Since joining York University in July 2006 as a new faculty member in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science I have had the distinct privilege of being part of a community of diverse students, staff, faculty members, and alumni all committed to learning, teaching, researching, and working together to keep people healthier for longer. Over the years, our community has advanced innovative and leading-edge thought and practice on a range of complex health-related issues and our collective work has had an immeasurable positive impact on the lives of people all over the world.
The Faculty’s success to date is a direct result of dialogue and thoughtful planning within our Schools, Departments, and Colleges over the years. When asked to support the Faculty’s 2023-2028 Strategic Planning Exercise as Chair of the Strategic Planning Drafting Team, I jumped at the opportunity to join a team of faculty and staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and alumni, to help lead new discussions about what we, as a collective, see as our Faculty’s future strategic priorities. Strategic planning is a way of affirming our collective values, vision and mission, as well as our overall directions and goals for the next five years and, when completed, will provide a way for our faculty, staff, students, and alumni to communicate who we are and what we want to do as a Faculty of Health with our partners and collaborators.
The strategic planning process began in earnest in January 2023 and is a multi-phased exercise that will span the entire calendar year. To date, our work has focused on collecting and analysing data on contextual issues, trends, gaps, and opportunities, including our strengths, weaknesses, resources and needs. Members of the Drafting Team and Advisory Board met in late April for the first of two in-person retreats where a Landscape Assessment prepared by the Drafting Team was presented and discussed. The assessment was informed by the survey results provided by nearly 1,800 students, faculty, staff, and alumni, along with other database analyses, document reviews, focus groups and interviews.
The second retreat is scheduled for late June 2023 and will focus on convergent filtering of the brainstormed ideas and initiatives that have emerged across our data sources. For example, we have heard clearly and loudly from students, staff, faculty members and alumni that the Faculty of Health can further champion Justice, Equity, Diversity, Decolonization, and Inclusion (JEDDI) efforts across education, research, practice, and work. As such, several different ideas on how to further JEDDI in our various learning, teaching, research, and work activities will be raised and explored.
We are deeply committed to ensuring that our strategic planning process is inclusive, accessible, and equitable where diverse perspectives, knowledge and practices are welcomed and listened to. We have already greatly benefited by hearing from many alumni through survey feedback and focus groups –many thanks to those alumni who have shared with us their thoughts of what should be a strategic priority for the Faculty, or who have commented on proposed revisions to the Faculty’s vision, mission and value statements. As we move forward in this iterative process, there will be more outreach to alumni for feedback and input as our goal is to have a fully formed strategic plan endorsed by Faculty Council by December 2023.
In the meantime, there will be regular updates posted to our strategic planning webpage. We continue to welcome feedback from our alumni and invite you to reach out any time to healthdn@yorku.ca with questions or concerns or to learn more.
Parissa Safai, PhD
Chair, 2023-2028 Strategic Planning Drafting Team
Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Science