October 21, 2005 Source: Concordia University:
http://publicaffairs.concordia.ca/mediaroom/pressreleases/2005/10/005167.shtml Remarks by Dr. Claude Lajeunesse, President and Vice - Chancellor, on the occasion of his installation, October 21, 2005 MONTREAL/October 21, 2005 — I want to thank you all for your very warm welcome. Nicole and I have been deeply touched by it. For Concordia University, this ceremony marks the beginning of new chapter in its history: a moment where we take inspiration in the richness of the past, and the vitality of the present, to face the
challenges of the future. I am very proud to be here today as the new President and Vice-Chancellor of Concordia University. I am deeply grateful for the confidence and trust of the members of the Board of Governors. In the past few months, I have met members of the Board and faculty, student and staff representatives, and many key stakeholders from both inside and outside the University. Among them all, I found great pride in Concordia’s heritage, and enthusiasm and confidence in its future, which I share. I also share the conviction not only that Concordia must be, and will be a top-ranked international university—but that it will also be recognized as such. Studying at Concordia, working at Concordia and living at Concordia must be a unique and enriching experience for all who come here, and all of this must be highly visible beyond the boundaries of this great university. My fundamental message to you today is that in order to make Concordia a top-ranked international university, we will need to weave excellence into our institutional DNA, to nurture it in each of us, and in everything we do. Nothing less. Over the next few minutes, I will explain what I mean by this, and I will set some benchmarks for the next five years. But let me say at the outset that I am absolutely confident that we can achieve this goal—if we work together, and if all of us are prepared to set aside our personal interests to act in the higher interests of the university. Concordia must become more than the sum of its parts. All we do in the coming years must be directed towards achieving this goal. By any measure, we are already a successful university, positioned to achieve top ranking over the next five years. Our strengths are the product of many years of hard work and commitment to advancing the mission of Concordia. I particularly wish to acknowledge the work of my distinguished predecessor, Dr. Frederick Lowy, and his team. We are inheriting from them an institution that has been truly transformed in the last decade, and particularly in the last seven years. Phenomenal growth in student enrolment; increasing recognition of our academic excellence; our persistent commitment to innovation; visionary planning—these are elements that are in place. For that, I thank all of you who have worked so hard to make them happen—and particularly Dr. Lowy whose leadership was so determining. Dear friend, thank you for your exemplary contribution. I have to tell you that even though I have been in the university world for many years—at NSERC, as president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada in Ottawa, and then for the past decade at Ryerson University in Toronto—I did not fully appreciate from a distance what a remarkable place this university has already become—and how extraordinary its potential is. Concordia today has more than 37,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs, and more than 6,500 in our non-credit Continuing Education courses. Of these, more than 4,200 are here as visa students from 157 countries outside Canada, speaking dozens of mother tongues other than English and French! In recent years, they have helped to make this the fastest-growing university in Quebec, and increasingly, internationalize its perspective. We now have formal links with 89 sister universities and other institutions in 29 countries, giving our networks and programs a global reach. This rapid growth has created a platform for renewal—to the point that more than half of our faculty has been hired in the last decade. This is a university that is building on its existing depth, consolidating its growth and renewing itself in the process. Concordia has quietly become a place where top-ranked academics and practising professionals provide students with quality teaching and research. It is a place where leaders in their discipline carry out groundbreaking work. External funding for research was up 150% in the five years leading up to 2003-2004. There are now 61 Research Chairs occupied here. Our faculty and our students are either in, or will soon enjoy working and studying in beautiful, state-of-the-art, environmentally innovative and architecturally significant new buildings. No wonder there is so much pride and optimism here! But not enough people know about these strengths. So one of the things I want to accomplish in my time here is to speak up about our strengths and the pursuit of excellence at Concordia. Our achievements should be widely known, acting as a powerful attraction for the best students, faculty and staff. This will be at the heart of my mandate at Concordia. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this university’s reputation reflects its many real, and considerable, strengths. In the last few months, since I have actually been here, I have been able to witness them for myself. Furthermore, I can say that I am very comfortable with the values at the heart of Concordia. They are consistent with my own, long-held and dear to me. What makes a university great is the productive interaction between faculty and students, the constant search for academic excellence and the sharing of values held dear to preparing our students to take on the challenges of the world beyond the university. There are certain key values that have carried Concordia from its roots to today, and I see them as integral to our future. I am committing to you today that I will honour and carry forward these key values of diversity, accessibility, openness and sensitivity to student needs. First, diversity. From its roots in two founding institutions in Montreal’s English-speaking community—Loyola and Sir George Williams—to their union more than thirty years ago, Concordia has become the first choice for non-francophones from around the world who choose to live in Quebec. Increasingly, francophones seeking a rich, cross-cultural experience are attracted to Concordia, where they can continue to live and work in French. We go well beyond recognizing diversity; we celebrate it. In fact, we have integrated it into the very fabric of our identity. Secondly, accessibility: Like Francis Bacon, the English philosopher, I believe that knowledge is power. Concordia plays a tremendous role in the empowerment of its students. From the early days of Sir George Williams, which pioneered evening credit courses and part-time university study in Canada, this institution has always made it a priority to facilitate learning for students in every possible life circumstance. We offer courses from 8:00 in the morning until 10:30 in the evening, as well as on weekends. Concordia does not distinguish between day school and night school, full-time or part-time students. We continue to attract a large contingent of students who are the first in their family to graduate from university. Our goal, rooted in our history and critical to our future, is to provide education that is borderless, and barrier-free. Concordia places a high priority on meeting the needs of its stakeholders. Certain of our cultural and religious communities have demonstrated their attachment to this approach through generosity. For example, they have created chairs and research centres to study their cultures and traditions. The close collaboration between certain chairs and the corporate world has led to productive interaction between the university and employers in several disciplines. Concordia’s cooperative education program allows students to alternate their academic study terms with work terms in business and industry. This gives them practical, on-the-job experience and the foundations of a network in the broader community—a great competitive advantage for students after graduation, and for Concordia throughout. So Concordia is in touch with its stakeholder communities, and with their needs. For example, our people run a psychology clinic that serves the Montreal public; they provide support to the Crees of Quebec as they seek to master their socio-economic destiny. Concordia is a real presence in our society, and ahead of the curve in identifying needs. Our institution is an important source of innovation, creating new academic programs in disciplines where our people are pioneers. Aside from the excellence of the programs themselves, and the dynamic faculty teaching them, Concordia is a pioneer in the emerging multi-disciplinary nature of breakthrough thinking and innovative solutions. Increasingly, our students will be challenged and stimulated to think outside the box; to learn not just vertically, but diagonally…to become full citizens with active, curious, creative and productive minds, and engaged, committed and global spirits. These strengths provide a great foundation for the future and I intend to build on them. Consistent with a culture of sound governance, achieving our vision will require crafting a detailed plan which establishes our priorities and lays out actions and strategies. This plan will draw heavily on our excellent existing five-year academic plan, Moving Ahead: Concordia, Canada’s University for the 21st Century. Bearing this in mind, I want to make some very specific commitments that will guide my administration over the next five years. We will make it a priority to develop our physical plant in support of our objectives. Le Quartier Concordia is transforming downtown Montreal, and will facilitate greater interaction between the university and the surrounding community. The renaissance of our magnificent Loyola campus is in the process of renewing the west end of Montreal. These changes allow us to greatly enhance what we offer our own university community—but also the society around us. Concordia is part of the very fabric of Montreal, its history, its character, its growth and its joie de vivre. Providing world-class facilities is essential to our goal of becoming a top-ranked international university. This is particularly important to our John Molson School of Business. We will make it a priority to provide the best possible learning environment to our business students in an increasingly competitive world. I am therefore committing to you today that within my mandate, we will complete the John Molson School of Business building. We are here today in a magnificent heritage building, the Motherhouse of the Grey Nuns, which has been a gracious and vital part of Montreal’s history since 1871. It was built to expand and continue the work of Marguerite d’Youville, the remarkable woman who founded the Grey Nuns more than 250 years ago. Her courage and compassion, her determination to provide education and health care for all—disabled soldiers, French or English, native people, and contagious patients turned away by other establishments—contrary to the practices of the time, she turned no one away. She was also highly competent. All this remains inspirational, and relevant, to us today. That is why we are so deeply honoured to be entrusted with this significant property. Today, we have largely moved beyond the basic needs that the Grey Nuns once had to address. It is fitting that the Motherhouse will now be transformed in ways that will nourish minds, spirits and community. We will build a beautiful leading-edge home for our fine arts faculty and students as the next stage in this building’s extraordinary history of housing important contributions to society. Over the next few years, it will be transformed into the jewel of our downtown campus. As part of my commitment to a world-class infrastructure, my colleagues and I will be seeking the support of the City of Montreal, the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada, as well as the private sector, to participate in the revitalization and transformation of this very important historical site. This project will help to reshape the school for the future by creating possibilities for new ventures in interdisciplinary research and curriculum. We will build these infrastructures without losing sight of the fact that excellence is measured by what happens inside these buildings. In the years to come, we will be watching carefully over the continued quality of teaching throughout all the disciplines. We will be a leader in setting benchmarks for emerging best practices across disciplines. We will continue to work actively to augment our research capability and productivity. We will strengthen and expand our graduate programs, and seek funding to attract a higher proportion of graduate students, who are so crucial to research. Research, scholarship and artistic output are absolutely key to the life of a university, and critical to the future of our country. The best teaching minds have so much to offer. Imagine the inspiration students feel when they attend classes with someone who is developing new technologies, inventing new products or creating exciting and original new works. Sharing the results of these original efforts is deeply satisfying for the best researchers and students. During my mandate, I commit to you that we will move Concordia to the top five among Canada’s comprehensive non-medical universities in terms of support from the federal granting councils, and we will increase the number of research chairs from 61 to 100, including NSERC Industrial Research Chairs. To do this, we will continue to take the steps to attract and retain the best professors. We will reward excellence in teaching and research through tangible actions, including tenure, promotion and merit awards. Concordia will transfer the knowledge that we acquire and develop it beyond the confines of our institution, to where it can make a real difference. We expect that all these efforts will continue to increase our attractiveness to excellent students, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as for excellent faculty and excellent staff. We will emphasize all the relationships necessary to support an increased level of research activity: we will be assiduous in approaching federal, provincial and private sector funders. We will strengthen our relationships with our sister universities to broaden Concordia’s international networks. Building excellence means setting higher standards. We will continue to raise admission standards and work to improve graduation rates. But building excellence does not mean abandoning our deep historical commitment to accessibility. I am committing today that we will open our Continuing Education programs to credit courses, so that academically disadvantaged students can successfully integrate into and benefit from our increasingly demanding academic programs. From my experience in the university world, I am convinced we can set these goals and achieve them. But at the same time, we must be realistic. All universities in Canada have experienced reduced funding. We compete for dollars with health care, and other public concerns. In Quebec, we face the additional challenge of a tuition freeze at levels far below what students pay in other provinces. In the past, we have been told by governments that tighter management can make up for lack of resources. But we know that this is not enough. In this environment, it is critical to join our sister institutions and work with both the provincial and federal authorities for parity in higher education funding with the rest of Canada. Our ability to act on the international stage and to develop the next generation of researchers, creators and academics is at stake. During my mandate, we will reach out to our 120,000 alumni around the world and to our friends in the corporate, business and artistic communities. We will share our strengths, but also our dreams and vision for a stronger Canada. We are confident that they will share this vision and partner with us by lending their support towards achieving excellence. I want to be very clear about what I believe will set Concordia apart in the future. When we talk about weaving excellence into Concordia’s DNA, it means that we cannot be satisfied with rhetoric. Excellence does not just happen because we chant the mantra. It requires continually meeting the highest standards, and submitting ourselves to exacting self-assessment. We must breathe life into the concept of excellence to make it real, step by step, day by day. There is no other way to get there. Excellence has to become a daily habit. In the process, we will be able to attract the best students, the best employees and the support of our community. In closing, I want to address a most vital aspect of Concordia’s role: to provide a rich student experience. I am a strong believer in the value of a whole and balanced life: in their time with us, our students must be exposed to a general culture that enriches their lives forever. They need intellectual, physical and social activities that stimulate them and reward them. They need a warm and human environment within which they can expand their minds and hearts to become fully engaged citizens, at home and in a globalized world. For some students, this means living on campus. This is particularly true for those who come to us from outside the Greater Montreal area. Over the next five years, we will build student residences to address this need, and to integrate these students more closely into campus life. A vibrant and dynamic university must encourage students to have a stake in developing its character, and an environment that nurtures both academic and non-academic achievements. Because I believe that it is essential to greater student involvement, I am committing to you today that I will work to provide a student union building at Concordia. I will also work to upgrade our sports and recreation facilities on both campuses, enhancing the quality and accessibility of the infrastructure. These are important supports to quality of life and work-life balance—which in turn, enhances academic outcomes. My friends, a ceremony like this one is always a moving experience. Nicole and I look forward with both joy and humility to this new stage at Concordia, and in our own lives. It is the dawn of a mandate in which there is so much to do, and so many lives to touch. I thank you all for coming, and I am deeply grateful to you. I want to leave you with a call to action: transforming an institution is a monumental, but exhilarating task. Let us take inspiration from the remarkable place in which we are gathered today, and its history of profound influence on positive social change. Let us make the name Concordia resonate, so that it comes to stand for accessibility, diversity, limitless potential and depth of excellence. Thank you.
Source: Chris Mota,
Senior Public Relations Officer
Concordia University
tel: (514) 848-2424 ext. 4884
cel: (514) 952-5556
fax: (514) 848-3383
e-mail: mota@alcor.concordia.ca
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