Board and Senate notes: May 2016
Board approves new stand-alone policy on sexual violence
Update on the Strategic Directions Initiative highlights series of “first moves”
Lisa Ostiguy, deputy provost, and Melodie Sullivan, senior legal counsel, co-presented an overview of activities undertaken to address recommendations made by the Sexual Assault Policy Review Working Group.
Co-led by Ostiguy and Sullivan, the working group released its report and recommendations in August 2015.
One of the report’s key recommendations was to create a stand-alone policy that would outline guiding principles regarding sexual violence for the university community and its commitment to creating and maintaining a campus free of such violence.
Concordia’s Board of Governors approved the new policy at its May 20 meeting.
Ostiguy and Sullivan also emphasized the new approach of the Response Team. With the consent of any survivor who contacts the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC), the centre’s coordinator, Jennifer Drummond, assembles staff from all the services across the university the survivor might need, e.g. Health Services, the Registrar (if studies may be affected).
This approach helps the survivor avoid the painful process of reliving the incident by having to repeat her or his story multiple times.
Updates have also been made to the university’s and SARC’s websites, and Drummond is currently determining SARC’s staffing needs. Both the policy and the resources allocated to its implementation will be reviewed a year from now, to ensure the SARC is able to carry out its mission of serving survivors.
Appointments to Board
Two vice-chairs were appointed to the Board for a one-year term beginning July 1, 2016: Françoise Bertrand (reappointment), and Frédérica Martin, manager of Academic Programs and Development with the School of Graduate Studies. Martin’s appointment marks the first time a staff member has been named vice-chair since the university’s governance changes were adopted in 2013.
Five appointments were made to the Corporation. Both William Bukowski and Theresa Bianco will represent full-time faculty from the Faculty of Arts and Science and were appointed for a three-year term and one-year term, respectively beginning July 1, 2016.
For three-year terms, beginning July 1, 2016, the following reappointments were announced: Maria Peluso, representing part-time faculty; and Georges Paulez and Suzanne Sauvage, representing the external community.
Strategic Directions Update
Concordia’s president Alan Shepard provided an update on Phase 2 of the Strategic Directions initiative, which has included extensive planning by the Faculties, Libraries, School of Graduate Studies and administrative units.
Working groups also explored cross-institutional strategies to double our research, teach for tomorrow, grow smartly, and embrace the city and the world.
One outcome of this phase is a game plan that outlines priorities, or “first moves” to be undertaken in the 2016-17 academic year. Work has already begun on some of these first moves.
These include “jump-starting” faculty appointments in areas related to program development and research goals, such as chemical and materials engineering, architecture and urbanism, ecology and economics, nanoscience, and real estate management and hiring more postdoctoral fellows to add immediate capacity to conduct research, write grants and develop curriculum.
Concordia University Press to launch this fall
Guylaine Beaudry, university librarian, provided an overview of the Concordia University Press, a sustainable, not-for-profit, open-access scholarly publisher to be launched this fall along with a first call for manuscripts. She made a similar presentation to Senate at its April 22 meeting.
Building on Concordia’s leadership in open access, the Concordia University Press will produce digital books available in epub format, as well as printed copies. The Press is discussing opportunities for distribution on major scholarly book platforms.
Funding for the Press’ first five years will come from donations from the Birks Family Foundation and Brian I. Neysmith, as well as subsidies and print sales.
Jarislowsky Institute for Canadian Art recognized as a university research centre
Highlights of unit strategic plans shared at Senate’s last meeting of the academic year
President’s Remarks
In his remarks to Senate at its final meeting of the 2015-16 academic year on May 13, Concordia’s president Alan Shepard said he was looking forward to welcoming this June’s nine honorary doctorate recipients.
The list includes world-leading academics, impressive entrepreneurs, and Canada’s Governor General. They will receive their awards along with thousands of Concordia graduates at eight convocation ceremonies taking place from June 6 to 8 at Place des Arts.
Shepard informed Senate that the Concordia Controller Daniel Therrien will serve as interim registrar, replacing Brad Tucker who is leaving on June 1. He also thanked Graham Carr, vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies, for stepping in as interim provost while the search process for a new provost gets under way.
The Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art recognized as a university research centre
The Jarislowsky Institute has been a hub for the study of visual art in Canada since its founding in 1998. It was formed thanks to an endowment from the Jarislowsky Foundation to recognize Concordia’s leadership in Canadian art history.
For its extensive research program, its important work training graduate students, and its unique archival holdings, Senate approved the recognition of the Jarislowsky Institute as an established Infrastructure Platform and as an emerging Research Centre.
This university-recognized status will increase the institute’s visibility within Concordia and enhance opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with other research centres.
The institute has become extremely well known for its unique resources, especially its extensive online database of visual documents widely used by scholars in Canada and further afield.
The Institute also manages specific archives including the Paul-Émile Borduas catalogue raisonné and the Visual and Textual Documents on Art and Architecture in Canada.
Presentation on proposed new Department of Chemical and Material Engineering
Amir Asif, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, made a presentation on a proposed new Department of Chemical and Material Engineering that would enable the Faculty to cover a wider spectrum of engineering disciplines.
The new department would build on Concordia’s existing strengths in chemistry, physics, materials engineering, building engineering and environmental engineering. It would also contribute to developing niches of expertise that would further distinguish Concordia’s engineering strengths among the other five Quebec universities that already have similar departments.
Strategic Directions update
The president asked the Faculty deans, the dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and the University Librarian to present the outcomes of the planning processes that they undertook this year related to the university’s strategic directions initiative.
In addition, the Provost’s Fellow for Sustainability Peter Stoett presented a series of proposals for how to integrate sustainability into each of Concordia’s nine directions.
The presentations capped a year of planning efforts across the institution that have resulted in a game plan for translating Concordia’s strategic directions into action. Read more here.
Progress update on implementing recommendations of the Sexual Assault Policy Review Working Group
Deputy Provost Lisa Ostiguy provided an update on activities related to the implementation of recommendations made by the Sexual Assault Policy Review Working Group last August. Ostiguy co-led the working group with Melodie Sullivan, senior legal counsel.
One of the key recommendations was to create a stand-alone policy that would outline guiding principles regarding sexual violence for the university community and its commitment to creating and maintaining a campus free of such violence. A draft was shared with senators at its April 22 meeting.
Ostiguy spoke about the new approach of the Rapid Response Team. With the consent of any survivor who contacts the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC), the centre’s coordinator, Jennifer Drummond, assembles staff from all the services across the university the survivor might need, e.g. Health Services, the Registrar (if studies may be affected).
This approach helps the survivor avoid the painful process of reliving the incident by having to repeat her or his story multiple times.
Drummond, who attended the Senate meeting, also responded to questions related to the implementation of the working group’s recommendations.