Acadia University Senate
Minutes


SENATE MEETING OF 10 December 2001

A meeting of the Senate of Acadia University occurred on Monday, 10 December, 2001, beginning at 4:10 p.m. with Chair Ian Wilks presiding and 38 members present.
 
1) Minutes of the Meeting of
    13 November 2001 
It was moved by R. Perrins and seconded by R. Proulx that the Minutes of 13 November 2001 be approved.

D. Kruisselbrink noted a spelling error in his name on page 1. 

THE MOTION WAS CARRIED AS AMENDED.
 

 2) Announcements and
  Communications
  a) From the Chair
     -re Regrets
 
 

     -re Today's Agenda


 

Regrets were received from T. Archibald, P. Corkum, B. Gullick, H. Hemming, A. Irving, E. Johnston, R. Morrison, and L. White.

The Chair noted additions to today's agenda under Item 5) which will include two notices of motion:  one from the President regarding the University Planning 2001 Update; and a second from the Vice-President (Academic) to amend the Constitution and By-Laws of the University Senate with regard to the position of Director of Research and Graduate Studies. 
 

    b) From the Vice-President
      (Academic)

M. Leiter reported that the search committee to nominate a Dean of Arts has been appointed and the search is now underway.
 
 3) Business Arising from the
   Minutes
   a) Report of the Dean of
       FPAS on the APRC Review
        of Biology, Geology,
      Environmental Science
      (012-17-SCI) 

 
 
 
 

It was moved by C. MacLatchy and seconded by T. Herman that Senate receive the Dean of Faculty of Pure and Applied Science Report on the Academic Program Review Committee Report on the cluster review of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science, as circulated with today's agenda.

C. MacLatchy reported significant progress in fulfilling the recommendations of the APRC, which were brought forward in the Senate meeting of 14 February 2000, when the original Report was adopted.  The Report brought forward today speaks in detail to these recommendations.

MOTION WAS CARRIED.
 

    b) Vice President's Annual
      Report 1999-2000
      (012-11-VPA)
It was moved by M. Leiter and seconded by C. MacLatchy that the Vice President's Annual Report for 1999-2000 be received.D. Looker asked about errors to this Report, which she had e-mailed to the VP's office.  M. Leiter said that all corrections brought to his attention have been made.  The Report is available on-line at http://admin.acadiau.ca/vpaoffice.MOTION WAS CARRIED AS AMENDED.
    c) Vice President's Annual
      Report 2000 -2001
     (012-12-VPA)

It was moved by M. Leiter and seconded by C. MacLatchy that the Vice President's Annual Report for 2000-2001 as circulated at the November 2001 meeting of Senate be received.

G. Pyrcz expressed concern that there is not a uniform reporting system across various units to contribute to this Report.  There is some misunderstanding within departments about how extensive the record of activities is to be.  Some clarification/guidance is needed.

M. Leiter welcomed feedback to improve on this Report in future.  He noted that it is the intent that this Report represent the wide range of academic activity at Acadia.

MOTION WAS CARRIED.
 

    d) Students Representative
      Council-Honorary Degrees
      Committee Membership
      (012-13-SRC)

 

It was moved by J. Britton and seconded by S. Sansonetti thatWHEREAS we, representing the Acadia University student body, feel it is important that potential graduates have a voice in who shall receive honorary degrees at their convocation,

AND WHEREAS there is currently no student seat on the Senate Honorary Degrees Committee,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Senate of Acadia University amend article VIII (h)(i) of its Constitution and By-Laws to include "One member of the student body to be designated by the Student Representative Council".

J. Britton spoke to this motion, expressing the desire among students to be involved in the process of choosing their convocation speaker.

MOTION WAS CARRIED.
 

4) New Business
  a) Arts Faculty Council-
     Declaring a Major
      (012-14-ART)

 

It was moved by B. Matthews and seconded by B. Moody that all students registering in the Faculty of Arts be required to declare a major.  To enable this motion to take effect, the Faculty of Arts will no longer require that 24 hours of the core be completed, or a GPA of 2.00 be attained prior to declaring a major.

B. Matthews spoke to this motion, noting that it has caused some consternation with some members of the academic community outside of the Arts Faculty Council.  Acceptance of this motion would 1.) provide better counselling/service for incoming students,  2.) make the Faculty of Arts consistent, in terms of its policy and strategy, with that followed by the other faculties, and 3.) give the Faculty of Arts a clearer idea of where students will settle down in their program - and it will be made clear that students may change programs at any time.  This motion would be in effect for the next academic year.

P. Cook explained that 3,000 brochures have gone out to various high schools containing the current information.  To change the procedure now would be confusing to new students.  Offers have been made to students under the current system as advertised.

Much discussion followed regarding this matter.

Senators in favour of the motion argued that requiring incoming students to declare a major would ensure that they had regular contact with a departmental advisor from the outset; this would help solve currently existing problems in advisement.  They also argued that the change would benefit students who actually wanted to declare a major in their first year. 

M. Leiter saw the discussion as bringing together two important issues - advising and program identity for first-year students.  He felt the first year could be a foundation year to try many areas of interest across the University in all faculties.  A strong structure for first-year studies leading to a second year, which is more department-based, might be worth considering.   

Senators against this motion felt that a first year in which students did not declare a major provided an opportunity to explore options.  Incoming students who often do not know which program they want are put off by a system which demands they choose a major right away.  

J. Cayford said that the current advising system in the Faculty of Arts  was unsuccessful because there was little proactive advising.  Even though every student was assigned an advisor, and this information was posted on a web site, the majority of students did not seek out their advisor.  She asked that, no matter what the decision to this motion is, advisors of the current first-year students find their students rather than wait for the students to find them.  She noted that Senators have the option to accept this motion with an amendment to defer for one year.  The registrar closed by asking if the dropping of the 2.0 GPA requirement for declaring a major also meant it was not necessary for a  student to switch a major.

K. Ogilvie said that the motion raised the issue of first-year advising in the Faculty of Arts, where clearly some students are not receiving the kind of academic advice they require.  He emphasized that setting  up a truly effective advising system is probably one of the most important things that we can do for students.  He requested that the VP(A) take on this issue and strike a committee to look at the whole issue of student advisement.

*Please refer to January Minutes for addition to this item*

MOTION WAS CARRIED.
 

    b) Timetable, Instruction
      Hours, and Examinations
      Committee-Scheduling
      Guidelines and Time Slots
       (012-15-TIE)

 
 

It was moved by D. Kruisselbrink and seconded by S. Sansonetti that the Timetable, Instruction Hours and Examinations Committee scheduling guidelines and the teaching timeslots as illustrated in the attachment to today's agenda be approved.

J. Cayford noted that this motion brings forward for Senate approval changes to the timetable which have taken place over the past years,  and formalizes what has evolved.

D. Looker suggested that a better numbering system to identify slots might be helpful and more user friendly.  She also expressed concern that inconsistent language in the scheduling guidelines (item 1 uses the word “must” and item 2 uses the word “should”) is confusing.  On the matter of course scheduling, D. Looker asked who has the ultimate responsibility for the scheduling of classes?

*Please refer to January Minutes for amendment to this paragraph* 

J. Cayford confirmed that the Registrar's Office has the final say in the scheduling of classes.

It was moved by D. Looker and seconded by S. Symons that the “must” in  item 1 of this motion be changed to “should”.

In reply to a query from the floor, the Registrar explained that equity was used when determining who should have which time slot on the schedule together with the size of the department and the number of requests for certain slots.  

K. Ogilvie stated that the decision maker had to be someone who understands the complexity of the total programs of study offered by the University.

MOTION TO AMEND THE MAIN MOTION WAS CARRIED.

It was moved by M. Leiter and seconded by W. McLeod that the main motion be amended with the addition of the following sentence to the end of the guideline's item 1:  "The Registrar has the authority to resolve scheduling conflicts."

M. Leiter said that this amendment would ensure a guiding principle to the schedule.

D. Looker replied that scheduling is up to Heads and Directors of departments as per the collective agreement. 

MOTION TO AMEND THE MAIN MOTION WAS CARRIED - 16/10

It was moved by D. Looker and seconded by J. Sacouman that the main motion be tabled.

MOTION TO TABLE THE MAIN MOTION WAS CARRIED - 17/9

J. Cayford noted that tabling this motion would not delay the usual request to departments for next year's schedule which would be going out before the next meeting of the Senate.
 

    c) Timetable, Instruction
      Hours, and Examinations
      Committee-2002-2003
      Calendar Dates
      (012-16-TIE)

 
 

It was moved by D. Kruisselbrink and seconded by B. Moody that the academic calendar of dates for 2002-2003 as attached to today's agenda be approved.

P. Cook pointed out that on this calendar the academic year has been extended four days in April 2003.

J. Britton noted that residences open 31 August on this calendar, which might pose a difficulty for some students because of summer jobs.

D. Kruisselbrink reported that the number of instruction hours at Acadia compared to other institutions is low and a short academic term is not beneficial to students; this is why the academic year has been extended.

THE MOTION WAS CARRIED.
 

 5) Other Business
  a) University President
      -University Planning Report
      2001 Update (012-18-PRE)

 

K. Ogilvie gave notice of motion for the adoption of the document University Planning 2001 Update as distributed at today's meeting.

In reply to a question from the floor, he reported that each sector of the University had input into this document.
 

    b) Academic Sector Planning
      Committee - Dean of
       Research and Graduate
      Studies (012-19-RGS)

 

M. Leiter gave the following notice of motion:  Be it resolved that the title of the position currently entitled Director of Research and Graduate Studies be changed to Dean of Research and Graduate Studies effective 1 July 2002.  All academic responsibilities, voting privileges, and committee memberships of the position of Director within the purview of Senate shall be transferred to the position of Dean.  The Senate of Acadia University recommends that the Board of Governors approve this change of title.
 

5) Adjournment G. Pyrcz moved that this meeting be adjourned.  It was 5:40 p.m.
 
_________________________________
D. Murphy, Recording Secretary