Board and Senate notes: December 2015

Read the Board notes.

Read the Senate notes.

President updates Board on several achievements

Annual report of the Office of Rights and Responsibilities also presented.

President’s report
In his report to the Board, President Alan Shepard welcomed Frederica “Freddie” Jacobs who assumed the role of secretary-general on December 1. She takes over from Bram Freedman who has been asked to focus his time and energies on his role as vice-president of Advancement and External Relations, building on current momentum that has seen a significant rise in philanthropic gifts.

Shepard noted the success of the recent fifth Montréal Summit on Innovation. With a theme of Climate (of) Change: Cities, People and Prosperity, the event was held at on November 30 — strategically organized the same day as the COP21 climate summit began in Paris, France.

Primarily programmed by a Concordia team and attended by some 500 people, the day started with a talk from Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and was capped by a rousing speech from David Suzuki. Among the summit’s distinguished speakers were Concordia’s Paul Shrivastava, executive director of Concordia’s Future Earth, and Damon Matthews, University Research Chair for Climate Science and Sustainability.

The president added that the summit was a great day for networking in Montreal. The city was recently ranked by QS, one of the most recognized international university rankings, as the world’s seventh best student city, and the only North American metropolis to feature in the top 10.

Continuing on the celebration front, Shepard recognized the following achievements by Concordians:

• Professor Jean-Philippe Warren received the Governor General’s Award in the category of French non-fiction for his biography of Honoré Beaugrand.
• Two new Fulbright awards were awarded to Marie-Ève Drouin-Gagné and Mika Goodfriend.
• Catharine Marsden has been appointed senior chair holder of a new $4.4-million NSERC Chair in Aerospace Design and Engineering, further consolidating Concordia’s leadership position in the field among Quebec universities.

He also celebrated two recently signed partnerships:

• A new partnership between Concordia and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will bring Montrealers multiple benefits through new programs in art education and art therapy.
• An agreement in synthetic biology signed with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as part of Montreal mayor Denis Coderre’s mission to China last month. Shepard was a member of the delegation.

In terms of philanthropy, Shepard saluted the generosity of:

• Robert Briscoe, BSc 67, MBA 73, for his and his wife’s substantial gift to create the Bob and Raye Briscoe Centre in Business Ownership Studies, plus scholarships.
• Rogers Media’s Sportsnet, for their $650,000 gift to Concordia’s Department of Journalism, primarily for scholarships and awards.
• The Azrieli Foundation, for its $5-million investment in Youth Fusion, a charity launched in 2008 by Concordia Board member Gabriel Bran Lopez, BA 08, to combat youth dropout rates. The Azrieli gift will help Youth Fusion expand its innovative intervention model nationwide.
• Concordia chancellor Jonathan Wener, for his $50,000 pledge to create five new scholarships for first-generation students. The first round will go to Syrian refugees. The Department of Physics is also sponsoring a scholarship for one Syrian refugee, bringing the Concordia total to six.

Student fees changing
The Board passed three motions related to the adjustment of student fees, which were presented by Terry Wilkings, president of the Concordia Student Union (CSU):

1. The Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) is no longer active. Therefore, the $2.50 per term paid by all undergraduates to support Concordia’s FEUQ membership will no longer be levied.
2. In place of the FEUQ, the CSU determined, through a referendum result of 498 in favour and 338 not in favour, to affiliate with the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ). This is a Quebec-wide student association that represents, mobilizes and conducts research to advance the pedagogical, political, social and economic interests of the province’s university student population. The new fee of $3.50 per term will be levied on all undergraduate students starting in the winter 2016 term.
3. By a referendum vote of 722 to 188, the CSU also determined to levy 8 cents per credit starting in winter 2016 to support the Community-University Research Exchange (CURE).

Health and Safety report
In an annual health and safety update to the Board, Roger Côté, vice-president of Services, reported that preventive measures and training participation are up, while work-related injuries and lost-time days are significantly down from 2014.

Office of Rights and Responsibilities report
In an annual update on the Office of Rights and Responsibilities (ORR), Bram Freedman began by noting that Concordia remains the only Quebec university whose Code of Rights and Responsibilities applies to all community members — students, faculty and staff.

Out of 319 total requests for assistance in 2014-15, 144 became cases, and only 31 eventually became formal complaints. These numbers are comparable to recent years, he said.

Freedman explained that with the current review of the university’s sexual assault procedures and policies, being overseen by Lisa Ostiguy, deputy provost, and to be completed in 2016, sexual assaults will no longer be reported under the general category of “harassment.” They will be reported separately as sexual assaults. Statistics will also be newly broken down by gender of the complainant.

New provincial reporting procedures
As of the 2015-16 fiscal year, the Ministère d’Éducation, Enseignement supérieur et Recherche now requires all Quebec universities to have the Système d’information financière des universités (SIFU) report approved by the Board of Governors, in line with the audited financial statements.

The SIFU will provide the same information as the financial statements, but in much more detail, allowing the government to gather statistical data on the province’s universities.

Drafts of cross-institutional strategies ready in January

Senators receive update on Phase 2 of Strategic Directions and highlights of fall term.

President’s remarks
In his report to Senate at its December 4 meeting, Concordia's president Alan Shepard began by recognizing two people important to the university’s history who passed away this fall.

He fondly remembered the contributions of Father John O’Brien, who was “still spry” as recently as September. He was the founder of the Communication Arts program, the first university communication studies program in Canada. A memorial service was held at Concordia on November 28.

He characterized former dean of the university’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Christopher Jackson, as “someone who brought together the entire Montreal arts scene.” A celebration of Jackson’s memories and music was held at Concordia on December 2.

Shepard also welcomed Stéphane Brutus as the interim dean of the John Molson School of Business.

The fifth Montréal Summit on Innovation, with the theme of Climate (of) Change: Cities, People and Prosperity, was held at the Palais des congrès de Montréal on November 30 — strategically organized the same day as the COP21 climate summit began in Paris, France.

Primarily programmed by a Concordia team and attended by some 500 people, the day started with a talk from Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and was capped by a rousing speech from David Suzuki. Among the summit’s distinguished speakers were Concordia’s Paul Shrivastava, executive director of Concordia’s Future Earth, and Damon Matthews, Concordia University Research Chair for Climate Science and Sustainability.

In academic news, Shepard proudly announced two new Fulbright award winners, Marie-Ève Drouin-Gagné and Mika Goodfriend. He also celebrated two recently announced partnerships. The first is a new agreement in synthetic biology with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The second partnership is between Concordia and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ new Michel de La Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy.

Concordia also recently announced a new $4.4-million NSERC Chair in Aerospace Design and Engineering, further consolidating Concordia’s leadership position in the field among Quebec universities. Catharine Marsden has been appointed senior chair holder at Concordia.
 

Phase 2 of Strategic Directions: update on cross-institutional strategies
How can Concordia realize its aim to be a magnetic university that combines intensive knowledge making, deeply connected learning and high-impact public engagement?

This question is at the heart of Phase 2 of the Strategic Directions Initiative to develop cross-institutional strategies for how Concordia can grow smartly, double our research, teach for tomorrow and embrace the city, embrace the world.

Benoit-Antoine Bacon, provost and vice-president of Academic Affairs, along with Catherine Bolton, vice-provost of Teaching and Learning, Graham Carr, vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies, and Lisa Ostiguy, deputy provost, provided updates on their respective strategies to Senators. Carr presented on behalf of William Cheaib, associate vice-president, International, in the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies.

Find out more about the progress in developing these strategies, which will be ready in January.

Provost’s academic brief
In this update to Senate, the provost highlighted a recent curriculum design challenge. Held as part of RECODE, the challenge was hosted by Catherine Bolton, Marguerite Mendell of the School of Community and Public Affairs and Deborah Dysart-Gale of the Centre for Engineering in Society.

The goal was to kick-start the design process for a new social entrepreneurship/social innovation graduate certificate. Proposals are expected at the end of December.

Bacon also highlighted ongoing recruitment initiatives, which include visits from English- and French-language CEGEP deans and directors general. “Many had either never set foot in Concordia, or hadn’t done so in 20 years,” he said. “They were absolutely amazed by our facilities and research, the kinds of programs we’re running.”

About 25 per cent of Concordia’s student body is now francophone, representing one of the university’s fastest-growing student populations, added Bacon.