Highlights of Concordia's Board meeting

Highlights of Board renewal decisions
At the first Board meeting of the fall term on September 28, Concordia’s Board of Governors adopted proposed bylaw changes affecting university governance by a vote of 27 to 7. These changes reflect 18 of the 38 recommendations made by the External Governance Review Committee in June 2011. The 18 recommendations were put forward by the Board’s Ad Hoc Governance Review Committee and all, except one dealing with student representation on the Board, were unanimously endorsed by a Special Joint Board and Senate Committee.

One major bylaw change is the reduction of the Board from 40 to 25 members to take effect on July 1, 2012. In addition to changing the composition of the Board, formal limits for the terms of Board members are now in place. As well, a major reform to the committee structure, including the creation of a Governance and Ethics Committee, comes into effect immediately.

As the most senior Board members will be retiring within the year, the departures of the remaining members will be staggered to ensure a continuity of institutional memory as membership is renewed. For a detailed list of the eventual composition of the Board, and the staggered renewals of appointments, please click here. 

As of September 28, four Board members — Judith Kavanagh, Ivan Velan, Patricia Saputo and Lillian Vineberg — have retired from the Board. In keeping with the renewal plan, recommendations to replace these Governors will be presented at the next meeting of the Board.

For detailed information on the bylaw changes, please click here.

Standing Committees of the Board
The reduced size of the Board necessitates changes to the structure and membership of its standing committees. The Board reduced the number of these committees to nine from 14:

• Appeals Committee
• Audit Committee
• Employee Benefits Committee
• Executive Committee
• Finance Committee
• Governance and Ethics Committee
• Honorary Degree and Convocation Committee
• Human Resources Committee
• Real Estate Planning Committee

For the list of the membership of these committees, please click here.

Search for President and Vice-Chancellor
The Board approved the profile of the ideal candidate for President and Vice-Chancellor, which was presented by the Advisory Search Committee following input from the university community. A draft version of the profile was circulated to members of the Faculty Councils, Board Executive Committee and Senate.

During the meeting, Peter Kruyt informed the Board he would not seek renewal as chair on June 30, 2012. Kruyt will continue as chair until that date to facilitate an effective transition to the new Board.

In order to ensure continuity in the process of selecting the next president of the university, Concordia Chancellor L. Jacques Ménard has been appointed chair of the search committee, effective September 28, replacing Kruyt.

Advisory Search Committees
Board members approved the addition of Marc Steinberg from the Faculty of Fine Arts and graduate student representative Matthew MacDonald, who replaces Roddy Doucet, to the Advisory Search Committee for the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies. The Board also ratified Raafat Saade as representative of the John Molson School of Business on the Advisory Search Committee for the President.

Next Board meeting
Thursday, October 20 at 8 a.m.

Related links:
•  Documents from the September 28 Board meeting 
•  Governance Review
•  "First phase of governance changes adopted" - NOW, September 28, 2011