ATHABASCA – 2024 is going to be a busy year for Athabasca University (AU), according to the school’s senior leadership and members of the Town of Athabasca’s council.
AU president Dr. Alex Clark was joined by the university’s chief growth officer, Dr. Catherine Swindlehurst, for a Dec. 19 presentation to councillors, where the two shared AU’s vision for what the new year will bring.
“At this time of year, there’s this sense of joyous anticipation for the times ahead,” said Clark. “That real sense of culture, community and connection is what I think is needed for sustainable culture and success over the long term.”
Clark walked councillors through the themes and ideas AU will be focusing on in its 2024-2029 strategic plan, which he expects will be done by June 2024. The university has completed its first and second rounds of consultation with staff members and is expecting to involve locals in its third round, which Athabasca’s Mayor Rob Balay said is a big step forward.
“I don’t know if that’s truly ever happened before, at least not that I’m aware of,” said Balay. “It certainly didn’t happen in the six years that I sat as a public member on the board of governors. It’s an important step for building trust that this administration has recognized and they’re working towards.”
A major focus for AU will be the revitalization of the Athabasca campus, followed by campuses in Calgary and Edmonton. Clark, who said he had spoken with roughly 800 staff members across the organization in the consultation stage, identified honesty, open communication, and authentic respect between all parties as key factors in the process.
“What was clear to me as I listened to my colleagues was how important trust was in the workplace,” said Clark. “Not only between teams, but between staff and the community here, and the president and yourselves. It arrives on a snail and leaves on a horse.”
Balay likened the work being done by Clark and the rest of AU’s senior leadership to a building being constructed.
“The university is building that foundation. The connections they’ve been making within the community we haven’t seen in a decade,” said the mayor. “The current administration has been working hard to do that, and I think they’ve accomplished it to a very large and successful degree.”
No easy questions
Councillors were full of questions for Clark, ranging from what the consultation process could look like, to how the university could amend its job ads to appear more place-based. Coun. Jon LeMessurier asked how the institution was planning on tying the strategic plan to its investment management agreement (IMA) with the province. The IMA requires AU to have a further 25 staff living and working in Athabasca, as well as four executive staff, including the president, within three years.
“I’ve learned that the president’s life is never dull. We received notification today that we met our IMA targets for this year, so government funding will be entirely as anticipated,” said Clark with a laugh. “Ultimately, the targets are a single measurement of something that is much more important.”
Balay wanted to know what the Calgary and Edmonton campuses would look like: would they be student campuses, or would they be large places where staff worked?
Clark said he and AU’s senior leadership staff are in the process of tackling one lasting remnant of the near virtual policy — AU’s staff are currently scattered across the country, and place-based campuses aren’t always in the cards.
“There is this sense … where you can do things in place that you can’t do online, and I think the post-pandemic work is showing that,” said Clark. “Right now, we have staff all over the country, from B.C. to Nova Scotia. It’s obviously not feasible to have opportunities for that place-based connection regularly. If you look at our senior leadership team, who are all over the province, we now come regularly to Athabasca to come together in place.
“It comes down to our mandate and our primary commitment to the region. It’s here, and the primary commitment to you will be to grow and revitalize the workplace initially,” answered Clark.
