Board Highlights – October 17, 2017

Following each meeting of Dalhousie’s Board of Governors, Dal News highlights some of the presentations and decisions made.

The Board of Governors is responsible for the overall conduct, management, administration and control of the property, revenue, business and affairs of the university. It represents the interests of the university, carrying out its responsibilities through a stewardship role (delegating day-to-day management to the president and senior administration). Its membership currently includes three ex officio members (the president, chancellor and chair of Senate), eleven Order-in-Council members and additional representatives appointed by alumni, students, faculty and the Board itself.

The Board has six standing committees: Academic & Student Affairs; Capital Projects and Facilities; Community Affairs; Finance, Audit, Investment and Risk; Governance and Human Resources; and the Board Executive. While these committees meet regularly through the year, the Board as a whole meets five times a year between September and June.

Statement from Board member George-Jim

The Board meeting opened with a statement from student Board member Kati George-Jim, who was given the opportunity to speak regarding events that took place at the Board’s previous meeting on June 27.

During a couple of points in the discussion at that meeting, Board Chair Lawrence Stordy interjected to stop discussion in a way that George-Jim felt treated her unfairly and disrespectfully, and which she felt — as an Indigenous woman — reflected, more broadly, systemic, institutional racism and the silencing of Indigenous women in society.

“I believe that this event needs to be recognized and resolved respectfully,” she said in the letter she read. “If we commit to supporting our Indigenous peoples and indgenizing our university, we cannot go around what is at the core of many Indigenous cultures — respect and recognition.”

Following George-Jim’s statement, Stordy spoke, noting he had already formally apologized to George-Jim for what transpired and adding that her voice was valued as a Board member. He said that he and George-Jim had agreed to further discussion about how they could work together to continue to address what had occurred.

Diversity and Inclusiveness Strategy

The Board received a presentation on the Dal’s Diversity & Inclusiveness Strategy from the co-leads for the university’s strategic initiative on diversity and inclusiveness: Jasmine Walsh (assistant vice-president Human Resources) and Michelle Williams (professor in the Schulich School of Law and director of the Indigenous Blacks & Mi’kmaq Initiative). Prof. Williams recently took on the role as co-lead of the initiative, replacing Wanda Thomas Bernard due to Dr. Bernard’s duties as a Canadian Senator.

The two outlined the university’s strategy, introduced earlier this year, and its four pillars that are influenced by the work of Daryl G. Smith, an expert in diversity in higher education. Each of the pillars — Climate and Intergroup Relations, Student Access and Success, Education and Research, and Institutional Viability and Vitality — has its own unique objectives. “You have to be pushing in all four directions,” said Walsh.

The two discussed some of the work underway — including the development of an Indigenous Strategy — and the importance of embedding this work in the overall mission of the university.  “[The strategy] says this is something that has to be core to what we are at Dalhousie University,” said Prof. Williams. “And that takes a lot of work.”

In its discussion, the Board discussed ways that it could better discuss and review progress towards the strategy’s goals as part of its agenda at future meetings.

For more on the Diversity & Inclusiveness Strategy, read our April 2017 Dal News story.

Ocean research agreements

The Board, on the recommendation of the Finance, Audit, Investment & Risk Committee approved two funding agreements related to ocean research at Dalhousie. Both required Board approval as they are in excess of $10 million.

The first is the funding agreement between Dalhousie and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to provide additional funding to the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), a five-year agreement of up to $11.4 million. First becoming operational in 2008, OTN informs the sustainable management and stewardship of aquatic animals by providing knowledge on their movements, habitats and survival in the face of changing global environments.

The second is the funding agreement between Dalhousie and Memorial University related to the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI). As part of the successful proposal through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, which awarded Dalhousie a $93.7 million grant to support OFI in September 2016, a percentage of funding was to be transferred to support scientific projects based at Memorial. The agreement will transfer up to $34,179,426 to Memorial over a seven-year period.

Approved minutes for Dalhousie Board of Governors meetings are published on DalSpace. Learn more about the Board at its website.