Faculty Meeting Friday, November 14, 2014

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL MINUTES
October 3rd, 2014

Approved
 
A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, October 3rd, 2014 at 9:30 am in ATAC Board Room 3004/OA 2005.

1. Approval of Agenda

It was moved by J. Roth and seconded by M. Beaulieu that the revised agenda be approved.
Carried.

2. Secret Ballot - Election of Chair of Faculty Council

A secret ballot was held for the election of Chair of our Faculty Council.  M. Beaulieu was the successful candidate.  It was noted that there will be another election in January 2015 to elect a Chair commencing July 1, 2015.

 

3. Approval of the Minutes

It was moved by R. Koster and seconded by I. Lemée that the minutes of September 12th, 2014 be approved.
Carried.

 

4.  Business Arising from Minutes

None.

5. Registrar’s Report

None.

6. Dean's Report for Faculty Council

Friday, October 3, 2014

OUF
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all members of the faculty who attended the OUF in Toronto from September 19 to 21. Preliminary reports indicate that our numbers were comparable to past years and while the experience is exhausting, this fair is the largest of its kind in Ontario, which makes the Lakehead presence important to our recruitment efforts.

Meeting with China Delegates
On Monday, September 15, I was present at a meeting with representatives from the office of Consol General of China to Canada specific to Education and Training. During this meeting it was suggested that an excellent way for the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities to target Chinese students into SS&H programs would be to start the process to establish a Conscious Institute at Lakehead University. This is a process by application competition but it was thought that this institute would attract new international students and appeal to Chinese students already at Lakehead University. I am currently soliciting input into faculty interest in this project.

China Recruitment
On Thursday, September 25, I was present at a meeting with representatives from JJL Recruitment based out of Beijing, and Misung Yim from our own International office to discuss the an international brochure to be produced before our next faculty recruitment trip to China later in the fall. We expect to have this piece translated into Mandarin but expect that there will be modifications to the content of our newly produced Faculty of SS&H brochure to better appeal to an international audience.

Orillia Visit
As a point of information, I will be traveling to Orillia on Tuesday October 14 and working from the Orillia campus Tuesday and early Wed. morning. I have plans to visit the Georgian campus in Barrie to tour the technology labs at the college, and later in the afternoon, I will be meeting with the faculty in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.

 

7. Assistant Dean’s Report

Our first speaker’s event, “Conversations with Walking with Our Sisters,” and the opening of the exhibit were overwhelmingly successful. I had limited time on the afternoon of the opening, and spend that time waiting in line only to have to leave before I had a chance to enter. When I did get to see it, all I can say is that it is an extremely powerful and moving experience. The series of events continues until October 24, and the exhibit is still on for another week. I encourage all of you to pass on the word, and attend what you are able to.

In the meantime, we continue to work on our series, and are planning events to be held on both campuses.

On the International Relations front, we continue working on our Faculty’s brochure for international students, and on the documents to facilitate faculty exchanges (specifically with Dalian University).

With regard to recruitment, we are looking into having updated individual pamphlets for each unit within our Faculty.

The committee organizing the Undergraduate Research Day during Research and Innovation Week has begun meeting to plan for this event. Undergraduate students will have an opportunity to showcase their work again this year, and we will be asking Deans, Chairs, and faculty members to encourage students to submit their poster presentations or present their oral papers, and to support them by attending the event.

We are working on an electronic faculty newsletter that will have reminders of upcoming deadlines and events, updates on changes approved by Senate, and feature the wonderful job our faculty members are doing.  I will be asking for information you would like to see included, and will have more information about the newsletter once we are closer to begin its circulation.

Finally, I will be attending a symposium on Learner Outcomes later in the month, and look forward to bringing back the information from those sessions.

 

8. Research Productivity at the Graduate Level

B. Stolar stated that Dr. Martin Taylor had assessed the Office of Research.  The results were analized by a small committee with the outcome being there needs to be increased productivity at the Ph.D. level.  She stated that we did not have enough resources to work with all the Ph.D. students.  D. Jobin-Bevans stated that support is also needed at the undergraduate level.  Undergraduate students will obtain good research skills by the time they are in their upper years.  A short discussion followed.  

 

9. Departmental Resources 2015/2016

D. Jobin-Bevans talked about the upcoming budget year.  He stated that there will be a template circulated to all Chairs/Director to be completed with their faculty/contract lecturer requests.

10. Departmental/School Reports

History
It was moved by M. Stevenson and R. Koster that the calendar changes for History be approved. (Course Discontinuations:  2014-SOC-4359; New Courses and Course Revisions:  2014-SOC-4360)
Carried.

Languages
It was moved by B. Vernier and D. Ivison that the calendar changes for Languages be approved.  (Change in Course Description:  2014-SOC-4369; New Course/Change in Lab Hours:  2014-SOC-4312)
Carried.

Philosophy
It was moved by T. Dufresne and I. Lemée that Dr. R. Matthews be appointed External Adjunct of the Department of Philosophy for a four-year term commencing July 1, 2014.
Carried.

It was moved by T. Dufresne and J. Roth that the calendar changes for Philosophy be approved.  (Discontinued Courses:  2014-SOC-4295; New Courses:  2014-SOC-4297; New Version of Degrees: 2014-SOC-4299)
Carried.

Sociology
It was moved by D. Misina and G. Colton that Dr. C. Fogel be reappointed Internal Adjunct of the Department of Sociology for a four-year term commencing July 1, 2014.
Carried.

11. Other Business