Community Responsiveness

Laurentian University was founded to serve resource based and rural regions. Fresh water surrounds us in Greater Sudbury and Barrie and is a key element in the Laurentian identity with our focus on "Clean Water Now and Forever" and on healthy communities through professional health programs, including the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Laurentian University is vital to the socio-economic and creative life of the communities in which we live, learn, and work.

ASPIRATION: We will actively engage with community partners ensuring that Laurentian continues to contribute to the prosperity and well-being of the cities of Greater Sudbury and Barrie and their surrounding regions, and that local communities actively champion Laurentian.

To achieve this by 2017 we will have:

• Established a cutting-edge curriculum that draws students internationally to the School of Architecture in downtown Sudbury
• Completed a Laurentian campus in downtown Barrie to serve 2,500 FTE students
• Launched new programs, subject to Senate approval, responding to community needs, including occupational health and safety, Indigenous relations, IT security/data centres and management, théâtre et littérature franco-ontariens, integrated approaches to environmental science and environmental studies, northern policy
• Developed new partnerships that further engage local communities to work with Laurentian on emerging priorities including the performing and film Arts
• Implemented quality housing solutions to meet changing student needs

Community Responsiveness

ASPIRATION: We will further our partnerships with Francophone, First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, faculty, and staff using resourceful and supportive approaches.

To achieve this by 2017 we will have:

• Continued to support our high-quality French-language programs including those that respond to community need for services in health, education, culture, and business
• Revitalized the Certificate of Bilingualism, awarded to 500 students per year
• Completed the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre to serve as the gathering place to support Indigenous knowledge on the Sudbury campus
• Enhanced proactive hiring practices to increase the proportion of Indigenous faculty and staff
• Increased Indigenous content in courses from 13% of all courses to 16%