Faculty Council Meeting - Friday, April 9, 2021: Deadline for Agenda Items - Thursday, April 1/2021 at 3:00 pm; Election of Chair and Vice-Chair

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL
MINUTES
Friday, March 5th, 2021
 
A meeting of the Faculty Council was held on Friday, March 5th, 2021 at 10:00 am via Zoom.

Discussion:  Ms. Andrea Tarsitano, Vice-Provost (Students) & Registrar gave a brief outline of the proposed changes to the University Regulation Withdrawal.  This self-late withdrawal will be something new offered to students which will give them the opportunity to drop up to 3 FCEs.  This practice was reviewed at other universities who have gone ahead and implemented this.
A discussion followed and the following points were noted:
•    Chairs/director/faculty advisors would not be involved in these late withdrawals.  It was noted that it would be nice to be able to speak with the student before they make their final decision to provide possible other options.  That would help the student in making an informed decision and also aid with retention.  
•    Students may not be aware of how their decision to drop courses might affect them, ie. OSAP, band funding; inability to graduate on time; cost of retaking the course; special topics courses might not be offered again for a while.
•    Students may not be aware of the petition process which, as some suggested, could be made easier so they have a better understanding of how to proceed.
•    Concern about dropping courses after academic dishonesty decisions as the record would be erased from their transcripts.  There should be a process, perhaps automated, that allows the record to remain after a decision has been made even if the course is dropped.  (This is partially covered by the Code; however, after the decision has been made, the student can still drop the course.)
•    An automated notification was suggested when a student makes the decision to drop a course. It could go to the advisor or the chair/director.  Some students might not be comfortable reaching out on their own and this might help them consider to do that.
•    An automated response directly to the student could be set up when they apply to withdraw.  This could include several questions such as:  Have you contacted an advisor or have you thought about how dropping a course would affect your graduation, etc.

1.
Approval of Agenda
 It was moved by I. Lemée and seconded by L. Chambers that the agenda be approved.
        Carried.

2.
Approval of Minutes
Approval of the minutes from February 12th, 2021.
        The minutes were accepted as circulated.
        
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
None.

4.
Calendar Changes
None submitted.

5.
Department/School Reports.
i)  English

D. Ivison stated that two faculty members in the Department of English have published books as follows:

D. Hannah:  Queer Atlantic:  Masculinity, Mobility, and the Emergence of Modernist Form; published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.
M. Flegel and J. Leggatt:  Superhero Culture Wars:  Politics, Marketing and Social Justice in Marvel Comics; published by Bloomsbury Academic.

ii)  History
S. Jobbitt stated that two undergraduate students from the Department of History gave impressive presentations during Research Week.

iii)  Languages
I. Lemée stated that two undergraduate students from the Department of Languages gave presentations during Research Week which were very good.

iv)  Visual Arts
K. Holmes announced that the Juried Student Art Show will be online this year and will open in April.  The awards ceremony will be held via Zoom.  The Graduate Student Art Show will be held at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. K. Holmes will send out the links soon.

6.
Dean’s Report.
March 5th Report, 2021

The Provost has been contacted in order to invite him to meet with our Chairs/Director to talk about the budget and our enrollment for the coming academic year.  Our Faculty is currently down by 33 students which works out to approximately $300,000.  We are also down on incoming majors which correlates to funding.  Our Budget Committee will be discussing this and would appreciate any help/insight on these issues.  Our focus will continue to be on the following areas:  recruitment, retention of students; and graduate rates.
A short discussion followed and it was decided that each department/school should collaborate on how to reach out to their students, first year and returning, and to also develop a strategy to connect with potential students in our region.

From B. Birmingham:  It was great to see you all and please do not hesitate to reach out for help if you need it.  
S. Jobbitt thanked the Dean for all of her work and for all that she does for both the Faculty and the students.

7.
Other Business:

i)  Formation of Nominations Committee to Consider Nominations for Chair and Vice-Chair of Faculty
   Council.
M. Stevenson asked for volunteers to serve on the Nominations Committee for Chair and Vice-Chair of Faculty Council.  The following three faculty members have volunteered to serve:
Dr. A. den Otter
Dr. L. Fiddick
Dr. I. Lemée
Once the Committee has met, a notification of “interest to serve” will be sent out with instructions on how to apply.  The election will be held at our next meeting on Friday, April 9th, 2021.

9.
Next Faculty Council Meeting:  Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:00 am via Zoom.

10.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:43 am.  

ATTENDANCE
Thunder Bay Campus
R. Maundrell
S. Jobbitt
K. Holmes
D. Ivison
B. Birmingham
L. Chambers
A. Carastathis
I. Lemée
C. Sanders
G. Colton
R. Warburton
B. Vernier
B. Parker
T. Puddephatt
L. Primavesi
L. Forbes
S. Viitala

Orillia Campus
M. Stevenson
A. den Otter
A. Saulnier
L. Fiddick
J. Jarman

Regrets:
R. Robson