Faculty Council Meeting

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL

MINUTES

 February 6^th, 2015

 

Approved

 

A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, February 6^th, 2015 at 10:00 am in ATAC Board Room 5035/OA 2005.

 

1.

Approval of Agenda

 

It was moved by B. Vernier and seconded by R. Martin that the agenda be approved.

 

                        Carried.

 

2.

Approval of the Minutes

 

It was moved by J. Roth and seconded by T. Puddephatt that the minutes of February 6^th, 2015 be approved as amended.

 

                        Carried.

 

3.

Business Arising from Minutes

 

 None.

 

4.

Dean’s Report

 

Dean’s Report to Faculty Council Meeting – Friday, February 6, 2015

Merit Committee

Over the fist week of January, I was involved with the Lakehead University merit review as a member of the Merit Committee. In all, the committee reviewed 48 binders from all academic unit of the University. The overall process while time intensive, was informative and humbling at the same time.

Budget Process

After four weeks of consultation, discussion, and multiple meetings with Chairs/Director, I presented the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities 2015/16 on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 to the Senior Management Team. While the cuts to our Faculty operation budget was no where near the 5% requested, the panel seemed to be satisfied with our work to find efficiencies largely obtained through a process of redistribution and reallocation. Minor reductions have been made to class 6 allocations, but one significant addition to all Departmental budgets is the institution of a $1,000 travel allowance for all Department Chairs/Director. In some cases, this line pre-exists, but in a vast majority of cases, this will represent a new addition.

Most of the cost savings were obtained by the reduction of FCE requests of the Dean over the Base Budget for Sessional Salaries. In my presentation, I made it expressly clear that this was made possible through a very long process of discussion and reflection on the part of all Chairs/Director for this budget year, but that this would not be the case in future years. More specifically, the demand for additional FCEs for program delivery will continue to fluctuate and that these requests will have to be considered on a year-by-year basis.

I will be communicating the specific details of departmental budgets to individual Chairs/Director most particularly as it applies to final FCE allocations as a part of the Loading Sheet exercise currently underway.

CRC Tier II Chair

The Search Committee membership has been confirmed and a preliminary meeting held for the hiring of a CRC Tier II Chair in Digital Literacy. The members of the committee are in the process of reviewing applications from 6 candidates received by the closing date of the 15^th of January. We hope that have interviews begin before the end of February and a candidate chosen for recommendation to the CRC by the April 27^th deadline.

Phase II and III Strategic Hires Update

Proposals for Phase II and Phase III strategic hires have been submitted to the office of the VP Academic and we should expect to continue to hear about results over the new week or so. I can confirm that a proposal for a strategic hire in the Department of History has been approved and that a job posting will be up on our Lakehead University website today. I will continue to keep individual units informed of the status of their proposals.

Reading Week

I would like to inform Council that I will be off campus from Friday, February 13^th returning Monday February 23, 2015 on a trip to Oxford with 5 students from the department of music. There will be an “Acting” Acting Dean in my absence, and Sue will contact faculty as soon as I have confirmation of the arrangements.

5.

Assistant Dean’s Report

 

Assistant Dean’s Report – February 2015

Research and Innovation Week:

Dr. Antonia Maioni has accepted Lakehead’s invitation to participate in our Research and Innovation Week festivities. She will be officiating during the opening in her capacity as President of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and giving the keynote address during lunch. Our Faculty is hosting a breakfast session with her, and I welcome your thoughts and preferences on what you would like her to speak on that is specific to Social Sciences and Humanities.

The Undergraduate Research Conference Committee is accepting submissions for poster or oral presentations. The form has to be submitted by the student(s) with the approval of their supervisor by Monday, February 9. Please encourage your students to participate in this conference. As well, please encourage your graduate students to participate in the Graduate Conference during R&I week.

The Department of Visual Arts will be displaying a series of student and faculty works at the Intercity Mall during R&I Week, and audiences will have a rare opportunity to see student artists “at work.” Please come and support our artists and our colleagues from Languages who will be taking part in this event.

On Tuesday, March 10, there will be a performance by the Lakehead University Chamber Choir, conducted by our Acting Dean. We are bringing two choreographers – Edgar Zendejas from Montreal and Hari Krishnan from Toronto – to work with the Choir.

Speaker’s Series:

I am working with colleagues in Orillia to bring a speaker or two to the Orillia campus.

Recruitment and International:

We met with delegates from our Beijing Office while they were in Thunder Bay, and discussed the translation of our Faculty’s brochure into Chinese script and the idea of a brochure from our Faculty that would be specific to an international audience.  It was an informative and valuable discussion, and we have decided to keep our translated brochure and compliment it with a two-sided condensed version that hits the highlights.

We are also working on the template for individual units within our Faculty that can be inserted into our brochure. We hope to have those ready in time for Program Day. 

6.

Departmental/School Reports

 

None

 

 7.

Other Business

 

 i)  Accelerated Degree – Update:

 

D. Jobin-Bevans shared the updated information received from J. O’Meara with regard to the accelerated degree.  J. O’Meara has met with A. Tarsitano and C. O’Connor to discuss the possibility of this degree.  A. Tarsitano will meet with R. Blais and K. Clarke concering feel structure and possible operating grant income implications.  Updates will be provided as they occur.

 

 ii)  Request for Proposals – Use of TelePresence  2015-2016

 

D. Jobin-Bevans stated that the proposals for instructional use of the TelePrescence classrooms were

due by end of day on Tuesday, February 17, 2015.  The classroom in Orillia holds 18 students while the room in Thunder Bay can accommodate 28.

 

iii)  2015 Spring Recruitment Activities

 

D. Jobin-Bevans gave an update on the spring recruitment activities as outlined by E. Shandruk, Manager of Undergraduate Recruitment.

 

iv)  Procedures for Academic Approval

 

D. Jobin-Bevans reminded everyone that items that require signatures must be signed off on time as it can affect other deadlines.

 

 v)  Update from Lakehead International:  Tony Williams

 

T. Williams gave a brief biography about himself and mentioned he had been working for 20 years in the field of international recruitment for universities.  He stated that Lakehead International now has all the bases in place to increase our number of international students.  He also stated that he needs feedback and ideas to develop initiative and direction.  He said Lakehead should concentrate on recruiting talented and highly motivated students who can be successful in their education.  Also, we need to build quality programs to attract international students and we must constantly strive for improvement.  T. Williams mentioned that China was a good place to start attracting students.  It was mentioned that many international students struggle with the English language.  He suggested that it might be a good idea to talk to the Provost to find out if more support systems could be put in place.  He mentioned that they are looking to attract students from India next and then S.E. Asia, Malaysia and Africa.  Discussion followed which included the cost of tuition, declining enrolment, improving our international image, more internationally generated revenue going to the faculties, and the lack of support for international students at the graduate level.

 

8.

Adjournment

 

The meeting adjourned at 11:30 am moved by J. Roth and I. Lemée.

           

                        Carried.

 

 

ATTENDANCE

 

Thunder Bay Campus

 

T. Puddephatt

D. Ivison

D. McPherson

D. Jobin-Bevans

M. Beaulieu

I. Lemée

B. Stolar

T. Dufresne

J. Roth

B. Stolar

R. Martin

B. Vernier

A. Carastathis

 

Orillia Campus

 

S. Islam

L. Fiddick

 

REGRETS

 

R. Koster

A. den Otter

S. Jeppesen

G. Colton