Committee Membership Process for Nomination & Appeals

Faculty members who wish to join the Faculty of Graduate Studies will apply to their Graduate Coordinator using the nomination form (PDF Format). The program's Graduate Studies Committee will review the application and forward their recommendation to the Graduate Coordinator of the member's home unit. This recommendation will then be forwarded to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies who will submit it for review by the Membership Sub-Committee. A final recommendation from that sub-committee will be brought forward to the Council of Graduate Studies for final approval.

If a recommended appointment is NOT approved by the Council, the nominee may request reconsideration within 10 days, using the appeal form. The Faculty of Graduate Studies Dean will coordinate and Chair a three-person Ad Hoc Appeal Review Committee from members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The Committee will include:

• two nominees by the Graduate Dean other than the Graduate Coordinator/Chair of the appellants graduate program (one of which will be outside of the appellants Faculty)

Emeritus Faculty

Faculty members who are granted Emeritus/Emerita status may maintain their current Faculty of Graduate Studies status by submitting a letter to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies indicating their interest to do so.

1.0 Faculty of Graduate Studies Membership Committee

There shall be a Faculty of Graduate Studies Membership Committee established by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies which reviews all probationary appointments to the Core Masters Category and the Core PhD category.  This committee shall be chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and will consist of two Deans from Faculties which have existing Graduate Programs and one Graduate Coordinator from each Faculty or their designate.  The appointment of the Deans will occur through Deans’ Council. The committee will meet once per term to make their recommendations. 

2.0 Application and Review Process

Faculty members seeking membership in the Faculty of Graduate Studies will submit an appl­­ication to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies by 15 September, 15 January, and 15 April of each year.

2.1 The Graduate Coordinator/Graduate Chair will submit a Membership Nomination Form and Curriculum Vitae in IQAP format prepared by the applicant.

2.2 The FGS Membership Committee will review all applications received by the deadline in 4.0; make a decision (simple majority, including one decanal vote, is required for a positive decision). The names of those approved for membership will be forwarded to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Council for information. The Dean of Graduate Studies, will communicate the results to the applicant, the immediate supervisor, the Graduate Coordinator.

2.3 Core membership in the Faculty of Graduate Studies is in effect for up to seven years and will be harmonized with the program reviews undertaken by the academic unit in accordance with requirements of IQAP. Non-core membership in the Faculty of Graduate Studies is in effect for up to three years.

2.4 The Office of Graduate Studies will be responsible for maintaining a list of the members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

3.0 Appeal

3.1 An applicant for membership in the Faculty of Graduate Studies may appeal the decision of their Faculty of Graduate Studies Membership Committee, within 15 working days, through application to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Membership Committee.  The Appeal Committee will consist of two Deans having graduate programs within their Faculties who are not current members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies Committee. The meeting will be Chaired by the current Chair of the Programs/Regulations Committee of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, or in the case of a conflict of interest, their designate. A meeting to hear this appeal will be held within one month of the application and the member and their immediate supervisor may attend this meeting. The decision of this appeal committee is binding.

3.2 An unsuccessful applicant has the right to re-submit their application in the following application deadline.

4.0 Adjuncts

This policy will not replace the senate policy on adjunct professors.

External

External Adjuncts may apply for membership in the FGS as Core or Non-Core members.  Their membership will be determined according to the process described in section 2.0

Internal

A member of the FGS may become a core graduate faculty member of any other Lakehead University graduate program with permission of that graduate program.

5.0 Membership Term

All core membership in FGS will continue until the next IQAP Cyclical Review. As part of the cyclical review, faculty members requesting their status to be maintained at their current appointment must have their names submitted by the program to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. This review will normally take place six months in advance of the submission of the Appraisal document.  A faculty member who is core to one graduate program may maintain their core status in that program if they change department or school designation. Graduate Programs are responsible for maintaining a current list of all FGS members within their department.

6.0 REMOVAL FROM THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

The Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies reserves the right to remove faculty after thorough investigation with affected policies and in consultation with their Faculty Dean, from Core status in cases such as, but not limited to, failure to provide supervision to students under their supervisory  guidance, failure to uphold funding agreements provided to the students through the funding form completed according to Graduate Studies policy, failure to ensure a student’s progression as a result of negligence.  The Dean will provide a letter of warning to the faculty member and the Faculty Dean. This warning will detail the infraction and explain the consequences of further behaviour.  A second letter will terminate the faculty member’s ability to begin the supervision of any new students.  Removal as a Core member will affect all supervision in all programs in which a faculty member may belong.  A program or Graduate Coordinator may also initiate an investigation into a faculty member’s supervisory status, and working in cooperation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, according to the rules established above, have a faculty member removed from Core status in a graduate program.