Senate Highlights – September 11 and 25, 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.

Editor’s note: This edition combines highlights from the September 11 and 25 meetings.

New senators

The start of a new academic year means many several new faces at Senate; nearly half of the Senators are new to their roles. For a full list of senators for the 2017-18 year, visit the Senate website.

Missed or late academic requirements due to student absence

Senate voted to approve changes to the university’s Academic Calendar regulation around missed or late academic requirements due to student absence.

The changes introduce the option of limited student self-declarations in lieu of sick notes or medical certifications for short-term absences.

The item was presented to Senate for discussion at the September 11 meeting before being approved at the September 25 meeting. It was previously recommended by the Senate Learning and Teaching Committee.

Starting in Winter 2018, students experiencing short-term absences of three consecutive days or fewer resulting in missed or late academic requirements must a) contact their instructor by phone or email prior to the academic requirement deadline or scheduled time, and b) complete a Student Declaration of Absence form or provide alternate verification of the absence to the instructor within three calendar days following the last day of absence.

The new self-declaration process better aligns Dal’s regulations with the best practices of most U15 schools across Canada, many of which only use sick notes or medical certifications for accommodations, concessions and long-term conditions, not short-term absences. The process also aims to strengthen student accountability and communication with instructors regarding missed or late academic assignments.

The policy change, which comes following robust feedback and consultation across the university, still leaves the discretion for accepting self-declarations with individual faculty (the same as it is for sick notes at present). A student may submit a maximum of two separate Student Declaration of Absence forms per course during a term. The Student Declaration of Absence form will not be accepted for long-term absences (greater than three consecutive days), and any final coursework or exams.

The self-declaration process will be effective as of Winter 2018. It excludes the Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine, the Schulich School of Law and the College of Pharmacy, which have separate regulations to cover short- and long-term absences that still meet the overall purposes of the regulation.

Challenge for Credit

Another Academic Calendar regulation discussed at the September 11 meeting and subsequently approved at the September 25 meeting was the introduction of “Challenge for Credit” at Dalhousie.

Challenge for Credit provides academic, course-level credit for students’ prior learning when that learning is not eligible for consideration as a transfer credit. It’s a means for Dalhousie to recognize the value of experiential learning outside the university.

Prior to now, Dalhousie has not allowed Challenge for Credit with the exception of the Faculty of Agriculture, which had been using Challenge for Credit prior to the merger between NSAC and Dalhousie. The policy change will allow all Dalhousie Faculties the opportunity to grant undergraduate course credit to existing courses should students be able to demonstrate prior learning outside the university.

It will be up to each Faculty as to whether they will consider Challenge for Credit and which courses will be eligible, as well as how they will administer the assessments.

The Challenge for Credit regulation is effective immediately and will be included in the 2018-19 Academic Calendar.

Strategic Direction: Year in review

At the September 25 meeting, President Richard Florizone provided Senate with an update on the university’s progress towards the goals and priorities of its Strategic Direction. The year-in-review presentation was based on his sessions held with the Dal community in June 2017. For more, review the June 16 Dal News story.

Report of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine CAUT – Recommendations Review Committee

At the September 11 meeting, Dean of Medicine, Dr. David Anderson, presented on behalf of the Faculty of Medicine Recommendations Review Committee, which was chaired by Stephen Couban. Struck in January 2017, the committee was tasked with responding to a report from the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) into a dispute involving clinical faculty members, the health authority (at the time, Capital Health) and Dalhousie.

The committee’s report responded to each of the recommendations of the CAUT report and made additional recommendations to the Faculty of Medicine, with particular focus on how best to manage issues that emerge where individuals have dual roles with the university and the health authorities.

Steps to make diversity and inclusion a reality

Senate continued its series of presentations on efforts to support diversity and inclusion across the university at its September meetings.

On September 11, Vice-Provost Student Affairs, Dr. Arig al Shaibah, discussed the concept of “inclusive excellence” — “that equity and excellence are two sides of the same coin.” Her presentation discussed how “microaggressions” work within the context of the university and the importance of growing both individual and institutional capacities to avoid them.

On September 25, Rowe School of Business professor, Dr. Eddy Ng, presented on diversity and inclusion issues in the classroom. He shared three key themes during his presentation: 1) avoid reinforcing stereotypes in the classroom; 2) weaken fault lines based on gender or other identifiers in team-work scenarios; and 3) pay attention to someone in class who might be struggling.

Chair of Senate report highlights

At it’s September 25 meeting, the chair expressed concern about the unprecedented destruction across the Caribbean in the wake of multiple category 5 hurricanes inundating the region this past month. Concern was expressed for student, faculty of staff members connected to these regions, who have in some cases gone days without information about the welfare of family members.  he destruction of the communications, power and water infrastructure in some countries in the region would likely persist for months to come. With over four hundred who have lost their lives in the quakes and aftershocks in and around Mexico city, the chair expressed hope for relief for those in the region and affected students, faculty and staff.

At the September 11 meeting of Senate the chair presented on the diversity of the Senate plenum. The 2017-18 Senate representation by equity-seeking group is as follows:

• 44.3% women
• 10% racially visible persons
• 10% persons with a disability
• 0% Aboriginal people
• 8.6% persons of minority sexual orientation or gender identity
  

Labour market availability (LMA) for university professors (occupational category 4011), per the 2011 National Household Survey, are as follows:

• Women 43.3%
• Racially visible 19.1%
• Persons with a disability 3.8%
• Aboriginal 1.3%
  

The chair expressed hope that LMA for persons of minority sexual orientation and gender identity can be incorporated into the data gathering efforts of Statistics Canada, so that one can quantify any gaps. It is clear from the data shared that the composition of the Senate is above LMA in all categories except for two groups — racially visible and aboriginal/Indigenous peoples. Because these two groups represent a rapidly growing segment of the Canadian populace, he expressed concern that these gaps will likely grow when the 2016 LMA data is released by Statistics Canada on Nov. 29, 2017

The chair drew attention to the United Nation’s Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its mission to Canada, and the recommendations relevant to Senate were highlighted. He proposed their consideration by the Senate Planning and Governance Committee.

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