Planned Giving Gift Summary - Lutheran Church-Canada

university it is mandated to be. Fittingly, this project
has been entitled: “Concordia Tomorrow”
Concordia Tomorrow is a new way for us to tackle the
challenges we face. Concordia Tomorrow is a type of
distributed management model which will allow us to
get things done more quickly and efficiently. As a
smaller institution, we have the advantage of agility: we
can be nimble in changing how we do what we do, and
such a structure works well for us to accomplish our
tasks expeditiously. Consequently, these groups are
small to keep their work focused, and to be task driven
and accountable for getting work done.
Concordia Tomorrow is led by two key leadership
teams:
The first is the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). This
group makes decisions on the strategic direction for
Concordia, what broad issues we face, and the
composition of sub-groups which will tackle some of
these issues.
The second key group is the Project Planning and
Assessment Team (PPAT). Comprised of deans and
directors throughout Concordia, PPAT represents the
specific operational components of Concordia.
Accountable to the Executive Leadership Team, this
group also guides and vets smaller sub-teams which
will be “doing the work.”
Project Teams are assigned by the Executive
Leadership Team and are accountable to the Project
Planning and Assessment Team. At this point, there are
7 Project teams, each responsible for assessing,
planning, and accomplishing tasks within their project
group. Group members are chosen because of their
roles within Concordia, and also for their core
competencies, skills, and expertise.
The net result of this effort will be the following:
Concordia University College of Alberta will realize its
vision through discerning, innovative, and flexible
planning.
Internally, Concordia will develop well-grounded
undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs
that meet the needs of its students through flexible
learning opportunities. It will maintain and increase
opportunities for research and scholarship to enhance
its academic reputation and with it the quality of
instruction and potential for student satisfaction in all
programs. Concordia will also redesign and realign its
governance, operational, administrative, and policy
structures to create efficient and cost-effective
processes that give students the best university services
and experience. Innovative and flexible planning in
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these areas should increase Concordia’s student
population to 3000 FLE in ten years.
Externally, Concordia will collaborate with other
academic institutions on judiciously selected scholarly
and research initiatives, and similarly cooperate with
relevant industries at local, national, and international
levels. Concordia’s reputation for providing superior
education in top-quality programs will enhance its
visibility and distinctiveness, as its graduates enter
graduate studies and post-graduate programs within
Campus Alberta, the AUCC, and the Association of
Commonwealth Universities, and as they contribute
professionally and economically within Alberta and
Canada. Concordia will consequently be identified as a
university built on a solid foundation of academics and
faith with an open door to higher learning, as well as a
dynamic institution proceeding with purpose and focus
by implementing best practices and anticipating future
trends.
Church-Related Initiatives
Concordia remains firmly committed to its service to
Lutheran Church-Canada on a variety of fronts. As an
open university, Concordia has indirectly become a rich
mission field, where young people from diverse
backgrounds (including Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and other
world religions) are exposed, perhaps for the first time,
to the gospel of Jesus Christ. At Concordia, many
students have either come to faith or been confirmed in
the faith that they already have, precisely because of the
conscious commitment to what we believe, hold, and
confess as a Lutheran university. One baptism was
actually administered during the current academic year.
On the more formal side, Concordia has pursued a
number of initiatives that are meant to assist in
providing spiritual formation not only to pre-seminary
or DPS students, but all Christian students who want to
serve. I name but a few examples:
Concordia’s annual Mission Trip is in its 9th year. In
each of these nine years 12 – 29 students have gone out
to experience life in communities that need the hope
that only the gospel can instill. Some 200 of our
students have spent time among the native communities
at Ahouset, Klemtu, Bella Bella, Kingcombe Inlet, and
Hartley Bay on Canada’s West Coast. Others have
spent time on the Mission Boat, while still others have
gone east to Saskatchewan to native communities such
as those at La Ronge. In order to do this work, students
themselves raise approximately $20,000 a year to cover
travel costs and expenses. A special thanks to
congregations and organizations that have continued to
support this program over the years!