President’s message
Dr. Janet Morrison has worked in the postsecondary sector for more than 30 years and is passionate about student success and community engagement. She has been Sheridan’s President and Vice Chancellor since 2018 and was recently awarded the Naseem Somani Memorial Leadership Excellence Award from the Brampton Board of Trade for her outstanding community leadership.
Everyone – academics, politicians, health care leaders – is talking about recovery these days. Even recent economic forecasts have referenced “green shoots” and “signs of optimism” which – after everything we’ve navigated over the last two years – is welcome relief. I, too, am optimistic about the future and a post-pandemic world shaped by lessons learned.
When I think about our individual and collective pandemic recovery, I can only contemplate a reimagined normal. This historic crisis has laid bare the heart-wrenching perils of inequality. When compounded by ongoing challenges presented by climate change, it can be easy to lose hope. I firmly believe that the best antidote lies in the immense power of provocative, collaborative action toward shared goals.
In that spirit, I’m tremendously proud to share Sheridan’s 2021-2022 Community Impact Report. This summary of our work over the last year showcases our commitment to tackling the challenges facing our communities – both local and global – in ways that prioritize partnership and reciprocity.
The vision of our 2024 Strategic Plan is to place our students at the epicentre of groundbreaking, standard-setting higher education that unleashes their full potential and empowers them to flourish in and shape an ever-changing world. Fundamentally, our work is about human development and community engagement. Our approach is grounded in the tenets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which speak to sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, a culture of peace and non-violence and global citizenship. Sheridan was the first postsecondary institution in Ontario to sign on to the SDG Accord in 2021 and we pride ourselves on being changemakers – on and beyond our campuses.
Quality remains Sheridan’s hallmark. In today’s world, it’s not enough to deliver the academic and work-ready skills that make us a first choice among employers. Being trailblazing in 2022 demands that we impart the critical skills our students need to be resilient, agile, culturally competent, and innovative, long after they leave Sheridan, as they seek to make a positive difference in the world.
Sheridan has a celebrated history of teaching skills that people once thought were innate and unteachable. Drawing on decades of experience, we know that creativity, critical thinking and collaboration can be developed, honed and mastered over time. Our signature learning experience is fundamentally changing what and how students learn. They graduate with a credential and the confidence to succeed in a complex world.
I expect that our recovery from this crisis will be long, circuitous and taxing. I have the privilege, however, of spending my days with learners and colleagues who are passionate and optimistic about building a post-pandemic world that prioritizes sustainability and equality. Sheridan is a place where people from every corner of the globe are united by a passion to make a better life for themselves, their families and their communities. I couldn’t be prouder to serve this great institution and the cities of Brampton, Mississauga and Oakville.
Janet Morrison, PhD
President and Vice Chancellor
United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
Sheridan recently became Ontario’s first institution to sign the SDG Accord, the postsecondary sector’s collective international response to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Global Goals were adopted by countries around the world in 2015 as a means to guide global action on the urgent social, economic and environmental challenges facing our planet.
