Faculty Council Meeting - April 11, 2025

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL

MINUTES
 Friday, March 7, 2025

A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, March 7, 2025, at 10:00 am via Zoom.  
1.
Approval of Agenda
 It was moved by A. Guttman and seconded by D. Hannah that the agenda be approved.
        Carried.
2.
Approval of Minutes
Approval of the minutes from February 7, 2025.  (E. Chugunov; A. Carastathis)
The minutes were accepted as presented.     

3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
None.

4.
Calendar Change Requests
i)  Additional Dean
It was moved by K. Burnett and seconded by C. Sanders that the following calendar change request be approved.
2025-SCI-GEOG Program Update - Splitting ECON 1100 & PSYC 1100
        Carried.

ii)  Outdoor Recreation
It was moved by L. Potvin and seconded by D. Krupp that the following calendar change requests for Outdoor Recreation be approved.
2025-SOC-8786:  Program Changes – changes to course requirements-UG
2025-SOC-8789:  OUTD course modification-UG
        Carried.
 5.1
Department/School Requests.
None.

5.2
Department/School Reports.
To be discussed after “Other Business.”

6.
Dean’s Report.
Friday, March 7, 2025
March 7, 2025
Dean’s Report

* SMA 4 Enrolment Projections – meeting with IPA and Interim Provost next week. Summary questions and
concerns were provided.

*Faculty Strategic Planning on April 29 with department chairs and program coordinators. Assign a representative if unable to attend from 8:45 am to 4:00 pm. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

*Curriculum Sustainability Framework: next report in May 2025.

*Fall 2025 Orientation, SSH Faculty Session on August 29, from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm. Request a representative from each department to welcome students. Format different this time with a student-centred approach. Student Success will facilitate an activity; suggest focusing on the career trajectories of getting a degree in SSH. Open to other ideas.

*2026 Viewbook from Recruitment Office, reviewed by Assistant Deans. Department chairs will be contacted about program content and identify student testimonial submissions.

*Graduate awards will be adjudicated by graduate coordinators and endorsed by the Dean (e.g., OGS).

*Graduate Speaker Series, Fall 2025. Will a different format work best for our students? No uptake for Winter 2025.

*Desired frequency of meetings for Leadership Circle.

*Art. 16.07.05. Dean to meet 1/3 of tenured faculty in a 3-year cycle to get to get to know them better.

7.
Assistant Deans’ Report
i)  Dr. Jennifer Jarman – Orillia Campus
    March 7, 2025
1.    Awards Committee.  We put out calls for committee members for the research awards committee.  

2.  Speeding up process of issuing contracts for Contract Lecturers.    Problem Addressed:  Chairs, administrative officers, and contract lecturers have often experienced lengthy delays in the arrival of signed contracts for courses. These delays have caused problems that have been raised repeatedly by instructors:  they experience high levels of uncertainty about whether or not they are actually going to be employed by Lakehead and may seek contracts elsewhere while they wait, which in turn can create the need for second or even third rounds of hiring that are very time-consuming and uncertain for all involved.  Delays also waste precious administrative time as repeated inquiries concerning the whereabouts of missing contracts are made and tracked all around the university.  Delayed contracts also mean that contract lecturers lack timely library and D2L access, and they may miss important orientation and training events.   Lesser known problems include the consequences that instructor names are not listed on the schedule early so students do not know who is teaching a particular class. This may be a factor in the very high drop-and-switch rate that our Faculty experiences during the first few  weeks of term.  There is almost a two-tiered registration process with many switches occurring after the first set of selections, which makes it hard to manage enrolments.  

After a series of problems last term arising in the Interdisciplinary Studies department and from other departments in December, I raised the delay problem matters with a number of parties, including the Human Resource office, our Administrative Managers (Carolyn Rimkey and Sue Viitala), Dean Glenda Bonifacio, and various members of the Provost’s Office.  All parties acknowledged that the delays were very undesirable.  Sue Viitala, Carolyn Rimkey and Human Resources officers are now working on a redesigned system for issuing contracts.  We just had a first run of the spring/summer hiring for Interdisciplinary Studies with the result that contract lecturers received contracts within one week from the time requested!  We await more tests from other departments and also some new software promised for next September to allow for even higher levels of efficiency.
Thank you to all who participated in the discussion, especially Carolyn Rimkey (INTD Orillia) and Sue Viitala (Dean’s Office), and Tajinder Kumar (HR).

3.  Strategic Enrolment Management.
Institutional Analysis has now provided five-year projections to the Faculty departments and have finalized the SMA4 targets.  Overall, their projections involve an additional 378 students to our Faculty over the next five years, unevenly distributed across programs, departments, and the two campuses.    

ii)  Dr. Tony Puddephatt – Thunder Bay Campus – March 7, /2025
1. Tony thanked people for feedback on HBA general and said he has revised it based on previous comments and will bring it back to faculty council in a future meeting.

2. Tony mentioned the possibility of developing a PhD in SJS, building on the success of the MA program. It is recognized that careful planning and strategic hiring would be necessary. Dr. Kevin Brooks is working with program members, as well as IPA, to determine possible paths forward.

8.
Other Business.
i)  Formation of Nominations Committee to Consider Nominations for Chair and Vice-Chair of Faculty
Council for 2025/2026.
D. Hayes called for volunteers to sit on the Nomination Committee for Chair and Vice-Chair of our Faculty
Council for the coming academic year.  The following put their names forward:  
Pallavi Das, Aris Carastathis, Daniel Hannah and Chris Sanders.  They will meet soon to elect a Chair
and develop a timeline for the process.  

5.2
Department/School Reports and Announcements
i) English
A. Guttman announced that on Monday April 7, the Department of English will be holding its annual student conference, with a dozen undergraduate and graduate students from both the Orillia and Thunder Bay campuses sharing their research papers.  More information will follow.

ii)  Gender & Women’s Studies
J. Chisholm announced that the Gender and Women’s Studies Department will be holding their annual
event, Feminisms at the Lakehead, which will take place on April 9, 2025.  More information will follow
soon.

iii)  History
S. Jobbitt mentioned that there is an upcoming film festival from Docs North 7 which will be taking place in
Thunder Bay from March 8-12.  It starts on Saturday and runs until Wednesday. As the title suggests, this
will be their 7th workshop.  For more information, please contact R. Harpelle.

iv) Interdisciplinary Studies
J. Jarman stated that the Media Arts Showcase was held at the Orsi Family Learning Commons at 500 University Avenue, Orillia ON.  The reception began at 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.  The screening of student films and multimedia works began at 5:30 to 7:30 pm in OA 1022.  The students did most of the work which helped to develop their managerial conflict resolution skills.

v)  Music
E. Chugunov announced that there will be Student Recitals held on March 18, 2020 at 12:30 pm.  Please check the Music website for more information.  

vi)  S. Shahsahabi mentioned that the annual Student Juried Art Exhibition will once again be held at the
Thunder Bay Art Gallery.  The Opening Reception and Awards Night which will be held on Friday March
28 March 2025 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00pm).   Everyone is welcome!

9.
Next Faculty Council Meeting:  
The next Faculty Council meeting with be held in Friday, April 11, 2025 at 10:00 am via Zoom.

10.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:24 am. (A. Guttman; K. Burnett)

ATTENDANCE
 Thunder Bay Campus
G. Bonifacio
K. Brooks
K. Burnett
A. Carastathis
J. Chisholm
E. Chugunov
A. Guttman
D. Hannah
D. Hayes
S. Jacoba
S. Jobbitt
D. Jobin-Bevans

B. Maiangwa
L. Potvin
T. Puddephatt
S. Shahsahabi
C. Sanders

S. Viitala - recording

Orillia Campus
D. Akca
P. Das
J. Jarman
D. Krupp
D. Mackinnon
R. McVeigh
M. Stevenson

Regrets
L. Chambers
B. Vernier
S. Jeppesen
B. Parker