student-focused and uniquely differentiating in Ontario. It will be a place Ontarians can look to for education and research on issues related to borders. We believe it will lead to a significant number of student mobility/pathway options with St. Clair College and other institutions that have students interested in all aspects of cross border issues. Principle 2: The is project directly addresses the needs of the Creative Economy, since much of that Economy will hinge on an understanding of how to work internationally, and in particular with the US. From liberal arts to technology, and from education to research, there is something relevant to dealing with borders. By creating workplace opportunities for students, we will be contributing to the economic vitality of businesses and organizations within our border city. Principle 3: The Project builds on our strengths in innovative curriculum design and delivery, our experience in placing students alongside community partners, and our research expertise on topics relevant to the border. Because of this experience, we can effectively and efficiently open up a new set of programming that currently does not exist in the province.