A message from the Dean
I am immensely proud of the many accomplishments the Smith community has achieved this year – from international recognition for Smith programs and faculty, to welcoming Team Canada athletes and supporting startup success.
As we move forward to build the future of business education and develop leaders who have a positive impact in their communities and society, I am struck by how many of our highlights have a social impact:
- Promoting responsible leadership, research and education through our new membership in the Council on Business & Society, a global alliance of leading business schools committed to this aim.
- Supporting faculty to create research that has a positive impact on our communities, such as Professor Nicole Robitaille’s work on increasing organ donor registrations.
- Launching a new fellowship that equips leaders with the knowledge, skills and networks to tackle the root causes of some of the world’s grand challenges.
- Hosting an immersive summer camp for Indigenous youth designed to give students a more in-depth look at university life and show them the career opportunities available to business graduates.
- Creating and supporting fundraising initiatives that make a difference: Smith’s $4-million matching campaign in support of equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenization initiatives at the school, and enabling three revenue-generating student clubs to establish the Students Helping Students Award in support of incoming students with financial need.
Please take a moment to review 2022-2023 highlights at The Year at Smith.
The demands on business and leaders are evolving dynamically. Employers expect Smith graduates to have the knowledge and competencies needed to navigate this changing world. Most importantly, today’s students have different expectations for how they will make their impact on the world.
This means that Smith must evaluate its purpose and priorities, and its capacity to stay at the forefront of business education and research.
Over the last year, we have been developing a new strategic plan that will guide our work for the next five years. The plan is grounded in inclusion, impact, community and leadership – with a focus on how we, as a community, will move business and society forward.
It will provide us with a fresh foundation for tackling the challenges and opportunities for Smith in the next few years, while aligning Smith with the Queen’s University strategic framework.
Following an in-depth process that included input from Smith’s many stakeholders – faculty, staff, alumni, students, as well as our Advisory Board and Global Council – we launched this new strategy on Aug. 9. Be sure to check it out at smithqueens.com/strategicplan.
Wanda M. Costen, PhD
Dean, Smith School of Business
smithdean@queensu.ca