Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan

As part of Shape: The University Strategic Plan 2023-2033, the U of A has set forth an ambitious goal to expand enrolment to 60,000 students by 2033. With it comes the opportunity to meet the needs of our growing province and enhance our impact in Alberta and the world. We embrace our role in delivering higher education to both Albertans and those from around the globe and welcome the opportunity to expand to meet labour market needs while sustaining outstanding academic quality.

INTRODUCING THE INTEGRATED ENROLMENT GROWTH PLAN (IEGP)

Message from the Chair, Integrated Enrolment Growth Planning (IEGP) Steering Committee

I am excited to introduce the university’s new Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan (IEGP). A first of its kind in Canada, the IEGP is a vital step in bringing to life the vision detailed in Shape: A Strategic Plan of Impact 2023-2033 as we aim to effectively manage and expand enrolment to 60,000 students over the next decade.

Fundamentally, growth is about creating a community in line with the goals and values of the institution — to foster access and diversity, ensure we continue to have an impact on the world around us and for the communities we support, and work to build a sustainable future for the university.

But growth is also about seizing opportunities and mitigating risks. As a result, the IEGP is a plan about how best to manage enrolment and respond to the conditions of the day. This isn’t just about growing enrolment arbitrarily, but continuing to focus our actions in ways that build our community, seize opportunity and adapt to our realities. In this way, the IEGP works to mitigate risk in a contextually relevant and iterative way.

Furthermore, the IEGP weaves together various elements of our community, acknowledging the different impacts and opportunities associated with our enrolment decisions. This encompasses essential areas such as infrastructure, staff and faculty development, program innovation, student support services, IT enhancements and more. At its core, the IEGP underscores our dedication to building a vibrant community, adapting to our realities, and taking actions that align with our institutional values.

As you read through the IEGP, I encourage you to think about these themes and consider how growth can shape our path forward to create the university we want to be.

Melissa Padfield

Deputy Provost, Students and Enrolment

Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan

Read the IEGP

During the enrolment growth planning process, I learned the immense value of building strong relationships with the faculties. These relationships are crucial for understanding their unique needs, challenges and goals.

Emmanuelle (Emma) Yellowbird
Enrolment Management Service Partner, CSSH/FNS and CSJ

Enrolment growth is complex and affects every aspect of what we do and who we are at U of A as well as the impact we hope to have in the world. Being intentional about planning for growth demands that we work together across all of the spaces that are needed for the U of A to function.

Tracy Raivio
Vice-Provost and Dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

Through the IEGP, I'm hopeful we can attract international students who can thrive at U of A and also enrich the student experience for our domestic students.

Trish Reay
Vice-Dean, Alberta School of Business

I am eager to mobilize online learning programs — specifically in the graduate realm. This enrolment growth planning work helped to shift the conversation about online learning and graduate program opportunities. We are on the right path.

Jessica Butts Scott
Associate Vice-President, Online Learning and Continuing Education

The enrolment growth planning process was a big reminder that there's a whole community of people here invested in the success of our students. It was great to see the commitment from others who are outside of my typical work interactions and it helped grow my excitement for the university's future.

Brett Zawadiuk
Manager, Residence Occupancy and Recruitment

Why Grow Enrolment?

Access

Growth ensures continued access for Albertan students by keeping pace with our province’s growing population and increased labour market demand.

Impact

Growth creates a diverse community from a variety of innovative programs, leading to even greater impact in Alberta and the world.

Sustainability

Growth enables staged investments in services, resources and infrastructure to secure a sustainable future for the university.

INTEGRATED ENROLMENT MANAGEMENT

Following approval of the IEGP by PEC-S in June 2024, an Integrated Enrolment Management Committee (IEMC) was established to provide ongoing oversight of the IEGP and its recommendations. The role of IEMC is to:

Review faculty enrolment targets before finalization to provide strategic advice and confirm alignment with the overall institutional enrolment and growth plans, looking for cross institutional opportunities
Oversee aggregate management of enrolment targets
Review performance against current-year targets and identify trends or issues to be addressed
Engage with strategic opportunities related to achieving enrolment objectives (e.g., considerations related to programs)
Provide ongoing strategic guidance to integrated enrolment management supports, including but not limited to data and analysis approach, faculty-level supports, recruitment activities, etc.

Membership

Deputy Provost (Students and Enrolment) — Chair
Deputy Provost (Academic)
Vice-Provost and Registrar
College Deans & Vice-Provosts (CSSH, CHS, CNAS)
Vice-Provost and Dean, FGPS
Faculty Deans (FNS, AUG, CSJ)

Vice-President, External Relations
Associate Vice-President, Infrastructure Planning, Development and Partnerships
Associate Vice-President, Performance, Analytics and Institutional Research (PAIR)
Director, Academic Budgets and Planning
Enrolment Management Service Partners

Deputy Provost (Students and Enrolment) — chair
Deputy Provost (Academic)
Vice-Provost and Registrar
College Deans & Vice-Provosts (CSSH, CHS, CNAS)
Vice-Provost and Dean, FGPS
Faculty Deans (FNS, AUG, CSJ)
Vice-President, External Relations
Associate Vice-President, Infrastructure Planning, Development and Partnerships
Associate Vice-President, Performance, Analytics and Institutional Research (PAIR)
Director, Academic Budgets and Planning
Enrolment Management Service Partners

The Enrolment Growth Planning Process

Achieving growth on this scale is complex and requires coordinated planning with a staged approach to securing resources and investing in building our capacity to support and sustain higher enrolment. As such, an Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan (IEGP) process has been developed to initiate broad engagement, provide strategic coordination and ensure that growth is aligned with the university’s mission and organizational capacity. Through this planning process, various aspects and impacts of enrolment growth are being explored, including areas of investment, student access and experience, support services, as well as the physical space and technology to accommodate such growth.

Objectives + Scope

Align enrolment growth plans with research and teaching objectives, demographic growth potential, workforce demand and international opportunities.
Develop detailed planning scenarios for growth objectives broken down by graduate, undergraduate, international, domestic and Indigenous learners for 60,000 students by 2033.
Provide a roadmap for advocacy efforts and infrastructure decisions in alignment with growth objectives.
Establish an innovative space utilization and development strategy that enables growth, including work to expand virtual offerings in online education and hybrid learning.
Ensure a clear accountability structure and phased planning for achieving growth objectives.
Create an appropriately inclusive process for advancing this work.
Ensure planning connects to the objectives of the Student Experience Action Plan and aligns with other university strategic plans and initiatives.

Approach

Decision making is ultimately governed by our institutional strategic plans and aligned with a One University approach.
The university will endeavor to be responsive to government priorities, which includes participating in targeted enrolment funding opportunities.
Growth planning should be mindful of our commitments to Indigenous initiatives and to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and is informed by consideration for the quality of the experience of our students, faculty and staff.
Growth planning is data-informed.
Transparency is essential throughout the enrolment growth planning process.

Governance Structure

Steering Committee

The Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan (IEGP) Steering Committee directs development of the draft plan that will outline the interdependencies, feasibility considerations and impact needs for enrolment growth. It is composed of College Deans and Vice-Provosts, the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies as well as support from communications and data specialists to provide an overarching lens on enrolment growth.

See Membership »

Oversight Committee

The Areas of Focus Oversight Committee assesses the data strategy associated with enrolment growth and prepares the initial draft plan for the IEGP Steering Committee to review. This committee is composed of the Chairs and Vice-Chairs from each of the Areas of Focus Groups to ensure alignment, manage connections and establish coordination across all working groups.

See Membership »

Areas of Focus Groups

Recognizing the diversity of our community and the broad reach that student enrolment has on the university, seven Areas of Focus Groups have been created to ensure all aspects of growth are examined. Members of the Areas of Focus Groups are composed of leadership, faculty, staff and students representing the three colleges, all faculties, including the stand-alone faculties, university-wide service units as well as the Students’ Union and Graduate Students’ Association.

See Membership »

Timing + Deliverables

While enrolment growth is a long-term institutional goal, by thinking ahead and planning now, we are better prepared to adapt and implement plans for enrolment growth in the future. This first phase of IEGP development occurs until the end of May 2024 and involves exploration, analysis and risk mitigation by the IEGP committees and working groups. Once their work is submitted and developed into a draft IEGP, it will be reviewed by the IEGP Steering Committee before being submitted to the President's Executive Committee - Strategic (PEC-S) in late spring/early summer for review and feedback. The draft IEGP will include the following components:

recommendations for scaled growth to achieve 60,000 students, including target enrolment composition
interim targets including viable targets and contingencies in the absence of funding for domestic growth
recommendations to address critical dependencies and constraints
governance and decision pathways including recommendations for long-term enrolment planning governance
recommendations on university community engagement

Contact

If you have questions, insights or other feedback about the Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan (IEGP), please contact IEGP@ualberta.ca.

Video

Verna’s Vlog with Melissa Padfield

On November 29, 2022, Interim Provost and Vice-president

Integrated Enrolment Growth Plan

INTRODUCING THE INTEGRATED ENROLMENT GROWTH PLAN (IEGP)