I, like so many of us, was glued to my television on August 9 watching the men's 4x100m relay at the Paris Olympic Games.

Canada’s powerhouse team wasn’t expected to win, but they were certainly prepared to. And the world was watching as Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse passed the baton, trusting each other to make great connections that resulted in a gold medal. It was an unbelievably beautiful moment.

For me, the beauty was in the connections that were made during the 37.5-second race – likely because I always find myself boasting about how connected and collaborative we are at MacEwan. Our awareness of one another and the connections we foster are what make us a powerhouse.

When I’m out in the world, I’m blown away by the number of people I bump into who share a connection to MacEwan – past colleagues, alumni, people whose children or grandchildren attended this university. MacEwan is ubiquitous. And now that we are out there in the world more and more, people want to share their connection to us with pride.

Continuing to grow those connections in different ways – within our walls and out in our community – is woven throughout our strategic vision, Teaching Greatness. I’m looking forward to sharing with you our latest progress in meeting our targets for 2030 at my State of the University Address on October 10.  

I’ll share some requisite numbers – information about budgets, operating grant funding and enrolments – and dig into the stories behind those numbers, the people behind the numbers. Our revenues come from people – either through government, or from students and donors. And the vast majority of our expenditures are also connected to people – our students and the faculty, staff and facilities that support them.

We’ve been making strategic investments and hiring the faculty and staff we need to prepare to welcome 30,000 students by 2030. We’ve been building exciting connections with organizations in our community. We’ve been working to maximize our space and innovate how we use it. We’ve been growing work-integrated learning opportunities for our students. And we’ve been finding new ways to shape relationships and make connections across our campus and beyond our doors. All of this, while working to protect the essence that makes MacEwan what it is.

These are all things that ultimately come together to make each of our students as Grand as a Griffin.

I hope you’ll join me on October 10 to dig more deeply into the progress we’ve been making toward each direction within our strategic vision.

Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor