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 & Vice-President, Academic – December 7, 2022
Dear Senators,
I would like to take the opportunity today to highlight some of the recent successes and accomplishments coming out of three of our Faculties. I will share highlights from the remaining Faculties in the new year.
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
Last May, the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences welcomed its first cohort of students in the innovative new BN/MN program. A first of its kind in Canada, the program allows students with a completed undergraduate degree and appropriate prerequisites to completed Bachelor and Master of Nursing degrees in five terms (i.e., less than two years of study) and enter the workforce as qualified and accredited nurses. 25 students started the program in May 2022, with a plan for at least 32 more students to start in May 2023.
The introduction of the BN/MN program is coupled with rapid growth in the existing undergraduate Nursing program, which will have over 700 students enrolled by 2024. This is double the previous program enrolment. Nursing enrolment growth has been supported by government funding for the extra students and for increased lab space, equipment, infrastructure, and the hiring of additional Nursing faculty and staff.
These programs are sorely needed at a time when nurses are in short supply across the province and the government turns its mind to educating the next generation of health care workers.
Goodman School of Business
On November 23, the Goodman School of Business held a celebration for Brock students, staff, faculty members and alumni to mark the tenth anniversary of GSB inheriting the Goodman name.
The naming of the Goodman School of Business was announced in Fall 2012 following a transformational gift from then Brock Chancellor Ned Goodman and the Goodman Family Foundation. Dan and Mark Goodman, sons of Ned Goodman, were on hand to mark the event.
The celebration comes mere weeks after the Goodman School of Business was ranked for the first time among Canada’s top 20 business schools by Maclean’s magazine, placing 18th overall and 17th in the reputation category. Goodman is also the only Canadian business school in the International Partnership of Business Schools network.
Faculty of Social Sciences
In September, FOSS launched its PhD in Sustainability Science, which offers changemakers opportunities to research and learn about climate change, biodiversity loss, climate inequality, and other pressing sustainability issues of our time. Housed in the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, the program is the first of its kind in Canada and one of only a handful of similar programs internationally. The PhD in Sustainability Science is also the 10th contribution to Brock’s growing roster of doctoral programs.
Finally, I would like to congratulate Professor Kate Bezanson from the Department of Sociology, who this Fall began a secondment to serve as special advisor on gender, rights, and social, economic and legal issues to the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. She will be on leave from the University during this time.
Bezanson has previously served as an appointee of the Attorney General of Ontario to the federal Judiciary Advisory Committee for Ontario South and West and has provided policy advice to government at all levels, striving to bridge the gap between academic research and practicable policy approaches.
Sincerely,
Lynn Wells
Provost and Vice-President, Academic