StFX Launches New Strategic Plan: “Building Our University the Way it’s Meant to Be”

On February 28, StFX released its new 2023-2028 strategic plan “Building Our University the Way it’s Meant to Be.” The plan’s mission is to endow engaged citizens empowered by purpose and connection.

StFX has a rich history of social justice, and so this invites students to use the plan to further their roles as leaders of social justice, social responsibility, and engaged citizenship. In 1897, StFX became the first-coeducational Catholic university in North America to grant degrees to women. In the 1970s, students drove societal change. And in 1996, StFX implemented Canada’s first Service-Learning program. Drawing upon this history, students are invited to think strategically, creatively, and ambitiously about how they aim to shape the future.

The plan is built on three operational plans: The first is The Academic Plan, the second is The Research and Creative Works Plan, and the third is The Student Experiences and Opportunities Plan. All students are called upon to embrace the plan and to bring their ideas, intellect, creativity, and commitment.

The plan’s success will be measured using the following sets of metrics:

a) Academically Driven

• Student retention (1st to 2nd-year retention rate) and academic averages

• Admissions profile (undergraduate & graduate)

• Total program enrolment (by faculty)

• Number of new academic credentials introduced and associated enrolment

• Satisfaction with quality of education and teaching

b) Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

• International student enrolment/retention—visa students, full-time, part-time

• Indigenous student enrolment/retention—full-time, part-time

• African Nova Scotian student enrolment/retention—full-time, part-time

• Student Satisfaction (e.g. Incoming Student Survey, focus groups)

c) Community • Total enrolment • Proportion of graduate enrolment

• Total number of alumni and geographic distribution

• Proportion of first-year/senior students participating in High Impact Practices

• Number of Employees and Employee Satisfaction

d) Responsive

• Annual number of graduates

• Value of research grants received (federal, provincial & other)

• Local and provincial economic impact

• Investments in student services, including investment in services that support intellectual, cultural, social, and spiritual growth of students

• Total value of scholarships, bursaries, and prizes

e) Sustainability

• University long-term debt

• Total annual ($) giving to the University

• Proportion of funds from annual giving allocated to institutional areas (ex. history and culture, anti-racism, accessibility, wellness, and well-being, etc.)

• Endowment fund balance

• Total carbon emissions

• Campus energy use and costs