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Strategic Planning: Taking charge of change

In a time of shrinking resources, what
are the effects on innovation at Douglas
College? How can educators react to.the
growing tension between specialization
and comprehensiveness? Where can we
most effectively apply new educational
technologies? How will the roles of
College employees shift during this
period of rapid change?

These questions and more are the
focus of long-term strategy development
now underway at the College. The
Strategic Planning Steering Committee,
chaired by Vice President of College
Development Mia Gordon, has already
developed a framework for the
collaborative strategic planning process,
divided into four phases:

Context: Determining those factors
and trends in our internal and external
environments which have the greatest
impact on College planning.

MNsioe_orvaio

INside Douglas College is published the
first Tuesday of every month by the
Communications & Marketing Office and
the College Duplicating Centre. The next
issue will appear on April 1.

    
   
       
   
    
     
   
  
   
     
     

  

Deadline for submission for next issue is
noon Tuesday, March 18. Submissions on
floppy disk in WordPerfect or ASCII format
would be appreciated. Material may be
edited for brevity and clarity.

  

Tips, scoops and suggestions are always
welcome. Please contact the
Communications & Marketing Office, (604)
527-5325, FAX: (604) 527-5095, Room
4700 at the New West campus, 700 Royal
Avenue, New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B2

Strategic Directions: Identifying the
primary goals to be achieved during the
planning period, and the changes in
direction that are appropriate.

Major Initiatives: Determining the
most significant shifts in program
emphasis, or in the ways we relate to our
students, community and fellow
employees.

Priorities: Selecting the time sequence
and the allocation of resources which will
ensure that the strategic directions and
major initiatives are achieved.

On February 20, the Douglas College
Board and the Education Council
sponsored a strategic planning forum
focusing on phase one of the process:
context. Following a working draft of the

context statement prepared by the
Committee, representatives from all parts
of the College split into groups to discuss
the most significant impacts of our
changing internal and external
environments.

A wide range of perspectives were
discussed and presented, but consensus
emerged on the need for overall
consistency of purpose, continued
dedication to accessibility and educational
choice, and a proactive rather than reactive
approach.

“We need to build a common vision,”
Gordon summed up. “It’s vitally important
for us to keep working collaboratively to
meet this challenge.” Stay tuned for more
details on phase two of the process:
determining specific strategic directions.

 

Writer..., continued from page 1

“We're going to make the ranch part
of the Old Man on His Back Prairie and
Heritage Conservation Area,” she says.
“Tt’s such fragile territory it won’t be open
to the public, but it will help to preserve
the native prairie in this area.”

Butala has also been hard at work
lately on her tenth book and sixth novel,
The Garden of Eden, to be published in
1998. She describes her latest work as
“metaphorical and actual, on all levels —
from the dreams people have to the
woman on her knees planting radishes to
the gift of the earth which we’ ve tried to
destroy.”

The Garden of Eden is a sequel to her
1984 novel, Country of the Heart, which
has just been re-released by
HarperCollins. “With the re-issue of my
past work, I hope that people’s appetites
will be whetted for more,” she says.

Those whose appetites are already
whetted will have the chance to enter the
work and worlds of Sharon Butala from
March 11 to March 14, when she will
visit Douglas College as this year’s
Writer-in-Residence. Please join the

Faculty of Language, Literature and
Performing Arts in welcoming this fine
writer, and plan on attending one of the
following events:

Classroom Readings
Tuesday, March 11
10 am, Room 1809

Wednesday, March 12
Noon, Room 3406

Friday, March 14
Noon, Room 1809

Writer Drop-in Sessions
Wednesday, March 12
2-4pm

Thursday, March 13
3-5 pm

Public Readings
Thursday, March 13
Noon & 7 pm, Room 3406

Friday, March 14
(Pearls journal launch)
7:30 pm, Douglas Room