Board and Senate Notes: September 2018
Read the Board Notes from September 17, 2018.
Read the Senate Notes from September 14, 2018.
BOARD NOTES: Board approves audited financial statements for 2017-18
President’s remarks
In his remarks at the first meeting of Concordia’s Board of Governors in 2018-19, held on September 17, Concordia’s president Alan Shepard said the university has had a great start to the new year with strong applications and enrolment after a busy summer.
The university offered a variety of summer programs, including undergraduate and graduate courses, non-credit courses as well as programs for children and youth.
Concordia’s 15th annual Golf Classic tournament set a new record this summer, raising $390,000 for scholarships and bursaries for deserving students.
The president also congratulated the Concordia Stingers football team for defeating the McGill Redmen to take home the Shaughnessy Cup.
Board approves grant application for Records Management and Archives
The Board approved the submission of a $10,000 grant application to the Soutien au traitement des archives, a program offered by the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
The application, to be submitted by the university’s Record Management and Archives Department, aims to hire an archivist who will process the YMCA archives of Quebec City. These were donated to the university by the YMCA.
As part of the grant, Concordia must cover 50 per cent of the project’s cost, which has been provided for in the department’s budget.
Board approves audited financial statements for 2017-18
The financial statements for the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2018 were audited by the university’s external auditors, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and reviewed by the Audit Committee at its September 5 meeting.
In 2017-18, revenues of the operating fund totalled $485.8 million with $460.6 million in expenses. This resulted in a surplus of $25.2 million before transfers.
The net deficit of the operating budget was $3.5 million.
Highlights of the audited statements include:
- A 13 per cent increase in tuition fee revenues, mainly from international students. Denis Cossette, chief financial officer, explained that increases in tuition fees for undergraduate international students in deregulated programs are the same as the increases set by the Government of Quebec for out-of-province students. The increase in tuition fee revenues are a result of growth in the number of international students.
- A 12.9 per cent increase in student bursaries in 2018 compared to 2017.
- Under the Campaign for Concordia, an important increase in pledges receivable, from $18.0 million in 2017 to $37.2 million in 2018.
Based on a recommendation from the Audit Committee, the Board approved the audited financial statements for 2017-18.
Quarterly report from Environmental Health and Safety received
Roger Côté, vice-president of Services, presented the highlights from Environmental Health and Safety’s (EHS) 2018 second quarter report (April, May and June).
EHS supports the academic, research and operational activities of the university and promotes a safe, healthy and sustainable campus environment.
In Q2, 52 training sessions were held with 622 participants. This is slightly down compared to the second quarter of 2017.
Côté explained that this was due to few courses being offered in workplace harzardous materials because of revisions being made to the training materials to reflect amendments to the Hazardous Products Act and Hazardous Products Regulations. These come into effect at the end of 2018.
Depending on the circumstances surrounding a reported injury or near-miss, EHS staff will conduct a formal investigation in partnership with supervisors. In Q2, 18 injury and near-miss investigations were conducted.
Among the reasons for these investigations are determining root causes, preventing similar injuries and near-misses in the future and collecting information for Workers’ Compensation claims.
EHS staff also conduct preventative workplace inspections and assessments on university premises (e.g. research laboratories, workshops, art studios, mechanical rooms). In Q2 EHS conducted 28 preventative internal inspections and assessments. EHS also completed 14 risk assessments of building cooling towers.
Update on the Strategic Directions Initiative
The president provided an update on the progress being made on the Strategic Directions Initiative. Please read the summary in the Senate Notes below.
SENATE NOTES: Two new specialization programs approved in Electroacoustic Studies
President’s remarks
In his remarks at Senate’s first meeting of 2018-19, held on September 14, Concordia’s president Alan Shepard said the university is on track for another successful year with an increase in applications and enrolment.
More than 1,000 people attended the Parents Tent on the Sir George Williams Campus during the residence move-in weekend. The back-to-school get-togethers, held during the first week of school, attracted record numbers of students, faculty and staff.
Concordia continues to move up in several prestigious rankings, said the president. This reflects the high-quality academic programs, excellent research and services that are offered.
For example, Concordia has maintained its place among top 150 universities under 50 (Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2018) and is among the top four per cent in the world (Center for World University Rankings 2018-19).
Shepard offered congratulations to two of Concordia’s leading researchers, Martha Langford and Jean-Philippe Warren. They will be inducted into the Royal Society of Canada in mid-November.
A Concordia-McGill collaboration netted three awards at the 2018 Solar Decathlon China competition. TeamMTL – the only entry from Canada – captured first place in architecture; market appeal and communications; and third place in both engineering and innovation categories.
Academic update
In his academic update to Senate, Graham Carr, provost and vice-president, Academic, referred Senators to his written report, which highlights many initiatives and accomplishments of both faculty and students.
He noted that the Bachelor of Engineering degree is marking a significant milestone. The first BEng was conferred 50 years ago by Sir George Williams University, one of Concordia’s founding institutions.
Carr also congratulated new Concordia grad Clara Couzino who won the top $15,000 prize in the Canada-wide BMO 1st Art! Competition. Her artwork, “Objectifier l’écriture,” was selected out of 266 submissions.
Senate approves two new specialization programs in the Department of Music
Senate approved two new specialization programs in the Department of Music:
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Electroacoustic Creative Practices
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Electroacoustic Recording Arts
In his presentation to Senate, Mark Corwin, a professor in the Department of Music, noted that the electroacoustics program at Concordia is the only program of its kind in North America.
These new programs will provide students with deeper and more concentrated studies with more advanced level courses. They will appeal to new students from the one-year trade schools who are unable to study to any great depth or extended experiential way in such short programs.
The specialization in Electroacoustic Creative Practices will focus on electroacoustic composition, sound design, live improvisation and performance, and musical instrument deisgn.
The specialization in Electroacoustic Recording Arts will concentrate on extended practices in recording such as studio session work, concert recording and live mixing, and producing and mastering records.
Report from the Office of Student Tribunals presented
Melodie Sullivan, senior legal counsel, presented the annual report of the academic hearing panel, as required under the Academic Code of Conduct.
By July 1, 2018, a total of 484 incidents were reported for courses taken in the 2017-18 academic year. Plagarism accounted for the majority of these incidents, across all Faculties.
Of those, 343 were upheld at the Faculty level and 103 charges were dismissed. Fourteen files were sent directly to Academic Hearing Panels (AHP) and 38 are still pending decisions by the Faculties.
Of the 343 charges upheld by the Faculties, the Office of Student Tribunals received a total of 24 requests for AHPs. This included 14 requests due to repeat offences.
In 2017-18, there were 46 AHP requests to process, including 22 AHP requests carried over from previous years. Hearings were conducted for 26 cases under the Acacemic Code of Conduct in 2017-18: 22 AHPs and four appeals authorization panels.
As of July 1, 2018, there are 16 cases awaiting hearings under the Code, 11 of which are for repeat offences.
Update on the Strategic Directions Initiative
The provost provided an update on the progress being made on the Strategic Directions Initiative.
He provided a recap of the strategic directions process, which included consultations, brainstorming sessions, idea cafés and The Future of the University and The Future of Education speakers’ series.
The outcome of this process was the development of nine strategic directions and a game plan that support Concordia’s ambition to design a next-generation university.
The university launched a series of ‘first moves’ in 2016-17: creating the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, investing in the Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship program, offering the Public Scholars program in collaboration with the Montreal Gazette, launching the Concordia University Press, and founding the Institute for Urban Futures.
In year two, five guiding principles were identified to support the decision-making process in 2017-18: position globally, partner meaningfully, integrate for impact, deliver on innovation and augment the student experience.
The university drew on these principles to support five transformative multi-year initiatives: Montreal 2050, designing a health institute, launching a digital strategy, introducing Summer@Concordia, and a variety of next-generation learning innovations. At the same time, Concordia announced its commitment to address the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through the work of the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group.
Rather than launching a new set of large-scale projects, year three will be marked by continued momentum to further the success of existing projects at Concordia.
Read more about the progress of the Strategic Directions Initiative.
