A message from the Strategic Transformation Office

This is an exciting time for U of G as we are embarking on a Strategic Transformation journey that will see us own our future and shape who we want to be. It’s a bold step forward and it’s rooted in our commitment to meet the evolving needs of our faculty, staff, students and greater community – emerging as a more modern and financially-fit institution.

By design, our transformation will leverage the genius that resides within U of G. Faculty, staff and students will play an important role in identifying efficiencies and modernizing our ways of working.

To learn more about our Strategic Transformation, check out this video:

Setting Ourselves Up for Success

Building our new Strategic Transformation Office

We have reached an important milestone in our transformation journey and that is the construction of our new Strategic Transformation Office. This Office will be solely focused on the development, execution and reporting of all Strategic Transformation initiatives happening across the University.

 

Joining the Strategic Transformation Office are:

• Kash Raza, Senior Director, Project Management
• Patricia Tersigni, Senior Director, Strategic Academic Initiatives
• Arlene Teti, Strategic Advisor, People Transformation and Change Management

 

With these roles in place, recruitment efforts will now focus on the following:

• Executive Lead, Strategic Transformation
• Project Management Support
• Administration
• Communications

 

As we move forward, you can expect to receive ongoing strategic transformation communications from this Office.

 

Establishing the Strategic Transformation Advisory Group

An important aspect of our transformation journey is ensuring the voices of faculty, staff and students are heard and leveraged. As such, the Strategic Transformation Advisory Group will bring together representatives from across the U of G and serve as a forum for providing feedback on transformation initiatives.

We received several nominations from across our campuses and are close to filling our student and staff seats.  We are still looking to fill our faculty and librarian-designated seats and have extended the nomination period to Oct. 11. Here is where you can learn more and apply to the Advisory Group.

In the coming weeks, we will reach out to those who applied to join the Advisory Group and a kickoff meeting will be held later this Fall. Thank you to everyone who has already put their name forward for this critical work.

Unlocking New Opportunities

Our ability to transform and modernize our ways of working hinges on recognizing our current state and knowing where we want to go. We want to identify ways to improve and innovate, building on what works and changing what no longer serves us.

To better understand how we can unlock these opportunities, we are leveraging feedback from faculty and staff through operational reviews. The reviews are supported  by third-party experts who are working with our faculty and staff to look at our operations (including processes and resources), our financials, and faculty, staff, and student experiences holistically. No one knows our University better than you and through the operational reviews, we will action meaningful change that helps the University realize its vision.

This is where we are at with the operational reviews:

In progress Finance and Budget Open Education Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) Hospital Procurement Library

Starting later this year and into early 2024 Arboretum Childcare & Learning Centre Computing & Communication Services Communications & Marketing Human Resources Student Services

 

As our transformation unfolds, it may be determined that operational reviews may no longer be required for some of the areas listed above, or, we may identify additional departments that would benefit from an operational review. As these decisions are made, we will communicate them broadly.

The operational reviews are just one of a few ways we are soliciting feedback from our U of G community. At any time, faculty, staff and students are welcome to share their ideas by emailing transform@uoguelph.ca.

Looking Ahead

We know how important it is for you to be kept up-to-date and involved in our transformation journey. We are committed to sharing regular and transparent updates with you through email, our Intranet and on uoguelph.ca. If you have any questions about our Strategic Transformation journey, please contact us at transform@uoguelph.ca.