Faculty Council Meeting - April 10, 2026; Deadline for Agenda Items: April 2, 2026

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL

MINUTES

 Friday, March 13, 2026
 A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, March 13, 2026, at 10:00 am via Zoom.  

GUEST
Mr. Eric Johnston, Student Affairs Officer, Orillia Campus, gave a presentation about what to do if you are faced with a student in crisis.

He noted that often, Lakehead University faculty and staff are the first to notice when a student may be struggling, whether it's a change in behaviour, missed classes, or something shared in conversation.

To help try to navigate these situations, he said that Student Health and Wellness has developed the Supporting Students in Distress module and campus-specific guides.  These tools are designed to help one recognize signs of distress, respond with care, and refer students to the right supports.

He emphasized that you don’t need to have all the answers; just knowing how to check in and where to point students for help can make a meaningful difference. The goal is to make that process as clear, manageable, and supportive as possible.

Discussion followed.
Link to Student Health and Wellness:
https://www.lakeheadu.ca/students/wellness-recreation/student-health-and...

AGENDA

1.
Approval of Agenda
 It was moved by E. Chugunov and seconded by D. Ivison that the agenda be approved.
    
        Carried.
2.
Approval of Minutes

It was moved by S. Pound and seconded by D. Hannah that the minutes from February 6, 2026 be approved.
        Carried.
        
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
None.

4.
Calendar Change Requests

    i) Indigenous Learning
    It was moved by K. Burnett and seconded by M. Stevenson that the following calendar change requests from the Department of Indigenous Learning be approved
    2025-SOC-8844:  Program-Major modification-UG-Indigenous Learning-Double major INDI and     ENGL HBA and Fall back degree (BA 4yrs)
    2025-SOC-8849:  Program-Major modification-UG-Indigenous Learning-For IL ENGL & Faculty of Education joint program w/intermediate / senior
    2025-SOC-8921:  Program-Major modification-UG-Indigenous Learning-INDI & HIST double major (HBA and fall back degree)
    2025-SOC-8925:  Program-Major modification-UG-Indigenous Learning-INDI & SOCI double major (HBA and fall back degree)

            Carried.

    ii) Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism
    It was moved by L. Potvin and seconded by R. McVeigh that the following calendar changes request for Outdoor Recreation be approved.
            Carried.
        
    2025-SOC-9151:  ORPT Requirement update
    2025-SOC-9152:  ORPT Requirement Updates

    It was moved by L. Potvin and seconded by E. Chugunov that the following calendar change request for Outdoor Recreation be approved.
    2025-SOC-8943:  Program-New-UG-HBOR-BA IL

    iii) Social Justice Studies
    it was moved by K. Brooks and seconded by K. Burnett that the following calendar change request be approved.
     2025-SOC=9128:  Program-Major Modification-GR-Social Justice Studies- Offering GWS specialization (involved in SJS programs) officially at the Orillia campus.

            Carried.

    iv) Additional Dean
    It was moved by G. Bonifacio and seconded by K. Burnett that the following calendar change request
    2025-SCI-9163:  ECON Program Change - Updating BUSI Courses be approved.

    2025-BUS-8998-B-B:  Business 1056, 1076, and 2110 - Thunder Bay
    
            Carried.
    
    5.1
Department/School Requests.
L. Roy has confirmed that he will be attending and sharing a presentation at our April 10, 2026 Faculty Council Meeting.
S. Jocoba will be presenting the proposed AI Assessment Scale at our April 10, 2026 Council meeting.

5.2
Department/School Reports and Announcements.
i) Gender and Women’s Studies
It was moved by L. Chambers and seconded by C. Sanders that Dr. Bailey Gerrits be approved as an
External Adjunct Professor for the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies for a four-year period.
        Carried.

ii)  English
S. Pound stated that A. Guttman received the Distinguished Researcher Award and S. Olutola received
the Research Excellence Award.  Congratulations to both.!

iv) Music
E. Chugunov stated that there were a lot of concerts coming up in the next month.  Please check the
music website for further information on dates and locations.
(https://www.lakeheadu.ca/programs/departments/music/news)

iii)  Visual Arts
K. Holmes reminded everyone that the opening reception and awards ceremony for the annual Student
Juried Exhibition and Graduating student show is taking place on Friday, March 27, 2026 at the Thunder
Bay Art Gallery!  Doors open at 6:30 and the awards start at 7pm.  All are welcome.  The event is free;
however, donations to the gallery will be accepted.  There will be light refreshments served after the
ceremony.

6.
Dean’s Report.

Friday, March 13, 2026

1. Participation Awards – graduating students, due March 31

2. UG Student Research Summer Internships (SSH), due April 13

3. P. E. Trudeau Foundation Fellowship ($300,000), due May 15

4. March Break Open House:
March 20 Thunder Bay, March 21 Orillia

Applicants’ reception:
April 9 Orillia, April 23 Thunder Bay

5. Inclusive Research Excellence Grant $3000: EDI in SSH
Research (graduate students, April-June 30, 2026)
Workshop Module 1 (EDI 101) -1 day
Workshop Module 2 (EDI in Research Practice) – 1 day
Training Certificate
Faculty core group: Orillia and Thunder Bay

6. Graduate Speaker Series: March 24 (History)

7. Faculty Strategic Working Group:
Dean and Assistant Deans
Orillia: (Drs.) A. den Otter, P. Das
Thunder Bay: (Drs.) E. Piersig, T. Dufresne, D. Jobin-Bevans

8. Provost Taskforce on AI-Teaching Working Group: SSH reps
(Drs.) Ben Maingwa (TB), Larry Fiddick (Orillia)

9. Convocation – Faculty participation
Thunder Bay Ceremony 2

Date: Thursday May 28th, 2 pm
Location: Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

Orillia Ceremony 1

Date: Wednesday June 3rd, 10 am
Location: Event Centre at Casino Rama

10. Additional eligible host institution for Indo-Pacific Fellowship:
University of South Pacific, Fiji

11. Integrated MBA for SSH?

7.
Assistant Deans’ Report
i)  Dr. Jennifer Jarman – Orillia Campus – Friday, March 13, 2026

1. Awards:  Met with the Dean and the other Assistant Dean to discuss the need to set up an awards committee to adjudicate applications for the Indo-Pacific Faculty Scholarship and Student Grant award.   
Motion:  I move that we establish a Faculty Fellowship and Awards Committee for the Indo-Pacific Awards. The committee that will determine the criteria for the award and run a competition in May 2026.  Committee composition will be as follows:

2. Four members, including both Assistant Deans, with 2 members from the rest of the faculty. 

3. Stem Hub: Went to two planning meetings about rooms and faculty needs for the Barrie Stem Hub September 2026 startup. Provided input about social sciences and humanities teaching needs, as the plan is to teach the electives in-person in Barrie.

4. Enrolment Planning: Attended meeting about the faculty enrolment planning with Heather Murchison, Glenda Bonifacio, and Doug Ivison.  Learned that it might be strategic for our faculty to put more emphasis on teaching non-majors from outside our Faculty.  

ii)  Dr. Doug Ivison (Acting Assistant Dean) – Thunder Bay Campus – March 13, 2026

1.  Continuing to work on graduate programming in our Faculty.
2.  Working on other initiatives as well.

8.
Other Business.
i)  Formation of Nominations Committee to Consider Nominations for Chair and Vice-Chair of Faculty Council for 2026/2027.
Three faculty members volunteered to sit on this committee as follows:  
Dr. Doug Ivison: Chair
Dr. Aris Carastathis
Dr. Scott Pound
Information will be sent out shortly for those interested in putting their name forward.

ii)  Cut Off Dates for 2026 Spring/Summer Courses
There was a short discussion with regard to cut off dates for the 2026 S/S session.  It was suggested that courses with low enrollment (under 15 students) be cancelled one week before the start of classes.  Chairs should be encouraged to share under enrolled courses with other departments to encourage students still looking for courses to register.

It was also suggested that the cut off for courses for the 2026/2027 Fall/Winter session be August 15, 2026.
A concern was mentioned that perhaps the deadline for registering be somewhat more flexible to accommodate those students depending on various types of funding.  

iii)  Indo-Pacific Award Committee
    J. Jarman brought forward a motion with regard to the Indo-Pacific Award Committee as follows:
 Motion:  I move that we establish a Faculty Fellowship and Awards Committee for the Indo-Pacific Awards. The committee will determine the criteria for the award and run competitions in 2026 and 2027.  Committee composition will be as follows:  4 members, including both Assistant Deans, with 2 members from the rest of the faculty.
    (Seconded by I. Lemée)
            Carried.

9.
Next Faculty Council Meeting:  
The next Faculty Council meeting with be held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at 10:00 am via Zoom.  Deadline for submissions for the agenda:  Thursday, April 3, 2026.

10.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:37 am.

ATTENDANCE
 Thunder Bay Campus
K. Brooks
K. Burnett
A. Carastathis
L. Chambers
E. Chugunov
L. Forbes
D. Hannah
K. Holmes
D. Ivison
D. Jobin-Bevans
R. Kimani-Dupius
I. Lemée
J. Liu
R. Maundrell
E. Piersig
L. Potvin
S. Pound
T. Rollo
C. Sanders
S. Viitala - recording

Orillia Campus
D. Akca
G. Bonifacio
P. Das
A. den Otter
J. Jarman
D. Mackinnon
R. McVeigh
S. Olutola
M. Stevenson
K. Walton
S. Webb-Campbell

Regrets
S. Jacoba
J. Chisholm