2024-2027 Strategic Planning Draft

Renison’s learning and living environments nurture dynamic students who flourish as purposeful individuals with the capacity to make a difference in the world.

We will do this by:

1.1  Intentionally recruiting and appropriately supporting students and residents from under-represented communities. These students will then enrich the Renison environment through their diversity of culture, experience, socio-economic background, orientation, and community of origin.

1.2  Continuing to develop and improve student support systems which will enable Renison to nurture student success, health, and well-being, and reflect the needs of the diverse student population.

1.3  Continuing to offer and enhance training opportunities for student leaders and opportunities for peer leadership and student employment at Renison College.

1.4 ​​​​​​​ Continuing to strengthen our work with international students in support of the university’s internationalization goals.

1.5 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Providing innovative courses and programs that helps to prepare students for the world in which they live. 

We value the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of our students, staff, and faculty. We will cultivate a foundation of Indigenization and inclusion, diversity, and equity that is core to our curriculum, community expectations, policies, and practices. This will help Renison move toward an environment in which everyone feels welcome, that they belong, and that they are able to contribute their best. We will also foster safe and inclusive living, learning, and working environments so that all students, staff, and faculty can thrive at Renison. 

We will do this by:

2.1  Ensuring our policies and practices are in compliance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and supporting the full inclusion of students, staff, and faculty.

2.2  Effectively addressing issues of harassment, discrimination, and inappropriate behaviours when they occur and holding people accountable for harmful behaviours

2.3  Continuing our decolonizing and Indigenization efforts. This includes the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action regarding higher education and developing intentional relationships with Indigenous communities.

2.4  Developing and implementing a multi-year Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan that addresses future recruitment and hiring practices.

2.5  Creating opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to engage with colleagues across difference.

2.6  Continuing to re-assess and redistribute Renison-funded scholarships and awards to serve equity-deserving student communities.

2.7  Offering unique supports that international students need to thrive at Renison and the University of Waterloo. 

Our community is what makes Renison strong. We will continue to foster positive living, learning, and working environments where all members of the Renison community feel a sense of belonging and in which they are recognized, valued, and respected. We will foster a community that engages students, staff, and faculty and allows them to be their full and authentic selves.

We will do this by:

3.1  Developing and strengthening relationships with recent alumni and cultivating their engagement in events, activities, and student career development.

3.2  Fostering more inclusive living, learning, and working environments in which members of the Renison community are able to participate authentically, with particular attention placed on inclusion of marginalized voices.

3.3  Creating a culture that promotes and supports the emotional, cultural, spiritual, physical, and mental well-being of Renison’s students, staff, and faculty.

3.4  Fostering a culture of collaboration that enhances communication and focuses on solving problems and challenges.

3.5  Applying a continuous lens of environmental impact and sustainability to all operations and practices of the organization.

Through our unique educational programs, our students will develop the knowledge and skills to contribute positively to an ever-changing world. Renison will continue to recruit, nurture, and retain diverse top-tier employees who are committed to offering adaptive education in rapidly changing local and global contexts. Renison will also offer innovative degrees and community programs that engage the world in the social, political, linguistic, cultural, and spiritual domains.

We will do this by:

4.1  Strengthening and revitalizing existing programs by reviewing and refreshing content to address emerging topics.    

4.2  Adapting and refining programming responsive to the data-informed needs of students, both current and future, in keeping with our core academic strengths and expertise.

4.3  Continuing to strengthen institutional capacity toward excellence in teaching, learning, and research.

4.4  Maintaining our commitment to serving and enriching the full student experience and ensuring that in addition to academic and professional growth our students are able to explore spiritual, psychological, and inner maturity and development.

4.5  Expanding opportunities to support faculty, instructors, and students in their research and career goals and contributing to new knowledge development by sharing and advancing knowledge through a variety of communication channels.

4.6  Strengthening relationships with community partners to support student experiential learning opportunities.

Renison will make decisions with the long-term sustainability of its human, financial, environmental and infrastructural resources as key priorities in its effort to continue to be an inspirational and inclusive place for living, teaching, working and learning.

We will do this by:

5.1  Expanding and diversifying sources of revenue, particularly in the areas of grants, fundraising, endowment growth, investments, partnerships, and program development.

5.2  Ensuring that the College’s facilities, including residence rooms, public areas, student spaces, meeting rooms, and classrooms are maintained, upgraded, and expanded as necessary to meet the needs of our students, staff, faculty, and instructors.

5.3  Identifying and implementing opportunities for efficiencies and optimization of processes and resources.

5.4  Ensuring that our fundraising activities reflect the identified needs of the organization.

5.5  Developing financial models that support the evolving strategic program directions of the organization and push them towards long-term sustainability.