Faculty Meeting Friday, March 17, 2006

Date: 
Friday, March 17, 2006 - 12:00am
Location: 
ATAC 5035
Agenda: 
Subject:        COUNCIL MEETING  
                              
There will be a meeting of the Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
ON FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006 AT 1:30 P.M.  IN ROOM 5035 (ATAC BUILDING).
                                                AGENDA  
1.       Approval of Agenda.
 
2.       Approval of the February 17th  Minutes   
 
3.       Business Arising from the Minutes.
         
          i         Dean's Search update
          ii        cross-listed course designations - P. Wakewich
         
4.       Dean's Report.
                  
5.       Departmental  and Committee Reports.
          Calendar changes:
          i         Education - calendar changes (doc. 1)
          ii        English - calendar changes (doc. 2 (a) and doc. 2 (b))
          iii       Orillia - calendar changes (doc. 3) 
          iv       Political Science - calendar changes (doc. 4)
         
6.       Other Business.
 
          i         English Affiliate - Dr. Philip Allingham
 
7.       Adjournment.
 
 
____________________________________
BRUCE STRANG
Chair, Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty Council.
:jv
Minutes: 
 
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006
 
A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, February 17, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. in the ATAC Board Room 5035.
 
In the absence of B. Strang, V. Smith chaired the meeting.
 
1.   Approval of Agenda
 
It was moved by A.den Otter and seconded by R. Farrell that the agenda be approved with the following change:
 
Add:  Collaborative Graduate Program in Women's Studies - calendar changes under item 5 i 'History - calendar changes.'
                                                                                    Carried.
2.   Approval of the Minutes 
 
It was moved by J. Leggatt and seconded by H. Smith that the Minutes of January 13th be approved with the following changes:
 
i    p. 2, 4iii        .add:  "Alice den Otter" to the Orillia opening attendees.
ii   attendance    .add:  A. Carastathis
iii  p. 6, 7i, l. 1    .change: "Faculty of Graduate Studies Council" to "Faculty of
                          Graduate Studies Council Membership Committee."
 
                                                                                    Carried.    
                                                                                  .
3.         Business Arising from the Minutes.
 
i)          Budget
 
L. di Matteo asked for clarification concerning a recent Chronicle Journal newspaper article indicating that the University had received a grant of money and there would be funding for new full-time faculty members.
 
K. Fedderson responded noting a related discussion at Wednesday's Deans' Council meeting.  He informed Council that currently there are no changes in the staffing plans for next year.
 
G. Hayman raised the issue of success in attracting applicants for the recently advertised two-year term contract positions.  He stated that there had been no applicants for the Psychology positions and that there were no resources to fill these positions in the community.  He asked for guidance.
 
K. Fedderson asked that he be updated on the status of applications being advertised in the faculty by e-mail or memo.  He noted that, if there is a lack of applicants, it is possible that AEC will upgrade these positions.                  
           
ii)         BA-HBA/BED Degree Proposal
 
K. Fedderson reported that J. O'Sullivan and he had come to an agreement at the last Senate meeting with regard to this proposal.  He explained that in the absence of both Deans, a meeting of the remaining subcommittee (G. Siddell, B. Strang from SS&H and F. Blaikie, D. Kerr of Education) had taken place.  They have agreed to a revision of the first-year education course so that it will be regarded as a bonafide university course by both faculties. Both Councils will review the revision and, if they agree, a motion will go forward to the Senate Undergraduate Studies Committee. 
 
iii)         Orillia
 
The Joint Orillia Committee (both Deans, Alice den Otter, J. Blahuta, D. West, T. Lariviere from SS& H and C. Matheson, S. Hamilton, J. Hughes, C. MacKinnon, J. Fiadhi, T. Randall, P. Fralick, A. Van Tuyl from S&ES along with G. Wodja, A. Deighton, G, Boire and J.O'Sullivan) have met to assist with arriving at the array of courses that will be offered in Orillia in the fall.  It is expected that within two weeks the departmental offerings will be finalized and ready for posting.  Hiring will be handled by departments in the usual manner.  AEC will be reviewing the language for the secondment postings.  People who are interested should respond to these postings.  It is anticipated that the course timetable will be in place by March 27th to ensure that hiring will get underway.
 
There have been 192 applications in Orillia to date with 68 1st choices and 8 acceptances.  Of the 192 applicants, 51 have applied to the BA/BSc degree, 84 have applied to the HBA/HBSc program, and 57 have applied to the HBSc program.   Many did not take into account the BA/BEd degree.
 
4.         Dean's Report
 
i           Course Evaluations
 
Concerns have been raised that in some instances there is a discrepancy between the data sheets and the summary information forms in the course evaluation packages.  TSC staff have been contacted and they are investigating to determine how best to respond.It is crucial that faculty members hold on to their individual sheets (as they have the only copy) until TSC reports back to the Dean.  There appears to have been a programming difficulty.
 
ii           Faculty of Graduate Studies Membership Committee
 
K Fedderson thanked the many colleagues who responded to the request to sit on this committee.  After consultation with the Graduate Dean, it was decided that Dr. Brian O'Connor from the Department of Psychology should become the faculty representative.         
         
There is also a vacancy for a faculty student representative to sit on this committee.  Those who have promising students in their areas who are willing to serve should forward their names to Kim Fedderson for consideration.
 
iii)         Timetable
 
Departmental timetable representatives have attended a meeting to discuss how to implement new timetabling changes before the end of March.  There will be another meeting scheduled for those chairs and timetabling representatives who missed the initial meeting.
 
Tuesday's meeting saw concerns raised regarding the current proposals and those attending were asked to be responsible for ways of accommodating these concerns.  Representatives were asked to reconfigure the timetable sheets with the hope that a workable timetable can be created within the next three to four weeks.  There was a great deal of discussion regarding problems.  All deans are overseeing this process as they do not want registration to begin with a timetable that is flawed.  A lengthy discussion followed. 
 
K. Fedderson asked members not to worry as the main objective is to accommodate students' pedagogical needs.  The  Registrar's Office is open to a whole area of suggestions.   
 
iv)        Budget
 
The faculty budget has been submitted.  L. Hayes and AEC will determine how much money the faculty will receive based on our request.  The faculty request is reasonable and the amount received will be known sometime next month.
 
v)         Program Day 
 
Grade 11 Program Day is taking place on Friday, February 24th from 10:00 to 12:00 p.m.  The Recruitment Committee co-chairs, H. Smith and D. West, will oversee the faculty display for this event.  Those who would like to volunteer or participate are requested to contact either Helen or Doug.  Some units may still wish to have their own display and this will be their responsibility.
 
The last program day saw the entire faculty represented by one major display and earmarked by  banners.  It was seen as a success as there were many more students drawn to the faculty site.    
 
vi)        University Research Plan
 
K. Fedderson spoke to Council's concern about the draft plan and the insufficient focus with regard to the cultural and societal research categories.  Members have worked together on a faculty submission to the Research Plan Drafting Committee so that a proposed priority research area of "Text, Interpretation, and Expression" would be included in the draft plan.  However, this submission was unsuccessful and the Vice-President of  (Research) response (doc. 1) was read to the Committee.  Concern was expressed by the response.  It was also noted that the web link to the draft plan was not the newest draft version.
 
A lengthy discussion followed.  It was felt that there should be a faculty response to the draft plan.  It was suggested that concerns with the research plan be voiced at the upcoming Senate Executive Committee with questions -- 1) was it coming before Senate; if so, 2) how was it coming to Senate and 3) does the Senate Research Committee endorse the plan?  The decision-making process with regard to the plan should be known within the next  month or so. It was suggested that the Faculty Annual Report could be submitted to provide a clearer understanding of how the faculty defines research.  It was emphasized that Text, Interpretation and Expression is a designated area of research both in Canada and internationally.  It was also noted that many awards for faculty research articles are not funded. 
 
K. Fedderson reiterated that the response to the draft document should be as a faculty and requested that concerns regarding the Research Committee's response be forwarded to him.  He encouraged all to participate.  Should the plan become a Senate document, then Senate should be made aware of objections.
 
vii)        Academic Plan
 
L. di Matteo asked about the progress on the Academic Plan. 
 
K. Fedderson noted that the Senate Academic Committee will receive a report from the sub-committee by the end of term (late April or May).  He explained that the Academic Plan must be in place for the next budget cycle before year-end.
 
viii)       Dean's Search   
 
L. di Matteo asked if the Search Committee would report back to Council. 
 
H. Smith informed Council that an initial meeting of the Committee had been held.  They are working on how to incorporate feedback and the development of a process.  The position has already been posted on the web site.  A discussion followed.  An update will be forthcoming at the next Council meeting.
             
5.         Departmental Reports
 
Calendar Changes - History/Women's Studies
 
It was moved by H. Smith and seconded by K. Fedderson that both the History and Women's Studies Collaborative Graduate Program calendar changes be approved with the following amendment:
 
History - p. 11
 
Under Rationale
 
line 1                "5773" should read "5772".
 
                                                                                                Carried.
 
ii           Calendar Changes - Philosophy
 
It was moved by R. Berg and seconded by G. Hayman that the Philosophy calendar changes be approved.  It was noted that there were no budgetary implications.
 
                                                                                                Carried.
 
iii          Calendar Changes - Political Science
 
It was moved by H. Smith and seconded by J. Leggatt that the Political Science calendar changes be tabled until the next meeting.
 
                                                                                                Carried.
 
iv          Women's Studies - Cross-listed Course Designations - P. Wakewich 
 
P. Wakewich spoke to the problems associated with cross-listed courses such as the datatel system difficulties in determining enrolment information, scheduling and marks approval. It is suggested that a system be established which identifies a home unit for courses so that the relevant data can be managed by the home unit.  The calendar changes surrounding such a change would require all departments to participate. 
 
A lengthy discussion followed.  The implications were problematic to both sides of the issue.  There is currently no urgency, but it is important  that the faculty bring forward a motion to spark a university-wide debate.  There is no single approach to deal with the problem. A university-wide solution must be developed with the approval of the Senate Undergraduate Studies Committee.
 
There was a consensus that the matter be brought forward to the next Council meeting and then referred to the appropriate body.
 
  6.       Other Business
 
i           Affiliated Faculty Policy
 
K. Fedderson explained that the Adjunct Professor Policy has been amended to include internal adjunct professors.  I. Newhouse is chairing a Committee to bring a university-wide recommendation to Senate.  This recommendation should answer M. Anderson's questions (doc. 6).
 
7.         Adjournment.
 
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
           
ATTENDANCE
 
R. Berg
A. Carastathis
A. den Otter
L. Di Matteo
T. Dunk
R. Farrell
K. Fedderson
M. Flegel
C. Harvikson
D. Ivison
J. Leggatt
C. Parkes
M. Shaw
H. Smith
V. Smith
J.Spraggon
P. Wakewich
 
REGRETS
 
M. MacLean
P. Vervoort