McMaster's next chapter will be shaped through the voices, ideas and ambitions of our community.
That was the message at Setting the Course: Kickoff to 2031, the launch event marking the start of McMaster University's strategic planning consultations.
"For 138 years, McMaster has embraced bold ideas that have changed the world," President Susan Tighe said while introducing the consultation process.
"What the community is being asked to think about now is how do we build on this great history? What do we want to be? Where do we want to go?"
The new strategic plan, Setting the Course, will guide the university's direction from 2026 to 2031 when it launches in June.
It will take the university past McMaster's 100th anniversary in Hamilton, a milestone shaped by long-standing partnerships that have benefited both the city and the university across Hamilton's economic, social and cultural life.
More than 1,000 McMaster faculty, staff, students and alumni shared their thoughts on priorities and values last week. Community members weighed in virtually and in person at the launch event at L.R. Wilson Hall and an engagement session at Convocation Hall, designed to kickstart an extensive community engagement process
Mark John Stewart, industry professor in the Master of Communications Management program, led a quick-fire digital survey of the L.R. Wilson crowd and of those watching the livestream. Participating staff, faculty, students, alumni and friends of the university selected McMaster's position as a top-ranked research-intensive university and its innovative teaching methods as the institution's greatest strengths.
Asked to look ahead, participants chose expanding global partnerships as one of the goals for the next five years, with collaboration, excellence, innovation, integrity and inclusivity taking the top spots as core values.
"What stood out to me was how clearly people see McMaster's strengths and how much they want the next plan to be focused and intentional," Stewart said.
"At the end of the event, I felt there's a real desire for a strategy that helps us make choices, not just list aspirations."
During the panel discussion that followed, moderator Alex Lawson, the president's special advisor on institutional initiatives and consultant for the Strategic Planning team, asked what faculty members, staff and students wanted to see from the strategic plan.
The presidents of the McMaster Students Union (MSU) and Graduate Students Association (GSA) emphasized the importance of continuing to have meaningful engagement and connection throughout students' academic journeys, even after graduation.
"I had a great student experience at McMaster and I know other students who had equally great experiences that were completely different from mine," MSU President Piper Plavins said.
"It's important to recognize that every student's experience is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all."
After grad students complete their coursework, they often tend to stay away from the university because they can do most of their research online, noted GSA president Kusum Bhatta. "However, when they are away, we lose this opportunity to connect with them and to get their innovative ideas and the engagement that other students can have."
That engagement needs to start well before graduation, agreed Margaret Zanel, vice-president of the McMaster Alumni Association and alumni member of senate.
"If we wait until students are leaving to build loyalty and lifelong connection, I think we've left it too late."
McMaster's biggest strength is its people and its diversity of perspectives, and the plan needs to draw strength from that diversity, said University Registrar Darran Fernandez.
"True collaboration can be uncomfortable for individuals, partially because it's messy," said Fernandez. "You have to do a bit more give and take. But more often than not, it results in something amazing. What we need to do to get there is put a lot of trust in who's coming to the table."
Additional support for faculty is critical to ensuring McMaster's continued success in entrepreneurship and innovation, said Bhagwati Gupta, president of the McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA).
During the engagement session at Convocation Hall, Chrissy Doolitte, director of Indigenous Services, said her biggest hope for the university's future is that Indigenous voices are included, with reconciliation and indigenization incorporated into the strategic plan.
"I think it's really important to have that sense of community voice, and something that I love about McMaster is how well we all work together," said Doolittle.
"We're all very passionate about being here, and we all bring such great perspectives to the table, so it's really important that we're all having a say in this."
The unique strengths and community that differentiate McMaster from other universities must be a defining feature of the plan, Tighe said.
"What's really critical for us is to develop a plan that reflects who we are and what we do best, and I'm quite confident, given the amount of interest that we're already receiving about this plan, that we will indeed create something that's quite unique and positions McMaster well for the future," she said.
Over the coming months, faculty, staff, students, alumni, partners and friends are invited to share their input through a variety of consultation methods, including surveys, town halls, focus groups, a student competition and open calls for ideas.
