Every year in June, the Board of Governors approves the President’s priorities for the year.  For the year beginning July 1, 2013, the Board of Governors approved a series of priorities and objectives based on the following:

1. Working with the executive team to improve team effectiveness.  The team is strong but improvement is always possible.
   
   
2. Working on the capital campaign. This will be a top priority for me, working with the Vice-President (External), for the next several years.
   
   
3. Moving ahead on the change agenda for UM. Work on simplifying the academic structure will continue.
   
   
4. Encouraging alignment of effort and resources with the university's institutional priorities, which form a three-fold narrative: 1) Strategic Planning Framework, 2) the broad academic mission of learning, discovery and engagement, and 3) the re-investment in institutional infrastructure (processes, structures, leadership development, good governance, physical space, and information technology).
   
   
5. Overseeing collective bargaining. The University is engaged in an important bargaining process with the University of Manitoba Faculty Association this year, and will pursue this while striving to be an outstanding employer as our Strategic Planning Framework emphasizes, and meeting the University’s full range of obligations.
   
   
6. Developing a longer term vision for the University of Manitoba.  Our existing Strategic Planning Framework establishes a vision and priorities for a five-year period, but a larger conversation should occur about what the University of Manitoba should strive to achieve over the long term – perhaps twenty-five years – and how we might fulfill this vision. This should include a synthesis of academic and non-academic planning.
   
   
7. Speaking out on issues of public importance. The University`s reputation is enhanced as the President functions as a citizen in the public square.