Over the last 12 months, you the community of Mount Allison have stepped up and shaped this plan. It is our plan.
It provides a robust, ambitious, future-focused compass to guide the journeys forward. Our student-centred commitments, directions, imperatives, and strategies will shape the change we want and the decisions we take.
As Mount Allison’s guiding framework, it is now in our hands to operationalise all that is laid out. In the coming months, working collaboratively across the University, we turn our focus to action, to doing.
Strategic Plan Implementation Group
To support, guide, and report on strategic actions, Mount Allison will create a Strategic Plan Implementation Group. Similar to the Strategic Plan Facilitation Team, the group will draw representation from across the University and report to the President & Vice-Chancellor.
Given the multi-year time span for this work, attention will be paid to renewing the group’s membership on an annual basis while ensuring continuity of knowledge and work.
Supporting and guiding
In their supporting and guiding roles, the team will work with the President’s Cabinet and Council, and each academic and administrative portfolio to help empower them to develop implementation plans that realize the strategies outlined in our plan. Implementation plans will identify and define key tactics, the specific initiatives and actions we will take to manifest the change we seek.
The group will provide support to units as they consider, plan, and carry out specific actions and initiatives. Importantly, they will provide guidance and a coordinating function in managing what will be a rich and interconnected tapestry of action.
To be sure, much material was gathered to inform this work. Across the myriad live sessions, surveys, emails, and community events that constituted our consultation phase, members of the Mount Allison community brought forward numerous tactical recommendations. Whether you recommended specific new learning programs, technological solutions, or ways and means to advance net-zero planning, the strategic planning team has diligently documented the breadth of possible tactics heard. These are promising approaches, a portfolio of growing options upon which to build strategic implementation.
Reporting
Reporting will also be a critical part of the group’s work. It will be essential to understand what progress is being made, what is working and what is not, and it will be critical that we communicate on our progress. Regular updates will be brought to the community, to Senate, and quarterly progress reports will be submitted to the Board of Regents. Moreover, working with our Marketing & Communications team, the Strategic Plan Implementation Group will ensure wider communication of progress to the campus community, alumni, external constituents, and partners.
Chief Strategy Officer
In January 2026, Courtney Pringle-Carver was appointed Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) for a five-year term. As Chief Strategy Officer, Pringle-Carver will lead the implementation of the Strategic Plan and chair the Strategic Plan Implementation Group, ensuring strong alignment, accountability, and measurable progress across the University.
While Pringle-Carver takes on the role of CSO, she will maintain her position as Vice President, University Advancement.
Evaluation and adaptation
Strategic planning and implementation is an ongoing, long-term process that continuously emerges and evolves in relation to internal and external factors — an ever-changing series of contexts. Given the rapid pace of change in the world, regular review and adaptation of this plan will be necessary.
To ensure Mount Allison has the emergent capacity and in addition to the regular updates and reports referenced above, implementation plans include key waypoints at approximately 18 months, 3 years, and a full review at the 5-year mark from the start of implementation.
- At 18 months, the University will perform a formative assessment, a check-in, to measure early progress, identify what’s working or lagging, and recommend any course corrections. Intended as an effective waypoint, the assessment will review progress reports and efficiently survey the University community for feedback.
- At 3 years, a more comprehensive mid-point review will evaluate the effectiveness of implementation and the consequent outcomes. The University will reflect on whether shared goals are being met, and how they may need to shift. This mid-point review will engage a more substantive survey of the University community and result in a report of findings and recommended adjustments.
- At the 5-year mark, the University will complete a fulsome Strategic Plan review. This will measure the overall success and outcomes of the Strategic Plan to date. It will highlight major accomplishments, lessons learned, and outstanding work. This review will include an assessment of how the University has addressed progress on reconciliation, indigenization, and DEIAR. This review will serve as a springboard for future strategic planning and alignment.
The shift from strategy to action happens collectively, with each of us — each department, unit, and faculty — sharing, collaborating, and working together.
Questions? Email strategicplan@mta.ca.