Annual Report 2017–18

Message from the Chair and President

This past year marked an important milestone for Seneca as we celebrated our 50th year. Since our first home opened at a temporary campus in North York in 1967, many accomplishments have been celebrated over the past five decades.

In June 2017, the Board of Governors approved a new Strategic Plan, which provides the direction for our annual initiatives through to 2022. This annual report marks the transition to the new plan from Seneca’s 2012-17 Strategic Plan, which guided us through a period of unprecedented growth and activity.

Our past and current strategic plans share a foundation in our core mission – providing a great education for our students. That has been fundamental to Seneca since we opened our doors. A Seneca education is a valuable combination of practical and sophisticated skills underpinned by theoretical knowledge. It is a polytechnic education, enriched by technology-enabled learning.

This annual report documents an eventful and, at times, challenging year at Seneca. The five-week labour disruption during the fall semester was a difficult period for everyone, and resulted in an extended term. Through this time, we are proud to report that Seneca employees showed great respect and continued to provide tremendous support to our students.

Looking to the future, this year Seneca announced the biggest undertaking in our history—a series of program, school and department moves and facility expansions that we’re calling Seneca2020. We are opening our two largest-ever construction projects: Magna Hall at King Campus and the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE) at Newnham Campus, close to 500,000 square feet of new academic, student and administrative space. A team of academic and support areas have been carefully planning these moves, which will allow us to take full advantage of these beautiful new spaces and enhance our students’ campus and academic experience.

This annual report highlights the many initiatives and accomplishments within our community last year. Anyone who knows Seneca knows there is no shortage of exciting activities taking place on our campuses at any given time. We launched Sustainable Seneca to promote and embed sustainability in the values and learnings we impart to our students and the way we conduct our business. New programs, pathways and partnerships were established provincially and globally to ensure mobility for students as they build on their Seneca credentials. And our students and faculty continued to demonstrate their excellence by being recognized locally and globally for their academic and professional accomplishments. They make us #SenecaProud every day.

We are also very proud that Seneca is an example of tolerance and inclusion. From our thousands of international students from nearly 150 countries to the extraordinary mix of backgrounds among our domestic students and employees, every day the world walks our halls. Seneca reflects, promotes and embraces respect and diversity. Since our founding 50 years ago, Seneca has strived to provide an education that equips students for a successful career. Equally important, we support them in becoming engaged and thoughtful citizens, building strong, healthy and inclusive communities around the world. That work continues each year and is reflected in our milestones celebrated in this annual report.