Senate Highlights ‑ April 10, 2017

Following each meeting of the Dalhousie University Senate, Dal News highlights some of the presentations and decisions made.

Senate is the university’s senior academic governing body, with membership consisting of elected representatives from Dal’s Faculties and the University Libraries, elected student representatives, a representative from the University of King’s College and Dal’s senior academic administrators. Senate is responsible for approving new programs; granting degrees/diplomas; managing the reviews of Faculties, centres and institutes; and setting academic regulations and the academic calendar.

Senate meets on the second and fourth Mondays of the month, from September through June. Learn more about Senate and its business at the Senate website.

Approval of draft Academic Syllabus Policy

On behalf of the Senate Learning and Teaching Committee (STLC), Dr. Katherine Harman (Vice-Chair, Student Affairs) presented the draft Academic Syllabus Policy to Senate, which was subsequently approved by the membership.

The draft policy was previously brought to the Senate membership on January 23, 2017, but was subsequently tabled for further consultation and revision.  

A new policy for Dalhousie, the Academic Syllabus Policy identifies core information that needs to be conveyed, via the course syllabus, to students enrolled in a course and also made available to others. It outlines procedures for how the course syllabus should be shared with students, what content should be included and what university statements and links are to be added. The policy applies to all credit-bearing courses at the university, with the exception of some credit-bearing courses — special topics, modules, directed studies — that are dynamic and may require more frequent changes in a term or from offering to offering.

Once the draft policy is also approved by the Board of Governors and becomes an official university document, its details will be communicated broadly to the Dal community.  

Presentation on Senate review of the Brain Repair Centre

Neale Ridgway (professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) and Victor Rafuse (director, Brain Repair Centre) presented the Senate review of the Brain Repair Centre, which was conducted in 2016.

Founded in 2006 by scientists and clinicians affiliated with Dalhousie, the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre, the Brain Repair Centre is a research venture focused on the vision “to discover and develop the means to prevent, repair and even reverse damage to cells and synaptic connections in the brain and spinal cord.” As an institute of the university, the Brain Repair Centre is mandated to provide a review report every seven years.

The review included both an internal review process (by a committee chaired by Dr. Ridgway) and an external one (led by Dr. Michael Kawaja of Queen’s University and Dr. Roderick McInnes of McGill University). Drs. Ridgway and Rafuse answered questions on the recommendations from the reviews — which included continuing its current research nodes, mapping out a plan to sustain current levels of funding and conducing an external scientific review of activities of its members — and the implementation plan to address them.

Annual research funding report

On behalf of the Vice-President Research Office, Ian Hill (Associate Vice-President Research) delivered a presentation on the university’s overall research funding.

Dalhousie’s total amount of research funding has been stable over the past five years, sitting at around an average of $140 million annually. Using information from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO), Dr. Hill provided comparative insights related to peers provincially, regionally and among the U15 group of major Canadian research-intensive universities.

• In Nova Scotia, Dalhousie receives 83% of all research funding, 86% of tri-council funding and 91% of industry research funding.
• In Atlantic Canada, Dalhousie receives the most total research funding at nearly $140 million (with its closest competitor sitting at under $100 million) and more tri-council funding than all other universities combined.
• In terms of research intensity (funding per FTE researcher), Dalhousie ranks mid-range in the U15. In industry funding intensity, though, Dalhousie ranks third.
  

Dr. Hill flagged provincial research funding as one particular opportunity for improvement, as Dalhousie’s levels are the lowest in the U15 per FTE. “That’s a major challenge for our competitiveness,” said Dr. Hill, adding that the province’s plans to revamp how it manages provincial research funding agencies will help, but further support would still be needed for Dal to reach the U15 average.

Another area for growth is in attracting funding from the not-for-profit sector to support the research enterprise. “I see this as a real opportunity,” he said, noting that the VPR’s office has been in discussion with Advancement to explore how the university might be able to enhance its partnerships in this area.

Steps to make diversity and inclusiveness a reality at Dalhousie

Each Senate meeting includes a short presentation from different units and individuals on plans and strategies to better support diversity and inclusion at the university.

Dr. Afua Cooper, the James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, delivered this meeting’s presentation, highlighting three particular initiatives:

• The new minor in Black and African Diaspora Studies, which had over 70 students in its two courses this year.
• The continuing efforts of the Black Faculty & Staff Caucus to promote community, advocate progress and maintain ongoing support for Black faculty and staff at Dalhousie.
• The Scholarly Panel on Lord Dalhousie’s History on Slavery and Race, of which Dr. Cooper is chair. The panel’s report is expected by August 2017.
  

She also highlighted the need to attract and retain Black faculty, and to attract graduate students who have an adequate knowledge of the Black experience nationally and internationally. Dr. Cooper emphasized the need to turn the minor into a major, and encouraged the creation of a Black Studies institute to reflect the province’s unique history of Black settlement.  

Learn more about the Dalhousie Senate at its website. Minutes for past Senate meetings are available on DalSpace. Minutes for this meeting will be posted once approved by Senate at its subsequent meeting.