Council Strengthens Focus

That’s the theme and overall purpose of the College’s strategic plan that Council approved in March 2014.

In June 2013, Council launched a strategic-planning process. A strategic-planning process team was formed including Council Chair Liz Papadopoulos, OCT, Vice-Chair Marc Dubois, OCT, appointed Council and Executive Committee member Bill Kirkwood, CEO and Registrar Michael Salvatori, OCT, and Corporate and Council Services Director Richard Lewko. An external facilitator was hired to design and lead the process.

Subsequently, all members of Council except one, along with the College’s Senior Leadership Team, participated in a two-day retreat in October toward the plan’s development.

Their deliberations were informed by the results of a broad consultation with the Ministry of Education, education faculties, stakeholder groups and education thought leaders, other regulators, and focus groups of parents and College members.

“The process was a model of good governance,” said Liz Papadopoulos, Council Chair. “The exercises provided Council and staff with the opportunity to collectively identify areas of risk/need that we could mitigate through proper planning.”

In December, Council members reviewed a draft mission statement, vision and values, as well as strategic priorities developed during the retreat. Edited versions were circulated for discussion at the March Council meeting.

Mission statements articulate an organization’s purpose. They state or imply identity and answer the question, “Who are we and why are we here?”

Following the criteria that effective mission statements are current,

meaningful, inspiring, memorable and guide decision-making, Council approved the following as the College’s official mission:

The College regulates the teaching profession in Ontario in the public interest by setting and enforcing high ethical and professional standards for its members.

The mission speaks to the College’s core mandate — it is easy to understand and meaningful for members, touches on the ethical and practice standards, and will help to guide operational practice.

Values are the guiding principles or standards of behaviour that should be reflected in the judgment or actions of Council and College staff as they work to fulfill the mission.

Following suggestions from the retreat, Council approved the following in March:

The College commits to:

• protect the public interest
• quality, excellence and professionalism
• honesty and integrity
• accountability and transparency
• efficiency, effectiveness and fiscal responsibility
• sustainability
• respectfulness and teamwork between the College Council, staff and stakeholder community, each respecting the other’s role
• inclusivity and respect for diversity.

Council also established four strategic priorities as meta-actions that will drive the mission statement fulfillment. They are:

• broaden membership engagement in the work of the College and in particular, engage non-traditional members, including retired teachers and First Nations, Métis and Inuit teachers
• develop strategies to facilitate the ongoing professional learning of members
• develop a comprehensive, long-term communication plan that includes other regulators and leverages the College’s website and other communication vehicles to:

• inform the public about the objectives and processes of self-regulation
• develop, among the public, an appreciation of the value of self-regulation
• improve the transparency of the College.
  • enhance Council and committee effectiveness and accountability through: professional development on good governance
• clarification of the appropriate roles of Council members and staff
• streamlining and improving Council’s processes
• identification, review and improvement of committee practices
• implementation of formal accountability measurements
• initiating periodic third-party review.

An action plan and timeline for implementation of the strategic plan will be drafted for Council’s consideration at the June 2014 Council meeting.

“Strategic planning helps Council to focus its direction and establishes a framework within which staff will operate,” Papadopoulos said. “The plan includes a commitment to the public and to our members that allows us to clearly articulate how we operate and what we are going to focus on in the future.

“Council has pledged to uphold its legislated mandate and fiduciary duty to protect the public interest,” she said. “We will develop success criteria and re-evaluate the relevance of the plan in a couple of years. By demonstrating continuous improvement, we can strengthen self-regulation.”