The following message was sent via email to all students, faculty, and staff, to mark the University of Waterloo's commitment to updating its visual identity.
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
First and foremost, let me extend a warm welcome to all new and returning students, faculty and staff. Campus is alive and thriving with new energy and ideas, and the year is full of new possibilities. As we kick off the 2013/2014 academic year, please accept my best wishes with your studies, research, teaching, and work.
As many of you already know, it is a particularly exciting time to be a Warrior.
Last week we reached a key milestone in the life of the university, when our Board of Governors provided final approval for our Strategic Plan for the next five years. This is an important achievement, made possible by many partners working arm-in-arm to position Waterloo for success in the months and years to come. Our new Strategic Plan is an exciting blueprint for our future.
To support our ongoing renewal, and to continue taking bold forward steps, I am very pleased to announce that this month we will move forward with the process of refreshing Waterloo’s visual identity.
As an important first step, based on broad consultations and support from campus departments and Faculty leaders, I asked Waterloo’s Communications and Public Affairs team to bring the university shield back into consistent use. This initial step reinforces our reputation as a world-class institution rooted in a distinguished history, and sustained by our distinctive character.
The process of updating our visual identity will continue with new signage, letterhead, business cards, and other university materials. This is just the first phase. Soon, an updated suite of “key messages” will be developed and distributed, reinforcing the key planks of our Strategic Plan and enabling us to align our visual identity and messaging across departments, Faculties, schools, centres, and institutes. In our rapidly globalizing and highly competitive post-secondary education sector, it is essential that our identity and messaging are clear, bold, unified, and easily identifiable.
With a new Strategic Plan and a renewal of our institutional identity, Waterloo is striking out into the future with the same boldness and confidence that led to our founding in 1957, and to the ongoing success of the innovative, entrepreneurial culture that has made Waterloo different from the start.
Thank you for making your unique contribution to Waterloo’s success, day in and day out.
Sincerely,
Feridun Hamdullahpur
President and Vice-Chancellor