2014-17 Strategic Mandate Agreement: Laurentian University

Ontario’s Vision for Postsecondary Education

Ontario’s colleges and universities will drive creativity, innovation, knowledge, and community engagement through teaching and research. They will put students first by providing the best possible learning experience for all qualified learners in an affordable and financially sustainable way, ensuring high quality and globally competitive outcomes for students and Ontario’s creative economy.

Laurentian University’s Vision/Mandate

Laurentian University with its federated university partners offers an outstanding university experience in English and French with a comprehensive approach to Indigenous education that prepares students as agents of change by stimulating them to ask new questions, to challenge what we know, and so empower them to create innovative solutions for future local and global issues.

Laurentian University has been offering programs in Greater Sudbury since 1960 and in Barrie since 2001. It actively engages with community partners, ensuring that it contributes to the prosperity and well-being of these two cities and their surrounding regions through its teaching, research, and community engagement endeavours.

Preamble

This Strategic Mandate Agreement between the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (the Ministry) and Laurentian University (the University) outlines the role the University currently performs in the postsecondary education system and how it will build on its current strengths to achieve its vision and help drive system-wide objectives articulated by the Ministry’s Differentiation Policy Framework.

The Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA):

• Identifies the University’s existing institutional strengths;
• Supports the current vision, mission, and mandate of the University within the context of the University’s governing legislation and outlines how the University’s priorities align with Ontario’s vision and Differentiation Policy Framework; and
• Informs Ministry decision making through greater alignment of Ministry policies and processes to further support and guide the University’s areas of strength.

The term of the SMA is from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2017. The SMA proposal submitted by the University to the Ministry has been used to inform the SMA and is appended to the agreement.

The Ministry acknowledges the University’s autonomy with respect to its academic and internal resource allocation decisions, and the University acknowledges the role of the Ministry as the Province’s steward of Ontario’s postsecondary education system. The agreement may be amended in the event of substantive policy or program changes that would significantly affect commitments made in the SMA. Any such amendment would be mutually agreed to, dated, and signed by both signatories.

Laurentian University’s Key Areas of Differentiation

Laurentian University enriches the learning environment because English, French, and Indigenous cultures thrive together, further improving access to postsecondary education, especially for Aboriginal and francophone students. Laurentian’s areas of research activity build upon its focus in: environment and conservation, health and wellness, social and cultural research and creativity, engineering, mineral and materials science, and particle physics.

Alignment with the Differentiation Policy Framework

The following outlines areas of strength agreed upon by the University and the Ministry, and the alignment of these areas of strength with the Ministry’s Differentiation Policy Framework.

1. Jobs, Innovation, and Economic Development

   This component highlights institutions’ collaborative work with employers, community partners, and regions, or at a global level, to establish their role in fostering social and economic development, and serving the needs of the economy and labour market.

   1. Areas of Institutional Strength

      Laurentian’s community engagement has resulted in unique academic and research partnerships that have impacted its local economy and community. Initiatives and outcomes include:

      • Three distinct programs have emerged from community-based advocacy.
        • In 1988, Laurentian established its fully accredited social work program in Native Human Services (now Indigenous Relations) by working in partnership with 27 local First Nations communities. Laurentian has had 281 graduates from this program since its inception.
        • The new School of Architecture was launched in downtown Sudbury in September 2013, based on strong advocacy and leadership by a local steering committee dedicated to urban renewal. The capital construction cost of $42.6 million brings that amount of economic activity to the region over the construction period of 2012-15. An Economic Impact Study undertaken during the pursuit phase of planning for the school estimated annual incremental economic activity in the region through the school to be $15 million. Like the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), Laurentian’s School of Architecture develops new knowledge in the North, for the North. Use of design and materials that respond to northern cultures, communities, and climate are expected to generate new opportunities for industry to grow in northern communities.
        • The Vale Living with Lakes Centre (VLWLC) builds on the environmental tradition evident in the “Re-greening of Sudbury” project, a decades-long partnership with two provincial ministries, and is home to internationally renowned ecological researchers. The VLWLC will have an important role in the Ring of Fire development through a current comparative study to determine if existing knowledge of zooplankton/environment/stressor relationships from more southern lakes will assist with the management of lakes in the northern boreal region. Survey planning is involving local people from First Nations communities in the area.
      • Laurentian has initiated four new regional partnerships in 2013.
        • The Northern Leadership Program (NLP) – in collaboration with Science North, Health Sciences North, and the City of Greater Sudbury – develops a pool of promising leaders and provides enriched capacity development and project opportunities for 20 leaders from these four organizations. Five identified Laurentian young leaders have participated in the first round of NLP’s activities, collaborating with colleagues to develop system approaches to User Fees for the City of Greater Sudbury, Engagement with First Nation Peoples for Science North, Work-Integrated Learning for Laurentian University, and Transitioning to LEAN Management for Health Sciences North.
        • Northern Policy Institute (NPI), a think tank intended to stimulate innovation in policies related to northern Ontario, has offices on the northern campuses at Laurentian University and Lakehead University. The NPI has aligned its policy priorities for the next five years with the “Growth Plan for Northern Ontario”, 2011, and is focusing on policies of relevance to northern Ontario related to “Economy, People, Communities, Infrastructure, Environment, and Aboriginal Peoples”.
        • Laurentian and the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc. (NORCAT) (Sudbury’s Regional Innovation Centre) have partnered to create the Sudbury Innovation Mill, a place where business gets done.
        • Laurentian and The Creative Space in Barrie (a co-working community in downtown Barrie) launched two new community lecture series “Food for Thought” and “Think About Drink”. The University was also title sponsor for the first two “Ignite Barrie” events held downtown where creative thinkers came forward with five-minute presentations on innovation.
      • Economic development also extends from engagement with industry.
        • Through Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Laurentian, the University provides research resources to industry in the mining sector to help solve their problems.
        • The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), a collaboration between industry, government, and Laurentian, acts as a broker for research in mining innovation, matching big questions with resources and knowledge.
        • In collaboration with Health Sciences North, through the Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada (AMRIC), Laurentian is contributing to solving health issues in northeastern Ontario. By building strong relationships among institutions, Sudbury is emerging as the hub of northeastern Ontario for healthrelated issues.
      • Laurentian currently has more than 50,000 alumni, 16,000 of whom are in Greater Sudbury (representing 10% of the total population) and 3,000 in Barrie, while another 21,000 alumni reside in northeastern Ontario. A 2008 report from Deloitte confirmed that the operations of Laurentian University and its 9,000 students gave rise to Total Direct Spending in the range of $232 million and imparted a Total Direct Impact (direct plus indirect) of almost $310 million in 2006-07. Direct spending and employment supported by Laurentian University are estimated to directly sustain more than 1,500 “person years of employment”. In total, Laurentian University is estimated to support almost 2,500 direct and indirect person years of employment.

   2. Additional Comments

      Institutional Strategies

      • Increasing the proportion of highly qualified people by increasing participation rates of Aboriginal people in university education, and by increasing graduate seats, will promote greater innovation, productivity, and economic development in the communities we serve. Laurentian is uniquely positioned to play a key role in helping these communities realize their economic potential, given the already high proportion of students who self-identify as being First Nation, Métis, or Inuit, as well as the graduate programs currently offered and those in development.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics

      System-Wide Metricsfootnote 1[1]

      Percentage of Laurentian graduates who remain in northeastern Ontario and central Ontario (Parry Sound, Muskoka, Simcoe Counties) Percentage of Sudbury and Barrie CMA residents age 25 years+ who have a university degree (2011 Statistics Canada: 19.2% and 16.7% respectively) Percentage of Laurentian graduates whose work (employment) was “Closely” and “Somewhat” related to the skills acquired through the program of study completed at Laurentian, compared to Ontario percentage (in 2010: 81% after six months versus provincial average of 73%; 84% after two years versus provincial average of 80%)

      Graduate employment rates Number of graduates employed full-time in a related job

2. Teaching and Learning

   This component will capture institutional strength in program delivery methods that expand learning options for students, and improve the learning experience and career preparedness. This may include, but is not limited to, experiential learning, online learning, entrepreneurial learning, work integrated learning, and international exchange opportunities.

   1. Areas of Institutional Strength

      Laurentian supports teaching and learning through a number of initiatives, including:

      • Laurentian University’s Centre for Academic Excellence, created by Senate in 2010, with an incremental investment of $1 million by 2018.
        • The centre is a student-centred academic support unit that offers a collaborative and creative learning environment through partnerships with departments, faculty, staff, and students.
        • The centre provides students with a multiplicity of experiences from which they can tailor an individualized, integrated, and holistic program that is unique to their academic goals.
        • The centre also supports faculty members and graduate students in developing their expertise in expanded teaching-learning options that are responsive to students’ unique learning styles and special learning needs.
      • Laurentian is undertaking a $44.6 million Sudbury campus modernization project to revitalize student academic and social space for twenty-first century teaching and learning. This work focuses on classrooms designed flexibly to accommodate diverse teaching-learning styles, a "front door/welcoming centre", “one-stop” student services leveraging state-of-the-art technology, new social and gathering spaces that nurture a greater sense of community and belonging, opportunities for learning outside the classroom, and an Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre.
      • Laurentian offers an innovative, flexible, module degree structure designed to enhance students’ ability to customize their degree in line with their interests and aspirations.
      • In 2013, as part of the Northern Leadership Program, Laurentian commissioned a study on the number of courses that offer experiential learning. The report will form the baseline and methodology to measure progress. Preliminary information suggests that about 28% of course sections currently offer such value-alied learning experiences.
      • The outcomes of Laurentian’s activity in this area include sustaining its overall level of student engagement between 2008 and 2011. Laurentian’s average score on the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE) remained unchanged at 2.44 between the two surveys, and is on par with Ontario’s average score of 2.45.

   2. Additional Comments

      Institutional Strategies

      • Laurentian intends to increase its average NSSE score over the next six years (next measurement date in 2014) via a series of strategic initiatives that Laurentian is undertaking, based on input from students, faculty, and staff.
      • While students give Laurentian reasonably good marks on student satisfaction surveys for class size, student-faculty interaction, and campus atmosphere, there is room for improvement in areas such as food services, satisfaction with the town/city, course availability/variety, and residences. An investment of $2.5 million will be made by 2014 for the modernization of food services, offering more and healthier choices to students.
      • The University has a five-year succession plan to secure and retain highly talented faculty members through proactive recruitment. By 2018, 41 faculty – including tenure-stream faculty, research chairs, and full-time teaching instructors – will be hired, replacing retiring colleagues and building capacity in areas of strength. Twenty-nine of these 41 positions have already been identified over the five years, based on signature programs and five criteria adopted by Senate: the enrolment in a program, the centrality of the program to the university’s mission, the ability of a department/school to offer an advertised program completely and, where relevant, retain its accreditation; and, finally, the cohesiveness and functionality of the department/school.
      • Over the next three years, students will increasingly be offered enriched learning experiences abroad, as well as more examples of integrated classroom learning with real-world experience through placements, case-based projects, independent learning, applied research, studies abroad, group work, and community service or senior capstone projects, with alumni support. Progress on this outcome will be supported by an incremental investment of $300,000 and will be measured over time through specific questions asked on the NSSE.
      • Laurentian is investing $1.3 million by 2018 in the Laurentian Electronic Age Program (LEAP) and will complete the conversion to 100% wireless by 2016.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics

      System-Wide Metrics

      Number of, and total registrations for, credit courses offered in eLearning format (fully online, hybrid, synchronous) for both French and English courses. Percentage of credit courses offered with Indigenous content Percentage of NSSE respondents who “plan to do” or have “done” a practicum, internship, field experience, co-op, or clinical assignment (76% in 2011 versus Ontario average of 72% for respondents in first year)

      Student Satisfaction Survey results Graduation rates Retention rates Number of students enrolled in a co-op program at institution Number of online course registrants, programs, and courses at institution

3. Student Population

   This component recognizes the unique institutional missions that improve access, retention, and success for underrepresented groups (Aboriginal, first generation, students with disabilities) and francophones. This component also highlights other important student groups that institutions serve that link to their institutional strength. This may include, but is not limited to, international students, mature students, or indirect entrants.

   1. Areas of Institutional Strength

      Laurentian engages with francophone, Métis, and First Nations communities to increase participation rates in university education by offering high-quality relevant education and supports to ensure student success. For example:

      • Laurentian is unique in combining both a bilingual mandate and a comprehensive approach to Indigenous education.
      • First-generation postsecondary students comprise 60.9% of Laurentian’s students, compared to the university system average of 17.8%. Laurentian continues to support first-generation students, and in 2012-13 initiated a student awareness campaign to highlight the many services available to first-generation students, including Academic Advantage, Early Notification, a variety of workshops, programs and peer-assisted study groups, mentoring programs to match first-year firstgeneration students with upper-year first-generation students, and the Learning Assistance Centre.
      • Among Laurentian students, 6.1% identify as having a disability, compared to the university system average of 6%.
      • Among Laurentian students, 11.2% self-identify as being Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit) compared to the university system average of 1.98%.

   2. Additional Comments

      Institutional Strategies

      • Laurentian’s 11,000 students will continue to diversify, with currently over 8% International, over 10% Indigenous, and over 17% French-speaking.
      • Between now and 2017-18, Laurentian is committed to building on its current strengths in the following ways: building an Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre in Sudbury; increasing the number of Indigenous faculty by at least 62%; increasing enrolments of Indigenous, bilingual, and francophone students; increasing Indigenous content in curricula from 13% to at least 16% of courses; revitalizing the certificate of bilingualism for students learning in both official languages.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics

      System-Wide Metrics

      Percentage of secondary student registrants from northeastern Ontario and central Ontario (Parry Sound, Muskoka, Simcoe) who study at Laurentian Number of first-generation postsecondary students who have participated in outreach and academic support services offered by Laurentian University Number of students registered in French-language programs at Laurentian (1,438 in 2013-14) Number of Aboriginal students registered at Laurentian (996 in 2013-14)

      Number and proportion of Aboriginal, first generation, students with disabilities, and francophone students at an institution Number and proportion of international students enrolled in Ontario (as reported in annual institutional enrolment reporting) Proportion of an institution’s enrolment that receives OSAP

4. Research and Graduate Education

   This component will identify the breadth and depth of institutional research activity (both basic and applied) and will identify institutional research strengths from niche to comprehensive research intensity.

   1. Areas of Institutional Strength

      Laurentian’s research endeavours respond to the characteristics of its region: it is home to the highest concentration of francophone and 40% of the province’s Aboriginal population, and the region is now facing massive impacts from climate change and large-scale pressure induced by the global resource boom. All these elements are crucial to Laurentian’s research endeavours. Areas of research focus and initiatives include:

      Environment and Conservation

      • Laurentian is recognized for its environmental research, especially in areas related to the restoration of industrially damaged aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
      • The recent construction of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre, a $20 million facility, is also a testament to the importance of this research field and the need to expand research intensity.
      • Research capacity under this theme is supported by a number of undergraduate and graduate programs and by four Canada Research Chairs (Stressed Aquatic Systems; Environmental Microbiology; Genomics and Bioinformatics; and Applied Evolutionary Ecology) whose domains intersect, allowing for new interdisciplinary research opportunities.
      • Laurentian is one of the four Canadian universities involved as collaborating funding partners of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC’s) new Canadian Network for Aquatic Ecosystems Services (CNAES).
      • The work of Laurentian faculty influenced the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, 2008, the 2009 Report of the Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation, and the 2010 Report of the Far North Science Advisory Panel.

      Health and Wellness

      • The following research centres contribute to Laurentian’s health research intensity: the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (CRaNHR); the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH); the Centre for Evaluating Children’s Health Outcomes (ECHO); and the Centre for Research in Human Development (CRHD).
      • The health-related graduate and two PhD programs, along with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, facilitate the growth of interdisciplinary health research.

      Social and Cultural Research and Creativity

      • Social and cultural research and creativity at Laurentian are sustained by nine interdisciplinary research centres, three scientific journals, one monograph service, the English Arts Society’s publication (Sulphur), several graduate programs spanning four faculties, and one PhD program focusing on interdisciplinary culture and society.
      • Research has examined diverse topics related to the evolution and development of various aspects of northern Ontario involving the study of art, culture, heritage, and applied and practitioner-based areas of inquiry.
      • Laurentian has two Canada Research Chairs in this area: one in multicultural sport and physical activity and the other in environment, culture, and values.

      Engineering, Mineral, and Materials Sciences

      • Laurentian is located in the Sudbury Basin, a globally significant Ni-(Cu-PGE) mining centre near other significant mining centres (Au, Zn-Pb-Cu, U).
      • During the last two decades, Laurentian has had the advantage of its location to develop internationally recognized education programs in earth sciences and engineering that focus on mineral exploration and aspects of mine-related engineering.
      • A doctoral program in materials sciences was launched in 2010, and the University has established a Canada Research Chair, Tier II, in polymer nanomaterials.
      • The Bharti School of Engineering has reached a high level of research expertise in the fields of mining engineering, robotics, automation and advanced technologies, and process engineering.
      • In 2010, Rio Tinto established a $10 million Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction at Laurentian’s Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), its fifth global long-term research centre and the first in North America.

      Particle Physics (SNOLAB)

      • Canada’s contribution to underground science infrastructure is Sudbury Neutrino Observatory laboratory (SNOLAB), the remarkable two-kilometre-deep underground facility situation at the Vale Creighton mine in Greater Sudbury.
      • As a founding member of the SNOLAB collaboration, Laurentian’s commitment has grown from one to five faculty members, including a Canada Research Chair Tier II, five adjunct faculty, and five postdoctoral fellows.
      • Assisted by students and approximately $1 million per year from NSERC, these 15 Laurentian University scientists currently play key or leading roles in five experiments that span the full range of underground science.

   2. Additional Comments

      System-wide metrics reflect Laurentian’s focused activity in this area.

      Institutional Strategies

      • By 2017, Laurentian will ali aliitional research chairs, attract increasing numbers of international researchers and graduate students, and support scholars-inresidence and national and international conferences. There are initiatives also to foster environmental science in support of First Nations land-use planning, especially in northern communities.
      • Laurentian has budgeted for three new research chairs – in Indigenous relations and governance, sustainable northern economic development, and Franco-Ontarian history.
      • Laurentian has embarked on a process to increase research capacity and develop new strategic research avenues, with the intention of increasing the total annual research income to $30 million by 2017 and showcasing its exceptional research, nationally and internationally. • Laurentian University is developing an enhanced research framework and a roadmap for increasing the infrastructure supports for researchers.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics

      System-Wide Metrics

      Percentage of Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey respondents who rated their academic experience at Laurentian as “Good”, “Very Good”, and “Excellent” (2013: 86%) Percentage of NSERC funding in mining and mineral processing (9.57%) and earth sciences (2.53%) Canadian Institutes of Health Research funding secured by Laurentian, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Health Sciences North (HSN), and the Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada

      Research Capacity Total sponsored research Number of research chairs Number of graduate degrees awarded Number of graduate awards/scholarships Research Focus Graduate degrees awarded to undergraduate degrees awarded Graduate to undergraduate ratio PhD degrees awarded to undergraduate degrees awarded Research Impact Normalized Tri-Council funding (total and per full-time faculty) Number of publications (total and per full-time faculty) Number of citations (total and per full-time faculty) Citation impact (normalized average citation per paper) International Competitiveness Ratio of international to domestic graduates (used by Times Higher Education Rankings) Aggregate of international global rankings

5. Program Offerings

   This component will articulate the breadth of programming, enrolment, and credentials offered, along with program areas of institutional strength/specialization including any vocationally oriented mandates. This component will also recognize institutions that provide bilingual and/or French-language programming for students.

   1. Areas of Institutional Strength

      Current program areas of strength include:

      1. Geology, including Mineral Exploration
      2. Engineering
      3. French-Language Programs
      4. Forensic Science
      5. Medicine/Rural and Northern Health
      6. Indigenous Relations
      7. Restoration and Conservation Ecology
      8. Education
      9. Sports Administration/Sports Psychology
      10. Interdisciplinary Humanities

      Proposed program areas for growth include:

      1. Architecture
      2. Engineering and Earth Sciences
      3. French Language programs in Sudbury
      4. Forensic Science, Criminal Investigative Science, and IT
      5. Northern Health and Development and Indigenous Relations

   2. Additional Comments

      The Ministry notes that a large number of new engineering degree programs are proposed province-wide. This will have an impact on the Ministry’s review of new engineering program proposals.

   3. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metrics
      Number of undergraduate programs in both languages not offered elsewhere in northeastern Ontario Number of graduate programs in both languages not offered elsewhere in northeastern Ontario Number of applications to Signature programs as defined in Laurentian’s Strategic Plan (3,064 in 2013)	Institution-specific and provincial Key Performance Indicators, including employment rate after two years, percentage of students completing the degree, and OSAP default rates for each area of strength Program enrolment

6. Institutional Collaboration to Support Student Mobility

   This component will profile partnerships between institutions that ensure students have access to a continuum of learning opportunities in a coordinated system. This may include, but will not be limited to, credit transfer pathways and collaborative or joint programs between or within sectors.

   1. Areas of Institutional Strength

      Laurentian supports institutional collaboration and student mobility by focusing on prior learning recognition and pathway development. Laurentian indicates that its approach to credit transfer is broad-based and competency driven with passed courses from other Ontario universities given full credit. College programs are reviewed regularly and evaluated for competencies that allow for maximal credit recognition to students transferring to Laurentian.

      Laurentian indicates that graduates of 3-year college programs can transfer up to 54 credits towards a Laurentian degree outside of articulation agreements, and up to 78 credits within existing articulations. Priority college partners aligned with the university`s regional and tri-cultural mandate, include Collège Boréal, Cambrian College, La Cité Collégiale, and Georgian College.

      Laurentian remains one of the few universities to confirm transfer credits prior to a student’s acceptance of an offer of admission.

   2. Metrics

      Institutional Metrics	System-Wide Metrics
      Number of existing transfer pathways offered by Laurentian to support credit transfer for all Ontario colleges (45 multilateral transfer pathways for 2 to 21 colleges each) Number of students registered at Laurentian with some Ontario college experience (registered in first year and upper years) (2,121 in 2013)	Number of college and university pathways and/or articulation agreements (college-college, college-university, university-college) Number of transfer applicants and registrants Number of college graduates enrolled in university programs

Aspirations

The Ministry recognizes the importance of supporting institutions to evolve and acknowledges the strategic aspirations of its postsecondary education institutions; the SMA is not intended to capture all decisions and issues in the postsecondary education system, as many will be aliressed through the Ministry’s policies and standard processes. The Ministry will not be approving any requests for capital funding or new program approvals, for example, through the SMA process.

Institution-Specific Aspirations

• Establishment of a stand-alone Barrie Campus to deliver and expand the programs offered there since 2001, to serve 3,100 full-time equivalent (FTE) students who will be ready to enter the workforce or graduate programs in specialized fields that are in high demand but are relatively underrepresented in the postsecondary sector. These fields are centred on four key pillars: health (Health Administration and Social Work); science and information technology (Computer Science with major, minor and specialization options in IT Security, in Data Analytics and in Serious Gaming and Virtualization, Science in Biotechnology, and Engineering at the Master’s level in Data Centre Design and in Communications Infrastructure); business (Commerce and Business Administration with a number of major and minor options); and the arts (Sociology, Criminology, Psychology, Political Science, English, and History, with minor options in Peace and Conflict Studies and Human Rights and Social Responsibility). The focus of the campus will be to aliress current and future projected regional capacity gaps in Simcoe County.
• Laurentian will continue to build on its existing relationships with global and national industry partners based in Barrie such as IBM, CISCO, and Cogeco and develop new opportunities, which will aliress University degree gaps that have been identified in Cognitive Analytics IT Security, Data Analytics, Data Centre Design and Management.
• At this time, Laurentian has no plans for expanding program or degree offerings at the University Partnership Centre in Barrie.
• Introduction of a Master’s program in architecture in 2016-17, which would require 60 spaces in 2017-18 and 60 aliitional spaces in 2018-19.

Enrolment Growth

The strategic enrolment and planning exercise is in the context of a public commitment in the 2011 Budget to increase postsecondary education enrolment by an aliitional 60,000 students over 2010-11 levels. This government has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to ensuring access to postsecondary education for all qualified students.

Baseline Projected Eligible Full-Time Headcounts

Note: In March 2014, Laurentian’s Senate approved a change in its institution’s internal definition of full-time student to one taking 18 credits in any one year, from 21 credits. Laurentian states the impact will be that full-time headcount will increase by approximately 750 students in 2015-16. This conversion is not reflected in the enrolment forecast above. The Ministry will continue to use its current definition of FTE, common across all institutions, to count and to fund enrolment, as well as to monitor and track tuition compliance.

Graduate Allocation

The Province committed to allocate an aliitional 6,000 graduate spaces in the 2011 Budget. The allocation of the balance of the 6,000 graduate spaces is informed by institutional graduate plans, metrics identified in the differentiation framework, and government priorities. Based on these considerations, the allocation for Laurentian University is provided below.

Note:For a detailed breakdown of graduate space allocations, see Appendix.

Financial Sustainability

The Ministry and the University recognize that financial sustainability and accountability are critical to achieving institutional mandates and realizing Ontario’s vision for the postsecondary education system. To this end, it is agreed that:

• It is the responsibility of the governing board and Senior Administrators of the University to identify, track, and aliress financial pressures and sustainability issues. At the same time, the Ministry has a financial stewardship role. The Ministry and the University agree to work collaboratively to achieve the common goal of financial sustainability and to ensure that Ontarians have access to a full range of affordable, high-quality postsecondary education options, now and in the future; and
• The University remains accountable to the Ministry with respect to effective and efficient use of provincial government resources and student resources covered by policy directives of the Ministry, or decisions impacting upon these, to maximize the value and impact of investments made in the postsecondary education system.

The Ministry commits to engage with the sector in spring 2014 to finalize the financial sustainability metrics to be tracked through the course of the SMAs, building on metrics already identified during discussions that took place in the fall of 2013.

Ministry/Government Commitments

Over time, the Ministry commits to aligning many of its policy, process, and funding levers with the Differentiation Policy Framework and SMAs in order to support the strengths of institutions and implement differentiation. To this end, the Ministry will:

• Engage with both the college and university sectors around potential changes to the funding formula, beginning with the university sector in 2014-15;
• Update the college and university program funding approval process to improve transparency and align with institutional strengths as outlined in the SMAs;
• Streamline reporting requirements across Ministry business lines with the goals of (1) creating greater consistency of reporting requirements across separate initiatives, (2) increasing automation of reporting processes, and (3) reducing the amount of data required from institutions without compromising accountability. In the interim, the Multi-Year Accountability Report Backs will be adjusted and used as the annual reporting mechanism for metrics set out in the SMAs;
• Consult on the definition, development, and utilization of metrics;
• Undertake a review of Ontario’s credential options; and
• Continue the work of the Nursing Tripartite Committee.

The Ministry and the University are committed to continuing to work together to:

• Support student access, quality, and success;
• Drive creativity, innovation, knowledge, and community engagement through teaching and research;
• Increase the competitiveness of Ontario’s postsecondary education system;
• Focus the strengths of Ontario’s institutions; and
• Maintain a financially sustainable postsecondary education system.

Appendix

Laurentian University - Summary of Graduate Space Allocations to 2016-17, FTEs

Notes:

1. Adjustments to Graduate Targets (pre 2015-16) include: (i) 2013-14 approved fungibility requests; (ii) 2014-15 final Master’s allocations; (iii) resets of graduate targets, if any; and, (iv) other Ministry commitments, including further conversions.
2. General Allocation Envelope includes all metrics-based space allocations for 2015-16 and 2016-17.
3. Priorities Envelope includes: (i) Ministry and institutional priorities; and, (ii) approved spaces for identified niche programs.
   1. The 30 Master’s spaces allocated as part of the Priorities Envelope are provided to Laurentian University in 2016-17 to support Laurentian University in the expansion of French-language graduate programs and its areas of strength in minerals, and Indigenous perspectives.