Concordia Journal Home > Archives > October 23, 2008 issue >

Seeking feedback on strategic plan  

At publication time, one open meeting grouping about 75 faculty, staff and a few students had been held in the DB Clarke Auditorium on the SGW Campus on Oct. 20.

For the full schedule of meetings see the Strategic Planning website.

There are many ways to participate in the strategic planning discussions. In addition to attending the open meetings, Concordians can fill in a questionnaire and leave their comments on the Strategic Planning website.

“We encourage the entire community to take advantage of the modes of feedback that are being made available,” said President Judith Woodsworth, “be they open consultations, the online comment board, or direct communication. People can also write to me at president@concordia.ca.”

Two World Café forums are also scheduled to be held on Nov. 11 and 12 as part of the strategic planning open consultations. The World Café forum will encourage small group discussions among cross-sections of the university community.

Participants will sit with a few colleagues at tables in a café setting. One person at each table will be asked to act as the table's recorder/ongoing memory. Over a period of two hours, everyone will participate in three 20-minute conversations at three separate tables. After each conversation, participants move to another table and continue the conversation with a different group. At the end of the third round, all participants will be invited to highlight key observations and recommendations from the discussions.

This feedback will be recorded and will, along with the notes taken at each table, make up the final report of the World Café forum. A full description of Concordia's World Café process is outlined on the Strategic Planning website at www.concordia.ca/strategicplanning/worldcafe.php

To ensure that each Concordia community member has an equal chance of participating, the Institutional Planning Office will do a random selection from each of the following five groups: tenured and tenure-track faculty, contractual faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and administrative and support staff. Each person selected will receive an invitation from the Office of the President, and will need to confirm her/his attendance.

Questions about the World Café forums or the World Café process may be forwarded to world-cafe@concordia.ca.