Like all technology-based organizations, BCcampus needs to review and renew its strategy on a regular basis. This year we are embarking on that process in January 2011 with a view to refining our programmatic directions for 2011 through 2014.

Our current strategic plan for 2010-2012 states our mission clearly:

• Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of all BC post-secondary institutions under a collaborative service delivery framework

BCcampus is a systemic entity, a meta-level service provider that works across institutions. Our mission is targeted at achieving synergies through collaborative, multi-institutional frameworks that benefit students, institutions, faculty and staff across the British Columbia post-secondary system.   We currently have three key strategic directions:

• Provide agile, personalized access to educational information and services using a federated approach to connectivity across system institutions
• Reduce costs and create system efficiencies using collaborative and shared service models
• Develop and share educational resources and expertise through the promotion of open and accessible networks

Each of these directions is linked with an associated goal and a series of operational targets.  For more detail on our current plan, follow the link to the BCcampus Strategic Plan.

As we move forward in 2011, we’ve been doing our own research to review what peer organizations in Canada, the United States, and Europe have been doing, and where they see the future for their organizations. Included in this group of peers, we’ve looked closely at strategic plans from:

Organization	Link to strategic plan
Joint Information Services Council JISC (UK)	JISC strategic plan
SURFNet (Netherlands)	SURFNet strategic plan
Wiche Cooperative for Educational Technologies WCET (USA and Canada). Example: Washington State Online	A collection of WCET partner strategic plans Washington State Online strategic plan
eCampusAlberta	eCampusAlberta strategic plan

A summary of our external sources of input for our strategic plan is summarized in a short document.

Each of the plans we’ve examined shows some congruence with our own plan and likely reflects a common set of trends and issues that higher education institutions are dealing with worldwide. Each organization responds to those stimuli in its own context and BCcampus will do likewise.

We’ve also been looking closely at the drivers of strategy to insure that what we propose in own strategic offerings will have both balance and a broad scope, enough so that our institutions no matter how large or small can see value in our strategic directions for them, their students and faculty.

The rubric we’re using to help identify and define our strategic direction has three elements against which we will align our thinking:

• Efficiency (existing processes carried out in a more cost-effective, time-effective, sustainable or scalable manner)
• Enhancement (improving existing processes and the outcomes)
• Transformation (radical, positive change in existing processes or introducing new processes).

We’ll shortly be posing some of our ideas to our strategic advisory council (SAC), on February 18, 2011. We’ll also be posing them publicly using this blog and inviting feedback as we refine the directions that BCcampus will pursue during the 2011-2014 timeframe.

We invite your input and feedback.