As academics we are both in the world and of it, and today that world is becoming ever more densely tangled and interconnected.
In truth, the ivory tower was always more metaphor than reality, but we can no longer maintain even the illusion of the University as an aloof and privileged sanctuary. Our successes as collaborative researchers, as educators of skilled professionals and creative thinkers, as a destination for the best students and the best faculty, as well as our ability to attract results-based funding, are largely dependent upon the quality and character of our connections with the world around us.
The University of Ottawa enthusiastically embraces this highly networked future and commits to deepening and expanding its connections nationally and internationally to ferry resources, expertise and opportunities to and from uOttawa. We also commit to enriching local connections, notably by strengthening existing relationships with the Franco-Ontarian and Algonquin Anishnaabe communities, as well as with Canada's preeminent technology cluster in Kanata North and with ministries and agencies of the federal government headquartered in Ottawa.
Ahmad Tidjani Niang
Student in Conflict Studies and Human Rights (BSocSc)
Faculty of Social Sciences
Knowing that the university has an international vision means there is more opportunity for me, especially in what I want to achieve following my studies. This global orientation is really important and needed for a foreign student, but especially for the changing professional market.