The October 2014 meeting of the Senate will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. in the Sankey Chamber. The following is a brief summary of the agenda.
The president’s report to Senate contains an attachment.
The attachment, Jack Lightstone explains, is the “mandate letter” from Premier Kathleen Wynne to Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Reza Moridi. Making these mandate letters public is a new practice in Ontario.
The president cautions senate to be vigilant about not only what the letter says, but also its tone because it suggests the possibility of a new direction in Ontario.
The second alert contained in the report concerns enrollment trends. Lightstone says “For the first year since the early 1990s, domestic enrollment from Grade 12 graduates at Ontario’s universities has declined.”
The full text of the president’s report is available here.
The Vice President Academic’s report to Senate highlights activities in our various Faculties. Neil McCartney is attending the National Vice-Presidents’ Academic Council annual conference in Waterloo.
Memos from the Registrar’s Office figure prominently on this agenda. In these memos, Senate is:
1. Asked to approve the list of graduands
2. Asked for feedback on the proposed schedule of academic dates for 2015-2016.
The Governance Committee is recommending appointments to various Senate committees. In an in-camera session Senate will receive a recommended list of nominees for a Brock University Chancellor to succeed Ned Goodman.
The Graduate Studies Committee is recommending a change to the faculty handbook 14.9.2 to include:
Graduate students who conduct human participant studies strictly based on secondary analysis of a) human tissue or bodily fluids or b) data from non-public sources (provided there is no involvement or interaction with human participants) are encouraged to complete the entire CORE tutorial. However, at minimum, these students must complete modules 1 (core principles), 2 (defining research), and 5 (privacy and confidentiality) before submitting a research ethics application.
The Information, Technology and Infrastructure Committee are dealing with the following topics particularly as they relate to budget items:
1. Classroom modernization
2. Campus plan
3. Five-year long term capital plan
4. Clicker technology
The full Senate agenda and notes can be found here.
Senate reminds the Brock community that fall convocation is Oct. 18. There are two ceremonies – one each in the morning and afternoon.
