Deputy Minister University Champion Initiative

Description

The Deputy Minister University Champion Initiative was launched in 2002. This initiative is a collaborative effort between the School, which serves as the secretariat, and the Privy Council Office, which appoints the deputy minister champions. It aims to strengthen linkages between the Government of Canada and Canadian universities and is designed to support robust and relevant public administration education and research so that the federal public service has access to leading ideas and theories, a new generation of public administration scholars and new employees who are well educated in modern public management.

Objectives

This initiative seeks to foster strong, sustainable relationships between the Government of Canada and Canadian universities, including students, faculty, staff, and senior leadership. The goal of the initiative is to:

establish and maintain collaborative relationships to identify shared priorities and advance common objectives
strengthen existing connections between the Government of Canada and Canadian universities, while building new networks to support larger-scale partnerships
attract and retain talent by positioning the Government of Canada as an employer of choice that offers diverse and meaningful career opportunities and career paths

Role of deputy minister university champions

Deputy ministers can support stronger connections between the federal public service and universities in different ways. Because involvement with university partners varies by context, each champion is encouraged to tailor their role to their circumstances. As such, examples of roles include:

acting as connectors and relationship builders by engaging with key partners, usually the president of the university, on issues of mutual importance
enabling partnerships and knowledge exchange by helping the university to navigate the Government of Canada
supporting recruitment by advising students on employment opportunities within the federal public service and promoting the public service as a career choice

Champions report on their activities and results through the annual performance management process.