>>www.trentu.ca/timetoshine>>
What is different about Trent University? Why is Trent special? Why should students, faculty, donors and partners choose Trent over other Universities? These simple but all important questions will be posed to the Trent community through a series of dialogues, social media and an online survey throughout the month of February.
The goal of the project is to inform the development of an Institutional Positioning as outlined in Toward Sustainability: The First Integrated Plan for Trent University (2010-2015). The plan directs that a “distinctive positioning statement will be developed to communicate to prospective students, faculty, staff and the wider community the diversity of Trent and ‘what we are and what we aspire to be’”. Radical Recovery: Academic Plan for Trent University (2012-2015) calls for “a radical change in both the process of developing a brand and in the messages that we convey about ourselves”. The Academic Plan also calls for “a continued development of Oshawa's identity, within the larger Trent branding and positioning” as a key priority. This initiative aims to address these challenges.
With Trent’s 50th Anniversary in 2014, calls from the government for greater differentiation, and a highly competitive recruiting environment, developing a succinct, distinctive, credible and relevant statement about Trent’s point of difference is essential.
Trent is inviting students, staff, alumni, faculty and the wider community to share their views. Four dialogue sessions, two in Peterborough, one in Oshawa and one in North York will feature a panel discussing what Trent means to them and where Trent leads and distinguishes itself.
“Underpinning these activities is a sense that Trent must raise its profile and put ourselves “back on the map”” says President Steven Franklin. ”A compelling and unique statement about our University will go beyond marketing and help articulate what we do in a way that rallies everyone within and outside our campus around a shared sense of direction for the future.”
Information about the project including a discussion paper, a list of dates for dialogue sessions as well as online tools to share opinions can be found at www.trentu.ca/timetoshine. A Special Advisory Committee with representatives across a broad range of areas is overseeing the initiative, led by the Vice President External Relations & Advancement. The final positioning will be released in the Fall 2013.
Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2013.