Board receives update on provost search
President’s Report
At the January 30 meeting of Concordia’s Board of Governors, President Alan Shepard congratulated Josip Novakovich, a creative writing professor in the Department of English, on being one of 10 writers nominated for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
The president also congratulated Professor Carsten Wrosch from Concordia’s Department of Psychology and the Centre for Research in Human Development, who was recently awarded a $750,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “This is good news but even more so in these difficult times when granting funds are under incredible pressure and the competition is fierce,” Shepard said.
The Government of Quebec’s summit on higher education, scheduled for February 25 and 26, is an important opportunity to spread the word about “all the great things happening at Concordia,” Shepard said. He reminded the board members that they are invited to take part in a half-day event hosted by the Montreal universities and the Board of Trade on February 4 “about the role and contribution of universities in shaping the future of our city and Quebec.”
Provost Search
The search for a new provost is going well, Shepard told the board members. “We are at the stage of getting together a short list of candidates. The search committee will be meeting again next month, and we’ll be holding interviews in March.”
Following the update, the board approved a drafted profile for the ideal candidate for the provost position. The search committee prepared the profile following consultation with the university community. Read the profile.
President requests change to Search Policy
The board received a notice of motion to temporarily waive the existing rule in the university’s Rules and Procedures for Senior Administrative Appointments (Policy BD-5) that stipulates candidates for the positions of president, provost and dean must take part in public meetings and field questions from members of the university community. Shepard advised the board that the practice of having candidates participate in public meetings is no longer the standard procedure at other universities and he is concerned about losing qualified candidates who wish not to go through the process. The board will discuss the motion at a future meeting.
The report of the External Governance Review Committee, released in June 2011, recommended abandoning the practice of a presentation to the university community by short-listed candidates for the position of president. The report argues that the process is likely to have a “chilling effect” on prospective candidates, who may not want the fact they’re being considered for the position to be made public.
Approval of the Rapport financier annuel
Concordia’s Controller Daniel Therrien gave a presentation to the Board of Governors on the university’s Rapport Financier Annuel (RFA) for the last fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2012. The RFA, which was approved by the board, contains the university’s financial statements in a format prescribed by Quebec’s Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie.
COPIBEC Agreement
Concordia’s Vice-President, Institutional Relations and Secretary-General, Bram Freedman presented the new agreement between Quebec’s universities and COPIBEC, the not-for-profit collective representing authors and publishers, for ratification.
The new transitional agreement includes lower fees for students, and increased rights to copy materials both digitally and in printed form. According to Freedman, the better agreement is a result of the current legal uncertainty surrounding Canada’s copyright laws. Read more.
Ombuds Office Annual Report
Concordia’s Ombudsperson Kristen Robillard presented her office’s annual report for the 2011-12 academic year. The office processed 540 cases, with just over three-quarters (76.9 per cent), or 415 cases, involving students who were studying for credit. Eighty employees (representing 14.8 per cent of the total number of cases) also used the office’s services.
The Ombuds Office focuses on concerns and complaints related to the application of the university’s policies, rules and procedures as well as their improvement. The Ombudsperson recommends rather than imposes the means of resolving these concerns and complaints.
Related links:
• Board of Governors
• “Creative writing prof nominated for prestigious award” — NOW, January 25, 2013
• Ombuds Office