September 27, 2022
Hello everyone,
Incredibly, we are already three weeks away from the fall term. It’s great to see our campus come back to life! Our residence halls are full, classes are mostly in-person, and athletics, clubs, and socials are all back to normal. As always, I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone in the community for the creativity, flexibility, and caring for each other throughout the pandemic.
Our vaccination mandates and mask mandates remain on hiatus at this time, but should circumstances change, they may need to be reinstated at a later date. Of course, these decisions are made and will continue to be made in consultation with public health. I am grateful for the understanding and compassion of our community as we continue to emerge from the pandemic. It’s a process and, as we saw last year, not necessarily linear.
What is truly remarkable is the progress we have made as an institution despite the pandemic, and I see 2022-23 as a year to build momentum at Carleton. Last week, during our first in-person Senate since February 2020, I had the opportunity to take stock of all that we have accomplished together in implementing our Integrated Strategic Plan. The President’s 2022 Annual Report attempts to capture some of these highlights.
Among many successes, we can be proud that our annual research funding continues to grow, reaching $97.4 million this year, a 79% increase in just four years. It is a tribute to the quality and dedication of our researchers and I take this opportunity to congratulate Steven Cooke, Jesse Stewart and Rowan Thomson on their recent and well-deserved election to the prestigious Royal Society of Canada.
This year, 2022 marks 80 years of Carletone anniversary and it is an opportunity to reflect on our roots and on how the institution was founded in 1942 “for the community, by the community”. It is therefore timely that we collectively embark on the development of our first strategic community engagement plan which aims to take a holistic view of all our community engagement initiatives so that we can better support our tremendous community engagement. I want to thank everyone who took the time to share their feedback and insights and we look forward to sharing the results in an upcoming launch in October.
A related process is the renewal of our Campus Master Plan, which sets the direction for the physical development of our campus in accordance with our strategic vision. The plan is updated every five years and this is the third iteration. Consultations began in the spring and will continue over the next few weeks. The campus community is invited to register for the virtual consultations on September 28 and 29. Pop-up student consultations will take place on October 11. Everyone is also invited to contribute ideas by email or through our online portal which includes a mapping tool where you can identify your favorite spaces on campus and even map new ones.
As we continue to strive for sustainability in everything we do, Carleton was recently recognized as one of the best in the 2022 Sustainable Campuses Index, earning a top 10 ranking in the impact areas of water and well-being and work. This recognition follows the prestigious STARS Gold rating from the Association for Advancing Sustainability in Higher Education which was received earlier this year.
I remind you that this Friday, September 30, is Orange Shirt Day. We will be flying the ‘Every Child Matters’ flag and everyone is encouraged to wear orange shirts to mark the day. There will be events on campus to mark the day and further enrich our thinking and action – more information will be shared with the community this week. I take this opportunity to encourage everyone to take a look at the really impressive progress report on our Kinàmàgawin strategy. There’s still a lot to do, but it’s important to share what we’ve accomplished so far.
In closing, I hope you enjoyed Throwback 2022, our annual homecoming, which included among many events the long-awaited grand opening of the beautiful Nicol Building, and look forward to the annual Panda game against the Gee-Gees from Ottawa in October. 1. Go crows!
Have a nice day,
Benedict
Benoit Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor
Tuesday, September 27, 2022 in 360, Academic, Announcements, Campus life, Mobile announcements, News
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