It is customary for the the Provost & Vice-President, Academic to provide a report to each meeting of Senate outlining plans, priorities, issues and other news. As these reports are already public through the University Secretariat Office, they will also be shared regularly through this memorandum page.

Note that appendices to the report can be found on the University Secretariat Office website.

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Report to Senate of the Provost & Interim President – December 15, 2021

Dear colleagues,

Thank you to all members of the Brock community for a safe and successful Fall term back on campus. Since the vaccine requirement took effect in early September, Brock has experienced only a very small number of isolated COVID-19 cases on campus, allowing classes to proceed undisturbed.

With University operations returning to a ‘new normal’, COVID will continue to be a preoccupation for the months – perhaps even the years – to come, but certainly for the Winter term. For this reason, Brock’s vaccine mandate has been extended into the Winter term, with the expectation that all students, staff and faculty members coming onto campus will be fully vaccinated before the first day of classes. Some flexibility with respect to this deadline will be shown for international students who are arriving in Canada for the Winter term and who may not have had previous access to Health Canada-approved vaccines. The University will work with these students and support them in getting fully vaccinated as soon as is feasible following their arrival in the country.

Brock also continues to monitor news about the evolution of the global pandemic, including the emergence of the Omicron variant and new complications related to international travel. The University is especially reaching out to international students already at Brock to ensure that they understand the risks of international travel over the holiday break, and specifically the risk to their studies if they cannot re-enter Canada due to changing border restrictions around the world.

I wish all Brock students, staff, faculty members and librarians a safe and restful holiday break.

Update on the academic plan

A priority project for the University this year involves the development of an Academic Plan, which will supplement the current Institutional Strategic Plan, which runs until 2025, by defining Brock’s academic priorities in areas such as program development, international, graduate studies, and strategic enrolment management. Professor Madelyn Law has been leading this project, working in close collaboration with PPBAC.

The plan will be developed in a manner that is collaborative and consultative with the community. The initial phase of consultation will inform the content of the plan and was launched in late October. An online consultation portal was launched and received almost 400 submissions before closing on December 10.

We will be working to analyze consultation data before the holidays and will create a first draft of the academic plan early in the new year. This plan will then be released to the community for consultation once again. We aim to bring a final plan to Senate for discussion before the end of the governance year.

Midterm review of the Institutional Strategic Plan

Related to the Academic Plan is the requirement to develop a mid-term report on the Institutional Strategic Plan, to be presented in September 2022. This was a commitment made at the outset of the strategic plan, one which I believe provides us with an important opportunity not only to measure the progress we have made but also to reflect on how COVID may have affected our plans. I have already discussed the structure of the midterm report with Senate and with the Chair of the Board. Work on the document will begin in the Winter term.

Brock International transition

Last week, I announced changes to Brock International in anticipation of Professor Camille Rutherford’s term as Vice-Provost, International and Strategic Partnerships ending in August. Under this new structure, international recruitment will be consolidated with domestic recruitment under the Registrar’s Office, while Brock’s external English as a Second Language programming aimed at international students will move to Professional and Continuing Studies. The staff in Brock International Services will transition to report through Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships.

These changes follow up on an external review of Brock International conducted last year by PwC and aim to better position Brock to compete in the changing international marketplace following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Procedures for inclement weather

As you know, the University has procedures for closing during inclement weather. This is especially likely to occur in the Winter term should there be a snow storm. The procedure requires senior facilities management staff to make a recommendation for closure to the President, keeping in mind the actions of peer regional institutions such as Niagara College and the local school boards, among others.

There is a need to consider how these procedures should be revised in light of COVID and our newfound comfort with online work. In the past, all classes would have been cancelled for the day when the University is closed, and a make-up day would have been found. However, we are considering revising the procedures to cancel only on-campus classes when the University closes, allowing courses scheduled for online delivery to continue. This minimizes the need to find a make-up day. We would also consider provisions allowing faculty members to move their courses online for the day when the University is closed.

I would appreciate any feedback from Senators to these ideas by email to provost@brocku.ca in the coming week. We will also be discussing with the Faculty Association to understand potential impact on faculty workload.