Executive Summary

The 2023-2030 Faculty of Arts Strategic Plan, which has been developed through broad and deep consultations with constituents and stakeholders, is grounded in the values long espoused by the Faculty. Our goals and objectives fall into three broad areas that we have designated as Priorities for Change:  

Priority for Change: Building Connection through Interdisciplinarity

Goals:

  1. We will build on existing research partnerships within and beyond the Faculty and will pursue further opportunities for interdisciplinary and collaborative scholarship.
  2. We will build on existing strengths to enhance and facilitate interdisciplinary and collaborative undergraduate and graduate opportunities.
  3. We will employ an interdisciplinary lens to strengthen and expand current programming and scholarship on all dimensions of social inequity and their intersections.
  4. We will maintain and consolidate the unconventional and uniquely interdisciplinary approach to “business” at Waterloo.

Learn more about the actions for Interdisciplinarity

Priority for Change: Effecting Social Impact

Goals:

  1. We will continue to engage in scholarship and learning that emphasizes social impact.
  2. We will enhance opportunities for international learning experiences that focus on bettering globalized society.
  3. We will explicitly develop and enhance the concept of social entrepreneurship in our scholarly activities.
  4. We commit to programming, scholarship, and community-building founded on principles of social justice.
  5. We will continue to contribute humanizing perspectives to health and technology research and programming.
  6. We will continue to contribute to the University’s sustainability goals.
  7. We will employ lifelong learning opportunities to expand and diversify our contributions to social and economic well-being.
  8. We will enable our students to have direct social impact through their research, curriculum, and work- and volunteer-integrated learning.

Learn more about the actions for Social Impact

Priority for Change: Fostering Student Agency

Goals:

  1. We will continue to enhance the flexibility of our programming to provide students with the opportunity to design their own education.
  2. We will develop greater opportunities for all our students to gain competency and skills in the critical use of information.
  3. We will continue to expand the number, type, and flexibility of work- and volunteer- integrated learning opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.
  4. We will increase opportunities for student-driven project- and problem-based learning at both the undergraduate and the graduate level.
  5. We will prioritize a campus culture centred on social justice in all its dimensions.
  6. We commit to supporting student health and well-being in the Faculty of Arts.

 Learn more about the actions for Student Agency

The Faculty sees these goals and objectives not only as distinct undertakings for the seven-year period defined by this plan, but also as guides for navigating long-term change. Our ultimate destination is aligned with that of the institution as a whole: when the University of Waterloo reaches its hundredth year, the Faculty of Arts will provide both support and leadership to its vision of making significant impacts on the greatest challenges facing humanity and the world we inhabit (Waterloo @ 100).  

NEXT: Priorities for Change