In the fall of 2011, Red Deer College embarked on a participatory process to engage members of the college community and stakeholders in the community at large in developing its next five-year Strategic Plan. I was appointed to the task force that was to guide and facilitate this process. It involved a process of community engagement across all areas of the college and beyond, which members of the task force facilitated after training in the approach that had been chosen to guide the process, based on the work of Patrick Sanaghan. Through data-gathering and then workshops that facilitated the emergence of themes and trends, the 2012-2017 Strategic Plan was born. Based on the principle of learner-centred approaches to teaching, to the provision of services, and to leadership, this Plan has been at the forefront of the reorientation of college organisation and services that has been happening since the unveiling of this strategic direction.

My participation in the task force was instrumental in allowing this focus to arise. I was the author of a position paper on the future of the institution from the stance of the student, which emphasised the need to constantly put the student/learner at the centre of our decision making. I maintained that the student should not simply be seen as a client or worse, a customer, but as someone who develops tools of citizenship and social participation during his or her college experience. This is conditional on students being pushed towards excellence, provided the support services they need to grow, and participating in a significant human experience allowing them to make a difference while at the college.

This role was meant to go on until the end of the Strategic Plan in 2017, as the Strategic Planning Task Force was tasked with developing an accountability framework for the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan, and to ensure its application. Yearly meetings were held to review the accountability reports that were then made part of the overall annual reporting of the college. The Task Force was, however, disbanded in 2015 as its oversight function had mostly devolved into window-dressing for an exercise that had become entirely driven by the college's leadership team.

While the strategic plan was in part impeded by drastic provincial cuts to post-secondary funding immediately after its implementation, it has led to a greater awareness of issues particular to students as learners and has led to various professional development initiatives to foster an increasingly learner-centred culture at various levels of the college. Unfortunately, "learner-centred" became, at times, no more than a buzz-word, but there has been legitimate efforts to improve various aspects of the college functions to better take student needs into account. This has, among other points, raised awareness about under-privileged students within the college. One initiative worthy of particular mention is the creation, in 2016, of a full-time position for an Aboriginal Student Liaison Coordinator as a result of some of the strategic orientations in the plan.