Harris Centre
Five-year Plan (2011/12 – 2015/16)
December 12, 2011
Overview
• What Have we Done? Programs &
Initiatives
• Consultations and Inputs
• Changing Context
• What should we be like 5 years from
now?
• Vision, Mission, Principles, Goals,
Objectives
Harris Centre
Programs / Activities: 2004/5 – 2010/11
• Public Presentations
 7 Galbraith Lectures
 38 “Memorial Presents” public forums
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15 Conferences / Workshops
68 in-camera “Synergy Sessions”
24 Newfoundland Quarterly articles
6 Research Funds:
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Applied Research Fund
Strategic Partnership
MMSB Solid Waste Management
RBC Rural & Remote Drinking Water
ACOA Standing Offer
DFO Marine Protected Areas
Harris Centre
Programs / Activities: 2004/5 – 2010/11 (cont’d)
• Research Funds: projects and $$s
 86 research projects supported
 $1.7 M allocated to research projects
 leveraging $ ??: ARF evaluation showed $313,000
leveraged $ 5.4 M
• Major Research Projects
 OECD Role of Higher Education Institutions in
Regional Development
 Social Foundations of Innovation in City Regions
 Rural-Urban Interaction: Understanding and
Managing Functional Regions in NL
Harris Centre
Programs / Activities: 2004/5 – 2010/11 (cont’d)
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16 Regional Workshops
Project Brokering
Yaffle.ca
Funding leveraged for projects, outreach
and research over $ 5.9 M
 Memorial funds (project and operating)
leveraged 3:1
a ‘marketplace’ for information!
Yaffle Today
• Over 75,000 searches since public launch (Feb. 2009)
• Accessed from 177 countries over 6 continents
• Average of 100 users per day
• Graduate Students using Yaffle for thesis topics and
supervisors
• MITACS Identification of Internships
• Government, Community and Media constant users
• 2010 – 18 new brokered projects
• Formalized communications w/ Office of Research
and School of Graduate Studies to automatically
communicate research awards
Some one-pager successes
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Over 75 faculty connected;
New ferry design for Strait of Belle Isle;
Theatre training with youth in Lab West;
Studying Boom and Bust in Northern Mining Towns (SSHRC);
Alternate energy in two northern Labrador communities;
Studying male underachievement in the education system;
Four seminars on e-marketing, approx. 200 businesses;
SIFE student team working with aboriginal youth on financial
sustainability of a cultural museum;
• Dialogues (e.g., regional cooperation, historical significance,
evolution of Newfoundland English language);
• Feasibility studies (bottled water, bacon-wrapped scallops);
• KT: (e.g., agriculture in Stephenville; coyote management for
Placentia sheep farmers)
Consultations Held
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SWGC / Corner Brook Community, May 6, 2009
CNA Corporate Stephenville, May 7, 2009
Stephenville Community, May 7, 2009
HC Champions, May 22, 2009
Fed. & Prov. Gov’ts, June 2 & 10, 2009
St. John’s and region, June 11, 2009
MUN Senior Administrators, June 24 & 25, 2009
HC Staff, June 29, 2009
MUN Faculty, Nov. 23, 2009
MUN Students,
2 individual web site responses
Other Inputs
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HC Advisory Board, Oct. 15, 2008; Nov. 25, 2009; Nov. 18, 2010
HC Management Team, Greg Cochlan, Oct. 20, 2008
Knowledge In Motion Conference, Oct. 15-18, 2008
Harris Centre Program Evaluations
 Applied Research Fund
 Knowledge Impact in Society Project
 Regional Workshops
 Public Policy
Wade Locke OECD Project Lessons Learned Report
Alternative Forms of Scholarship Workshop, May 2009
Rural Development Centre Workshop, Norris Point, Nov. 9-10,
2010
MUN Research Plan
Last slide in consultations:
Where to from here?!
• 5-year plan focus for the future
 confirm core; re-focus where needed
 new directions?
• Yaffle as a NL/Canadian knowledge utility?
• Meeting national and international demand to learn Harris
Centre model?
• Increase “honest broker” activity?
• Other?
• Funding Limitations
• Evaluation Framework; Results-Based
Management
• What do you think?!
Changing Context
• HC Organizational Development
Operations Manager / Project Management
Office
 Secretary Duties Re-organized; Greater
Budget Management Capacity
• Communications Coordinator
• MUN Research Plan
• New President July 1, 2010
• Office of Engagement; Engagement Framework
• Move to President’s Portfolio
What should we be like 5
years from now? (1)
• Greater MUN capacity and enhanced culture of
community / regional engagement
• Greater MUN capacity in regional policy and
development
What should we be like 5
years from now? (2)
• Greater organizational awareness within NL of Harris
Centre / MUN resources AND of all other partner
resources
 “Receptor Capacity” of partners is a critical issue
(NGOs, SMEs/Industry Associations, Government)
 MUN and NL Knowledge Mobilization Network  a
way of doing business
 “Powered by Yaffle”
 Delivered on the ground through multiple partners
(MUN a resource, not a development organization)
What should we be like 5
years from now? (3)
• Shift from “running with champions” to extending reach
– within and outside MUN
 Harris Centre “known” by all faculty and
Newfoundland and Labrador citizens
• Globally recognized and connected; locally focused
• Independent funding for proactive research and
initiatives on priority themes
 Not a think tank; not doing research in-house
 Independence, Integrity, Honest Broker / Moderator
 Research Programs, Conferences
• “Go-to resource” for applied research funding in
regional policy and development
What should we be like 5
years from now? (4)
• HC entrepreneurial, flexible, nimble, client-focused
(internal and external)
AND
delivers through rigorous stage-gate decision making,
project management, knowledge mobilization scalable
systems
• HC Team  combined core and project staff, with
capacity, processes and culture for sustainability
Mandate: no change
• Coordinate and facilitate the University’s activities
relating to regional policy and development
• Advise on building the University’s capacity in the
area of regional policy and development
• Identify priority themes and projects relating to:
Teaching
Research
Outreach
Vision: no change
The Harris Centre’s vision for Newfoundland
and Labrador is of a vibrant democracy with
informed citizens actively engaged in realizing
a prosperous and sustainable society which
values individual and collective responsibility
for decision-making and development true to
our unique culture and identity.
Draft Mission: new!
The Mission of the Harris Centre is to
encourage informed public policy and
regional development in Newfoundland
and Labrador by supporting
communication and collaboration
between Memorial University and the
people of this province.
Values: One new one!
The Harris Centre aspires to live up to the reputation
of Dr. Leslie Harris, in whose honour the Centre is
named:
Integrity
Independence
Transparency
Collaboration
Inclusivity*
Practical Application
*The Harris Centre values and respects difference,
and strives to include varying perspectives in its
activities and programs.
2011/12-2015/16 Strategic Goals:
One revised
Goal 1: Research
Stimulate more research in regional policy and development
Goal 2: Education
Stimulate education in regional policy and development at Memorial University
Goal 3: Community Engagement [was Outreach]
Generate greater interaction of Memorial University faculty, students and staff
with stakeholder needs and opportunities
Goal 4: Capacity
Establish Memorial University as a recognized centre of excellence in regional
policy and development
Goal 5: Operations
Establish Harris Centre operations for long-term success
Goal 1: Stimulate more research in
regional policy and development
(1)
Objective 1.1
Develop and Maintain Suite of Applied Research Funding
Programs
Objective 1.2
Establish Population Project Applied Research Funding
Program
Objective 1.3
Advance Annual Applied Research Funds and/or
Research Projects, Related to MUN Research Plan
Strategic Themes
Goal 1: Stimulate more research in
regional policy & development (2)
Objective 1.4
Establish source of independent funding for proactive
research and initiatives
Objective 1.5
Establish research synthesis program to inform regional
policy and development
Goal 2: Stimulate education in regional policy
and development at Memorial University
Objective 2.1
Advance Regional Policy and Development in the
curriculum of graduate and undergraduate programs
Objective 2.2
Advance Knowledge Mobilization / Community
Engagement in the curriculum of graduate and
undergraduate programs
Objective 2.3
Support the establishment of undergraduate and graduate
degrees in Regional Policy and Development
Goal 3: Generate greater interaction of
Memorial University faculty, students and staff
with stakeholder needs and opportunities (1)
Objective 3.1
Organize Regional Workshops to communicate current
activity and identify new opportunities and needs
Objective 3.2
Organize Knowledge Exchange / Transfer processes and
sessions to allow sharing of expertise
Objective 3.3
Broker new opportunities for collaboration
Objective 3.4
Facilitate the establishment of Memorial and N&L
Knowledge Mobilization/Community Engagement
Networks
Goal 3: Generate greater interaction of
Memorial University faculty, students and staff
with stakeholder needs and opportunities (2)
Objective 3.5
Increase adoption of Yaffle in NL
Objective 3.6
Expand Yaffle to more institutional partners in NL and
beyond
Objective 3.7
Facilitate MUN Research Plan “Community, Regional and
Enterprise Development” and “Governance and Public
Policy” Themes external partner engagement
Objective 3.8
Formalize collaboration with CNA
Goal 3: Generate greater interaction of
Memorial University faculty, students and staff
with stakeholder needs and opportunities (3)
Objective 3.9
Advance informed public policy debate and discussion
through Galbraith Lectureship, Memorial Presents
Public Policy Forums and Synergy Sessions
Objective 3.10
Lead, Partner or Support conferences relating to Regional
Policy and Development, subject to strategic fit and
availability of resources
Goal 4: Establish Memorial University as a
recognized leader in regional policy and
development (1)
Objective 4.1
Support the establishment of Research Chairs relating to
Regional Policy and Development
Objective 4.2
Facilitate MUN Research Plan “Community, Regional and
Enterprise Development” and “Governance and Public
Policy” Themes within Memorial
Objective 4.3
Support recognition of Alternative Forms of Scholarship in
University promotion and tenure processes
Goal 4: Establish Memorial University as a
recognized leader in regional policy and
development (2)
Objective 4.4
Respond to requests to present and collaborate nationally
and internationally, where benefits for NL mandate and
mission are demonstrated, resources are provided and
capacity allows
Goal 5: Establish Harris Centre
operations for long-term success (1)
Objective 5.1
Establish physical and technical infrastructure to meet
needs
Objective 5.2
Establish the Harris Centre as an exemplar of best
practices in governance and operations
Objective 5.3
Establish sustainable funding for public policy staffing and
programing
Objective 5.4
Develop mechanisms to engage associates, visiting
fellows, retired faculty and other expert supports
What have we missed?
• Other inputs?
• Other options?
• What is the Harris Centre in 5 years?
The Harris Centre Model for
Connecting Knowledge and Ideas Province-wide
– and beyond!