The King's Connection Magazine Volume 25 // Number 1 | Page 8

SHARED VISION 2020

Daniel Wassenaar,
Leder School of Business

A HOPE AND A FUTURE
Forged together through a year of intense dialogue and extensive consultation, Shared Vision 2020, is a hopefilled vision for The King’s University. Owned by all, the process engaged faculty, staff, students and the Board.
The Board of Governors unanimously adopted Shared Vision 2020 this past March. A blueprint, Shared Vision
2020, will guide The King’s University’s development over the next five years.
Vision: To be widely known as a Christian university serving to build a more humane, just, and sustainable world.

O

ur shared vision builds on our mission: The King’s
University exists to provide university education that
inspires and equips learners to bring renewal and reconciliation to all walks of life as followers of Jesus Christ, the
Servant King. Our enduring hope for shalom continues to
inform and enliven our dialogue and purposes together.
The King’s mission has always been an outward facing one.
We’re preparing students well for engaged lives of purpose
in their churches, communities, families and world. We’re
engaging with the seemingly intractable issues of our time.
As one of our faculty once stated, “We don’t do hopeless.”
How can we? We serve the hope of the world, Jesus.
Our shared vision builds on our strengths. We have a strong
sense of mission and community. This is rare and something
to be cherished. We also have an excellent and growing
reputation for the quality of our teaching and research.
Students recognize this! We prepare students for a lifetime
of learning and professional success. We consistently rank
at the top of national surveys for the quality of our teaching,
student sense of belonging and intellectual engagement.
Our donors recognize this! The gifts to King’s for
establishing the Leder School of Business reignited our
ability to dream dreams!
Our shared vision builds on our resourcefulness. Make no
mistake. The challenges are great. The past few years have
seen unanticipated debt related to building projects, cuts

6

Summer 2015 THE KING’S CONNECTION

to government operating grants, emergency repairs to an
aging facility and increased competition from independent
and public undergraduate institutions in Alberta. We are a
thrifty (some might say Dutch) and resourceful community,
which has served us well through a period of significant
financial constraint. Now though, there needed to be a
broader, shared vision of ways we could build on mission,
our strengths and our resourcefulness in new, collaborative
and innovative ways.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES SUMMARY
The numbering below does not reflect an order of priority.

1. Serve Community
The University will prioritize community engagement
efforts that cultivate vibrant relationships of mutual service,
partnership and exc