UBC School of Information Strategic Plan 2026-2030

January 2026

We respectfully acknowledge that UBC School of Information is located on the ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.

About the Strategic Plan

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 plan’s development was shaped by two prior reviews: an External Review of the School conducted by the Faculty of Arts in 2023, and the 2024 ALA Accreditation Review. Both reviews emphasized the importance of crafting a strategic plan for the School and offered valuable recommendations that enriched our strategic thinking. Many of those are reflected in our goals and objectives.

Throughout this process, both the Faculty of Arts and UBC as a whole were developing strategic plans in which iSchool faculty, staff and students were involved. Our intent with this plan was to align the School’s plans and priorities with the new Faculty of Arts Strategic Plan, the UBC refreshed Strategic Directions and the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, while also reflecting School of Information’s needs, aspirations and commitments. The result is an ambitious plan and I look forward to enacting it together with the wonderful people who make up this School!

Acknowledgements

Thank you to all the faculty, staff and students who had a hand in this project, organizing the consultations, providing input and feedback and engaging in many conversations.

Luanne Sinnamon,

January 21, 2026

Values and Goals

Stewardship

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

Community

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

 

Openness

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 and change

Diversity

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 diversity of our community through recruitment, hiring and inclusive practices
  • Honouring commitments to Truth and Reconciliation and decolonization

Integrity

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

Impact

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 communities
  • Advocating for and advancing the library, archival and information fields

Strategic Priorities

Mission

To educate future information professionals and researchers, and advance scholarship in the information fields.

 

Priorities and Initiatives

  1. Working with and for allied communities
    • Establish Advisory Board
    • Strengthen relationships with the Musqueam Indian Band
  2. Centring research impact
    • Establish a collaborative research centre
  3. Fostering authentic and inclusive educational experiences
    • Develop an online education plan
    • Enact commitments through curriculum renewal
  4. Building the culture and conditions for thriving
    • Indigenous Intent to Action Plan
    • Develop micro-credential programs
  5. Engaging with emerging technologies in alignment with our values
    • Grow the Informatics Program
    • Provide leadership on digital innovation and strategy

Goals and Objectives

Working with and for allied communities

Goal 1: Foster relationships with partners and allies for strategic growth and sustainability

  1. Maintain ongoing relationships with library, archival and cultural heritage associations (e.g. ACA, ALA, AABC and BCLA) and identify strategic opportunities to expand this network
  2. Develop a multi-year communication and engagement plan for allied communities and groups
  3. Identify organizations with aligned goals with potential for capacity-building collaborations and sponsorships
  4. Provide support for faculty and staff in their relational and outreach activities (for example, inviting visiting scholars and speakers, conference and event hosting)

Goal 2: Establish an iSchool Advisory Board to provide strategic guidance

  1. Recruit advisory board members from among our community allies
  2. Welcome Indigenous colleagues to guide FNCC and broader School actions
  3. Develop guidance and policy materials for the Advisory Board
  4. Convene first Advisory Board meeting in summer 2026

Goal 3: Strengthen and build reciprocal relationships with the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Indian Band

  1. Support existing collaborations, including the Musqueam Resource Curation Project
  2. Strengthen reciprocal ties with the Musqueam Archives and the First Nations Curriculum Concentration through training, research and community-engaged initiatives
  3. Initiate consultations towards a Memorandum of Affiliation with the Musqueam Indian Band

Goal 4: Increase and leverage faculty and student engagement with the information professions to build awareness and impact, for mutual benefit

  1. Encourage and support participation of faculty in local, national and international meetings of library, archival and information professionals, including virtual participation where possible
  2. Develop ongoing professional development opportunities in collaboration with library and archival organizations and associations
  3. Work with iSchool alumni to run an annual networking and career event
  4. Establish an alumni/employer assessment panel for learning outcomes assessment of MLIS portfolios

Centring research impact

Goal 5: Increase awareness and impact of iSchool research

  1. Update the research profile for the School with identified areas of strength
  2. Encourage and highlight knowledge exchange and knowledge mobilization activities
  3. Convene regular research conversations among faculty and PhD students
  4. Raise profile of iSchool Research Day by attracting sponsorships and external participants
  5. Develop a list of faculty and student research awards; track and increase annual nominations
  6. Increase exposure of research through Arts Services Centre – Communications channels

Goal 6: Prioritize research activities within the life of the School

  1. Fundraise for the creation of an iSchool Research Chair
  2. Create a joint grant-funded staff position to provide research support to faculty
  3. Support faculty conducting research by minimizing summer term service and committee work
  4. Offer flexible teaching arrangements to accommodate research activities
  5. Incentivize low-carbon research dissemination activities by encouraging virtual satellite conference participation and remote attendance

Goal 7: Support Indigenous scholarly activity and community-engaged research

  1. Develop and update School-level guidance and policy documents to recognize diverse forms of research, including Indigenous and non-traditional/emerging forms of scholarly activity
  2. Foster a culture of knowledge sharing and mutual support around diverse research methods
  3. Build connections beyond the School with relevant communities of practice and research support units

Goal 8: Create a school-wide research centre

  1. Identify a “grand challenge” area shared research interest as the focus of a centre
  2. Support the development of joint research grant applications linked to the centre
  3. Identify partnerships and revenue-generating activities that can sustain a centre over time

Fostering authentic and inclusive educational experiences

Goal 9: Align graduate programs offerings with demand from the LAIS sector and resource constraints

  1. Initiate a consultation process with LAIS professionals on program and course-level education needs for the sector
  2. Carry out a market and financial analysis in support of a sustainable program structure
  3. Collaborate with the iSchool Co-op program to increase alignment of employment trends and opportunities with student skills and career goals
  4. Identify potential educational partnerships within and beyond UBC to increase capacity and reach

Goal 10: Improve graduate students’ experiences of planning and managing their programs

  1. Create and publish multi-year course rosters for MLIS and MAS
  2. Improve the course enrolment experience to allow students to customize their programs
  3. Create formal areas of specialization with required courses
  4. Improve visibility and usability of iSchool Intranet (Arts Internal Resources site)

Goal 11: Increase accessibility and flexibility of educational offerings

  1. Develop and implement an online learning strategy, including hybrid and online options
  2. Develop a suite of micro-certificates for internal and external students
  3. Offer an annual 2-week Summer Institute for iSchool and external students
  4. Develop a set of recommendations and supports for instructors responding to student accommodations

Goal 12: Support quality, innovation and authenticity in teaching

  1. Increase development and feedback opportunities for adjunct and sessional instructors
  2. Develop school-wide protocols and strategies on use of AI by students and instructors
  3. Increase hands-on experiences with information systems and technologies in the classroom
  4. Foster collaborative education partnerships with GLAM organizations at UBC and promote existing internship and field-based learning opportunities
  5. Create opportunities for land-based and student-led learning
  6. Seek opportunities and funding to expand technology facilities for teaching

Goal 13: Enact iSchool commitments through curriculum renewal

  1. Indigenize the curriculum across all programs by incorporating learning outcomes, readings and assignments that deepen understanding of Indigenous perspectives in LAIS
  2. Revisit and implement the recommendations for renewal of the First Nations Curriculum Concentration
  3. Focus new course development in areas of leadership, sustainability, Indigenous LAIS and current technologies
  4. Build connections with UBC units, including the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, in support of collaborative curriculum development projects

Building the culture and conditions for thriving

Goal 14: Increase participation of underrepresented groups among faculty, staff and students

  1. Advocate for the hiring of approved Black Faculty Cohort position
  2. Adopt the principles of the Scarborough Charter and the StEAR framework and move towards Structural, Curricular, Compositional and International change
  3. Collect demographic data and update policies to increase diversity in student recruitment and admissions
  4. Continue to expand incentives to recruit and retain Indigenous graduate students
  5. Continue to offer professional development opportunities to faculty and staff in support of equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism in all aspects of their work
  6. Develop a unit approach to UBC’s Statement on Respectful Environment for students, faculty and staff

Goal 15: Promote wellness, balance and a collegial environment

  1. Use the strategic plan to establish clear goals and priorities each year to provide clarity and reduce overload on faculty and staff
  2. Plan regular informal gatherings of faculty and staff to build connections and common ground
  3. Streamline the committee structure and membership to reduce redundancy in service work
  4. Identify activities and initiatives to discontinue to allow for new ones

Goal 16: Implement the Indigenous Strategic Plan

  1. Carry out the Intent to Action process in 2025-26 to develop specific steps forward
  2. Invite Indigenous information professionals and/or community representatives to join the iSchool Advisory Committee
  3. Carry out actions identified throughout this plan that align with the ISP
  4. Promote the new iSchool Indigenous Reciprocity Fund to fundraise in support of new and ongoing initiatives

Goal 17: Develop supplementary income streams in support of the School’s mission

  1. Attract sponsorship for the annual Research Day and the Colloquium Series
  2. Create a suite of online micro-credential courses
  3. Expand the iSchool Store to sell branded merchandise
  4. Work with Arts Development to engage with alumni and promote opportunities to support iSchool students and initiatives and the impact of those contributions

Engaging with emerging technologies in alignment with our values

Goal 18: Increase opportunities for students to critically engage with digital technologies

  1. Create opportunities for informal learning and dialogue among staff, students and faculty, about new technologies and their applications in learning, teaching and professional work
  2. Review and update course offerings and learning outcomes within the graduate curricula to incorporate critical AI literacy
  3. Collaborate with the UBC Library Research Commons to offer an annual digital scholarship workshops for iSchool students
  4. Support innovative curricula and pedagogies that apply digital methods and contribute to digital literacy

Goal 19: Increase cross-campus collaboration with a focus on digital scholarship, tools and methods

  1. Incentivize and support collaborative digital scholarship among faculty and students
  2. Support faculty leadership and involvement in funded Research Clusters
  3. Develop closer collaborations with campus units focusing on digital scholarship, including the Emerging Media Lab, Digital Initiatives and the Digital Scholarship in Arts

Goal 20: Strengthen and grow the Informatics program

  1. Promote the Minor as a value-added component to undergraduates’ studies
  2. Collaborate with the Centre for Digital Media on shared course development
  3. Introduce a 300-level Informatics course on Applications of AI
  4. Increase partner units and elective courses for the Informatics Minor
  5. Enhance the recruiting path from Informatics to graduate programs

Goal 21: Provide leadership on digital innovation and strategy within Arts and UBC

  1. Continue to contribute to the development of policy and guidelines for emerging technology use within the university
  2. Continue to develop and promote INFO courses (e.g. INFO 100) that serve campus-wide information and digital literacy needs
  3. Conduct and disseminate value-sensitive research on the design, application and impacts of generative AI and other emerging technologies
  4. Engage in public education and knowledge translation activities to support ethical use of technologies and address digital divides
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