March 9, 2000
Vol . 17, No. 5
March 9, 2000 Vol . 17, No. 5
Values and commitments endorsed
At its meeting on March 6, senate passed a motion to endorse
and recommend to the board of governors a revised statement of
values and commitments. President Jack Blaney told senate
that the final statement is a result of many small group meetings
along with previous input from Senate and public meetings over
the past month. Blaney said, "We believe the community was
wise in the crafting of these statements, and we believe that
in their simplicity these statements are very strong."
Admission targets set
Senate has approved admission targets for new undergraduate students
to the university and to individual faculties for each semester
in 2000-01. The total intake of new students from all sources
is set at 4,987. Of that number 328 will be admitted to applied
sciences; 3,265 to arts; 190 to business, 235 to education, and
969 to science.
Senate also renewed the limit of 7 per cent of all admissions
for international students, excluding exchange students, who are
admitted to undergraduate programs in the academic years 2000-01,
2001-02 and 2002-03. These targets and limits now go to the board
of governors for final approval. A motion to extend the limit
to admission of international students to undergraduate programs
in the faculty of business administration to 10 per cent was defeated.
Planning and review cycles debated
Proposed revisions to the senate guidelines for external reviews
prompted much discussion among senators. In making the motion
to approve the revision to the guidelines on external reviews,
senator and VP-academic Jock Munro noted that the current
review interval is seven years while the time frame for academic
plans generally runs in a three-year cycle. The recommendation
was to link the two cycles, setting the planning cycle at three
years and reducing the review cycle to six years.
A number of senators commented on the labour intensive nature
of the external review process and expressed concern that a shortened
cycle would increase the workload for those involved. It was also
noted that a shorter interval could hamper the ability of departments
or schools to make meaningful changes between reviews. Senate
voted to refer the matter back to the senate committee on academic
planning for further work.
Commercialization of research
The report of the ad hoc committee to review the Report on the
Commercialization of University Research was submitted for information
to senate. The committee noted the concerns raised at the senate
meeting of December, 1999 had been heard through the public consultation
process. With that in mind, and considering the consultation period
had expired several months ago, the committee felt it would not
be appropriate for senate to consider a motion commenting on the
report at this time. The committee also suggested that senate
may wish to reconsider these issues following a response from
Industry Canada to the recommendations of the expert panel.
President Jack Blaney commented that many in universities across
the country were not happy about the report and he indicated that,
at upcoming meetings of the Association of Universities and Colleges
of Canada in Ottawa, he would assess the status of current discussions
and the best means of influencing any government decisions on
the report.
Subcommittee named
Senator Willie Davidson, dean of science, will chair the
ad hoc senate committee charged with reviewing the draft research
ethics policy revisions. Other senators appointed to this committee
are J. Driver, S. McBride and B. Naef.
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