It’s a question that sparks a constellation of answers: First and foremost is our relentless drive to innovate, to move faster, to constantly sharpen our relevance – to excel even as we set a higher standard. Equally important is our conviction that we know what Rotman stands for, as a vibrant and inclusive school united by our shared values and our commitment to transforming business and society today.
When you pose the question of impact to our diverse Rotman community – our students, faculty and staff, and the network of business and research partners who extend that impact worldwide – you get an equally diverse range of answers.
Some point to the success of Rotman graduates – the tens of thousands of people who credit our programs with launching, redirecting or reinventing their careers.
Then there’s the high-quality research conducted by our faculty and students, which informs business thinking and corporate strategy around the globe.
Others point to our deep engagement with the business, entrepreneurial and public policy communities, in key sectors from high tech to finance, healthcare and beyond. And we share insights with a wider audience through speaker series, special events and publications.
Above all, Rotman is a catalyst for breakthrough thinking and a testing ground for bold solutions to complex problems. Everything we focus on – advancing knowledge and innovation, rethinking old models and creating new ones, fostering personal and career growth, promoting diversity and inclusion – is aimed at producing change for the better.
Rotman is defined by dynamism and drive, and fuelled by a constant desire to be better. We’ve summed up these aspirations—which continue to guide us through these trying times—in Catalyst for Change: Rotman’s Academic Plan 2019–2024. Despite its name, our academic plan is not just about scholarship and research; it’s Rotman’s strategic plan for the coming years. It reinforces our school’s ambition to be a driver of economic and social change, to place ourselves firmly at the centre of the issues that matter, to combine authoritative information with insight, and instill current and future leaders with the knowledge and skills to turn insight into impact.
We’re here to connect with the diverse thinkers and innovative ideas that are redefining business, and to provide valuable insights on how to address the challenges ahead. This plan doubles down on Rotman as a force for positive change, committing to four key goals:
1. Advance the frontiers of management thinking
2. Deliver transformational management education
3. Take insight to impact
4. Harness the power of community
At its core, this Academic Plan reflects a higher purpose: Rotman’s dedication to combining the fundamentals of management with new thinking and evidence-based analysis to create value for business and society. This is about building the kinds of organizations we want to work in and the cities we want to live in. It’s about creating products, services and businesses that will serve humanity better and raise standards of living. And it’s about working with the business, scientific, academic and government communities to increase prosperity, enhance equality and achieve sustainability.
You can discover the many dimensions of Rotman – our inclusive spirit, our leadership in teaching and research, our dedication to providing the best in management education - on this website. We look forward to the day that we can invite you back to our campus, and one of the world’s most dynamic, multicultural cities. Come and experience first-hand the transformative energy we’ve tried to capture in our tagline:
Rotman. Here’s where it changes.
Kenneth Corts
Interim Dean