Strategic Plan 2016-2020

Mission

Okanagan College transforms lives and communities.

We engage, lead and serve through:

  • A high quality educational experience for our learners.
  • An environment that supports employees and encourages personal and professional growth.
  • Collaborative relationships that are responsive to our communities.

Core Values

These serve to guide decision‐making as an organization and our actions as individuals.

  1. Learner Success.  Learners are at the heart of everything we do.
  2. Access.  We advocate and promote access to education.
  3. Continuous Improvement.  We strive to do better tomorrow than we did today.
  4. Collegiality.  In all our interactions we act with respect and integrity.
  5. Diversity.  We support an inclusive environment.
  6. Sustainability.  We strive for social, environmental and economic sustainability.
  7. Collaboration.  We embrace the opportunity to work with and learn from each other.
  8. Innovation.  We introduce, evaluate and embrace new ideas.

Key Directions

Supporting Learner Readiness and Success

Through their educational experience, learners are better prepared for work, life and further study.

  • Improve pathways for students into, within, and beyond Okanagan College.
  • Provide the best possible support services for learners.
  • Enhance the learner experience by improving administrative systems and processes, and by creating an engaging college environment.
  • Implement an internationalization plan so that students better understand the world around them.

Excelling in Teaching, Programming, and Applied Research

Students, employers, and the community will benefit from the College’s commitment to innovative and responsive education.

  • Use the best combination of course delivery methods, such as face‐to‐face, E‐learning, and blended approaches, to address diverse learner and community needs.
  • Provide an array of programming that effectively responds to the needs of our students, employers and communities.
  • Provide opportunities for teaching professionals to continuously enhance their skills, knowledge and practice.
  • Significantly develop applied research, scholarly activity, and knowledge transfer activities to better serve students, communities, and employers.

Working With, and Learning From, the Indigenous Community

The College values and respects Indigenous culture and ways of knowing and is working towards indigenization. The goal is an authentic partnership that benefits all parties and enriches the education of learners.

  • Commit to an indigenization plan through engagement with Indigenous communities.
    The plan will address:
    • Enhancing ties with Indigenous partners.
    • Strengthening support services as well as physical, cultural, and spiritual spaces that are available to learners.
    • Increasing opportunities for the college community to learn from Indigenous knowledge and culture.
    • Identifying possible changes to College policies, structure, and processes that will benefit all.

Serving and Engaging the Community

Strengthening relationships with alumni, employers, and community groups contributes to the health and prosperity of the region the College serves.

  • Increase the number and strength of connections.
  • Build and sustain relationships with alumni and donors.
  • Increase opportunities for engagement with all communities through approaches such as applied research, experiential learning, student employment programs, guest speakers, and events.

Focusing on Organizational Sustainability

The College needs to address the human and financial resources, infrastructure, and environmental challenges that will accompany anticipated demographic, economic, and social changes.

  • Seek additional sources of funding to sustain and further develop the College.
  • Ensure there are sustainable operations in each of the four regions.
  • Augment the College’s human resource plan through improved strategies in key areas such as succession planning, employee development and the recruitment and retention of a diverse employee base.
  • Complete and implement a sustainability plan that addresses environmental, financial and social sustainability.