THE WORLD NEEDS

INSPIRED
COMMUNITIES

The third commitment in our plan is Inspired Communities. It asks us to inspire the world by achieving meaningful change with and for our communities through four unique goals:

 

GOAL

EMBRACE MANACIHITOWIN

(Respect one another)

Strengthen bonds of respect, trust, and shared benefit with Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan, across Canada, and globally.

Strong relationships are built upon respect, reciprocity, and continuous renewal of values and actions that support healthy connections. The English interpretation of this Cree/Michif phrase is “let us respect each other." This phrase embodies humility and speaks to the spirit of the treaties. It is an invitation to walk alongside, to travel down a path, working together to realize goals and a vision that strengthen all cultures.

The University of Saskatchewan embraces the teachings of manacihitowin, which are drawn from the stories and songs of Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers.

Deep understanding of concepts like manacihitowin demands experiential cultural and language learning, and an inquisitive learning spirit. We cannot achieve respectful relations passively; as a university, we have both an ethical obligation and a vital opportunity to nurture the sharing of stories that will awaken understanding and inspire our community toward relationships uplifted by our histories, cultures, and lived experiences: manacihitowin.

GUIDEPOSTS

  • Increased number of experiential cultural and language opportunities for all students, staff, faculty, and leadership
  • Policies and protocol that are respectful of the diverse Indigenous cultural groups in colleges and schools
  • Systems and structures that support collaborative and reciprocal relationships and partnerships with Indigenous peoples on- and off-campus
  • Policies and practices that honour Elders, Traditional Knowledge Keepers, and Language Teachers
  • The articulation and teachings of manacihitowin will be fluid and deeply known and evident throughout the whole campus community

GOAL

AMPLIFY VALUE

Distinguish the university as an essential community partner by growing and documenting our impact on prosperity, quality of life, social resilience, ecological sustainability, and student success in rural and northern Saskatchewan, in our towns and cities, and in communities across Canada, and globally.

An inspired community is a community that recognizes and respects the value we create as a university.

The measure of our university’s ambition is therefore expressed in the value we create with the communities that give us reason to learn, to discover and to innovate: improving lives, expanding opportunities, strengthening social cohesion, protecting the environment.

This animating premise and driver of accountability has three implications. First, we will do as much as we can to achieve the greatest possible impact for our communities—we can never rest, allow ourselves to feel satisfied that we’ve done enough or become complacent about the complex process of translating discoveries into results for communities. Second, in order to demonstrate that our value claims are genuine, we will work hard as a university community to quantify, document, and defend the impact to which our research, scholarly, and artistic efforts are contributing—evidence of impact is both a moral obligation and a growing expectation of the partners and communities that support and work with us. Finally, we need to be very clear as a university community about when and how we can help to create the greatest value and commit energy and resources to realizing this potential.

GUIDEPOSTS

  • Enhanced contribution to communities’ overall health and wellness, quality of life, and capacity to achieve social intents
  • Increased impact on communities’ capacity to protect the environment and promote ecological sustainability
  • Amplified contribution to GDP, job creation, and economic security in Saskatchewan and across Canada
  • Heightened public and private-sector recognition of the impact of our work in the region, the province, the nation, and the world

GOAL

CELEBRATE STORIES

Equip all members of our community with the tools and opportunities to share and propagate the university’s knowledges, successes, and stories—locally and globally.

The University of Saskatchewan has a compelling story—and countless individual stories—to tell, and it’s our shared responsibility and interest to inspire the world with our ambition and achievements.

Effectively engaging communities, students, faculty and staff, and new partners with the power of our narratives is not simply the work of dedicated communications and public relations professionals. We must entrust and empower all members of our community as University of Saskatchewan ambassadors.

Achieving this degree of community engagement has several implications. We need to tell the stories that best represent our values and aspirations. We need to share our stories in ways that are meaningful, authentic, and responsive to the diverse needs and traditions of our communities. We need to harness accessible, engaging tools—with an emphasis on digital platforms—to enable the widest possible reach and interaction with our stories. And we need to make storytelling intrinsic to our work and sense of fulfillment as students, faculty, and staff.

GUIDEPOSTS

  • Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others in our community understand and value the university story and can carry it into their conversations
  • Increased share of traditional and digital media
  • Improved reputation and institutional recognition locally, provincially, and globally
  • Strengthened position in relevant international rankings

GOAL

ENERGIZE CHAMPIONS

Galvanize and diversify relationships with our alumni and donor community.

As a university, some of our most compelling stories require the power of voices beyond our students, faculty, and staff.

Our greatest advocates, allies, and supporters are our hundreds of thousands of alumni and our generous donors—who, over the past few years, have contributed tens of millions of dollars to enable learning, research, scholarship, and creativity at the University of Saskatchewan.

We can and will do more with and for our alumni and donors by continuously cultivating opportunities for meaningful engagement; making our alumni and donors feel integral to the fabric, spirit and future of our university; ensuring that alumni and donors are as excited about our ambition and achievements as we are; and working together with alumni and donors to build a stronger, more engaged, and more innovative university community.

GUIDEPOSTS

  • Strengthening of mutually beneficial relationships with alumni to serve the needs of our graduates and our institution
  • Growth in the degree and depth of alumni engagement—as ambassadors, partners, supporters, and donors
  • Expanded, more diverse support base in Saskatchewan, across Canada, and globally
  • Substantial increase in donor support toward our mission