Academic Foundations

Academic Foundations: Principles to Guide University Planning

Education, research, scholarship and creative activity are core activities of the University of Calgary:

• Education providing the highest and most current knowledge to our students, stakeholders and communities;
• Research and scholarship disseminated to a community of peers around the world, and applied for the benefit of humankind and the natural world; and
• Creative activity enhancing our world with an impressive range of integrative practices and expressions that cross our institutional boundaries, sustain and vivify our cultural past, and shape our cultural world for generations to come.

Our city, province and country provide a context for our future directions at the University of Calgary, as does our position in the international context. Along with our University’s roles as critic, explorer and conscience, we will strive to align our own sense of purpose, priority and potential with society’s needs and ambitions.

In all that we do, the University of Calgary is committed to the values of integrity and respect, which underlie the academic principles for our University:

• Student success;
• Excellence in research, scholarship and creative activity;
• Interdisciplinary education and research; and
• Return to community.

Academic Foundations is a guide for the University of Calgary's broader planning framework and decision-making processes. Our efforts, our allocation of resources of various kinds, the work of our administrative and support units, our communication strategies, our fundraising objectives and our government relations will be aligned at all levels of the institution with the values and principles found within this document.