I’m pleased to share with you the university’s new Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan (IEGP), the scale of which is unprecedented in Canadian post-secondary education. Following months of planning and collaboration, the IEGP aims to realize the vision outlined in Shape: A Strategic Plan of Impact 2023-2033 to grow enrolment by over 35 per cent within the next decade.
To guide this growth, the IEGP provides a roadmap to reach 60,000 students, including specific actions and timelines for key investments to ensure we are able to support a growing student body while investing purposefully in faculty and staff renewal, infrastructure and other services. In other words, alongside growth will be the proportionate investment in services, resources and infrastructure to support a larger community.
Importantly, the IEGP also remains responsive and iterative to context as we work towards our growth goal. We know that our context will continue to evolve over the next decade, so the IEGP is intended to be flexible to respond to changes in the international landscape, the funding environment, shifting student needs and more.
Why grow enrolment
Growing our enrolment brings a number of significant benefits. As Alberta continues to grow rapidly, the university must also expand to maintain access at a proportional level; in turn, this growth also helps us meet increasing student and labour market demands. Thoughtfully undertaken, enrolment growth enables us to better serve students from both rural and urban Alberta and support more lifelong learners than ever before.
With growth also comes the opportunity to amplify our impact by creating a diverse and global learning community with a larger international student body along with innovative and relevant programs across all disciplines. Lastly, as we look to the future, growth contributes to our financial sustainability and enables increased investment in faculty, staff and student resources.
Planning and development of the IEGP
The planning and development of the IEGP benefitted from the insights and expertise of a broad group of contributors. In total, 105 individuals representing leadership, faculty, staff and students from across the university came together in working groups to focus on various components of the plan. This included budgeting, infrastructure, technology, policy, student experience, marketing, recruitment, advocacy and more.
Using a holistic, data-driven approach, the working groups applied a comprehensive view of the opportunities and risks associated with enrolment growth and developed recommendations to achieve enrolment growth in line with our access, impact and sustainability goals. The IEGP also aligns with other university strategic action plans and initiatives, including the Student Experience Action Plan, reinforcing our commitment to maintain an exceptional student experience as enrolment grows.
The IEGP and its recommendations received formal approval from the president and executive leadership in June 2024. Their endorsement reinforces the university’s commitment to realizing the vision laid out in Shape and signals a collective determination to advance our enrolment strategy.
Elements of the IEGP
The IEGP encompasses a comprehensive set of elements aimed at fostering sustainable growth over the next decade. This includes priority recommendations to achieve and manage growth along with detailed enrolment projections for domestic, international, undergraduate and graduate students. Accompanying these projections are crucial timelines for investments necessary to support this growth trajectory as well as the associated impacts and risks.
Enrolment projections were developed in consultation with college and faculty deans, their leadership teams and the enrolment management service partners to ensure alignment with institutional goals and faculty context. It’s important to note that enrolment projections are not contractual commitments; they are a direction of travel and will be revisited each year through the normal enrolment planning process. Under the IEGP approach, mechanisms for growth for colleges and faculties are fully integrated into multi-year planning to support academic goals related to program development, interdisciplinarity and research.
Flexibility of growth
The IEGP recognizes that growth is subject to major dependencies, including external factors outside the university’s control. Challenges such as shifts in government funding and immigration policies can impact our enrolment growth, which means that our growth trajectory may change over the next decade in response to multiple factors. For example, our more immediate focus will be on laying a foundation for future growth opportunities while focusing on retention and managing enrolment in the short term. As conditions change, the timing and even viability of specific strategies may fluctuate and flexibility in approach will be important. In response, the IEGP includes actions for ongoing governance and shared accountability to ensure the university can adapt the plan as needed.
Despite external influences, it’s important to remain focused on our objectives while managing risks strategically. The external landscape is undoubtedly complex, yet significant demographic and market opportunities exist, which we can harness through thoughtful planning and engagement. By leveraging our One University model, we can apply a comprehensive, institution-wide approach for effectively managing enrolment, planning investments and evaluating the impacts of growth through a cohesive and strategic lens.
As we move forward, I encourage you to learn more about the enrolment growth planning process, read the IEGP and consider how growth can shape our future path to create the university we want to be. Please feel free to reach out to me with your comments or questions at iegp@ualberta.ca.
Melissa Padfield
Deputy Provost (Students and Enrolment)