President unveils draft strategic directions
President offers Board an overview of the strategic directions initiative
Student fee amendments approved
President’s report to the Board
In his report to the Board of Governors on April 15, Concordia President Alan Shepard highlighted recent alumni activities. In addition to positive outreach events in Ottawa, Vancouver, New York, Boston and Florida in recent months, he introduced Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre to a Toronto group of Concordia alumni and friends.
Shepard noted that despite impending budget cuts, in its Plan québécois des infrastructures 2015-2025, the Government of Quebec plans to increase its allocations to higher education and research infrastructure by two per cent, which bodes well for Concordia’s real estate projects.
He also congratulated Paul Shrivastava, David O’Brien Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the John Molson School of Business, who was named executive director of the global Future Earth secretariat, which is housed at Concordia, in February. With Shrivastava’s appointment, Montreal becomes home to the international headquarters of the UN’s innovative new global research platform devoted to environmental issues and sustainable development.
Strategic Directions update
In deference to Senate, and to respect the governance process, President Shepard offered governors an overview of the strategic directions process as well as a glimpse of the results to date. Senators received a full presentation of the draft directions at their April 17 meeting. The board will receive a more complete presentation later this spring.
The draft preliminary strategic directions document will be available the week of April 20 for feedback from the community.
The preliminary draft is very different from other universities’ lengthy reports, says Shepard. Concordia’s draft features nine strategic directions — phrases that could fit on a coffee mug, including “get your hands dirty.” The language is not meant to be flip, he said, but inspiring and in keeping with the university’s creative, urban, bold and engaged vibe.
Ombuds office report
University Ombudsperson Kristen Robillard presented the annual report from the Ombuds Office, now in its 35th year. The office, which reports directly to the board, handled 471 cases last year. Most often, the office provides students and employees with information, advice and referrals.
In her presentation, Robillard concentrated on the annual recommendations. She said the Office continues to advocate that the university “develop and implement a plan to improve the coherence and quality of advising, in particular for first-year students, to help them understand and achieve their educational objectives.”
The office is also encouraging the development of a validated course evaluation questionnaire for use across the university. It should include a core set of questions asked in all courses, plus others specific to individual courses.
Co-op program growing by leaps and bounds
Gerry Hughes, director of the Institute for Co-operative Education, presented to the board for the first time. In today’s tight job market, Co-op, in which students alternate periods of academic study with work experience, is more important than ever.
The pioneering program has worked with more than 2,000 partners since its founding in 1980, and has grown by 35 per cent over the past three years. In 2014 alone, Co-op coordinated 1,166 work terms.
That growth is both horizontal and vertical, said Hughes — placements in legacy programs are increasing, but new Co-op programs such as anthropology, sociology, journalism and political science have also been added in the past year.
He underscored that Co-op is a win-win program: a great way for students to test-drive a career, and for employers to fill their recruitment pipeline with enthusiastic young professionals.
Student Fees reallocated to support more initiatives
Concordia Student Union (CSU) President Benjamin Prunty presented the results of the student vote held in March to reallocate the $3.80 per credit collected to support four CSU initiatives. Starting this fall, the same amount will be distributed between six initiatives.
The Board approved the reallocations, which are as follows (all figures are per credit):
- CSU operating fee: Up to $1.97 from $1.75 from all undergraduate students.
- Student Space, Accessible Education and Legal Contingency Fund: $1.00, down from $1.50.
- CSU Advocacy Centre: $0.21, down from $0.30.
- CSU Clubs: New fee of $0.25.
- CSU Housing and Job Bank: New fee of $0.20
- CSU Legal Information Clinic: New fee of $0.17
Students also voted in favor of annually adjusting the $3.80 fee according to the Consumer Price Index of Canada.
President unveils nine draft strategic directions
Changes approved to journalism program
Strategic Directions update
Over the past few months, the strategic directions initiative has engaged the university community in conversations about Concordia’s future through several activities. These have included idea cafés, student polls and consultations, working group meetings and a popular guest-speaker series that has welcomed more than 850 attendees.
At the April 17 Senate meeting, Concordia President Alan Shepard unveiled nine draft strategic directions for feedback and discussion. These preliminary directions have been crafted based on feedback received about what the university wants – and needs – to do in order to thrive in the decade ahead.
Shepard hopes these directions will ground and guide the university, providing a sense of our common priorities while leaving plenty of room for interpretation and distinctive emphasis. In contrast to conventional strategic planning documents, the language used is intended to be fresh and accessible using phrases like “get your hands dirty” and “experiment boldly” to characterize Concordia’s priorities.
A draft document, based on the comments received at Senate, will soon be available to the wider Concordia community for feedback by May 4. Once this input has been compiled, a revised version will be presented to Senate before the end of May. More detailed planning work will be done in the fall by at the Faculty and unit levels once the broad strategic directions have been confirmed.
President’s report
In his report to Senate, Shepard announced that the 2015-16 operating budget will be presented to the Board of Governors at its May 15 meeting.
He highlighted that, like many members of the administration, he is concerned by the cuts the Government of Quebec signaled in its recent budget. Exact figures for Concordia and all universities have not yet been made public. Concordia continues to lobby both MNAs and the Ministère de l'Éducation, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche in hopes of minimizing the impact.
Shepard also gave a brief update on the new Student Information System (SIS), which continues its rollout across the university. Campus Solutions replaces a 32-year-old legacy system and supports virtually all student-related services, processes and business functions at the university.
There was a warm round of applause when the president announced that the university’s PhD in English Literature had been approved by the Ministère de l'Éducation, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche. The program begins this fall.
Curriculum changes to journalism BA program approved
Senate approved a major revision to the Department of Journalism’s program to keep pace with changes in the rapidly evolving media landscape. The three former specialization streams have been merged into one single program.
The new 45-credit major will continue to give students a solid foundation to continue in any area of journalism, but will offer the opportunity to complete a major or minor in another academic discipline. The idea is to provide students with additional expertise in a specialized area to make them stronger journalists.
Final steps in the restructuring of Continuing Education
Senate voted to formally discontinue Concordia’s School of Extended Learning and to re-energize non-credit courses and programs under the banner of the Centre for Continuing Education. This decision follows a revised new mandate, approved by Senate in May 2014, to focus on language courses and professional development for mature students, rather than credit-based courses. The centre will be led by a new director who is expected to be in place before the summer.
Addition of librarian to Senate approved
A motion to add a librarian as a voting member of Senate was approved. With this addition, plus the change resulting from SEL’s discontinuance, Senate’s composition totals 53 voting members and nine non-voting members. The majority of Senate members continue to be faculty.
Office of Rights and Responsibilities annual report presented
On behalf of Louise Shiller, director and senior advisor of Rights and Responsibilities, Bram Freedman, vice-president of Development and External Relations and Secretary-General, presented a summary of the 2013-14 annual report of the Office of Rights and Responsibilities. The office administers the Code of Rights and Responsibilities, which sets standards of conduct for all university members (students, faculty, and staff).
In 2013-14, consultations accounted for 50 per cent of services, corresponding with the office’s philosophy of prevention and early intervention. Freedman said informal resolution continues to be the preferred approach, when appropriate, to address conflict. Of the 317 requests for assistance, 42 per cent were cases (informal, formal), with the majority being dealt with informally. Twenty-five formal complaints were processed.
Presentation of the annual report of the Ombuds Office was deferred to the next Senate meeting.