A first-of-its-kind action plan will ensure University of Alberta students gain positive experiences that will help them thrive on campus and beyond.
Igniting Purpose: The Student Experience Action Plan is a three-year guiding plan to foster a campus experience built on principles of connection, exploration and challenge.
“We are honoured students have chosen the U of A, and we will do our best to continue earning their trust by delivering a truly exceptional student experience that sets them up for success as learners today and leaders tomorrow,” says U of A president Bill Flanagan, who was on hand at an event in the Students’ Union Building today to launch the new plan. “As the university grows, the Student Experience Action Plan will inspire and inform our collective efforts toward those goals.”
Co-created by students, instructors and staff, the plan emphasizes commitments to build a student-centred community; nurture student experience that allows for knowledge, skill and network expansion; and embed Indigenous worldviews to provide a cornerstone of a vision for a healthy student experience.
“The plan outlines the university’s commitment to students, and our shared purpose and priorities in fostering an outstanding U of A student experience,” says Melissa Padfield, deputy provost (students and enrolment), who led the development of the plan.
“It will guide and support our individual and collective efforts and decision-making over the next three years to ensure our communities of students are engaged to learn, explore and pursue impactful experiences during their university journey.”
The plan identifies seven thematic areas of importance to students, including supporting transitions into and out of study, enabling academic agency and flexibility, and demonstrating transparency and affordability.
Initiated in January 2023, the plan involved more than 8,500 students, more than 100 engagement sessions, a student survey and an instructor feedback form.
“The Student Experience Action Plan was uniquely created to involve students, which we are really proud of,” says Michael Griffiths, vice-president of student life with the U of A Students’ Union for 2023-24. “The plan is quite comprehensive, and we are happy with the potential it unlocks.”
“As co-sponsors, we wanted to gather as much input as we could from the university community, because reimagining the student journey involves a plan we would all need to envision and implement together,” says Monisha Vinod, vice-president of student services with the Graduate Students’ Association for 2022-23 and co-sponsor of the plan.
“There were immediate concerns around physical and psychological safety for students, which are being addressed through various goals and initiatives. Some of these have already been actioned in the past year, with the remainder set to be completed this year.”
Actions initiated by the plan will include developing mechanisms to identify and remove discriminatory barriers from all campus spaces, making financial literacy support and programming available to all students, and making further investments in counselling and clinical services.
“We are all deeply invested in seeing this project shape a student experience unique to the University of Alberta, thanks to its co-creation approach that has actively engaged everyone in the student community, as well as the broader campus community,” says Vinod. “I’m excited to see how it all unfolds.”
Accountability measures are in place with set completion dates for actions. The plan’s progress will be measured using key indicators that track each thematic area of importance.
The Student Experience Action Plan is the latest in a series of integrated university plans including the Braiding Past, Present and Future: University of Alberta Indigenous Strategic Plan, Strategic Plan for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity and Forward with Purpose: A Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation.
It also reflects the pillar of “Education with Purpose” in Shape, the U of A’s 10-year overarching strategic plan, says Verna Yiu, provost and vice-president (academic), who also spoke at the launch event.
“Students are the core of all that we do at the University of Alberta. It was important for us to acknowledge and focus our efforts into optimizing the student experience through a co-creation model where students were at the forefront of co-designing SEAP,” says Yiu.
“We are grateful for the student commitment and engagement in SEAP and look forward to seeing it come to fruition for the benefit of all students, faculty and staff.”