Operations and Resources: Enable

Engineering students standing in front of Waterloo Engineering sign outside of E7

We face increasingly complex challenges in our workplace that require deep and ongoing collaboration. To thrive in this dynamic work environment, we recognize that diversity and inclusion must form the bedrock of our Strategy 2020-2025. It's these attributes which differentiate a good community from a truly outstanding culture that can raise the standards of operations and services. 

The Faculty of Engineering values and embraces diverse backgrounds and the ideas, experiences, and viewpoints of our people because we know that the world’s most challenging problems require novel and multiple perspectives. We need great minds with a wide variety of viewpoints working on these problems to ensure our solutions benefit all.

We will continue to build and nurture an inclusive community where everyone feels they belong and are able to contribute – our students, employees and members of the wider Faculty of Engineering community – because we all matter in our ongoing success.

Operations and resources stats - Largset student desig centre in North America, 155+ Research labs, 348 Faculty members, ONLY engineering faculty with a business school in North America

To achieve this inclusiveness, we will evaluate the environment created through our policies and procedures and hold them up to a standard of improved wellbeing for all who are part of the Faculty of Engineering. We will increase connections and engagement with our people so everyone knows they are valued and understand the value of their contributions. We will establish an expert panel to develop an employee engagement action plan. The panel will propose recommendations to ensure that we continue to foster our innovative, dynamic workplace culture.

We also know we cannot achieve our ambitious strategic plan without effective operational systems and resources. We will invest in computing system infrastructure that is required for complex research discoveries. Student enrolment has grown by 33 per cent in the last decade, therefore we must optimize our limited resources to provide excellent service. We will leverage technological solutions and streamline administrative functions to ensure responsive and timely service to our students. Maximizing use of space and aligning our budget projections to our strategy are also fundamental to success. Critically, we will continue to use data to make evidence-based decisions and, with open, curious minds, we will seek answers and ask new questions.

Aspiration

Foster a collaborative culture of wellbeing, empowerment, and sustainability.

Goals

  • Be an inclusive community where everyone feels they belong
  • Integrate wellbeing throughout policies and practices
  • Gather and mobilize organizational data to facilitate evidence-based decision making
  • Maximize the utility of space and financial resources
  • Grow employee engagement while managing an appropriate complement of faculty and staff
  • Provide world-class computing solutions to ignite research and streamline technological systems

PUBLICATION DATE: 1 NOV 2019