Annual Report 2022 – 23 OCAS Electrified.

An Electrified Organization

This past year was anything but typical for OCAS. Over the course of that time our organization introduced Marc Provencher as our new President and CEO after serving for nearly a decade as our Chief Information Officer. Under Marc, OCAS has finalized a strategic plan for our organization, including an examination of how our products and services are contributing value to the college system. (You’ll read more about the plan later in this report.)

As this work was underway – and with the impact of the global pandemic waning – OCAS returned to regularly visiting college campuses and attending in-person events, including the Ontario College Fair. The past year also saw the return of our very own OCAS Conference, held in early November 2022, which brought together a diverse audience from across the colleges to engage in conversations that will help us strengthen our service offerings and relationships in higher education.

With a new leader, strategic plan, and outlook in place, we’re energized – to the point of feeling ‘electrified’ – about the future of our organization. You’ll get a feel for that through the topics we cover in this report as well as the electrified design. At the heart of this design: neon lights, which operate when the vapour inside is exposed to electricity, causing electrons to gain energy and release a photon that casts a stunning, colourful glow on everything around it.

That science resonates with us – as we learn from our partners, research new technologies, and explore how we can apply our innovations, we can’t help but feel electrified about the future.

Read on to learn more about OCAS and our future direction.

Greetings from the President and CEO

What a year it’s been! At about this time in 2022, I had the honour of succeeding Karen Creditor as this organization’s President and CEO. After a decade serving as OCAS’ Chief Information Officer, I thought I’d seen it all – but the past 12 months have given me a new lens on how our organization fits into the higher education system.

Over the past year, I’ve had so many amazing opportunities to strengthen relationships with our partners in the Ontario college system. Along with many other members of the OCAS team, I’ve felt blessed by the opportunity to meet with our partners where they work and feel most comfortable – on their campuses.

Through visits to many other Ontario colleges, I’ve gained new appreciation for the diversity and individuality of these educational communities. As we continue our return to in-person campus visits and events, I’m excited by the opportunity to learn more about what makes each of our college partners distinct. At the same time, I want to learn more about their collective strengths and challenges, and how OCAS can support them.

In the year ahead, I look forward to bringing OCAS’ electric energy to conversations with our college partners about the opportunities we can pursue together.

Marc Provencher
President and Chief Executive Officer, OCAS

Photo of Patti France, OCAS Chair of the Board

Greetings from the Board Chair

The content of this annual report will, no doubt, be dominated by a reflection of the most significant project undertaken by OCAS during the past year: conducting our Strategic Plan overview and update.

Admittedly, this exercise – a version of which I’m sure we’ve all participated in at our institutions at one time or another – is not as tangible as a big capital investment for a new computer system or the refurbishment of office space.

But strategic planning is, truly, more important to any organization than anything of a brick-and-mortar or bells-and-whistles nature. It furnishes the overarching philosophy that, by means of the policies and procedures that eventually arise from the plan, directs the actions and activities of our most important operational component: our people, both our board members and our employees.

The past couple of pandemic years, and the need for us to innovatively respond to that crisis, supplied a rather appropriate backdrop for the strategic planning exercise. The crisis re-emphasized the increasingly electronic nature of our world and education’s place in it. It also underlined how our institutions and OCAS itself must be more nimble, adaptive, and versatile in our provision of services.

In addition to a recap of the Strategic Plan’s preparation and current status, this annual report will highlight the exceptional work carried out by the entire OCAS team during the preceding year, as the organization continues to provide prospective students with informative access to our institutions. Thank you to all of our employees.

Sincerely,

Patricia France, M. Ad. Ed.
Chairperson, OCAS Board of Directors
President, St. Clair College