Faculty Council Meeting - September 12, 2025

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL

MINUTES

Friday, May 9, 2025
 
A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, May 9, 2025, at 10:00 am via Zoom.  

Nominations Committee:  Election of Chair and Vice-Chair:  Report
D. Mackinnon and A. den Otter both put their names forward for the position of Chair of Faculty Council.  An email vote was held with votes being sent to S. Viitala.  After counting the submissions, A. den Otter was elected as Chair of Faculty Council for the coming academic year.  

J. Chisholm was the only name put forward for the position of Vice-Chair of Faculty Council.  Support was unanimous and she was elected for the next academic year.

Motion to Approve:  K. Burnett; D. Hannah
    Carried.

1.
Approval of Agenda
 It was moved by D. Hannah and seconded by L. Chambers that the agenda be approved.
        Carried.
2.
Approval of Minutes

Approval of the minutes from April 11, 2025.  (A. Guttman; L. Chambers)
The minutes were accepted as presented.

3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
None.

4.
Calendar Change Requests
i)  2024-SOC-8544; HBA General Program
T. Puddephatt suggested that Council review the HBA General Program before he leaves for his one-year sabbatical beginning July 1/2025.
A lengthy discussion followed outlining the positive and negative aspects of having this program in place.  It was suggested that more collaborative work is required.

Motion:  To table the HBA General Program for further work and discussion. D. Jobin-Bevans; A. Guttman
A vote was held and the motion was passed.
    
ii)  Languages:
This calendar change request was relegated back for further information.
2025-SOC-8544:  Program-New-UG-Languages-New-Asian Studies Minor Program - In Department of LANG

    5.1
Department/School Requests.
None.

5.2
Department/School Reports and Announcements.
i)  English
A. Guttman noted that the 2024/2025 copy of the Artery has arrived today.  It is available for sale in the ‘
Lakehead University Bookstore on both campuses.

ii)  Visual Arts
S. Shahsahabi mentioned that Visual Arts has scheduled activities/workshops offered during Spring and
Summer 20205 through our studios in collaboration with local collective and cultural organizations.
The Visual Arts Department actively hosts and collaborates with Indigenous grassroots initiatives and
artists' collectives by holding joint workshops and offering our research facilities to enable Indigenous
youth in their education. During spring and summer, we host the Indigenous Youth Art Residency
Program that is funded through the ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency.
Please check our website and stay tuned for more information as we get closer to July.

6.
Dean’s Report.
Friday, May 9, 2025
Dean’s Report - Items

DISCUSSION POINTS:
1.     Congratulations! Teaching Award Nominees:
    Davut Akca- IS/Criminology
    Evgeny Chugonov – Music
    Steven Jobbit - History
    Sean Kim -Music
    Harvey Lemelin - ORPT
    Jeannette Mundinger Hardy - Languages
    Benjamin Maiangwa -Political Science
    Ryan McVeigh – IS
    Beverly Soloway - History
    Rodney Swatton - ORPT
    Kathryn Walton – English

2. SSH Certificates of Excellence Recognition: Teaching (2), Staff (1), Students (2)

3. SSH Strategic Workshop: Initiatives

Summary notes provided by Assistant Deans.

Next steps:
a. Discuss salient points from the themes at the department level (September-
October)
b. Finalize SSH Strategic Plan Directions (2025-2030) at Leadership Circle
meeting in November

c. Present at Faculty Council in December 2025

4. AI and Academic Integrity

5. Expectations in Teaching Online

6. Career Explorations in SSH

7. Budget Update and Cost Mitigations

8. Alternative Work Arrangements (Laserfiche)

9. Annual Department Highlights for SSH Focus – May 30

10. Networking for research collaboration and community engagement: disaster
studies

C. Sanders replace D. Hayes as Chair of Faculty Council for the Remainder of the Meeting.

7.
Assistant Deans’ Report
i)  Dr. Jennifer Jarman – Orillia Campus
    Friday, May 9, 2025

By Jennifer Jarman

1.    The Lakehead Research Chair Awards committee has been finalized, has developed criteria for the competition.  Closing date is today at 11:55 pm. The committee will meet next week to choose a recipient.  

2.    101s (applications from Ontario high school) and 105s (applications from outside Ontario).  SSH Thunder Bay had 100 fewer applications (-19%). 76% of the Thunder Bay SSH programs have either no or negative growth.   SSH Orillia had 68 more applications (+22%) than last year.  Overall,  in Orillia, the three main drivers of growth are English/Con-Ed Intermediate/Senior, (+41), Criminology (+35), and INTD (+22).  Orillia History also had an increase (+5). In Thunder Bay, Political Science (+11) has the largest increase in applications.

In Orillia, where we look at declines, some might actually be a shift due to the addition of Concurrent Education Intermediate/Senior options – for example, the two Orillia History programs -- BA (-7) and HBA (-17)  are down compared to last year, but the  Concurrent Ed (I/S) History is up by 15 and the Concurrent Ed I/S English and History) is up 3.    Maybe this suggests to us that adding new programs does not always create additional new student growth to the campus – sometimes students just refine their preferences within what is offered at our university.

Within INTD, the biggest jumps overall are in the shorter programs, with the BASc Con-Ed (+72%) and the accelerated HBASc Con-Ed (+26%) degrees having the highest increases. That seemingly speaks to a desire for a quicker university experience.

On the upside, overall confirmations at this time in the cycle are trending positively, with a year over year increase of 4%. June 2nd is the deadline for students to confirm their offers.  Faculty are invited to connect with incoming students to support their decision-making.
3.    Meetings are being arranged with universities in the Philippines, as while Lakehead has many partnership arrangements with 65 countries, we have no partnerships with the Philippines, which is one of the largest English-speaking countries in the world, one of the world’s sources of high calibre labour for the healthcare industry, the logistics industry, the telecommunications industry, and the media and public relations industries.  Once the Dean and I get further with outreach that would be relevant to our Faculty, we will share more.

ii)  Dr. Tony Puddephatt – Thunder Bay Campus 

Friday, May 9, 2025
Tony reported that the HBA General did not pass and that there may be more discussions in future.
He mentioned that he will be on sabbatical this year from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. He will continue his involvement in the Learners in Custody Programs.

8.
Other Business.
None.

9.
Next Faculty Council Meeting:  
The next Faculty Council meeting:  TBA September, 2025 at 10:00 am via Zoom.
10.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 12:03 pm.

ATTENDANCE

Thunder Bay Campus
G. Bonifacio
K. Burnett
L. Chambers
E. Chugunov
A. Guttman
D. Hannah
D. Hayes
S. Jacoba
S. Jobbitt
D. Jobin-Bevans
B. Parker
E. Piersig
T. Puddephatt
C. Sanders
S. Shahsahabi
B. Vernier
S. Viitala - recording

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

Regrets
L. Potvin
A. Carastathis