The planning environment in the post-secondary education sector is ever one of change and challenge for the community as a whole. Reliance on public funding to support core teaching and research mandates makes the university sector susceptible to economic downturns that reduce public sector resources. Demographic shifts, evolving skill requirements and increasing demand by employers for complex blends of specialized expertise also trigger subtle, and at times significant, changes in supply and demand for students/graduates.
Given the current global economic downturn, and in light of the economic adjustments being made across sectors, planning and strategic visioning processes are particularly important. Strategic planning has enabled us to define our relative strengths on which to build, as well as to identify challenges to be addressed, opportunities to be pursued, and threats to mitigate against in the years ahead.
The University of Waterloo is over halfway through its sixth decade plan (2007-2017) and is in the midst of a mid-cycle review. The Faculty of Mathematics’ plan was informed by the University’s foundational pillars, which are at the core of our collective success.
These pillars are:
- Academic excellence
- Research excellence and impact
- Co-operative education
- Graduate studies
- Internationalization, and
- Entrepreneurship.
As the University as a whole aims to secure its place as one of the most recognized and respected universities in the world, the Faculty of Mathematics aims to focus its contributions to that end upon seven specific goals of strategic importance to Faculty achievements over the next five years.
The Faculty of Mathematics’ core goals include:
- Establishing a vibrant research environment and enriched graduate student experience; and
- Providing outstanding undergraduate teaching and learning opportunities across all programs.
The Faculty of Mathematics’ five enabling goals, which contribute to achievement of its core goals and which are also priorities in and of themselves, include:
- Offering leading-edge, dynamic academic programs;
- Engaging in regular, relevant, timely communications and engagement with our communities;
- Being a leader in international student education and support;
- Providing outstanding services and support in all areas of Faculty activity; and
- Ensuring appropriate funding to support strategic plan implementation.
These goals align directly with all six of the University of Waterloo’s foundational planning pillars of academic excellence, research excellence and impact, co-operative education, graduate studies, internationalization and entrepreneurship.
Our consultations revealed the internal and external forces at play in the current environment and generated the following insights, which informed this planning exercise:
Strengths and Challenges
The Faculty of Mathematics has a strong reputation for excellence, nationally and internationally. Our reputation for excellence emanates from our academic program strength as well as recognition of the excellence of our students, faculty members and staff. Our unique Faculty structure, which lends itself naturally to multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching, provides valuable learning opportunities relevant to co-operative program employers across sectors, as well as to industry partners seeking academic collaborators to spur innovation and competitiveness. The entrepreneurial track record of our faculty members and the numerous spin-off companies arising from their research and development efforts also contribute to the Faculty’s strong reputation and provide a solid foundation for future successes.
Our mathematics contests and outreach to elementary and secondary school students and their teachers contribute to our international visibility and help attract top students to our programs.
The internationalization of our student body as well as our delivery of programs in the United Arab Emirates and exchange programs with top universities in 23 countries world-wide provide a foundation upon which to increase global opportunities for the Faculty.
While highly successful overall, the Faculty is viewed externally as having become somewhat risk averse, conservative and inward looking. Academic and administrative computing support has been criticized for failing to keep pace with current user needs and this has been identified as a barrier to productivity and efficiency within the Faculty. Gender imbalance in the student population, and especially in computer science, require additional measures to increase the number of young women pursuing mathematics and computer science programs and subsequent careers.
There was broad consensus that our undergraduate education faces challenges arising from large class sizes, student/instructor language barriers, academic silos and variable standards. We also heard that greater transparency of course content relevance and the introduction of teaching innovations would be welcome.
We heard that research and graduate studies are currently limited by the opportunities and support available to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. This challenge is linked to a general perception that our research reputation is more limited than it should be.
While our international reputation is strong, it was broadly acknowledged that increasing our international student population will require a concomitant increase in language training and international student services and supports that help international students overcome the cultural challenges they face in adapting to study in Canada.
Threats and Opportunities
Trends identified that threaten the Faculty’s ability to fulfil its mission and realize its goals over the next five years are numerous and have long-term implications for planning.
Most frequently noted was the accelerating rate at which social and economic change is occurring. We need to ensure that our programs impart to our students an ability to be lifelong learners who are comfortable performing in complex environments and who embrace opportunities to respond creatively to rapidly changing societal needs and expectations. Associated opportunities for Faculty initiatives include increasing our undergraduate program emphasis on projects that integrate course work, co-operative education experiences and the development of presentation/communication skills to meet workplace demands for graduates with adaptability, team-work and problem-solving skills. Increased integration of our math/business program, joint with Wilfrid Laurier University, offers opportunities to expose undergraduates in mathematics and computer science to applications in industry and the financial sector. We must redouble our efforts to engage with local, regional, national and international employers and contribute to addressing national policy challenges in order to maintain the level of recognition we seek as world leaders in mathematics and computer science.
The current global economic downturn, variability in government policies and funding commitments, the globalization of educational competitors and the proliferation of online program delivery all represent potential challenges to our ability to systematically realize our goals over the next five years. Inherent in these challenges are opportunities for the Faculty to develop and implement a Faculty-wide online education strategy to ensure that Waterloo is strategically positioned among the leaders in this mode of educational programming.
Faculty retirements, hiring constraints and competition for top academics were also deemed a significant threat to Faculty development. Future excellence will depend upon our ability to seize every opportunity to hire the best possible faculty, and provide them with a comprehensive mentoring program aimed at retaining top performers. Placing additional emphasis upon extending our reputation nationally and internationally will contribute to our ability to attract the best among the next generation of faculty as well as top students. Increasing the reach of Waterloo Mathematics competitions and events also provides opportunities to raise our global profile.
The physical environment for learning at Waterloo and cultural challenges such as complacency, insularity and risk aversion must be addressed. The negative perceptions about our older buildings present opportunities to modernize existing teaching space. Concerted efforts to increase communications and launch transformative initiatives that maximize the possibilities afforded by major donor gifts were identified as opportunities to be more effectively seized.
Finally, throughout the environmental scanning process, the excellence, dedication, initiative and creativity of the faculty and staff that make up the Faculty of Mathematics were clearly and consistently conveyed. This reflects an opportunity to invest in strengthening the innate leadership capacity of existing academic and administrative staff, whose efforts and expertise underpin our current and future successes.