Skip to content

College working on new strategic plan

The Southeast College has started to work on a new strategic plan. A session was held at the Estevan campus on Nov. 23 with a handful of people in attendance. It was the last of seven planning sessions to take place at the college’s campuses.

The Southeast College has started to work on a new strategic plan.

A session was held at the Estevan campus on Nov. 23 with a handful of people in attendance. It was the last of seven planning sessions to take place at the college’s campuses.

Dion McGrath, the president and CEO for the college, said he wanted to see more people in attendance, but there were some good ideas exchanged.

The college heard a lot of similar themes at each of the seven meetings, McGrath said, but it also heard some unique ideas at each one as well.

“We heard an affirmation of the things that the college is doing, so that nice to know that folks see the value in what we’re currently doing, the programming that we’re currently offering and the things that we’re pursuing for the diversification of programming needs in the region,” said McGrath.

People encouraged the college to continue to pursue programming that would benefit small business throughout the region, and make small businesses more competitive. McGrath suggested it could be training for technology, or labour market training for business needs.

Innovation was also discussed a lot.

“One of the themes was how the college can continue to pursue innovative ways to deliver programming, like what we’re doing with the university programming this year using technology,” said McGrath.

Those university courses are first-year sessions through the University of Regina, offered through a live stream.

The focus on innovation was a big part of what the college heard at the session in Estevan, McGrath said, and how the college can be innovative and pursue innovation in its programs.

The college is now assessing all of the information it received at the sessions. An online survey on the college’s website continues to accept feedback from the public.

“We’re still waiting and accepting and seeking input from the broad public through our website and the survey link that is on our website,” said McGrath. “That will continue until mid-December.”

From there, the college will analyze the data and trends, so that it can begin work on a draft plan.

The current strategic plan was implemented five years ago. It will expire on June 30, 2018.

The final plan is slated to be approved by the board in May of next year, and released before July 1. McGrath said it would be too early to speculate on the contents of the strategic plan, but he expects the college will want to align with the provincial government on priorities for sustainability and accountability.