As we head off for summer, it is a good time to reflect on the past academic year and plans for the future. After a challenging three years of budget cuts and restructuring, the university has stabilized, giving us a chance to mark last year's successes and focus on the future.
For anyone on campus in the past couple of weeks, you will have seen our graduating students everywhere celebrating this special moment. With more than 7,300 graduates, we marked one of the largest graduating class in the U of A’s history. A record 74% of the graduating class attended convocation surrounded by family and friends joining in the celebration.
In a significant milestone, on May 29, General Faculties Council overwhelmingly endorsed the university’s new strategic plan, followed by the Board of Governors' unanimous approval on June 16. We are planning a public launch of the new plan to coincide with U of A Days in September.
Rooted in our deep commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and building on our commitment to truth and reconciliation as reflected in Braiding Past, Present and Future, the new plan outlines a bold vision for the U of A’s future. The plan includes ambitious targets to grow our enrolment by over 35% to 60,000 students by 2030, along with a corresponding investment in hiring the faculty and staff necessary to support this growth. The plan highlights our areas of global research impact and envisions making the most of the new college structure to advance research and teaching collaboration across disciplines. With a clear focus on positive impact in our local communities and worldwide, we envision a U of A that is stronger than ever.
In another record, we welcomed over 44,000 students last September, including over 1,900 Indigenous students. In partnership with the Government of Alberta, by 2026, we will add 2,600 students in high-demand areas, including health care, business, engineering and science.
To accommodate this growth, we are actively investing in faculty renewal, hiring 96 new faculty members in the last year, more than double the number of hires we made in each of the previous two years. This included 26 hires in the College of Social Science and Humanities, 26 in the College of Natural and Applied Science, 38 in the College of Health Sciences and six in the stand-alone faculties. More than 80% of these positions were at the assistant level.
Advancing our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, we appointed Dr. Carrie Smith as the U of A’s first Vice-Provost of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. We welcomed Dr. W. Andy Knight as Provost Fellow in Black Excellence and Leadership. We hired 12 tenure-track scholars as part of the Black academic excellence cohort. We also launched consultations to develop a new Student Experience Action Plan, co-creating a plan with our students to enhance the student experience at U of A.
Last year, in another remarkable record, the U of A attracted more than $620 million in external research funding across all faculties and areas of research, cementing our place as one of Canada’s top research-intensive universities. Our research revenue has increased by 12% over the past two years. Research funding highlights included $80.5 million for the Canadian Critical Drug Initiative and $55.1 million for vaccine projects and the development of antiviral drugs. Other highlights included the Canadian Biomedical Research Fund, which will bring in $2 million over four years and permit us to compete for up to $275 million in additional federal funding.
Notwithstanding our best advocacy efforts in support of deconsolidation from the public accounts, the Government of Alberta did not have sufficient time to proceed with the necessary legislative changes before the election. Among other things, deconsolidation will enable the U of A to access its carry-forward funds, currently valued at over $300 million. Because the Government of Alberta wants to constrain its own spending, these funds will remain essentially frozen as long as the U of A is consolidated with the public accounts. We will continue to advocate for deconsolidation with the newly appointed cabinet.
Recognizing this delay, the Government of Alberta permitted us to access up to 15% of our carry-forward funds, enabling us to spend $39 million in the current fiscal year. We will focus these expenditures on the areas where we can have the greatest impact in improving the faculty, staff and student experience. We will make significant investments in technology to improve service levels for faculty and students. With a focus on enhancing the student experience, we will invest in a new university-wide Learning Management System and Student Portal.
In addition to spending some of our carry-forward funds, the university investment portfolio performed well in the past year resulting in an additional $30 million appropriation to the Strategic Initiatives Fund, bringing the current total to $40 million. We will use these funds to invest in a new research information management system that will help track our research output and impact. Other projects will include capital renewal and other university-wide strategic priorities. We will share more details on all these initiatives in the fall.
Our efforts are paying off. In the 2023 QS World University Rankings – one of the most influential university rankings in the world – we moved up 16 spots in one year and now rank 110th out of the world’s top 1,600 universities. And in the 2023 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, the U of A moved up four spots, now ranking 7th in the world of the almost 1,600 universities included in this ranking.
I remain most grateful to all members of the university community. Working together as one university and with a deeply shared commitment to U of A’s future, we have made real progress during challenging times.
Please take some time to take a break over the next two months and enjoy our marvellous summer. I look forward to seeing you in September.
Bill Flanagan
President and Vice-Chancellor