Brock faculty are invited to attend an upcoming Senate presentation on shared university governance.

Professor Len Findlay, of the University of Saskatchewan, will share his thoughts on Collegial Governance in the 21st Century on Wednesday, Jan. 31 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Pond Inlet.

Director of the Humanities Research Unit and founding member of the Indigenous Humanities group at the University of Saskatchewan, Findlay will speak about concern over the level of empowerment felt by academics and why.

“This will generate reflection during and after the event about the conditions of engagement and disengagement of academic staff in shared governance,” said Brock Senate Chair David Whitehead.

Those planning to attend are asked to reflect in advance on their own recent experience as an academic at Brock, including how empowered they feel and why, he said.

Whitehead said the presentation is timely for the University, as the institution is in its first full year with a new President who is finalizing an institutional plan to present to Senate and the Board of Trustees for approval.

“As part of this planning process, Brock is dealing with the effects of the provincial Strategic Mandate Agreement process on our institution,” he said. “Senate has committed to undertaking the first in a series of regular periodic reviews of its structure, processes and effectiveness. Professor Findlay’s presentation will provide us all at Brock with a timely opportunity to reflect on the value of faculty participation in the development and implementation of academic policy.”

Whitehead encouraged faculty members to attend the presentation and participate in the process of reflection.

“This feeds directly into Senate’s review of how are we doing as the major governing body at Brock University that is in charge of determining educational policy,” he said.