Year-end message from BU President and Vice-Chancellor David Docherty

Dear colleagues,

Thank you! I hope you are enjoying a restful holiday break after a successful fall term. The turn of the calendar to 2025, is an opportune time to look back on the year that was, and all that we have been through and accomplished together. As I review 12 months full of both challenge and celebration, the common theme is how much our entire campus is dedicated to the success of our students and our community. Thank you all for the care and hard work that you bring to Brandon University all year long. 

In many ways, this has been a tough year for post-secondary education across the country. Brandon University has not been immune, but it is nowhere near all doom and gloom. We have had some critical successes this year that deserve to be highlighted and remembered. As you read through this list, you may see new things, which happened outside of your direct area. Or you may be reminded of wins that were accomplished months ago. Old or new, or new to you, these successes are built on the team effort that we all bring to BU every day. These are your wins — give yourself a pat on the back!

Celebrating our successes

• Budget boost — Working closely with the province we were able to substantially increase our base budget in 2024, making up for the unequal treatment last time, which disproportionately favoured Winnipeg institutions. With $7.4 million in new money, this is the largest single-year increase in the history of Brandon University. This was a textbook case of working together, with the student union, our employee associations and the administration all making our case to the province. This is not one-time funding, this is a permanent increase to our base budget. Well done!
• Growing Indigeneity — The Indigenous student population at BU is our fastest-growing demographic. We are up nearly 7% among full-time undergraduate students and over 20% full-time graduate students. To help welcome this growth, we are committed to a huge expansion of the Indigenous People’s Centre, and we are optimistic about private and public support. Watch for construction to begin at some point in 2025.
• Delivering doctors — We are pleased to have partnered with the province and the University of Manitoba to create a medical school on our Brandon campus — a game changer for Westman. Our more intimate and less intimidating learning atmosphere will particularly attract students from smaller rural communities in western and northern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan, and they’ll earn a Science degree at BU before transitioning to a medical school experience. Programs elsewhere show that students who stay in the same community between their undergrad and graduate degrees are more likely to remain when they graduate. We are thrilled to be a part of the development of a second medical campus in Manitoba.
• Serving veterans — We proudly signed the Canadian Military, Veteran & Family Connected Campus Consortium in October, along with several other universities and colleges across the country.  We have long had excellent relations with our partners in Shilo, including an existing PLAR agreement. This national consortium will provide greater opportunities to learn from other partnerships as we work to transition veterans and their families from military to civilian life as well as support spouses of military personnel to achieve their academic goals while living within our Westman community.
• Big birthday — Brandon University’s 125^th anniversary is a milestone to celebrate. We kicked off the party at Homecoming in the fall, and unveiled a pair of videos that celebrate all that BU has been and look towards the future. One big project we’d like to leave as a legacy is the transformation of a parking lot into an outdoor classroom.
• Fair deals — At the time of writing this message, the university and three of five associations have concluded and approved new collective agreements. I want to thank the members of all bargaining teams for their dedication and professionalism in reaching these settlements. 
• Administrative renewal — Among several significant new appointments this year, BU welcomed Peter Hickey as our new Vice-President (Administration and Finance) this fall. Peter brings a wealth of both private and public sector experience to this role. In his short time with us here, Peter has met with many people on both of our campuses, as well as government officials and local supporters of BU, and is helping steward our 2025-26 budget development.
• Welcoming and belonging — The vibrancy of our campus relies on our being a hospitable place for people of varied backgrounds, cultures, belief systems, and even opinions. Diversity of perspective and thought is what makes our academic engine run, but this has been a lesson many institutions have been slow to learn. We are continuing to make strides in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and a big one recently was the Board’s approval of an EDI Strategic Plan and Action Plan for 2024–29. This builds on more than a year’s worth of careful consultation and work, and the new plan gives us a large number of strategies to guide improvements over the next few years. Of course, big documents like this must be paired with regular action. We’ve continued to enhance EDI on campus, in particular through Indigenizing our collective agreements, and growing events like the PENT summer feast, our Pride presence and other queer support, and Black History Month. 

We can be really proud of that short list, which is just a few of the accomplishments that our campus has achieved in 2024. But we have been tested by challenges as well. And that’s okay! Every educator knows that testing is an essential part of learning and development. That goes for institutions as well as it does for students. Here are some of the challenges that arose for us this past year:

Challenges we met

• Border boondoggles — The federal government keeps changing the rules for international students, and we’re just trying to keep up. While this has hit every institution in the country, BU certainly felt that pinch in our most recent fall intake. International student registrations are down by 22% both in the full-time and part-time capacity.  It will be some time before the turbulence in international recruitment settles. In the meantime, Canadian universities are working to convince the federal government that a “trusted institution” approach would recognize good institutions (such as BU) while warning international applicants away from the real problem of institutions who have played outside the spirit of the regulations. 
• Software reboot — We know we need an upgrade, and we know the last attempt was halted. We are stabilizing our legacy system to ensure continuity while we get ready to look again for a new ERP system. We learned an awful lot during the last round that will inform our future efforts, and we will learn more when the independent audit is finalized and presented to the Board of Governors in 2025. Among the results that have come out of our efforts is that in the very near future, we will be launching a new Financial Awards portal which will be a huge improvement for students applying for scholarships and bursaries.  
• Staying safe — Safety on campus continues to be a primary concern of every member of the BU community. The assault that took place on campus in November shook everyone. No one can recall anything like it in the past, but that doesn’t diminish the terrible impact on the student, her family, friends, and everyone who visits our campus. Safety is a multi-layered entity of which security is only a part.  While we must guard as best we can against extreme or shocking occurrences, we must be aware of overlooked dangers in our daily routine. As an example, anyone who crosses the streets surrounding campus understands the need for caution and awareness of their surroundings. We are working with the City to improve road safety around BU. The safety audit that will start early in the new year will take a comprehensive examination of our safety on campus and steps that the university — and perhaps all of us — can take to improve both our actual safety and our feeling of being protected and secure.

These are big challenges, and I note that they are all ongoing. We continue to be see international student challenges, outdated software, and safety, as major priorities in the coming year. But I know 2025 has a couple of highlights ahead, too. Here’s what I’m most looking forward to in the new year:

What to look forward to in 2025 — and beyond

• Presidential search — I’ve said all along that being President at Brandon University is the best job in the world. So looking ahead to the conclusion of my second term is bittersweet. I have at least a year left, and I have my own hopes and plans, but one big task for the university community will be the process of choosing a successor. I know this will come with ample opportunity for consultation, discussion, and perhaps even debate.
• Building Brodie — While the new medical school gets the headlines, for us at BU it’s only one part of a larger project, and these parts are inextricable from each other. As important as the medical school will be, it’s critical that we refresh and refurbish our entire Brodie Science Building to support modern-day research and future learning. In fact, we’re planning a complete gutting of the existing structure to reimagine something new on the inside. This will include a full research complex next door. We are working closely with the province to get this project moving as quickly as possible. Major projects like this succeed based on solid planning, and that’s something we’re working very hard on right now.
• Chasing a championship — There’s nothing better than wrapping up a workweek by closing up the office and walking over to the HLC for some energetic Bobcats action. Every team gives it their all, and while the scoreboards aren’t all Ws, there’s no shortage of heart and passion. Off the field, ice, or court, I also know that Bobcat student-athletes are also some of the hardest-working and best community ambassadors that BU could ask for. This spring, we’re pitting our fierce competitiveness against the nation’s best, as we welcome the USports mens national volleyball championship. Let’s pack the stands. Let’s cheer on our Bobcats. And let’s raise another banner.

Every year has a large number of things that we all look forward to: Orientation and the back-to-school season; Homecoming and renewal of alumni friendships; Convocation and the launch of our freshest graduates into their next stages. But each year also brings with it the unexpected.

As I look back on 2024 — on our successes, on our challenges, and on our plans for the future — I’m taken by the one thing they all have in common. We experienced them all together. We celebrated together, we worked together to overcome setbacks, and even when we disagreed, we continued with meetings and dialogues to forge a common path. Because what unites us all, and has always united us, is the belief of the academic mission that we foster here. 

Our research and discoveries, our creative works, our teaching and mentorship, the support we offer our colleagues — it all comes down to the pursuit of a better, more just, and well-understood world. That promise refreshes me every time I walk up the stairs to my office in Clark Hall. That spark is reflected in every graduate’s eye when they cross the stage at Convocation. And I know that with that spirit, we can overcome any challenge, and we will reach whatever success we put our minds to.

I am optimistic for continued successes in 2025. It will be a big year for BU, and I know we have the right people to make the most of it. But for now, as we pause for a holiday break, please make the most of the joys of the season.

Wishing you warm and relaxing times with your close friends and loved ones. 

Enjoy the holidays,

Dr. David Docherty, President and Vice-Chancellor

BRANDON UNIVERSITY

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