Concordia Journal Home > Archives > January 17, 2008 issue >

President’s Message 

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Welcome to the new semester at Concordia! This is a time when we renew our commitment to our academic mission and our university's long tradition of community involvement. Concordia's strength has always been the lively and continued participation of the entire university community in our ongoing discussions about Concordia’s development and its academic mission. I am therefore inviting each and every one of you to engage actively in these discussions. We have many questions to answer, and many decisions to make going forward.

Concordia has been developing and growing rapidly over the last several years. How do we best maintain this solid growth? How do we best stimulate and mobilize the impressive skills, talents and resources we have in our midst? How do we address the needs of our employees given our difficult financial situation? How do we best ensure the active participation of all components of our community? How can we continue to reach out to the community and world around us? Over the next few months, I would like to hear your thoughts on these themes, and on the issues that matter to you.

All institutions face challenges, and Concordia is no exception. In particular, it will be difficult to maintain the recent pace of growth in the light of our budgetary and financial reality. However, I know that we all share a principal motivation: achieving our university’s great potential, through its openness and approachability, its diversity and growing academic excellence, and a strong tradition of accessibility, community involvement and service.

Together, as a community, we will continue to advance Concordia University. I look forward to hearing from you, meeting with you and discussing your ideas about the best ways to address our opportunities and challenges. In the months to come, there will also be opportunities for the Concordia community to have these discussions together.

Michael Di Grappa
President, Concordia University
president@concordia.ca