Hamilton, Ont. — November 28, 2025 — McMaster University is closing out the fall term with three big, interconnected storylines: a new strategic plan that will guide the institution to 2031, a growing footprint in downtown Toronto at 180 Bloor St. W., and a behind-the-scenes exam printing operation that quietly produces 1.2 million pages in just a few weeks each year. [1]
Together, they reveal how McMaster is planning for its future while investing in the spaces, people and infrastructure that keep teaching, learning and research running smoothly.
A Community‑Driven Strategic Plan to 2031
Earlier this week, McMaster President and Vice-Chancellor Susan Tighe formally launched “Setting the Course,” the process for creating the university’s next strategic plan — a roadmap that will shape McMaster’s priorities through to 2031. [2]
In a message to the McMaster community, Tighe emphasized that the university’s current position — in the upper tier of Canadian universities and among the top one per cent globally — didn’t happen by accident. It is the result of deliberate planning, strategic investment and a culture of innovation. [3]
What the new strategic plan aims to do
The upcoming strategic plan is designed to:
- Set clear priorities through 2031 for teaching, research, operations and budgets
- Highlight areas where McMaster can lead, while sustaining excellence across the broader university
- Align resources and decision-making with a shared, community-informed vision
Starting in January, the university will begin gathering input from faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and external partners to shape the document. The process will include surveys, town halls, focused consultations and updates through a new website dedicated to the plan. [4]
The goal is ambitious: have a completed plan ready for approval by the Board of Governors in June 2026, giving the university a clear direction for the latter half of the decade. [5]
Governance: two teams, one shared goal
To steer this work, McMaster is creating:
- A strategic oversight committee, chaired by Tighe, with representatives from all six faculties and key portfolios across the university
- A strategic planning team, responsible for day‑to‑day work: analyzing feedback, drafting the plan and reporting to the oversight committee [6]
Transparency will be central. The university has committed to measuring progress publicly against the plan’s goals, allowing the community to see how strategies translate into action and outcomes. [7]
Why this matters now
The timing of “Setting the Course” is significant. Universities are grappling with:
- Rapid advances in technology, including generative AI
- Evolving student expectations around flexibility, experiential learning and mental health support
- Funding pressures and the need for diversified revenue and partnerships
- Global competition for research talent and investment
By inviting the broader community to help define McMaster’s next chapter, the university is signalling that it wants a plan rooted not just in institutional priorities, but in lived experience — from classrooms and labs to student services and community partnerships.
180 Bloor: McMaster’s Free Toronto Hub for Events, Meetings and Recruitment
While the strategic plan looks ahead to 2031, McMaster is already expanding its physical reach today. A new McMaster News feature highlights 180 Bloor St. W. in downtown Toronto, a modern, fully accessible venue that’s free for McMaster faculty and staff to book for university-related events. [8]
Located directly across from the Royal Ontario Museum and steps from major transit, 180 Bloor gives McMaster a highly visible presence back in the city where it was originally founded before relocating to Hamilton in 1930. The current space opened in spring 2023 and has quickly become a go‑to site for meetings and events in Canada’s largest metropolitan area. [9]
Why 180 Bloor is a strategic asset
The Toronto hub supports several priorities that align with McMaster’s emerging strategic themes:
- Recruitment and reach: It’s an ideal venue for student recruitment, alumni engagement and outreach to industry and government partners located in the Greater Toronto Area. [10]
- Partnerships and visibility: Being embedded in a dense hub of cultural institutions, businesses and research organizations makes it easier to host networking events, public lectures and media activities. [11]
- Equity and access: The space is fully accessible and equipped with hybrid meeting technology, making it easier to bring people together across locations and mobility needs. [12]
Staff who frequently use 180 Bloor describe it as a true “extended campus” — especially for teams like DeGroote’s Career & Professional Development and Advancement, who rely heavily on face‑to‑face conversations with employers, donors and alumni based in Toronto. [13]
Inside the space: what’s available
The 180 Bloor location is designed to flex from quiet meetings to high‑energy events. According to McMaster’s institutional news feature, the space includes: [14]
- Eight hotelling workstations for drop‑in work
- Four private offices with whiteboards, small meeting tables and storage
- Two 10‑person boardrooms
- One small meeting room for up to four people
- An event space that can host up to 35 people seated or 75 standing
The event room uses furniture that can be configured for panels, receptions, workshops or training sessions. Built‑in screens support HDMI and wireless casting, and key rooms feature high‑quality video soundbars and speakers to make hybrid meetings smoother. [15]
For McMaster faculty and staff, perhaps the best part is cost: room bookings at 180 Bloor are free for McMaster-related activities, with the expectation that at least one faculty or staff member is present. [16]
As the university refines its strategic plan, 180 Bloor offers a practical, already‑operational example of how McMaster is extending its footprint to better serve learners, partners and alumni beyond Hamilton.
The Hidden Engine of Academic Integrity: 1.2 Million Exam Pages in a Month
If 180 Bloor is McMaster’s public-facing urban hub, a very different kind of engine powers the university from behind the scenes: the small team that prints every written exam on campus.
A recent “People of McMaster” feature profiles digital technician Bernice Grasley, who has spent nearly 40 years in Media Production Services. Alongside just two colleagues, she helps ensure that every exam, course outline and many other printed materials are delivered on time — especially during the crunch of exam season. [17]
Exam season by the numbers
In November alone, Grasley’s team prints roughly 1.2 million pages of exams over a span of a few weeks. [18]
To meet that demand, the team operates:
- Two high‑speed black-and‑white printers, running at about 250 impressions per minute
- A colour printer for exams that include diagrams or multiple versions on different coloured paper
- Digital workflows that allow staff to quickly prepare, proof and adjust files before they ever reach the printer [19]
Everything is meticulously organized. The team plans ahead for exam season, anticipates bottlenecks and has systems in place to recover quickly if something goes wrong — from last‑minute changes to files to unexpected technical glitches. [20]
From plates and ink to fully digital
When Grasley started in the mid‑1980s in an audio‑visual role at the hospital, printing was a very different business. For many years, the department relied on large presses that required physical plates and traditional ink. In 2012, the operation fully transitioned to digital printing, allowing for faster turnarounds, fewer manual steps and more flexibility. [21]
That shift has meant:
- A smaller team can now handle a larger volume of work
- Files can be edited, corrected and typeset digitally — from business cards and letterhead to complex exam layouts
- It’s easier to ensure consistency and accessibility in printed materials
Despite the pressure and pace, Grasley says she enjoys both the problem‑solving and the rhythm of exam season. The satisfaction of seeing a complex print job come together — and knowing it supports thousands of students writing high‑stakes assessments — keeps her motivated year after year. [22]
How These Stories Fit Together
At first glance, a strategic planning process, a Toronto event space and a high‑volume print shop might seem like separate stories. In reality, they highlight three pillars of McMaster’s trajectory as of late November 2025:
- Vision and direction
- “Setting the Course” is about deciding where McMaster wants to be by 2031 — in research impact, student success, community engagement and financial sustainability. [23]
- Place and presence
- 180 Bloor showcases how the university is extending its reach into Toronto, strengthening ties with industry, government and alumni while making it easier to recruit and collaborate in one of the world’s major urban centres. [24]
- People and infrastructure
- The exam printing operation is one of many behind‑the‑scenes services — like IT, accessibility support and research facilities — that make it possible to deliver high‑quality education and maintain academic integrity at scale. [25]
As global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, aging populations and climate change demand new knowledge and solutions, McMaster’s researchers are already contributing breakthroughs in areas like infectious disease and health innovation. [26] The strategic plan will influence how the university continues to invest in these strengths, while spaces like 180 Bloor and services like Media Production Services give researchers, students and partners the practical support they need to do their best work.
What Comes Next for the McMaster Community
As of today, November 28, 2025, McMaster’s fall exam season is ramping up, the Toronto hub is steadily booking new events, and the strategic planning process is moving from announcement to engagement.
Here’s how different groups can plug in:
- Faculty and staff
- Students
- Watch for opportunities to participate in consultations, town halls and surveys related to the new strategic plan.
- Recognize the unseen teams — like exam printers, accessibility specialists, IT staff and custodial workers — whose efforts help create a consistent, fair and supportive learning environment. [29]
- Alumni and partners
As McMaster sets its course for 2031, the stories unfolding this week — from a message in University Hall to a bustling event space in Toronto and a print room humming with exam pages — show that the university’s future is being built both in public and behind the scenes, one plan, one partnership and yes, one printed page at a time.
References
1. news.mcmaster.ca, 2. news.mcmaster.ca, 3. news.mcmaster.ca, 4. news.mcmaster.ca, 5. news.mcmaster.ca, 6. news.mcmaster.ca, 7. news.mcmaster.ca, 8. news.mcmaster.ca, 9. news.mcmaster.ca, 10. news.mcmaster.ca, 11. news.mcmaster.ca, 12. news.mcmaster.ca, 13. news.mcmaster.ca, 14. news.mcmaster.ca, 15. news.mcmaster.ca, 16. news.mcmaster.ca, 17. news.mcmaster.ca, 18. news.mcmaster.ca, 19. news.mcmaster.ca, 20. news.mcmaster.ca, 21. news.mcmaster.ca, 22. news.mcmaster.ca, 23. news.mcmaster.ca, 24. news.mcmaster.ca, 25. news.mcmaster.ca, 26. news.mcmaster.ca, 27. news.mcmaster.ca, 28. news.mcmaster.ca, 29. news.mcmaster.ca, 30. news.mcmaster.ca, 31. news.mcmaster.ca
