An Irish proverb tells us that “if you do not sow in the spring, you will not reap in the autumn.” At Brescia, we have had a very fruitful spring and summer and now find ourselves sharing in a bountiful autumn harvest.
On Wednesday, September 15, 2010, Brescia launches its five-year strategic plan, Living Leadership 2010-2015, and it represents the committed labour of many hands (and minds) with a shared love of Brescia. The result is an ambitious road map that recognizes our need for enrolment growth while maintaining the Ursuline values that have animated our school for over 90 years.
In this Plan, we see a focus on continuing to foster innovation in teaching, learning and research, and an emphasis on Brescia confirming its identity as Canada’s leadership destination for women wanting to make a difference in the world around them. This Plan also recognizes our need to expand and renew our physical plant, identifying in particular the need to build a new 300-bed student residence with dining pavilion and an integrated Food Laboratory Complex that will consolidate Brescia’s Food and Nutritional Sciences program into one place with four cutting-edge laboratories. This Plan, in typical Brescia fashion, includes also a continued emphasis on community – our student community, our alumnae community and, of course, the broader community in which Brescia is located.
I am delighted with this new Plan as it is the result of a year of planning, of planting seeds, and watching the many directions in which they grow. It will stretch our resources and energy in many ways over the coming years, but will surely result in an even stronger, bolder Brescia.
As the cooler days of autumn begin to arrive and we celebrate this season of harvest and thanksgiving, I am so grateful to belong to a community that steps boldly into its future while keeping its past firmly in mind.