York University—Preparing Students to Redefine the Possible

February 20, 2008



York University—Preparing Students to Redefine the Possible



DR. MAMDOUH SHOUKRI

President and Vice-Chancellor, York University



Chairman: Catherine S. Swift

President, The Empire Club of Canada



Head Table Guests:



Sylvia A. Morawetz: Principal, S.A.M. Solutions, and Director, The Empire Club of Canada

Anna Luo: Grade 12 Student, Riverdale Collegiate Institute

Raheel Raza: Interfaith Advocate

William Fisch: B.Comm, LLB, Chairman and CEO, The Regional Municipality of York

Leeann Signorotti: Vice-President, Commercial Markets, Not for Profit and Public Sector, GTR, RBC Royal Bank of Canada

The Hon. Frank Iacobucci: CC, QC, LLD, Counsel, Torys LLP, Former Justice, Supreme Court of Canada

Jo-Ann McArthur: President, Jo-Ann McArthur Strategies Inc., and First Vice-President and President-Elect, The Empire Club of Canada

His Worship Frank Scarpitti: Mayor, Town of Markham

Dr. Ilse Treurnicht: CEO, MaRS

Tim Rider: Regional Vice-President, Commercial Markets, GTR, RBC Royal Bank of Canada.



Introduction by Catherine Swift:



In our hyper-competitive world, the role of our educational institutions is more important than ever. One of Canada’s competitive advantages over the years has been the fact that we have a relatively highly educated population. Recently, this advantage has diminished somewhat as a number of emerging economies such as China and India put more emphasis on educating their population to compete in the global marketplace. We are also facing serious labour shortages in Canada that will only worsen in the future with our demographic profile, which means that it will be even more vital to ensure that our limited supply of labour is as highly and appropriately trained as possible.



The growth of our base of knowledge worldwide has also increased astronomically with the advent of the Internet and other communications technologies that permit the dissemination of information and knowledge to be potentially instantaneous. The challenge of sifting through the material we are all bombarded with on a regular basis to determine which information is useful and then knowing how to apply it is daunting to say the least. One important role of our educational institutions is as somewhat of a broker to both disseminate important knowledge and provide guidance as to how it can be applied.



Our speaker today will discuss the role universities can play in this complex process. Dr. Mamdouh Shoukri became York University’s seventh President and Vice-Chancellor on July 1, 2007. He was formerly at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he most recently served as Vice-President, Research and International Affairs. He was also a professor of Mechanical Engineering. The McMaster Innovation Park exemplifies the success he and the university had in developing their research enterprise. Prior to joining McMaster, Dr. Shoukri worked at the Research Division of Ontario Hydro from 1977 to 1984.



Dr. Shoukri is a member of the Ontario Research and Innovations Council, a council appointed by the Premier of Ontario in July 2006 to advise the government on its innovation strategy to keep the province’s economy strong. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. He is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering. His professional memberships also include the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, the Canadian Nuclear Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is the author and co-author of over 100 papers that have appeared in refereed journals and symposia. His education credentials include a BSc (Hons), Mechanical Engineering, Cairo University, MEng, McMaster University and PhD, Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Mamdouh Shoukri.

MAMDOUH SHOUKRI:



Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’ve been looking forward to this day for some time. As I was preparing my remarks, I did what many people do these days—I turned to Google.



I googled the Empire Club, and I saw the photos of some of the speakers who have spoken to this club over the past century—Alexander Graham Bell, Winston Churchill, Pierre Trudeau, and Bill Gates—people who changed the twentieth century; people whose ideas are shaping the world we live in.



I am honoured to add my name to the list. Not that I think my ideas or words will change the world, but I believe the work happening at York University will. At York, we believe that the university’s primary function is to prepare students to be citizens of the world—to Redefine the Possible.



And today, I want to talk to you about how we’re doing that. I want to talk about our plans for growth; about our unique, interdisciplinary approach to creating and disseminating knowledge; and more importantly, about our plans to make York a model for a progressive university for the 21st century.



Plans for Growth



As some of you may know, York University will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009—50 years of exponential growth. It’s a proud legacy, to be sure, but at York, we’re focused on where we’re going, because we believe our greatest years are ahead of us, not behind.



York occupies a unique place among Canadian universities, being both large and well established and yet, we are young and growing. We have only just begun to make our mark in Canada and the global community. We are located in the fastest-growing and most diverse region of Canada, a mini-world where ideas with global perspective can be tested and implemented.



The real question for York is how to manage that growth, so that we may become a leading research university. York knows that it needs to have a plan for growth, and the first step in developing a strategic plan is knowing who you are and understanding your environment.



Toronto is exceptionally cosmopolitan, and York reflects and celebrates that diversity. From the beginning, York has been engaged with local communities, and yet we are outward looking and global in our student population, faculty, programming, research and relationships.



York has defined strengths in the Humanities and Social Sciences:



• The Schulich School of Business was ranked top business school in Canada (and fourth in the world) last year by Forbes magazine.



• Osgoode Hall Law School is the largest common law school in Canada and one of the most highly regarded in North America.



• The Faculty of Fine Arts is the first and largest comprehensive fine arts faculty in Canada.



Our science programs, though excellent, have been small relative to our size. Our engineering program is even younger and smaller, having been accredited less than a year ago.



Given York’s location, and given our potential impact as Ontario’s second-largest university and the third-largest in Canada, it is essential that our future development is focused on becoming a comprehensive, full-service university by building on our 50 years of success.



Universities in the 21st century must have a culture of planning if they are to have any hope of maximizing their potential, and York is actively developing such a culture.



I’m not talking about a blueprint; I’m talking about knowing our destination, even if we can’t predict every bump and detour in the road. I believe this is a pragmatic approach, given the uncertainties of political will and government decision making.



Without a plan, you get what I call “marginal growth”—small but steady increases in class sizes and enrollment numbers without direction and, mostly, without proper funding. Planning is what helps us to create and respond to opportunities, to be agile enough to act when action is needed. With a plan in place, we are able to build on our strengths.



The first objective of York’s University Academic Plan is to strengthen research, but to do so with the needs of society in mind. This means defining areas for strategic growth—science and engineering, medical and health research—in light of the university’s vision. We want to marry the ability of science and technology with the challenges that face communities the world over.



The Interdisciplinary University



I believe York is a leading interdisciplinary university. Our goal is to educate our students to be experts in their field, but to be aware that their field is part of a much wider world.



Think for a moment about some of the challenges humanity faces—HIV/AIDS; many Third World health issues; pollution and the environment; poverty; gender inequality; and political and ethnic conflicts.



The truth is that we have most of the technology and the knowledge to solve many of these problems. What is lacking most of the time is the link between the science and the action. It takes something from the humanities and social sciences to put that scientific solution into action.



So at York, we’re creating and expanding our School of Engineering, and we are taking a non-traditional approach. It means the engineers we train will have business acumen and a social conscience. We want them to understand how their work can help solve problems, how it can help make our region and our country more competitive and more prosperous.



This is also why we’re taking a new approach to medical education as we establish a Faculty of Health. We’re on a mission to build a leading centre of innovation, excellence and compassion in health and human sciences. Our vision is to educate future global leaders in redefining and advancing health and human science.



We emphasize effective approaches for keeping people and communities healthy; we believe in building sustainable health-care systems. Our classrooms encompass laboratories, sports fields, clinics and community settings, and our faculty members include world-renowned educators, researchers, and policy makers, people dedicated to improving health care, prevention and health promotion.



And we hope to extend and maximize the outcome of these efforts by starting a medical school based on the same foundations. This will allow for synergies, more aggressive and innovative approaches for learning and research. It also recognizes and reflects the needs of society, both locally and globally. Simply put, our plan is responding to the needs of society by building on our strengths in curricular initiatives and in research.



Knowledge Creation and Dissemination



Creating new knowledge is one of the most cherished functions of a university. It is a magnificent challenge—and opportunity—to expand inquiring minds and to widen the sea of human knowledge through our research and teaching.



In the past, an idea’s pedigree was more important than its intrinsic worth. Fortunately, at York we know the opposite is true. Ideas are transmitted through the special connection between minds. This can happen anywhere—in the classroom, in the field, in the city, in solitude, in the multitude. Research ideas come from researchers, graduate and undergraduate students and from their fresh new ways of looking at the world. This is why research cannot be restricted as the preserve of elites.



Canada produces less than 5 per cent of the world’s new knowledge. Yet our students need to be exposed to 100 per cent of this knowledge just to stay current. So how do we judge the quality of new research ideas?



Rigorous and open peer review remains our best guarantee of excellence and transparency. Peer review is the surest way of maintaining the highest possible standards, so that the open competition for ideas actually follows the ideas, not their pedigree.



And if advancing knowledge is the great privilege of the university, our greatest responsibility is to mobilize that knowledge, to share it with the community and the world for the benefit of all; to solve the problems we face, to improve competitiveness, to increase prosperity.



Knowledge is of no benefit to anyone if it sits on a shelf. That said, the best mechanism for the effective dissemination of knowledge remains our students. Broadly educated, yet knowledgeable in their fields of specialization, graduates continue to transfer their knowledge to society.



However, I believe we have an obligation to create new outlets to disseminate knowledge rapidly and effectively to a broader audience. Today’s universities are expected—and challenged—by governments and by society to link their knowledge creation to societal needs, and to become more entrepreneurial in dealing with industry.



A university’s plan must include knowledge dissemination and direct participation in the social and economic development of the local community and society at large. At York, we take this obligation seriously. We have a Knowledge Mobilization Unit to help turn research into action. I believe that a research university, together with the community, private sector and government, can play a key role in the development and sustainability of innovation clusters and major arts and cultural centres.



Building on its strength, York University will continue to work closely with the local community and government to provide strong support for local social and economic development. As an example, working with fast-growing local industry and all levels of government, York is leading the development of an innovation cluster on medical devices.



While York has grown into one of Canada’s largest universities, it is not yet one of Canada’s top research-intensive universities. To get there, we must maintain our prominence in areas of research strength; invest strategically and aggressively into niche areas; and diversify our research base and build our reputation through external partnerships. We also need to invest in research infrastructure and services to create highly competitive recruitment packages. This is key to attracting world-class scholars in strategic areas to drive forward York’s research performance.



Internationalization



Universities are increasingly competing for both students and faculty in a global marketplace. York has long understood the importance of reaching out to the world, and our efforts are paying off. York is emerging as a leader in internationalization.



A cornerstone of our University Academic Plan is to help students and faculty participate fully in an increasingly interdependent global society. That’s why we’re encouraging the internationalization of academic programs, along with the important institutional linkages and student and faculty exchanges.



We offer a broad, international curriculum that brings world perspectives into the classroom; we have excellent student mobility programs, funded international internships; and award-winning programs, such as the Emerging Global Leaders Program—an opportunity for students to increase their global knowledge and inter-cultural skills.



Internationalization provides enormous benefits to both the institution and to students.



For the university, international initiatives provide links to local and international communities, and they open up opportunities for partnerships with outstanding institutions in other countries. The Schulich School of Business, for example, has satellites in Beijing, Mumbai and Seoul.



For students, international opportunities enrich their educational experience, exposing them to languages and cultures other than their own, providing new perspectives, showing them firsthand how the world is changing. All of this gives students a competitive edge in pursuing future employment opportunities.



As our world becomes more globalized, our graduates are more likely to find themselves engaged in work that involves other countries and other cultures. Similarly, our faculty seeks the best collaborators for their work, no matter where in the world they may be located.



Knowledge is communicated globally and often instantaneously, without regard for national borders. Of course, focusing on internationalization doesn’t mean York is moving away from the local communities we serve. Quite the contrary. We will continue to be guided by our distinctive values and we will continue to build and nurture relationships with our local communities. But the truth is that we cannot compete and win on the world stage if we don’t reach out to the world. And we cannot fulfil our core mission to serve society—both our local communities and the global community—without internationalization.



Conclusion



I began by telling you about York’s vision for the next 50 years, about our aspiration to become a comprehensive university serving the needs of society.



Let me conclude by saying this dream of ours, this vision, will be possible only if we plan for it. It is our responsibility to make the plans, to ask the questions, to engage the community, to plan for future growth so that we can steer our university in the direction we want to go.



We can’t allow growth to simply happen to us; we need to plan for it. We need to plan in order to create and respond to opportunities, to stay on course despite the changing political climate and decisions. We need to work hard to find new and better ways of creating new knowledge and mobilizing that knowledge for the benefit of society. And we need to reach out to the world so that we can better serve our communities, both local and global.

Thank you.



The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by Jo-Ann McArthur, President, Jo-Ann McArthur Strategies Inc., and First Vice-President and President-Elect, The Empire Club of Canada.