Briefing Note for the Trent University Vision Renewal Review Committee

Office of the President and Vice-Chancellor
August 17, 2009

Introduction

A university vision is a precious treasure. Vision enables a university to decide what is important. Vision enables a university to focus energy and effort in order to influence and manage those forces that shape and change an institution. Vision is based on values that are shared and widely understood as essential for collaborative and collegial work. Vision is not something that just happens – instead, vision is the result of serious and intense scrutiny about who we are, what we do, and why. Vision must be regularly and thoughtfully examined with wide participation and debate about common values. Vision must be renewed to meet the evolving needs of the institution. Vision must engage the passions of those who so love this place.

Current Vision

Trent University’s Vision Statement has been the subject of consultation with students, faculty, staff and alumni in recent years. Numerous planning documents, such as the Strategic Directions 2014, and initiatives, such as the University’s Marketing Framework, make reference to the process and the outcomes. Trent University’s Vision Statement is:

To develop a learning environment which ensures that the individual student is knowledgeable, thinks critically, is socially conscious and is prepared to make a difference in society.

Challenge and Opportunity

Trent University is charting a course for the future. Does Trent University have a vision that is wide enough and deep enough, to move us, our hands and our hearts, our minds, our spirits, our whole being, as an intellectual community at Trent University?

Does Trent University have a vision that will endure and infuse a generation of students and scholars with the passion and commitment that characterized our remarkable founders and builders of the past four decades?

Does Trent University have a vision that will help guide choices and activities in unprecedented times almost wholly unimaginable even a few short years ago?

Can we imagine, together, a vision that embraces the traditions of a liberal education, the reality of professional programs, community engagement, the discovery of new science, and the exciting new undergraduate and graduate programs that are at the heart of much of the learning enterprise? Building this vision together is both a unique challenge and an outstanding opportunity to serve Trent University and the larger community to which we owe so much.