norquest 2030:
we are who
we include
strategic plan
our story
At NorQuest, our strength and our difference come from who is included.
People—learners, instructors, staff, partners—increasingly choose us because they love that we’re building a different kind of college here. This is an extraordinary place devoted to changing lives, fulfilling dreams, and creating belonging for everyone.
We make no secret about our aspirations to grow; to make exceptional economic and social impact on the communities we serve; and to closely align with Alberta’s needs as industry, government, and education all surge forward again, together. When we are at our best, NorQuest connects people from all walks of life to help solve some of society’s most challenging problems.
The key to all of it is who we include and how we include them.
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It starts with our invitation to students.
We welcome learners to NorQuest with kindness and compassion. When they walk through our doors, we meet them where they are. That will never change.
A relentless focus on meeting students where they are, creating systemic change, and being responsive supports higher post-secondary participation rates, drives our Indigenization Strategy, Wahkôhtowin, and brings to life our efforts toward building a truly anti-racist, equitable, diverse, and inclusive college.
An emphasis on these things isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s essential to our difference and reputation.
When we are who we include, we open up enormous potential for growth in new learners of all ages and backgrounds and in graduates with sharp, workforce-ready expertise. We’re a college of communities building the shortest, most accessible line not only between learning and work but also between scarcity and growth—in individuals’ lives and throughout entire industries.
When we are who we include, we’re a place of connection; a hub for business leaders and innovation; a catalyst for research that’s focused on society’s biggest challenges; and a vital partner to government, industry, and our community.
When we are who we include, when we show the world that this is a place where everyone can be successful, when we compete on experience, our crucial audiences understand our value and how we’re different.
And we continue to lead by example and demonstrate that kindness, compassion, and equity can drive meaningful change in students’ lives, academic excellence, the productivity of an economy, and the resurgence of an entire province.
This is our quest. This is how we transform. This is how we make a difference.
MessageS FROM THE BOARD CHAIR AND PRESIDENT AND CEO
Purpose
At NorQuest, we transform lives. And when we do that, we transform communities, we transform the world, we transform the future. We create a true global community—a place of belonging—right here at NorQuest.
The question we ask in everything we do is “How will this change lives for the better?”
We are on a quest.
We are difference makers.
We are NorQuesters.
Values
Strategic Aspiration
At NorQuest, we aspire to be a place where people come to transform their lives and find a place to belong. A place where we help make the aspirational attainable, and where there is a path for every learner who comes to us.
OUTCOMES
Learner
NorQuest is the first choice for an inclusive and seamless educational experience.
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Our first outcome is to be learners’ first choice for an inclusive and seamless learning experience. We will do this by expanding and enhancing our services and supports, courses, and research to best serve our learners and position them for success.
We will transform the NorQuest learner experience, and the processes and technology surrounding it, and implement strategies involving learner attraction, Indigenization, internationalization, and a reimagining of higher education.
Those who don’t know us—not yet—will come to understand what our most enthusiastic graduates and industry partners have known for years: NorQuest promises a life-changing experience and the best place to enter in-demand careers or start a lifelong journey in education.
The key to serving learners is consistency in the quality of our services, and flexibility and clarity throughout our college.
Sometimes, the NorQuest learner experience already resembles the ideal we have in mind: to be efficient, helpful, enjoyable, and safe. When learners feel this today, it’s because of the efforts of dedicated NorQuesters who have found ways to transcend the constraints of existing processes and technology. We have to elevate the latter, building tools and infrastructure that allow us to do whatever we can to support and make it easy for learners. That will be true transformation, positioning NorQuest as a college that’s easy to be part of and unthinkable to leave. All of it will be powered by the kindness and compassion that we aim to be known for, and our commitment to anti-racism and equity, diversity, and inclusion.
In the classroom, we have an extraordinary opportunity to weave Indigenous worldviews, perspectives, and teachings into ideas for growing our province, strengthening our economy, and helping our climate back to health.
We will continue to focus on programs that are the most relevant to the job market and communities, delivered in ways that are modern and flexible, and that provide enhanced opportunities for our learners that they can’t get elsewhere, such as work-integrated learning and applied research opportunities.
NorQuest is where learners will co-create content with instructors who are armed with robust and recent industry experience. It’s where students will find a safe place to learn how to navigate difficult situations. It’s where learners and faculty will together mine open data and open science to exponentially increase their impacts in the classroom and in the real world.
Too many people in this province face life’s challenges without a college education. Albertans, and learners from around the world, deserve fulfilling careers, the ability to provide for their families, self-confidence, and self-worth. Our focus on the learner will unlock the potential of a whole province for all of our distinct communities.
+ Strategic Direction
Expand and enhance our services, offerings, and research to best serve our learners and position them for success.
+ Key Objectives
1.1 Attract and retain learners by transforming the learner experience, anticipating learners’ needs, improving accessibility, and supporting mental health and wellness.
1.2 Increase program flexibility and diversity, and implement Reimagine Higher Education, which addresses game-changers such as connected teaching, learning communities, and assessment.
1.3 Integrate Indigenous knowledge and wisdom into all aspects of college life, and facilitate a mutual understanding, respect, and learning between Indigenous Peoples and others.
1.4 Prepare each learner for the changing workforce through the NorQuest Skills of Distinction: Inclusion, Resilience, and New Ways of Thinking.
1.5 Solve real-world problems for industry and communities, and provide work-integrated learning opportunities for our learners through advancing applied research.
1.6 Internationalize NorQuest to create opportunities for all students, faculty, and staff to engage in global issues, mobility opportunities, and strong partnerships for recruitment.
+ Measures
1.1 Increase the total number of learners served by 50 per cent.
1.2 90 per cent of learners are satisfied with the overall quality of education they received at NorQuest.
People
NorQuest is a purpose-driven employer of choice.
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When organizations cultivate and sustain great cultures, they are stronger and more adaptable, drive growth, and attract and retain the best talent.
At NorQuest, we also concentrate on culture because we elevate our learners and our community when our people are doing their best, most gratifying work.
Today, our culture is shaped by the philosophical—our overarching purpose, our nine “Qs,” or values that guide how we behave—and our commitments to anti-racism, and to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
It’s also shaped by the practical changes to our processes and systems that we’ve made and intend to make.
By innovating and continuing to refine the way we recognize and value our individual and group achievements, we’ll keep building an organization that honours difference-makers and leaders who add value to each other, and to learners, whatever their title or scope of responsibility.
We’ll also work to create a culture of continuous learning, one that aligns with our Qs and our purpose, and enables us to grow and develop NorQuesters in profoundly powerful ways.
To truly transform lives, to create a true place of belonging, we must always strive to create psychological safety here, to listen deeply and say what we feel.
Showing this side of NorQuest to the world will create an indispensable foundation that ignites all our work as we move forward, together, toward our aspiration for 2030.
+ Strategic Direction
Create an adaptive and inclusive organization.
+ Key Objectives
2.1 Attract, grow, and develop team members through a people-first approach that sparks innovation and continuous learning.
2.2 Support and ensure a safe, welcoming, supportive, and flexible workplace and learning environment.
2.3 Fulfil our commitment to becoming an inclusive, anti-racist, and decolonized organization through an ongoing focus on racial equity, diversity, and inclusion.
+ Measures
2.1 Exceed top quartile engagement among Canadian post-secondary institutions by 10 per cent.
2.2 Achieve Level 5 best practices in the Foundational categories on the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmarks.
CONNECTION
NorQuest is a values-driven partner in advancing societal and economic growth.
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NorQuest is electric every day with the buzz of meaningful connections. We see learners connecting with each other and faculty, employers connecting with a new crop of talented graduates, and a surrounding community that is connected to NorQuest in thousands of subtle ways.
To truly gain the trust of those we serve, we must deepen our connection to industry and communities; broaden our appeal and branch into new educational directions; and connect more meaningfully with organizations, communities, and leaders that share our values. This includes working closely with Indigenous communities, national bodies, and other post-secondary institutions.
We’ve learned what it means to meaningfully connect with industry need. It starts with anticipating what industry requires from us, perhaps even before they can articulate it themselves.
We consult with leaders, identify opportunities, lead the effort locally or join national partners, and apply our research. Then, we design curriculum from formal courses to non-credentialled professional development opportunities that equip workers with the skills they need, and that industry and communities want.
In the recent past, we’ve branched into areas like energy management, environmental technology, and machine learning. In the future, we will focus on the emerging sectors and careers that will drive the future of work and of our province. Those who know us best understand NorQuest is actively widening our lane, expanding who we serve, and working to redefine what it means to be your community college; now it’s time to let the world know.
And it’s also time to be deliberate about the partners and groups with whom we choose to connect. We will increase our value and our impact when we join forces with organizations that share our values and our commitment to changing lives and our community for the better.
+ Strategic Direction
Advance our place as a trusted and growth-oriented post-secondary institution.
+ Key Objectives
3.1 Transform the NorQuest brand to broaden its appeal, attract more learners and align with the college’s renewed strategic focus, and elevate public perception of colleges as critical drivers of economic growth.
3.2 Become a leader in work-integrated learning to give our learners and industry partners economic advantages.
3.3 Work with socially responsible organizations and partners, and promote values of inclusion to increase our impact and make a significant, meaningful, and positive effect on communities.
3.4 Work with international partners to build NorQuest’s brand in key markets for increased competitiveness and sustainable growth.
+ Measures
3.1 Achieve a combined learner, employee, and stakeholder net-promoter score that increases annually.
3.2 See 100 per cent of approved programs have work-integrated learning as part of the program.
investment
NorQuest is adaptable, sustainable, and has the resources to develop and offer solutions and create stronger communities.
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A renewed focus on investment means a different set of questions must guide our work.
How can we diversify what we offer and who we can attract? How can we grow our revenue so NorQuest becomes more adaptable and sustainable? And how can we sharpen external investment, fundraising, alumni relations, research, and business enterprises to help us meet these goals?
Tackling economic and societal problems together with community partners can influence them to join our efforts through common projects, donations, federal grant dollars, or an individual’s own philanthropy. We are already seeing how more focused, intentional, purposeful campaigns like our 1000 Women: A Million Possibilities movement will remove barriers for women learners and encourage them to do great things in science, technology, engineering, and math careers. If we do this 10—or 100—times over in the coming years, we’ll ensure learners have the skills employers seek, move the needle on pressing social challenges, align and reinforce our brand, and engage our ambassadors and allies in a fundamentally more intense and practical way.
There is a pragmatic reason to renew our investment focus, too; when we influence the community to join us in greater numbers, we’ll diversify our revenue, be more sustainable, and be better equipped to support our learners and our community in whatever future funding environment we encounter.
In the classroom, we’ll magnify our impact by removing barriers to access, and by welcoming a more diverse array of students and partners from around the world.
Our award-winning internationalization efforts will continue to target markets like India, while growing our presence in diverse new markets from Kenya to Peru to the Philippines. Learners there, like the ones closer to home, hunger for workforce-relevant education, and an organization that prizes diversity and creates a true place of belonging.
+ Strategic Direction
Diversify revenue and grow funding streams to support learners and communities.
+ Key Objectives
4.1 Develop and offer solutions for learners, community partners, and the workforce by increasing external investment in NorQuest through efforts such as community-based fundraising, micro campaigns, and alumni and corporate engagement.
4.2 Grow funding streams for applied research activity and capacity.
4.3 Attract international students from primary and secondary markets for increased diversification, sustainability, and an enhanced experience.
4.4 Grow and diversify revenue streams and profitability by forming strategic partnerships, leveraging technology, and creating new business models.
+ Measure
4.1 Increase self-generated revenue to $33 million.
transformation
NorQuest leverages technology and resources to maximize service delivery, amplify our impact, and support learners.
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Where our other outcomes contemplate how NorQuest will transform learners’ lives, NorQuesters’ careers, and our relationships with industry and investment partners, “transformation” is about the physical spaces, work processes, and digital realities that underpin so much of what we do.
Even before the rapid changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew that learners craved more flexibility in how they learned. This need will drive us to build physical classrooms that incorporate more flexibility and technology, and robust digital platforms that allow students to go online to learn when and where it suits them best. We’ll digitize our processes and our content to be more efficient and accessible, but transformation is also about lifting all learners so they have capability and confidence to embrace new technologies as they emerge. We’ll ensure everyone who might be interested in us is included, wherever new technology takes them, and us.
On campus, we’ll grow not just for growth’s sake, but to help solve a particular Albertan challenge, the lowest post-secondary participation rates in Canada, which are observed most acutely in underrepresented BIPOC groups. More space also means more opportunity for revenue, and more chances to align purposefully with the social and workforce needs of the province.
+ Strategic Direction
Leverage our technology and resources.
+ Key Objectives
5.1 Realize strategic campus-growth opportunities and evolve business enterprises.
5.2 Enhance business intelligence, predictive analytics, machine learning, and enterprise resource planning to maximize return on our investment.
5.3 Expand digital literacy and access, and leverage technology and data-sharing to support college and learner growth.
+ Measures
5.1 Staff agree that they have the technology, tools, and information to meet the needs of the people they serve.
5.2 Learners agree that they have the technology, tools, and information they need for learning.
