This plan was developed over 2024-25 through consultations with faculty, staff, students and School partners. Moving away from a detailed mission statement, the current plan emphasizes our core values, which serve as a vital compass in these turbulent times.
The development of the strategic plan was shaped by our two prior reviews (2023 External Review and 2024 ALA Accreditation Review), as well as the new Faculty of Arts Strategic Plan, the UBC refreshed Strategic Directions and the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan.
Mission
To educate future information professionals and researchers, and advance scholarship in the information fields.
Values
We demonstrate care for the natural world and those living in it by:
- Addressing the global polycrisis through research and teaching
- Preserving memory, culture and knowledge
- Promoting balance, mutual care and wellness in the workplace
- Recognizing the hidden labour and emotional dimensions of our work
- Supporting long-term ecological sustainability through our voices and actions
We cultivate resilient communities within and beyond the School by:
- Fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose
- Initiating and sustaining respectful and reciprocal relationships
- Undertaking community-engaged research and knowledge exchange
- Demonstrating compassion for students and colleagues
- Honouring collaboration and teamwork
We demonstrate openness, inclusivity and resilience by:
- Innovating — embracing new ideas and opportunities
- Enacting transparency
- Embracing interdisciplinary and diverse viewpoints
- Making space for critical perspectives and difficult conversations
- Staying curious and creative; finding opportunities in uncertainty change
We embody respect for others and promote diversity in our communities by:
- Prioritizing equity, anti-racism and accessibility throughout our work
- Recognizing diverse knowledge traditions in teaching and research
- Respecting the rights of students, staff, faculty and community members
- Actively increasing the the diversity of our community through recruitment, hiring and inclusive practices
- Honouring commitments to Truth and Reconciliation and decolonization
We maintain high standards and follow through on our commitments by:
- Enacting robust ethical and professional standards
- Being honest and accountable in our decisions and actions
- Honouring the commitments of UBC as a public university
- Doing our part; sharing the labour and responsibilities that constitute the School
We make a difference through research, education and service by:
- Addressing pressing real-world needs and challenges
- Connecting research to practice across the information professions
- Prioritizing the student experience, from application to graduation
- Supporting and enriching our scholarly and professional communitites
- Advocating for and advancing the library, archival and information fields
Goals and Objectives
Working with and for allied communities
- Foster relationships with partners and allies for strategic growth and sustainability
- Establish an iSchool Advisory Board to provide strategic guidance
- Strengthen and build reciprocal relationships with the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Indian Band
- Increase and leverage faculty and student engagement with the information professions to build awareness and impact, for mutual benefit
Centring research impact
- Increase awareness and impact of iSchool research
- Prioritize research activities within the life of the School
- Support Indigenous scholarly activity and community-engaged research
- Create a school-wide research centre
Fostering authentic and inclusive educational experiences
- Align graduate program offerings with demand from the LAIS sector and resource constraints
- Improve graduate students' experiences of planning and managing their programs
- Increase accessibility and flexibility of educational offerings
- Support quality, innovation and authenticity in teaching
- Enact iSchool commitments through curriculum renewal
Building the culture and conditions for thriving
- Increase participation of underrepresented groups among faculty, staff and students
- Promote wellness, balance and a collegial environment
- Implement the Indigenous Strategic Plan
- Develop supplementary income streams in support of the School's mission
Engaging with emerging technologies in alignment with our values
- Increase opportunities for students to critically engage with digital technologies
- Increase cross-campus collaboration with a focus on digital scholarship, tools and methods
- Strengthen and grow the Informatics program
- Provide leadership on digital innovation and strategy within Arts and UBC