Toward Tomorrow is more than a plan; it is our commitment to you, to our community and to the future of health care that we will continue to shape the future of nursing and health care in Calgary and beyond.
Dr. Catherine Laing RN, PhD
Interim Dean, UCalgary Nursing
As your interim UCalgary Nursing dean, I am delighted to share Toward Tomorrow, our new strategic plan that will help define the faculty’s path for the next six years and beyond. The plan, crafted over the past two years, follows the spirit of our university's motto "Start Something," and is indicative of our commitment to not just start, but to sustain and grow our nursing community into a powerful force in Canadian health-care education.
We have been lucky to have been guided for just over five years by visionary leadership and as a result have a very strong foundation on which to build. Our strategies, while reflective of the broader vision of Ahead of Tomorrow UCalgary’s ambitious “mosaic for the future,” are uniquely tailored to the nursing landscape. We have taken a "nursified" approach, focusing on four strategic commitments designed to better serve our students, our faculty, our staff and our community.
Embedded throughout this plan is our profound commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA): creating a faculty accessible to all and free from harassment, bullying and discrimination. Our dedication extends beyond mere compliance. Throughout our strategic planning process, we steadfastly viewed all priorities through an EDIA lens and, with new initiatives like an Indigenous health course in the new curriculum and establishment of an associate dean, Indigenous education role, we will continue to work toward adherence to ways of knowing, being, doing and connection. Our commitment to the mental health and wellbeing is also unfaltering and foundational to our mandate.
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of our first graduating class of 1974. It is very fitting that Toward Tomorrow moves us forward without losing sight of what we have been building since the Faculty of Nursing was first founded in 1969. Toward Tomorrow is more than a plan; it is our commitment to you, to our community and to the future of health care that we will continue to shape the future of nursing and health care in Calgary and beyond. Enjoy the read – and the ride!
Dr. Catherine Laing RN, PhD
Interim Dean, UCalgary Nursing
Strategic Commitments 2024-2030
Increase access to future-focused health-care education
Empowering our students to initiate changes, be resourceful in learning and practice and to gain wisdom from their experiences so they are prepared for the dynamic health care landscape
Amplify the power of research and innovation to tackle the biggest health, wellness and societal challenges
Bolstering the efforts of students, faculty and partners to encourage novel solutions and unexpected breakthroughs
Locate community at the centre of our work and initiatives
Fostering stronger ties with partners and contributing to transformation in health care
Adapt and align, contribute to and streamline processes with the academy
Facilitating establishment of efficient systems and clear pathways that facilitate shared goals
OUR GOAL
Educate and inspire transformative nursing and health-care leaders by:
- Increasing the number of graduates guiding transformative change
- Anticipating the changing needs of - and expanding programs to adapt to -
complex health systems and society - Ensuring all students have access to meaningful entrepreneurial/
intrapreneurial opportunities within research, scholarship and practice
OUR GOAL
Maximize our nursing impact through research and innovation by:
- Increasing funding for nursing-led research
- Growing awareness of nursing research within the community
- Improving our position as the top entrepreneurial nursing faculty in the country
OUR GOAL
Enhance community connection through relationship and reciprocity by:
- Creating integrated experiences with communities
- Increasing engagement among students, faculty and staff and our community
- Increasing engagement with alumni, donors and community members
OUR GOAL
- Reduce the time it takes to access our internal support and services
- Streamline and socialize best practices for internal support and services
- Enhance and optimize our processes through the use of technology
Strategic Planning Process & Consultations Timeline
