Empowering people
BCIT is an Institute that cares deeply about people, and this plan signals a new level of commitment to our students, faculty, and staff. Investment in learner success, employee talent, and enabling infrastructure is fundamental to our vision of empowering people. It is something that we believe will further differentiate BCIT as an educator, employer, and partner of choice.
Learner support and services
Our learners, whether entering a cohort program directly out of high school or returning to BCIT for reskilling later in their career, are the reason we exist. Support for their success, well-being, and resilience is paramount. Feedback from student consultation during the planning process highlighted areas of required focus. We will continue to extend and promote mental health and academic advisory services across all campuses, ensuring that appropriate resources are in place to help learners build good practices and to access help when needed. We will work across academic units to balance workload and enable flexible and self-directed learning. We will expand after-hours availability of learning support in key areas, such as library resources and peer tutoring. In addition, we will evolve recruitment and orientation practices to make BCIT more accessible and welcoming. Together, these efforts will help us equip learners for the rigours of BCIT, and the challenges of life that follow.
Faculty and staff development
Our faculty and staff are integral to our success. We must invest in attracting and retaining the best talent, a task made more challenging by the cost of living in the Lower Mainland. Our objective is for BCIT to become a true learning organization. As with students, we will prioritize support for employee well-being. We will put processes in place that encourage and enable faculty and staff to pursue their development, at and beyond BCIT. We will review the utility of existing career development offerings and promote those that best meet the needs of different employee segments. We will evolve training and performance management practices to support succession and leadership development. Leveraging BCIT’s Learning and Teaching Framework, we will provide more training for faculty to help them strengthen their teaching skills, shaping and advancing best practices across BCIT. We will also explore new program possibilities, including the creation of an “academy” for leadership in polytechnic education.
Process and system redesign
Two of the most pressing imperatives to emerge from engagement around the Strategic Plan were process redesign and employee empowerment. Despite solid progress, faculty and staff still navigate legacy systems and organizational silos. Our culture and governance frameworks are comparatively risk averse. It is critical that we address these impediments to excellence, innovation, and agility. We need to take a systematic approach, investing to create sustainable change and prioritizing the most pressing fixes in the next two years. We will use technology to modernize key business processes and workflow. We will clarify decision-making parameters to streamline how we work. We will institute processes that enhance the sustainability of our workplaces. We will embed internal and industry advisory practices that drive and facilitate regular program renewal and development. We will continue to strengthen operational functions and service models to better support our employees. And we will evolve structures, processes, and communication practices to drive collaboration across BCIT and between BCIT and our partners.