Paving the way for visiting scholars and researchers

Concordia’s new policy on academic visitors aims to streamline the process of accepting visiting scholars and researchers, while ensuring the university knows who is on campus at any given time.

“This was one of those categories of people who were often invisible,” says Associate Vice-President International Liselyn Adams, referring to the visiting scholars and research interns (students invited to Concordia to collaborate on research activities) covered by the policy.

“Professors would invite colleagues to come for a few weeks or months, and students would come to do research. At any one time we didn’t know how many of these people there were on campus, or who they were,” she explains.

The policy, which went into effect last April, makes it a lot easier for the university to facilitate the invitation process, and to know how many visitors are on campus and who they are. Thanks to the new process outlined in the policy, all academic visitors are registered and covered by the necessary insurance.

Adams estimates the university welcomes upwards of 100 academic visitors per year, from around the world. Under the policy, each visitor is processed through the Concordia International (CI) office. “We issue letters [of invitation] to both visiting professors and research trainees. We handle the paperwork and getting them into the system,” Adams says.

She points out that there are numerous benefits to centralizing the process. “They receive higher visibility, invitations to meet with different groups and discuss further collaborations either with them or their institutions. As well, CI offers them chances to showcase their work and the work of their Concordia colleagues.”

The new Policy for Academic Visitors was also deemed a necessity to cope with new rules put in place by Immigration Canada, requiring all visiting researchers, paid or unpaid, to obtain a work visa.

The university committee charged with drafting the policy included faculty and staff members from the Office of the General Counsel, School of Graduate Studies, Registrar’s Office, CI, and Department of Human Resources.

“The Policy on Academic Visitors lays out in detail the rights and responsibilities of the academic visitors and the university — it stipulates that either the university or the visitor can terminate the visit for any reason or cause at any given time without engaging any liability,” she says.

The duties of the specific department, school, Faculty, or research unit responsible for welcoming the visitor to campus are also included in the policy. These include screening candidates, making sure they have all the necessary documentation, and providing them with all the necessary materials and equipment once they arrive on campus.

The Department of Human Resources is charged with providing academic visitors with a temporary identification number and card.

Related Links:
•  Policy on Academic Visitors
•  Concordia International
•  How to Invite a Visitor
•  How to Become a Visitor