The 2013-2018 Strategic Plan identified eight themes (areas of strength) for Waterloo — five that form our foundation and three that set us apart from other institutions. To be recognized as one of the most innovative universities in the world, we needed to make each area of strength even stronger.
The following sections outline the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan’s focus for action.
Our differentiating strengths
Different from the start, Waterloo earned a reputation as the most innovative university in Canada with an unconventional approach to higher education that has made it a leader in three defining areas:
Our foundational strengths
In just over 60 years, Waterloo has grown from a farm field to a globally-recognized leader in higher education. We’ve built this institution on the solid ground of our foundational strengths:
- Outstanding academic programming
- A global outlook (Internationalization)
- Vibrant student experience
- Robust employer-employee relationship
- A sound value system
Our theme leads
Each focus area (theme) was monitored by a leader appointed from our campus community, supported by a team of content experts.
- Experiential education: Ross Johnson and Judene Pretti
- Entrepreneurship: Jay Shah
- Transformational research: John Thompson and Bruce Muirhead
- Academic programming: Mario Coniglio and Jeff Casello
- Internationalization: Ian Rowlands
- Vibrant student experience: Chris Read
- Employer-employee relationship: Marilyn Thompson
- Sound value system: Diana Parry