Trent University Senate Minutes Page 1 of 5

Transcription

1 TRENT UNIVERSITY Four Hundred and Thirty First Meeting of the Senate of Trent University Tuesday, November 5, 2013, 2:00 p.m. A.J.M. Smith Room, Bata Library MINUTES Present were: President Franklin (Chair); Senators Allcott, Arseneault, Balfour, Boire, Brenner, Campbell, Butler, Chivers, Clarke, Conolly, Dart, Dunaway, Elton, Emery, Evans, Fernlund, Freeland, Grey, Hintelmann, Hurl Eamon, Kyle, MacKinnon, Medina, Metcalfe, McKinnon, Nguyen, Panagia, Pickel, Pivato, Ponce, Ripley, Saville, Scharfe, Sherman, Stoyles, Watson, White, Woodend, Zohar. Official Guests: C. D Amico, K. Armstrong, J. Grover, S. Martin, P. Orser, J. Williams, M. Willson. University Secretary Deb debruijn, Associate University Secretary Tara Harrington and Coordinator of Board and Senate Support Richelle Hall Regrets: Senators Kerr, Iannacci, Law, Sutharsan and Vreugdenhil OPEN SESSION 1. Minutes and Business Arising. It was noted that there were errors in the list of those present. The minutes of October 1, 2013 were approved as amended. 2. Chair s Remarks. The Chair reported that, following a call for expressions of interest, Senator Ponce-Hernandez had been appointed to the Senate seat on the Facilities and Grounds Committee. The Chair noted that Ben Perry, President of the TCSA, had been interviewed by Arthur recently and provided an update on the status of the Student Centre. Mr. Perry reminded Senate that the student referendum held last year had been successful. The levy was expected to raise fourteen million dollars to fund the student portion of the building. The Chair reported that the University was attempting to secure seven million dollars in supplementary funding for three additional components: a Student Wellness Centre, and Entrepreneur Centre and a large class room. The project would proceed whether the University raised these additional funds or not. The plan was to take a recommendation to the Board of Governors in January of 2014, contract for architect s drawings in the spring of 2014 and tender the construction contract in the fall of It was noted that the graduate students had voted against the levy. The Chair reported that a proposal for a new program, Bachelor of Science in Water Science, was expected to be brought forward to the December meeting of Senate. The Chair noted that, as Senator Muldoon would be leaving the meeting early, the Undergraduate Studies Committee report would be dealt with before moving on with the agenda. 3. Undergraduate Studies Committee (USC) Report. Senator Muldoon presented the Undergraduate Studies Committee report noting that she would be seeking approval for three Page 1 of 5

2 of the recommendations in one motion with a second motion to approve the balance of the recommendations. The first recommendation included in the report related to an articulation agreement for a system-wide pathway for graduates of accredited Ontario Community College 2 year Police Foundations diploma programs. Qualified graduates would be granted 5 credits toward one of three Trent degrees: BSC (Honours) in Forensic Science; BA (Honours) Joint-Major in Forensic Science or BSc (Honours) Joint-Major in Forensic Science. The second recommendation in the report related to a proposed agreement with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) that would create a pathway for Trent students wishing to enter the UOIT Kinesiology degree program. The program would be direct entry with students spending their first two years at Trent and qualified students spending the final two years at UOIT to complete the program. Senator Muldoon asked that recommendation 10 a), a new articulation agreement with Fleming College which would allow graduates of Flemings Practical Nursing diploma program to enter the BSCN program at Trent with advanced standing, be approved. Senate approved the three recommendations as presented. Senator Muldoon then asked that Senate approve the remaining recommendations (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 b) and c)) included in the USC report. These included course regularizations in: Trent Oshawa (Writing course administered by the department of English Literature), Ancient History and Classics, Cultural Studies, History, Modern Languages & Literatures and Nursing; a proposal from Business Administration to introduce three new Specializations and revised degree requirements from English Literature. Senate approved the recommendations as presented. 4. Faculty Board Report. Senator Boire reported that there had been lively discussion at Faculty Board on a number of topics-- some of which were to be discussed later on the Senate agenda. He reported that there were strong differences of opinion within the academy on the issue of breaking full courses into half courses but that, despite the lack of consensus on the issue, the expectation was that we would move in that direction. 5. Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA). Senator Boire provided an update on the SMA process noting that the government still had not released instructions or a template. In the absence of instructions, and given the very tight timelines, we had moved forward and drafted a discussion paper that would ultimately inform the development of our SMA. The first draft of the discussion paper had been discussed by the President and Vice President s Executive Committee and the Board of Governors SMA Task Force- a body comprised of members of the Board and senior administration. A revised draft was expected to be released within a week. It was expected that there would be extensive consultation on the paper with a variety of constituencies and utilizing a variety of mechanisms. Senators deliberated on the issue raising the following points: The SMA should be directional. We need to build on our alliances with other universities but this needs to be done strategically and there has to be a fit. We need to develop metrics that are meaningful in our context. We need to address the issue of allocation of graduate spaces. The Ministry s draft differentiation framework, if implemented without substantial change, would result in us being pigeon-holed as primarily undergraduate and not research intensive. We are research intensive and need to make that point. Our SMA should point out that we are committed to education, not training. The draft differentiation framework is anti-diversity and anti-disciplinarity., University means universality-the framework would result in highly specialized Page 2 of 5

3 institutions. In their drive to avoid duplication the government could reduce options for students how does this fit with their commitment to student access? The metric regarding teaching-only faculty is particularly challenging. The administration s focus on teaching-only positions is problematic given the fact that the faculty association has continually rejected this move in collective bargaining and does not address the fact that we already have teaching only positions (CUPE 1 and 2). Additionally, a discussion paper and Senate are not appropriate venues to suggest the re-negotiation of certain aspects of the collective agreement especially when we are currently in collective bargaining. Many of the faculty scheduled to retire over the next few years are highly productive researchers and our students, undergraduate and graduate, benefit from this environment. How will this impact on future hiring? Will we be able to compete with other institutions if we have limited graduate spaces or are considered to be research light? Alumni like coming back to a university that they recognize. If we change too much we risk diminishing alumni engagement. Many students are attracted to Trent because they perceive that we take a holistic approach and value diversity. We need to be more explicit about the experiential learning opportunities that are currently available to our students. Senator Balfour, Trent University s Academic Colleague to the Council of Ontario Universities, reported that she had attended a COU meeting where Paul Genest, the MTCU s Special Advisor for Strategic Mandate Agreements, spoke. He emphasized that the Ministry position is that there is a great deal of duplication within the sector. It was noted that students who wish to actively lobby to protect their rights should be in contact with the Trent Central Student Association and the Canadian Federation of Students. The Chair reiterated that a draft discussion paper would be available for review and input within the week and he encouraged Senators to take part in the consultation process as the paper will be used to prepare Trent s new SMA. The SMA would be brought forward to Senate in December prior to being submitted to the government. 6. Draft Senate Work Plan Program Proposal. Senate approved the work plan as presented. It was noted that a status report would be brought to Senate in the spring. 7. Research Policy Committee Report (RPC). Senator Emery presented the report of the Research Policy Committee which was comprised of four items: Trent University Distinguished Research Award - Terms of Reference. The draft terms of reference had been revised to reflect feedback that Senate had provided at the May 15, 2013 meeting of Senate. Senate approved the Trent University Distinguished Research Award - Terms of Reference as presented. University Research Grants Program. The University Grants Program had been revised to include the health sciences. The evaluation criteria had also been revised. Senate approved the University Research Grants Program as presented. Research Grants in Lieu of Salary Program. The guidelines and award conditions had been revised to bring them into compliance with Canada Revenue Agency requirements. The guidelines included lists of eligible, and ineligible, expenses. Having these lists as part of the University s program was questioned. It was noted that the funds were taxable income for the recipient and it was up to Canada Revenue Agency, and not the University, to determine which Page 3 of 5

4 expenses were, or were not, eligible. Senator Emery agreed to revise the program guidelines to insert the word suggested at the beginning of each list. Senate approved the program as revised. Draft Strategic Research Plan (SRP). Senator Emery noted that the draft plan was available on the portal and the RPC was seeking feedback. A final draft of the plan would be brought to Senate in January of The Appendix, Briefing for SMA Differentiation Strategy, articulated a vision of three broad strategic research themes: Humanities and Culture, Healthy and Sustainable Communities and the Environment. It was pointed out that, while many researchers at Trent would clearly fit into one of these categories, in some cases the relationship was not as clear and there was a danger of over-looking some areas of research. It was also noted that the category of Healthy and Sustainable Communities appeared to include areas that historically have been identified with research in the environment. The SRP needs to mesh with the SMA and the SMA needs to build on the SRP. We need to find a way to integrate the professional schools and promote them as research areas. 8. Graduate Studies Committee Report (GSC). Senator Evans presented the report of the Graduate Studies Committee which noted that the GSC had reviewed and confirmed its policy of not depositing Major Research Papers in the archives. Senate accepted the report as information. 9. Academic Planning and Budget Committee Report. Senator Elton presented the report of the Academic Planning and Budget Committee. The draft New Schools Approval Process, which had been reviewed by Senate in the spring of 2013, had been revised to reflect input from a number of sources including the Joint Committee on Administration of the TUFA Collective Agreement. The revised draft had been sent to AP & B where it was expected that it would be reviewed, and possibly revised, before being brought forward to Senate for approval. Senator Elton also reported that a proposal to close the Hispanic Studies degree program would be brought to Senate in December. Senate accepted the report as presented. 10. Special Appeals Committee Report (SAC). Senate accepted the report as presented. 11. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m. Page 4 of 5

5 Dr. S. E. Franklin, Chair T. Harrington, Secretary Page 5 of 5