uNlOCKINg POTENTIAl NorQuest 2025 Strategic Plan Table of Contents

Message from the Board Chair and the President 1

Our Story 2

Our Strategic Outcome 7

Our Priorities 8 Workforce Relevance 11 Enhanced Presence 13 Unique Market Position 15

Institutional Context 16

Talking NorQuest 20 Message from the Board Chair and the President unlocking our potential and realizing our dreams Transformation evolves from bold thinking, collaborative action, confi dent decision-making, and visionary leadership. The future for NorQuest College – and our students – is fi lled with opportunities. In order to realize our dreams, we need to unlock our unique potential. Our strategic plan helps us do just that. Think of it as a roadmap. It points us in a common direction and aligns the work we do. It charts our journey, as well as our purpose, and defi nes the strategic outcome we plan to achieve by 2025. In the pages that follow, you will fi nd a vision for the future that we – and our key partners – must work towards each day. Find out how we plan to double NorQuest College's impact on the economy; what three priorities guide us in preparing tomorrow’s workforce today; and how we can unlock our unique potential and build an even stronger province for future generations. The strategic plan is the culmination of discussions with employers, students, community partners, government, faculty, staff , and the NorQuest College Board of Governors over the past several years. It also incorporates an assessment of societal, economic, and environmental factors and conditions that have an impact on the college and its activities. We will use the strategic plan for these purposes: • Provide clear direction on what the college needs to achieve now and in the future. • Align our priorities toward the achievement of a shared strategic outcome by 2025. • Guide development of the comprehensive institutional plan and annual operating plans and budget. Much more than words on paper, our strategic plan is about improving the lives of the many people who rely on NorQuest College and giving them the confi dence to succeed. The stories, priorities, and measures included in the following pages are inspired by them. Take a step forward and join us in our quest to transform the lives of thousands of more people each year. Together, we can truly make a diff erence.

lynn Faulder, ICD.D dr. Jodi l. abbott, ICD.D Chair, Board of Governors President and CEO

NOrQueST COllege 1 Our Story

2 stagc r te i plan 2025 WHAT CONFIDENCE CAN DO

Every year, thousands of people move to the region to enhance their lives. They quickly learn what those who’ve lived here for years already know: this part of the world is unusually prosperous.

Sharing in that prosperity, though, isn’t always a place or a family where no one cheers you easy. To a new Canadian, a young Aboriginal on – or worse. person, a single parent, a former high school By equipping people with both skills and the student, it may seem impossible. confidence to succeed in Alberta, NorQuest At the same time, employers across Edmonton is changing our province student by student, – across Alberta – give up opportunities to family by family, community by community – grow because they can’t find the right people. this generation and the next. More than ever, they need Albertans with skills. How does confidence change a student? For almost 50 years NorQuest College has Some 95 per cent of our graduates find jobs been developing programs to meet the need or enrol in another college or university in for skilled workers. Campus Alberta. We’re responding to pressing We continue to adapt to changing demands workforce needs. But we’ve also become a of business and industry, and the changing Canadian leader in health-care education to needs of our students. At NorQuest, we're respond to our students in the business of ensuring that our students – the vast majority of leave with the skills to find a great job. But we them women – who crave A lbertans, also ensure students are ready to live exciting fulfilling careers. People all Albertans, and dignified lives in this place, to progress, under-represented in deserve an to raise children filled with hope, to help Alberta’s labour force – build Alberta. Aboriginal Albertans, new opportunity. When students leave NorQuest College, Canadians, those entering Arming them they leave with confidence. the job market after with skills, fulfilling family obligations, What does it mean to lack confidence? To lack people with disabilities – with confidence, an understanding of the language or the culture, find confidence here, more to feel unsupported, confused, to come from is our calling. than anywhere else.

NorQuest College 3 Albertans, all Albertans, deserve an opportunity. respond to our students’ unique challenges Arming them with skills, with confidence, is our with compassion, not old-fashioned rules. calling. Fulfilling the potential of thousands of We’re entrepreneurial about our programs, Alberta learners will supercharge our industries responding to the job market of today and and our economy. It will make our unusually of 2020. We welcome the glorious complexity prosperous province even more secure, more of 100 different languages and traditions resilient, more just. from around the world. Our hallways and The route to building confidence is through classrooms are powerful reflections of a empathy, which isn’t possible in every changing Alberta, and a laboratory for the educational institution. At future: something happens to students when NorQuest, empathy is in our they discover there are multiple ways to say While every DNA because our students the same thing, to solve a common problem. benefit from it. institution Learning to work with people who grew up claims to be On any given morning, a on the other side of the planet, who think flexible, at recent immigrant will arrive and talk and dress in different ways, is worth to get his Math 30, and a more than we can measure. Walk into a NorQuest it’s woman who grew up in NorQuest classroom and watch a First Nations embedded poverty will declare she woman from Saddle Lake, a man from Burundi, in everything dreams of managing a hotel and a high school grad from Leduc learning to one day. Down the hall an be practical nurses: this is Edmonton. we do. Aboriginal student yearning In our hallways, new Canadians and lifelong for a career in the oilsands Canadians transform each other. They emerge is prepping for a trade in an apprenticeship from those hallways as more than college program, while an accountant who hasn’t graduates. They emerge with confidence, opened a textbook in 20 years starts a new as citizens. career in nursing. We incorporated this into our culture, While every institution claims to be flexible, and we’ve invested in it – with our Centre at NorQuest it’s embedded in everything we do. for Intercultural Education. The centre has There’s something we say to students here: translated what we live, every day, into a “We’ll meet you where you’re at.” It means we curriculum for Alberta industry. Now, if understand, we listen. We demand excellence businesses struggle to find workers or adapt and we’re rigorous about results, but we to a changing labour market, they can learn

Where others might see Alberta’s changing labour market as a burden or a hurdle…

4 stagc r te i plan 2025 new skills from us: how to interview for cultural The council also advised us that two diversity, how to manage multicultural teams. seemingly disconnected industries – health and construction – shared a common business Where others might see Alberta’s changing problem: project management was getting labour market as a burden or a hurdle, more complex and they couldn’t find staff NorQuest sees it as a welcome challenge. with the right expertise. We responded with We believe businesses that excel at recruiting our 130-hour Project Assistant certificate and retention with diversity in mind have a course. competitive advantage – and we can help them We can do much more of this – we must do hone it. more – in every realm. It’s just one example of how NorQuest seizes And we must also opportunities others don’t see. find opportunities Alberta needs more Our international education strategy aims in Alberta’s social to increase the number of international challenges, in the way from NorQuest: students, and find interesting ways to teach teaching is changing, more skilled and homegrown companies with global interests in the changing confident Albertans. and aspirations to be more competitive. aspirations of Our Landmark Group Centre for Value Albertans. Improvement focuses on improving process Edmonton has Canada’s second-largest efficiency for Alberta businesses. It’s not only population of urban Aboriginal Peoples. industry that benefits from this: students Many need that powerful combination of do too, as we apply what we’ve learned to skills and confidence that is our specialty. simplify college processes. Our funder, the Government of Alberta, We’re expanding the influence of our Workforce hopes to increase our province’s total off- Advisory Council: a group of Edmonton reserve labour force to 100,000. We will find business leaders. We rely on them more every more ways to recruit Aboriginal students, day, because they’re perfectly positioned to in areas such as construction or health care. anticipate and articulate industry needs. This is an opportunity for us to transform. We’ve responded to those needs with more Research shows that students who want to apprenticeship preparation, and a Hospitality complete high school and boost their literacy Institute that will train Albertans for careers in are better served when colleges help them hotels, restaurants, and tourism. develop essential skills, rather than just

…NorQuest sees it as a welcome challenge.

NorQuest College 5 focusing on the requirements of traditional language courses, upgrading, apprenticeship grade levels. This is an opportunity for us preparation, specialized health-care programs. to transform. But we’ll also seek and attract more “traditional” Albertans want members of Campus Alberta high school graduates who see us as a first- to work better together, to identify people's choice option after Grade 12, more corporate unique strengths and invest in them, to training students, more international students, invigorate Alberta’s economy over the next more workers who not only want to upgrade two decades. This is an opportunity for us their skills, but their careers – their lives. to transform. When we do these things, we’ll fulfill the big Alberta needs more from NorQuest: more skilled strategic priorities that guide everything we do: and confident Albertans. to be more workforce relevant for our learners and the industries that hire them, to enhance We need to be even more responsive to our presence, and to establish a unique industry, to become so close to our partners market position. that we anticipate their needs even before they articulate them. When we do these things, NorQuest College will have real and meaningful impact, not just We need to broaden and sharpen the programs because we’ll have more students and faculty, we offer, make them more attractive, more but because we’ll power the province’s relevant, indispensable. economy and give thousands of Albertans The mixture of skills and confidence the tools to navigate in the modern world, we provide, the way we make students into to participate and share in our prosperity, to citizens, is how we will seek and attract more become leaders in their communities. new Canadians, more Aboriginal students, We will show Alberta what confidence can do. more returning adult students who crave

income created by NorQuest College in 2011–2012 $67.6 +$354.2 = $421.7 MILONL I MILONL I MILONL I effect of college operations effect of student Total effect and student spending productivity

Source: Alberta College System Economic Impact Study, November 2013

6 stagc r te i plan 2025 Our Strategic Outcome By 2025 NorQuest College will... DOUBLE OUR IMPACT ON THE ALBERTA ECONOMY PROVIDING: 20,000 LEARNERS + $2 Million VALUE with workforce in applied research to Alberta relevant education industry and communities

Our Priorities Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce Today

To realize our strategic outcome, NorQuest College has established three priorities to guide the college to 2025: 1. Delivering programming known for its workforce relevance that meets the needs of our students, communities, and province. 2. Creating an enhanced presence in the communities NorQuest College serves and in the education sector. 3. Developing a unique market position for NorQuest College within the Edmonton region. By focusing on these priorities, NorQuest College will confi dently meet the changing needs of students, employers, and our communities, and fulfi ll our mandate as a comprehensive community institution.

8 STRATEGIC PLAN 2025

NorQuest College provides learning opportunities for all, including Aboriginal Peoples, new Canadians, and persons with disabilities. With the strength of a NorQuest College education, many more new Canadians like Khalid will be empowered to further their studies so they have the skills and confidence to begin new careers, provide better lives for their families, and make valuable contributions to society.

Khalid Lahroudi Apprenticeship Prep

We teach the skills for success in Alberta’s economy Our Priorities WOFO RK RCE RELEVANCE

Doubling our impact to the Alberta economy through workforce relevant education demonstrates our value to the communities we serve. This is essential for NorQuest College’s continued success. We will do this through two approaches: 1. Equipping students with the right set of skills for career success or further education. 2. Providing consulting, research, training, or other services to our community and industry. At NorQuest, our faculty prepares students to start new careers or further their learning, enabling them to achieve success in education and in life. As such, we must strengthen our role in helping students become contributing and confident members of society by concentrating on workforce relevant programming. This is crucial in supporting Alberta’s growth. As the Edmonton region’s community college of choice, we serve as a catalyst for students and employers by providing relevant and necessary education. We must invest in students who are future community leaders, and future employees of business and industry. In turn, these sectors will invest in the college so they can employ our graduates who are workforce ready and prepared for the challenges of a demanding economy. The key test to industry and community will be their willingness to acquire and invest in NorQuest College services. NorQuest must demonstrate that our services are relevant to emerging market trends, industry pressures, and the needs of communities. We know we are successful when: • 20,000 learners receive education and training services from NorQuest College each year. • 95% of NorQuest College graduates find employment or continue their education. • 80% of external stakeholders agree that NorQuest College offers programs that are workforce relevant. • NorQuest annually provides over $2 million in applied research to Alberta industry and community.

OCC UPATIONS IN DEMAND F ROM 2000–2012 Restaurant/Food Services Managers Delivery Drivers 117% 33% x Administrative Officers increase in resource increase in total 200 14 Business Development Officers sector employment labour force Purchasing Agents and Officers JOBS Source: Institute for Public Economics, IPE, 2013, are created with every new Retail Supervisors Statistics Canada, 2012 residential tower built Food Services Supervisors Source: Downtown Business Hotel Front Desk Clerks Association, 2013 NorQuest College 11 We deliver education that strengthens the quality of life for all Albertans

Recognized and valued by Albertans for the skills they learn at NorQuest College, our practical nurse and health care aide graduates are employed in communities across the province and are renowned for their responsive, professional, and patient-centred care.

Diana Deny Health Care Aide certificate program Our Priorities ENHANCED PRESENCE

By doubling our impact on the Alberta economy and enhancing our presence, NorQuest College will encourage leaders of business, government, post-secondary institutions, and communities to seek our opinion, involvement, and partnership. Broad recognition of the quality of a NorQuest College education is critical to the college’s future accomplishments. Enhancing our presence in communities helps to ensure that NorQuest credentials, programs, and services are increasingly sought after by learners, and valued by employers. It also contributes to attracting skilled and innovative educators with a passion for teaching and learning. Working collectively, we will ensure that the reputation of our education is outstanding while increasing access to our programs through flexible, traditional, and virtual learning environments. This will enable more NorQuest College students to make a positive difference in the lives of people and communities across Alberta. Our greater presence in the communities we serve enhances our ability to secure community, financial, and government support needed to provide our students with an exceptional educational experience.

We know we are successful when: • 65% of Albertans include NorQuest College when thinking of top colleges and universities in central and northern Alberta. • 70% of external stakeholders rate NorQuest’s academic reputation and student experience as good or excellent. • 75% of external stakeholders agree that NorQuest is an important member of our community.

FO R EVEry DOLLAR INVESTED IN NORQUEST COLLEGE U PCOMING INNOVATIVE PROJECTS

returned in lifetime • B io-Mile’s Clean Energy & Technical Centre, $3.80 income for students • A lberta’s Industrial Heartland, Strathcona County returned in added provincial • P ort Alberta, Leduc County $ $14.20 income and social savings for society • D owntown Arena and Entertainment District, Edmonton returned in added taxes and public $2.40 sector savings for taxpayers Source: Alberta1 College System Economic Impact Study, November 2013

NorQuest College 13 We provide education that opens doors for people from all walks of life

NorQuest College helps newcomers to Canada fully utilize the skills they have already acquired in other countries. That’s why many more students like Mariana will come to NorQuest College to learn English or other skills and leave understanding much more. After completing her education at NorQuest College, Mariana successfully integrated from her native Uruguay into our Canadian community, learned to speak English confidently, and started her own thriving business.

Mariana Konsolos Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program Our Priorities UNIQUE MARKET POSITION

NorQuest College helps learners with diverse educational backgrounds complete or further their studies through foundational, post-secondary, and continuing education programs. By doubling our impact on the Alberta economy, and focusing on our unique market position, we will have a stronger foundation on which to provide learning opportunities for all potential learners, including people under-represented in the Alberta labour force. This includes Aboriginal Peoples, new immigrants, and persons with disabilities. While attending NorQuest College, students must be immersed in an inclusive learning experience that embodies diversity. This will help our students to develop skills not only in cultural understanding, but also in the other college-wide learning outcomes of creative and critical thinking, community citizenship, communication, and collaboration. Going forward, we will increase our focus on our unique market position. Our exemplary faculty will guide larger numbers of students, regardless of where they start their journey, to workforce relevant career opportunities. We know we are successful when: • NorQuest College assists over 10,000 under-represented workers with career advancement training each year. • 90% of students are satisfied with their level of inclusion at NorQuest College.

B Y 2020 * * of the population E dmonton is one will be 45+ years old 18.1% of the top destinations 40% of Canada’s # for immigrants in and competition for a limited pool Aboriginal society Canada of younger trained workers is fierce calls Alberta home 1

IN 2010, of the

persons with disabilities AS OF 2010 430,000 in Alberta 19% of Alberta’s were contributing members population were 56.3% of Alberta’s workforce immigrants potential for growth

* Source: Institute for Public Economics, IPE, 2013 NorQuest College 15 Institutional Context

Vision Values N orQuest College is a vibrant, inclusive, and diverse learning We value people. We: environment that transforms lives • treat people with integrity and respect and strengthens communities. • empower and encourage risk taking • celebrate commitment, contribution, and accomplishments • promote health and wellness Mission We value learning. We: NorQuest College inspires lifelong learning and the achievement of • foster creativity, innovation, and critical thought career goals by offering relevant • encourage growth, development, and lifelong learning and accessible education. • build on the diversity of our learners, employees, and partners

We value our role in the community. We: • display leadership and responsibility for our outcomes • partner to achieve community goals

We value the quality of the processes we use in reaching our goals. We: • demonstrate a learner-centred approach • set clear expectations, measure results, and demonstrate accountability • promote teamwork, cooperation, and sharing throughout the college • follow fair process in accomplishing our objectives

16 stagc r te i plan 2025 Mandate NorQuest College is a board-governed public college operating as a comprehensive community institution under the authority of the Post-secondary Learning Act of Alberta. With campuses and learning sites across the Edmonton region, NorQuest enhances access to educational opportunities through its role as regional steward. NorQuest provides high-quality learning opportunities that prepare graduates for careers and further studies in business, industry, health sciences, human services, early learning and education, and information, communication and design technologies. A leader in enhancing access to post- secondary education, the college is widely recognized for its foundational learning opportunities in academic upgrading, adult literacy, employment readiness and English as a second language education. Credentials granted by the college include certificates, diplomas and applied degrees. NorQuest students experience unique educational opportunities in a vibrant and supportive environment that is responsive to changing learner needs and dedicated to learner access and success. Faculty and staff are committed to academic excellence and to enriching co-curricular student life opportunities. At NorQuest, learners from diverse educational, cultural and social backgrounds can achieve their personal and career goals, and enhance their lives. NorQuest programming is sensitive to the cultural experience of Aboriginal learners, and learners for whom English is a second language. The college is a leader in meeting the needs of learners with disabilities. As a comprehensive community institution with regional stewardship responsibilities, NorQuest engages community partners to meet literacy and foundational learning needs and ensures access to a full spectrum of post-secondary learning opportunities. In rural and urban communities throughout the region, the college opens pathways for lifelong learning. NorQuest is an active partner in Campus Alberta, collaborating with other post-secondary institutions, governments, business, and community agencies to enhance educational opportunities, strengthen the Alberta knowledge economy, and address the economic, societal, and cultural needs for education regionally and provincially. NorQuest delivers educational opportunities to people where they live and work. The college provides flexible alternatives in both credit and non-credit programming, including transfer credits, career laddering, recognition of prior learning, bridging, general studies, and part-time study. Workforce training is customized to meet specific needs in communities and workplaces. Through our partnership with eCampusAlberta and other innovative distributed learning alternatives, the college serves students across Alberta, throughout Canada and around the world. NorQuest is committed to enhancing teaching and learning through applied research that informs its academic programming and builds capacity in the communities it serves. The college’s centres for excellence are engaged nationally and locally with partners in business, industry, government and communities, to develop innovative solutions to social and technological challenges. NorQuest College contributes to a strong Alberta economy by developing the skilled workforce that both public and private sector employers require. Educated in an environment that emphasizes critical thinking, experiential learning, technology integration and intercultural competence, graduates of NorQuest College are global citizens and valued contributors in their communities.

Mandate approved by the Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education (formerly Advanced Education and Technology), June 2010

NorQuest College 17 Business Model Principles L earner Centred • We anticipate, understand, and respond to our learners’ needs. • We deliver programs that provide value to learners’ career goals. • We use processes that empower our learners.

Market Driven • We anticipate and respond to market demand for our programs and services by developing business opportunities and influencing demand. • We proactively design and deliver programs and services that are relevant to both the workplace and to learners’ career paths.

E vidence-Based Decisions • We make decisions based on data and information, such as financial data, market data, performance data, impacts, and relationship data. • We make decisions based on evaluation of risk, opportunity, and viability. • We consider business opportunities that have various levels of risk and financial return.

Integrated Organization • We function as an integrated organization with shared goals, role clarity, and accountability. • We create processes that often cross organization structure boundaries to achieve expected outcomes of the college. • We ensure the path to decisions is clear and accessible. • We ensure that integrated processes are transparent, so that each stakeholder in a process understands the roles of everyone in the process.

E ntrepreneurial • We are alert to, and create, opportunities. • We are innovative and flexible in assembling the required resources to capitalize on an opportunity. • We strive for profitability where the opportunity exists, to help offset the cost of pursuing other important priorities for our communities and learners.

Quality and Continuous Improvement • We define standards of quality and performance for all aspects of the college. • We define expected outcomes and then measure and report our performance against those targets. • We monitor our improvement and influence organizational behaviour through tools such as a balanced scorecard and performance feedback.

18 stagc r te i plan 2025 NorQuest Brand Model

Our Essence Our Attributes Challenge Positive Inclusive exciting Student-centred Confident Our Promise relevant and Progressive Maximizing Necessary Professional opportunities that Catalyzing others don’t see

The NorQuest Learning Experience NorQuest is grounded by our commitment to the NorQuest Learning Experience which is reflected in all that we do.

1. We’ll meet you where you’re at. • We welcome you at any stage of your learning. • We strive for accessible learning—any time, any place. • We value, respect, and leverage your experiences. • If you’re in, we’re in.

2. You will be taught by exemplary faculty. • They bring together theory and practice in innovative and authentic ways. • They are current and engaged in their disciplines. • They use technologies to enhance learning. • They respect you as a partner in learning.

3. you will be prepared for your career or next stage of learning. • You will gain real-world experiences. • You will be equipped with the right set of skills. • Your program is endorsed by business and community leaders. • Your NorQuest credential is recognized and valued.

4. You will have an inclusive learning experience. • Your learning environment embodies diversity. • Your uniqueness enriches our college. • You will develop skills in cultural understanding to succeed in the global community.

NorQuest College 19 TALKING NORQUEST NORQUEST BY THE NUMBERS 2,000+ 8,500+ 22 $514,128 graduates each year full-time, part-time, and post-secondary the increase in earnings a NorQuest continuing education career credentials and graduate with a two-year diploma students each year foundational programs will make compared to a high school graduate over a lifetime

STUDENT DIVERSITY 79% from Edmonton region 21% from across Alberta and Canada 64% 11% 55% age 25 and over self-identified born outside of First Nations, Canada, representing Métis, or Inuit 82 countries and 36% ancestry over 100 languages age 24 and under

students with learning and female male physical challenges receive 79% 21% 650 specialized supports

NORQUEST’S STEWARDSHIP REGION

¢ Edmonton ¢ Edmonton Stewardship Region 1 Edmonton Downtown Campus 2 Edmonton Westmount Campus 3 Wetaskiwin Campus 4 Stony Plain Campus 5 Drayton Valley Campus 6 Westlock Campus 7 Campus

20 STRATEGIC PLAN 2025 NorQuest College 21 NorQuest College | A proud partner in Campus Alberta 10215 – 108 Street NW Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 1L6

Step Forward norquest.ca

Printed in Canada April 2014