MSVU Senate Minutes -- March 3 2008
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2010-04-15T17:50:42Z
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Senate, Mount Saint Vincent University
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Senate Meeting March 3, 2008
Rosaria Boardroom 7:30 p.m.
Minutes of Meeting
Present: K. Laurin (Chair), R. Bérard, D. Bourne-Tyson, P. Crouse, R. Farmer, M. Forrest, R.
Gechtman, P. Glenister, J. Gordon, M. Lyon, R. MacKay, J. MacLeod, A. McCalla, S. Mumm,
M. Raven, J. Sawler, J. Sharpe, S. Seager, L. Steele, B. Taylor, S. Walsh, P. Watts, M. Whalen,
D. Woolcott, R. Zuk.
Regrets: I. Blum, B. Casey, A. Daley, A. Davis, A. Eaton, P. Gouthro, C. Hill, B. MacInnes, A.
Whitewood
1. Approval of Agenda
Moved by R. Farmer, seconded by M. Forrest to approve the agenda with the removal of item
7.6.1.2 . CARRIED.
2. Approval of Minutes of January 28, 2008
Moved by S. Seager, seconded by J. Sharpe to approve the minutes of January 28, 2008 with the
following changes:
Item 3.2 â the change in the By-law was to add â Enrollment Management andâ
Item 4 â welcomed the Senate to its first meeting in the new year.â
Item 7.1.1 â decided that Senators be named in the minutes. This policy datedâ
Item 7.1.2 â considering a proposal to develop a new Service Awardâ
S. Seager asked that her questions be included as the second paragraph under Item 7.3.1:
â S. Seager asked: Could the calendar dates be provided to faculty before the timetable is due?;
Could the date for WFâ s be moved later in the term?; and For the scheduling of Caritas Day,
Thursday is necessary just as often as Monday and Friday and so should be mentioned.â
Item 7.3.1 â that is consistent with the Grading Policies.â
Item 7.6.1 â one Philosophy course was a full year special topics course for which two one
semester special topics courses exist.â
3. Business Arising from the Minutes
3.1 Joint M.A. (Women and Gender Studies) list of M.S.V.U. faculty
This item was for information only and there were no comments or questions.
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3.2 Revision to Senate By-law 14.10, Committee on Teaching and Learning Terms of
Reference (Notice of motion January 28, 2008)
Moved by R. Farmer, seconded by P. Watts to approve the revision to By-law 14.10, Committee
on Teaching and Learning Terms of Reference. CARRIED.
S. Seager commented that as a former member of SCOTL it was often difficult to schedule and
with three administrators, seven faculty, and one student it would seem too many to be able to
schedule meetings. P Watts responded that, as invited members of SCOTL, award winners have
the discretion to decline to serve.
4. Presidentâ s Announcements
K. Laurin announced that the Destination 2012 Implementation Team had met for the first time
on February 18. A. Whitewood facilitated an exercise that assisted the group discussion on the
interrelationships of the strategic goals and to assist in identifying which Action Plans the team
should begin to work on. There are two more meetings scheduled for March.
The negotiations for the new provincial funding MOU are ongoing. The CONSUP Steering
Committee is made up of presidents Traves (Dalhousie), Riley (St. Francis Xavier) and Dodds
(Saint Maryâ s). There have been several meetings and it appears that the MOU will go ahead
using the existing funding formula updated to account for enrollment numbers from 2003-2006
rather than the previous enrollment numbers from 1993-1996. President Laurin assured the
Senate that she would keep them informed of any further updates.
Both the womenâ s and the menâ s MSVU Mystics basketball teams won the ACAA
Championships and were undefeated for the past two years. They will be representing the MSVU
at the National Championships later in the month.
5. Question Period
There were no questions.
6. Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
7. Committee Reports (Standing and Ad hoc)
7.1 Senate Executive
7.1.1 Service award
K. Laurin announced as an update that A. Whitewood had brought forward a proposal for the
Service Award to the Senate Executive. A Task Force (R. Bérard, Faculty, Robyn McIsaac,
Administration, Rick Walkden, APA, and Janice Gaudet, Human Resources. as Chair) has been
struck to provide recommendations to Senate on the award. There has been some discussion
about the creation of two awards, one for faculty and one for staff. These have been left with the
task force who will report back to Senate.
S. Seager asked why none of those who originally suggested the award was invited to sit on the
Task Force and indicated her willingness to serve as a member.
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R. Bérard suggested that, as a broad principle , those who bring forward proposals perhaps should
not be involved in the task force that would review the proposed item. Those who should study
the matter should be those who are not as heavily invested in the item as they may provide a
report that contains armâ s-length advice.
J. Gordon commented that the same analysis would apply to the appointment of a member of
Senate Executive to the Task Force. She also expressed concern over the length of time taken
from the original suggestion of the award to its current status of not yet being implemented.
K. Laurin pointed out that the Senate Executive is the body to which the Task Force reports
allowing it to have a member to report back on the Task Force progress and findings. The Task
Force has not met yet but it would welcome input from both S. Seager and J. Gordon to its
proceedings. The Task Force will meet as quickly as possible to begin the process of reviewing
the Service Award which clearly dovetails with the objectives of the Destination 2012 Strategic
Plan Goals 3 and 4.
7.2 Academic Appeals Committee
There has been no meeting since the last Senate meeting. There is a meeting scheduled for
Thursday, March 6.
7.3 Academic Policy and Planning
7.3.1 Academic Plan Update Schedule of reviews
D. Woolcott explained this Schedule is brought to Senate on an annual basis. At the last CAPP
meeting a request was brought forward from the Department of Womenâ s Studies to move the
Undergraduate review to synchronize with that of the Joint MA in Women and Gender Studies.
This will now coincide with the Review by our partner university, Saint Maryâ s.
R. Bérard questioned whether there would be two separate reviews to which D. Woolcott
responded that the details had not yet been determined but that there would be separate elements,
similar to other departments such as Child and Youth Study which have their Program Reviews
done concurrently.
S. Seager made the request that the Mathematics and Information Technology reviews be
completed in the same year as was the original intention. D. Woolcott responded that program
reviews are on a seven year cycle and the plan was to have the reviews occur at the same time but
for practical reasons this did not occur. She agreed to note S. Seagerâ s concern.
For clarification, R Bérard asked if the Mathematics review also included the Computer Science
review to which D. Woolcott responded that when a department offered several programs all
programs were reviewed at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
D. Woolcott announced that on March 14th the Maritime Provinces Higher Education
Commission will be on campus for a full-day site visit for the purpose of reviewing the MSVU
Policy for Program Review and Procedures and their application. A Self-study document has
been created and posted on the Intranet on the Office of the VP Academic site. Following the
MPHEC visit a full report will be presented to the University which will also be available at the
MPHEC public website.
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D. Woolcott noted that normally a Review Schedule for Academic Support Units would
accompany the Academic Plan Update Schedule of reviews and CAPP is currently reviewing the
Schedule for Academic Support Units to bring to Senate later.
7.3.2.1 Policy on Transfer Credit
Moved by D. Woolcott, seconded by M. Lyon that Senate approve the Policy on Authorized
External Credits with changes in wording as noted below. CARRIED.
J. Sawler suggested the first two sentences of the paragraph following #3 of the Transfer Credit
designation be combined to read â A grade of â Pâ (pass) will be assigned to all transfer credits,
except for credits for MSVU degrees offered locally in association with Saint Maryâ s University,
or internationally in association with Bermuda College or the University of St. Martin which may
transfer in alpha format and will be considered in the MSVU GPA based on program
requirements.â
M. Whalen suggested changing #4 in the third numbered set to read â Be prepared to provide
official copies of course descriptions (syllabus preferred): andâ so as not to discourage students
from applying who may have difficulty in locating copies of older syllabi.
In the Transfer Credit designation #2, Unspecified Credit, S. Seager questioned to which
department the responsibility fell for determining the subject requirements: the department to
which the student belongs and receiving a degree in, or the department which teaches the course?
S. Seager also requested that guidelines on transfer credits be prepared for the Faculty Handbook
as a statement of policy. D. Woolcott noted this for future consideration.
P. Crouse asked if the Co-Op Office had been consulted about the â Pâ designation holding a
neutral value. M. Lyon responded that the purpose of the â Pâ designation was to provide equity
and that Co-Op may have been aware of the designation but had not been directly consulted. P.
Crouse also raised the concern that there could be a loss of detail in the transcript which would
make academic advising more difficult.
J. Sawler wondered if it would be appropriate to state how â Pâ grades are counted towards the
achievement of distinction. D. Woolcott responded that a note would be made to determine if the
â Pâ grade evaluation was already included under the definition of Distinction in the calendar and,
if not, to investigate including it in the next calendar.
D. Woolcott reiterated that the purpose of these changes was to provide guidance and clarity to
students and, although many valuable points had been identified which would be helpful to
faculty and staff, the document was not intended to be used as guidance to personnel in the
academic environment.
7.3.2.2 Policy on Authorized External Credits (AEC)
Moved by D. Woolcott, seconded by S. Seager that Senate approve the Policy on Transfer
Credits with the additional wording noted below. CARRIED.
R. Farmer suggested adding at the end of the first two bullets the words: â at MSVUâ to read:
Student is not registered in a diploma, certificate or degree program at MSVU;
Credit does not meet program and/or major requirements at MSVU;
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A change similar to that made under item 7.3.2.1 to the first two sentences following the fourth
line of the final bullet so as to combine the sentences:
â A grade of â Pâ (pass) will be assigned to all AEC credits, except for credits taken while in an
approved formal exchange program, which may transfer in an alpha format and will be
considered in the MSVU GPA based on program requirements.â
As a result of S. Seager questioning whether the word â orâ should be included in the second
bulleted section, a discussion ensued about the policy. M. Lyon noted that CAPP recognized the
need for AEC Policy clarification for internal purposes.
R. Zuk asked if this AEC policy would be scripted for faculty and chairs for guidance in handling
the AECs.
J. Sawler questioned the assignment of the neutral â Pâ grade to AECs in that a neutral grade may
be discouraging for some students with generally high marks.
D. Woolcott noted that CAPP recognized this situation but, since every institution has its own
grading scheme, determin ing an accurate equivalent to an MSVU grade cannot be done
uniformly.
7.3.3. Memorandum of Understandin g and Student Exchange agreement between MSVU and
the Institut des Stratégies et Techniques de Communication (ISTC), Lille, France.
Moved by D. Woolcott, seconded by M. Whalen that Senate approve the Memorandum of
Understanding and the Student Exchange agreement between MSVU and the Institut des
Stratégies et Techniques de Communication (ISTC), Lille, France. CARRIED.
7.4 Graduate Studies Program and Policy
There was no report.
7.5 Graduate Scholarships, Assistantships and Awards
There was no report.
7.6 Undergraduate Curriculum
7.6.1 Changes to existing programs
Moved by S. Mumm, seconded by R. MacKay that Senate approve the changes to Chemistry
3501 and 3502 and the deletion of four Education courses. CARRIED
S. Mumm informed the Senate that the Chemistry course changes were made so that students
could meet the Certification requirements of the Canadian Chemistry Association.
7.6.2 Changes to existing courses
S. Mumm indicated that the changes in Sociology/Anthropology prerequisites and descriptions
were for Senateâ s information.
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7.7 Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure or Permanence for Academic
Administrators (CAPTPAA)
There was no report.
7.8 Committee on Information Technology and Services
P. Crouse reported that since the October meeting the lab in Seton 315 has closed and the hours
for the lab in Seton 315 have not been extended pending the installation of an alarm system panel
and the storage area network that was to have been completed this winter has had the
implementation date moved to June.
P. Watts visited the last meeting to ensure that plans to move from WebCT to Moodle were in
place for implementation by Summer Session I.
The Committee has reviewed a draft Email Policy with two divisions, one for students and one
for staff and faculty. This policy is still being developed and may require consultation with the
Registrarâ s office to consider whether student MSVU e-mail accounts can be used as the official
method of communication with students.
March is when the Committee should be notified of any need for Request for Software in the labs
for the Fall Term. To determine what should be done ensure readiness for next year, IT&S will be
visiting department chairs who are heavy users of technology or who may be using older software
in their departments.
7.9 Library
There was no report.
7.10 Nominations
P. Crouse reported that the third call has gone out for nominations for the Senate, CAPP and
UREB.
7.11 Research and Publications
There was no report.
7.12 Student Affairs
There was no report.
7.13 Committee on Teaching and Learning
P. Watts reported that the Committee has met and is continuing to meet to approve Teaching
Award nominees.
7.14 Writing Initiatives
P. Watts reported that WIC hosted an event on Writing Circles on February 11 and is planning a
follow up session on Writing Circles with perspectives from the Faculty Center at Western
Carolina University which has implemented writing circles.
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7.15 Undergraduate Admissions and Scholarships
There was no report.
7.16 University Research Ethics Board
There was no report.
8. Other Reports
8.1 Board of Governors
R. Bérard reported that the Board had met on February 7th and received the report on enrollment
statistics. The Board also accepted the Compliance Report. A presentation â Learning 2.0â was
given by Donna Bourne-Tyson which discussed the topic of, and provided tips on, the varied
learning styles of students of different ages.
8.2 Studentsâ Union
There was no report.
8.3 Destination 2012 Implementation Committee
R. Farmer reported that the first meeting of the Implementation Committee was held on February
18th. Committee members took part in an exercise to reflect on the goals in the strategic plan with
the purpose of identifying areas that were easy to accomplish and inexpensive but that would
proved a visible change. There are four meetings scheduled over the next three months.
9. New Business
There was no new business.
10. Items for Communication
There were no new items to communicate.
11. Adjournment
Moved by D. Woolcott, seconded by J. MacLeod to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 PM