Senate highlights: March 2025

As he opened the March 21 Senate meeting, President Graham Carr added to the Provost’s written report by highlighting the following recent achievements:

• A group of Concordia students from the MA Public Policy and Public Administration program won the 2025 National Annual Public Administration Case Competition, held at Carleton University last month.
• A joint team of Gina Cody School of Engineering and John Molson School of Business students placed second at the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition, hosted at Concordia.
• Alumni Jin-me Yoon (MFA 93) and Clive Robertson (PhD 04) are among the winners of the 2025 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts, one of Canada’s most prestigious arts honours.
• Michael Lecchino, a Concordia student and senator, received Canada’s Volunteer Award, given out by Employment and Social Development Canada. He is one of five recipients in the Emerging Leader category.
• Concordia recently became the first university in Canada to achieve gold under the rigorous STARS 3.0 level, cementing its standing as one of Canada’s most environmentally and socially responsible institutions. The rating is established by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
• In athletics:
  • The men’s basketball team finished 5th in the national championships.
  • For the first time in Concordia’s history, the men’s hockey team won the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Queen’s Cup, for which Quebec and Ontario teams compete.
  • Julie Chu, head coach of the women’s hockey team, and Marc-André Elément, head coach of the men’s hockey team, were named hockey coaches of the year respectively by the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec and U Sports.

Carr echoed Provost Anne Whitelaw’s report by thanking everyone who participated in February 15’s Open House.

Policy changes affecting international recruitment

While current application numbers from Quebec students and for research master’s and PhD programs are trending positively, Concordia continues to see a decrease in applications from international students, unsurprisingly.

Recruitment of international students is especially challenging in Quebec since the adoption on February 26 of a new law that restricts the number of applications for study permits the government will consider for each institution in the next year. This will further damage Quebec universities reputationally, Carr said, especially as it comes on the heels of the policy changes experienced last year.

He added that the government of Quebec also announced two weeks ago, without prior warning to universities, that it was removing newly recruited international faculty and researchers from the list of candidates eligible for fast-track permanent residency. Universities expressed to the government that this change goes against the thrust of prior strategies that focused on developing research clusters and centres of excellence in targeted fields.

Cuts to universities and research in the U.S.

Carr pointed out that it’s also a difficult moment for higher education in the United States, as universities experience or fear massive defunding of research and training. Many of the cuts are targeting particular areas of research and have a potential impact for Canadian researchers who collaborate on U.S.-funded research. The university is monitoring the situation and can advise researchers on future collaborations with the U.S.

The president mentioned an op-ed piece by Rémi Quirion and Mona Nemer, respectively chief scientists for the governments of Quebec and Canada, on the opportunity the U.S. situation presents for Canada to invest in research and development.

Discussion on Policy on recording of lectures

Provost Anne Whitelaw led a discussion on proposed revisions to the Policy on recording of lectures (currently Policy on audio and/or video recording of lectures). The proposed changes are meant to simplify the university’s compliance with accessibility legislation. Senators asked questions that underscored the importance of free and open discussion of difficult topics in the classroom and maintaining the security of information. Discussions on this topic will continue.

Studio Arts MFA program to refocus on research-creation

Senate approved a proposal to shift the Studio Arts MFA from a three-year 60-credit project-based program to a two-year 45-credit thesis-based program, with the creation of a 21-credit thesis course and a reduction of elective credits.

The changes represent the first significant revision of the Studio Arts curriculum in more than 25 years. They are intended to better reflect the pedagogical practices in place, better recognize the work already being produced by the students and support their research goals. They will also improve students’ access to research funding. Lastly, the revised program will be aligned with that of peer institutions across Canada and the United States.