Institutional Educational Goals

Educational goals are a set of attributes that every SFU graduate should possess and represent the university’s ongoing commitment to the improvement of programs and courses.

In 2022, SFU adopted Educational Goals for all undergraduate students. SFU’s Educational Goals for undergraduates are based on the recommendations of a 2018 working group and revisions made by the Senate Committee for University Teaching and Learning:

SFU Students Are:

Strong, purposeful and inclusive communicators. They can:

• Analyze and interpret ideas through various media, including but not limited to effective written, verbal, quantitative, and visual arguments.
• Evaluate and use source materials effectively and ethically to support and advance ongoing and new knowledge.   
• Promote inclusive, collaborative problem-solving through respectful interpersonal communication.

Practical, creative and critical thinkers. They have the capacity to:

• Articulate broad and deep knowledge of a field of study, including core assumptions, key concepts, standard methodologies, and common approaches, both theoretical and applied. 
• Pose thoughtful questions, analyze and interpret information and arguments, and apply information from multiple disciplines to solve problems.
• Engage critically in experiential activities to demonstrate a reflective and integrated understanding and develop practical, creative, and scholarly solutions

Our students are community-engaged individuals. They have learned to:

• Respect Indigenous communities’ goals of self-determination and well-being, and actively engage in SFU’s collective responsibility of working towards Reconciliation. 
• Understand and respect diversity, practice inclusion, work towards equity, and gain and promote understanding of local, regional, and global communities. 
• Evaluate ethical values and the social context of problems; apply diverse perspectives in scholarship. 
• Contribute to the communities in which they work and live through reciprocal and relationship building, and participate in community-embedded challenges or opportunities.