On Monday, Sept. 9, Dr. Annette Trimbee, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg (U of W), gave the annual State of the University Address. Speaking from Convocation Hall to roughly 200 people, Dr. Trimbee gave an overview of the university, including its recent accomplishments and her strategic vision for the future.

The speech focused on five key areas: academic excellence and renewal, student experience and success, Indigenization, research excellence, knowledge mobilization and impact and financial and institutional resilience.

The U of W is experiencing historic levels of enrollment, as well as an increase in international students and research funding. Last year, faculty members received $12,068,398 in research funding, which is the highest amount ever. Dr. Trimbee discussed the broad impact of U of W research, citing examples such as the discovery of the first Neanderthal in Serbia.

Dr. Trimbee discussed the existing work-integrated learning opportunities at the university, such as co-op placements and practicums and outlined the direction in which she wishes to take these programs.

“Ideally, every UWinnipeg grad would have at least one work-integrated learning opportunity during their studies,” she said during the speech. “In the coming year, we will develop a work-integrated learning strategy with this goal in mind.”

Among upcoming priorities is updating the university library.

“Next year, we’ll launch a campaign to raise funds to support this initiative,” Dr. Trimbee said in her speech.

Overall, the speech highlighted her vision for the U of W.

“We remain committed to protecting, preserving and strengthening the academic core of our institution,” she said. “This is increasingly important as we enter an era where we need to preserve university autonomy, as government regulation and accountability measures increase.

“So let’s continue to defend our core, the principle of academic freedom and the work we do to create resilience in a rapidly changing world,” Dr. Trimbee concluded.

For a complete transcript of the State of the University Address, visit uwinnipeg.ca/president/docs/2019-state-of-the-university.pdf.

Published in Volume 74, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 12, 2019)