The November 2014 meeting of the Senate will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. in the Sankey Chamber. The full agenda and supporting materials are available here:
The following is a brief summary of the agenda.
The President’s Report to Senate
In his report the President writes, “The end classes for the fall term of 2014-15 are already fast approaching. I wish students a successful conclusion to their fall courses. I am fully aware of the work it takes to complete the term, and the stress that many students experience as a result. To faculty and staff, I wish the energy to successfully complete their duties of this fall semester. The University is grateful for your effort and professionalism.”
The report explains that:
1) the government appears intent on refashioning the funding model to be less enrollment driven, more reinforcing of differentiation and more outcomes based. While universities are invited to participate in the refashioning of the model through COU, universities require “stability, flexibility, fairness and ample lead time.”
2) the federal government is expected to momentarily release a new science and technology policy to guide research investments. A major change is not expected, and there is some indication that in addition to current themes, agriculture and manufacturing will now be included.
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33641
The Vice-President Academic’s Report to Senate is an extensive review of developments and achievements in the Faculties. Too extensive to summarize, see the full report here.
Applicable to all Faculties, the Vice-Provost Teaching and Learning reports on the symposium on flexible teaching and learning and the MTCU call for online course development.
CPI has prepared a template that will assist the generation of these proposals. The template to assist the development of these RFP’s may be found here.
Service-Learning Course Development Grants and Service-Learning Sustainability Grants are now available for application. These grants may be found here.
The Report of the Vice President Research
Third annual grant award winner lunch: December, 2014
Third annual research celebration: Feb. 10, 2015
Second annual grant applicant recognition event and leaders day: March 2015
First annual publication workshop: Spring 2015
The report announces:
1.) a 13% increase in research funding over last year
2.) the acquisition of resources to track our publications and a home-grown approach to facilitate tracking of citations
3.) a continuing competitive environment for research, the importance of curiosity driven research and scholarship and the appropriateness of our interdisciplinary approach
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33659
The Governance Committee is recommending to Senate:
1) the appointment of new committee members
2) the following changes to the Faculty Handbook:
a. that committee meetings be guided by Roberts Rules of Order to be consistent with Senate
b. that PPBAC include representation from the Library, where possible
c. that Section III of the Faculty Handbook be reorganized to make clear regulations that apply specifically to undergraduate students and programs and those that apply specifically to graduate students and programs.
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33671
The Graduate Studies Committee is recommending a change in FHB 14.11.1 Types of Appeals to clarify the intent of the process. The recommended change reads:
“If the student thinks that the decision warrants an appeal, the student must meet jointly with the instructor/supervisor and the graduate program director who will render a joint decision.”
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33634
The Information Technology and Infrastructure Committee is “pulling together a first set of recommendations for PP&BAC in planning the 2015-2016 budget.” These include:
1.) SharePoint Document Management, a system to reduce the risk of lost data and to improve security of data, will involve 1-2 departments in a pilot project
2.) a strategy concerning Cloud technology to report in December
3.) Brock’s new Cisco data to lower the IT physical footprint, power consumption and cooling requirements
4.) deferred maintenance
Discussion on an integrated strategy for classroom Clicker technology was postponed to the next meeting.
The Research and Scholarship Policy Committee is submitting the following as items of information
1.) the COI policy is under review FHB: Section III: 8.2.2; 8.2.3; 8.2.4; 8.2.5
2.) a template is under development to reduce the burden of reporting by research centres/Institutes
3.) the need for more IT support for the REB
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33577
The Teaching and Learning Policy Committee is recommending that a librarian be included on the spring/summer review committee and is informing Senate that it will be reviewing:
1.) the matter of a 14-week Spring-Summer term
2.) the 10-minute transfer time between classes
3.) the alignment of Brock with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33637
The Undergraduate Program Policy Committee is recommending the addition of a new Education Additional Qualifications course to the course bank.
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33642
The Undergraduate Student Affairs Committee is reviewing:
1.) the impact of a fall break on student mental health
2.) the addition of central tendency on student transcripts
3.) a proposal to replace context requirements with breadth requirements.
https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/33530
The Academic Review Committee is recommending that Senate approve:
a) Final Assessment Reports for
1) Sport Management
2) MSc Mathematics and Statistics
3) Medieval and Renaissance Studies
b) Major Modifications in
1) BA Political Science
2) BSc in Mathematics and Statistics
c) Program Proposals
1) Graduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology and Counselling
2) International MSc in Materials Science
Final Assessment Implementation Reports for each Unit which has undergone a cyclical academic
review in the last three years have been uploaded to the Quality Assurance website under the Public Accountability section.
The full report of ARC is available here.
