Board and Senate notes: October 2016

Read the Board Notes.

Read the Senate Notes for October 7, 2016.

Read the Senate Notes for September 16, 2016.

Concordia’s Board celebrates the release of Homa Hoodfar

Audited financial statements for 2015-16 approved 

Concordia’s Board of Governors opened its September 26 meeting by unanimously passing a motion recognizing the outstanding and tireless efforts of the university community — faculty, staff, students and alumni — towards demanding the release of professor Homa Hoodfar from prison in Iran.

“There are no words to express how grateful we are that Homa is coming home,” said the Board’s chair Norman J. Hébert, Jr.

“On behalf of the Board, we extend our sincere appreciation to all those who worked tirelessly to secure her release. The caring and compassion of our university community in taking up this cause is to be commended.”

The professor emerita was released earlier during the day of the meeting.

More than 5,300 academics signed a petition and an additional 44,662 individuals sent messages through Amnesty International demanding she be freed.

Concordia’s president Alan Shepard expressed the community’s jubilation and relief at Hoodfar’s release after 112 days behind bars in Iran’s Evin Prison, calling it a “victory for academic freedom.”

President’s remarks

Shepard listed several activities during what was an active summer on campus. On August 23-26, the university co-hosted the OpenLivingLab Days 2016, a conference that drew hundreds of participants from various European countries to discuss citizen- and community-driven innovation. This year was the 10th such conference, but the first to be held outside Europe.

The university also co-hosted the Global Social Economy Forum from September 7 to 9 at the Palais des congrès. Nearly 2,000 people from around the world attended to discuss the crucial but unsung role social innovation plays in the broader economy.

The forum included the announcement of the creation of the Maison de l’innovation sociale, a joint initiative between Concordia, the Fondation Mirella & Lino Saputo, the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, HEC Montréal and the Chantier de l’économie sociale, along with others.

Shepard reported he hosted very productive private meetings recently with Dominique Anglade, Quebec’s minister of economy, science and innovation, and with Hélène David, the minister responsible for higher education.

He thanked all the groups who led the many student orientation sessions in early September, noting that the university welcomed nearly 9,000 new students. He also highlighted the new consent campaign, which features three short animated videos using fruit to start the conversation on campus to prevent sexual violence.

Concordia’s 27th Shuffle saw hundreds of Concordians walk from the Sir George Williams Campus to the Loyola Campus, raising a record of nearly $80,000 for student bursaries.

Audited financial statements for 2015-16 approved

Concordia’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2016, were presented by former CFO Patrick Kelley. He said that although the Audit Committee had projected an operating deficit of $8.2 M, the actual deficit was $9.1 M. The financial statements, which were approved by the Board, were audited by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton.

Evaluation of VP, Services

The Board was informed that an evaluation committee has been established for Roger Côté, the current vice-president of Services. This follows the Policy on Remuneration and Evaluation of Senior Administrators (BD-8), which states that evaluation committees are created by the president for senior non-academic administrators, appointed for an indefinite period, when they reach their fifth year work anniversary.

Members of the committee, appointed by the Board’s Executive Committee are Alan Shepard (who serves as chair); Jeff Bicher and Suzanne Sauvage, representing the external members of the Board; Sandra Betton, representing full-time faculty; Maria Peluso, representing part-time faculty; Frédérica Martin, representing administrative and support staff; and Rahul Kumar, representing students.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) report

Roger Côté, the vice-president of Services, noted in his quarterly EHS report to the Board that preventive safety training numbers at the university remain strong to date in 2016: 1,156 participants in 114 sessions.

Total injuries are about the same year-to-date as compared to 2015, while worker compensation claims were up (10 compared to 5). There have been three minor hazardous materials spills in 2016, none of them resulting in injury.

With Quebec’s new laws prohibiting smoking within nine metres of any entrance or building opening, now including windows rather than just doors, Côté said the university will be promoting greater awareness of the new law. 

Concordia’s new Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering gets the green light from Senate

Recommendations from ad hoc committee on eligibility requirements approved

At the October 7 Senate meeting, Concordia’s president Alan Shepard began his remarks by saying he was thrilled Homa Hoodfar has returned home to Canada.

The Concordia professor emerita spent 112 days in an Iranian prison. He thanked faculty, staff and unions who worked tirelessly for her release, and to protect academic freedom.

The president noted the passing of long-time employee Francie Beresford. As the curriculum administrator, she helped steer curriculum proposals through the Academic Programs Committee to Senate and to the Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur.

The university’s flags were lowered to half-mast from the evening of Friday, October 7, to the morning of Tuesday, October 11, to honour her memory.

Shepard congratulated Graham Carr on his appointment as provost and vice-president of Academic Affairs, effective October 1. He also congratulated Justin Powlowski, Lynn Hughes and Ferhat Khendek.

Powlowski has stepped into the role of interim vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies. Hughes and Khendek have been appointed interim associate vice-presidents in the office of the vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies. They will be helping to lead various initiatives as part of Concordia’s Double our Research strategic direction.

Provost’s Academic Update

In his first address to Senate as provost, Graham Carr said “good things continue to happen at Concordia with our students and faculty winning awards.”

For example, the university has received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), under its highly competitive Strategic Research Grants program.

Muthukumaran Packirisamy, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, was awarded $340,500 over three years.

Carr also highlighted that Concordia took the top spot in Canada and second place in North America in this year's “Next 50 under 50” list, recently published by the highly reputed QS World University Rankings.

“This ranking matters globally, especially in today’s competitive environment,” he said. “Concordia is doing well and, more importantly, is being seen to be doing well.”

Guylaine Beaudry, university librarian, provided a brief update on the Webster Transformation Project. Phase 3 of the four-phased project will be completed in the winter when the second floor of the library (LB2) will re-open.

This will include new services for students such as a technology sandbox. When the project is completed, there will be 3,300 study seats available to students compared to the initial 1,300 seats.

New Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering approved

Amir Asif, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science (ENCS), provided an overview of a proposal to create the new Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, which was approved by Senate.

The new department will enable Concordia to develop its own niche as an international leader in chemical and materials engineering, research and practice, said Asif.

The uniqueness of the programs offered by the department lies in the synergy between chemical engineering and materials science.

As a first move under the university’s strategic directions game plan, it is a good example of how Concordia’s is moving forward to become a next-generation university and supports the university’s strategic directions, in particular, the initiatives on Double our Research, Teach for Tomorrow and Grow Smartly.

Asif said the new department will help in addressing the gender imbalance in engineering, since chemical engineering has traditionally attracted the highest number of female students among all engineering programs. It will also enable ENCS to grow in a controlled manner.

There will be opportunities for collaboration in teaching and research with the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) and between the Departments of Engineering and Computer Science. This will be achieved through a strong interdisciplinary research and education effort involving faculty working in the FAS Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biology, Physics and the ENCS Departments of Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Materials Engineering.

The proposal for the new department will now be considered by the Board of Governors later this fall.

New programs approved, including new MA in Political Science

Senate approved several curriculum changes, including the creation of a new MA in Political Science and two new program options in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The new MA is a result of modifications to the thesis option for the Master of Arts in Public Policy and Public Administration (MPPPA). By creating a defined MA option, the program will attract a broader base of students with interests in graduate studies and research and will establish a bridge between the existing BA and PhD programs in political science.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will offer the new option of biological and medical engineering. This interdisciplinary and cross-faculty endeavour will allow scientists and engineers from both the Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics and the PERFORM Centre to acquire and practice the latest knowledge and techniques in synthetic biology and medical signal and image processing.

The department will also offer a new option on pervasive computing, which will emphasize the teaching of fundamental technologies of real-time embedded systems, cloud computing and network communication.

Revised Senate eligibility requirements approved

Senate approved recommendations by the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Senate Eligibility Requirements to revise the eligibility requirements for individuals to serve on Senate and its standing committees.

The nine-member committee, established earlier this year, included four full-time faculty members (one from each Faculty); one part-time faculty member; two undergraduate students; one graduate student; and one academic administrator.

The revised eligibility requirements, which affect Article 63 of the Bylaws and must be approved by the Board of Governors, stipulate that students elected to Senate must be registered in a course or other for-credit activity in an undergraduate or graduate program, and be in acceptable academic standing.

This standing will be verified by Senate twice per year, normally in September and January. Suspension or expulsion from the university will immediately render a student ineligible to serve on Senate.

Suspension or termination of employment at the university will also immediately render faculty members and members of the administrative and support staff ineligible to serve on Senate.

Constituencies that appoint individuals to Senate are expected to conduct appointment processes in view of the duties and obligations of senators specified in the Code of Ethics and Conduct applicable to members of Senate and members of committees established by Senate.

Senate approves refresh of JMSB’s flagship MBA program

Concordia’s president shares his thoughts on the year ahead.

In his opening remarks at Senate’s first meeting of the academic year on September 16, Concordia’s president Alan Shepard began by welcoming some 9,000 new students. He said more students are choosing Concordia because of its strong academic programs and emphasis on scholarships and bursaries.

He encouraged the entire community to participate in the Shuffle on September 23. The 27th annual walkathon from the Sir George Williams Campus to Loyola Campus raises money for undergraduate entrance scholarships, in-course bursaries and merit-based graduate awards.

Since its inception in 1990, the Shuffle has raised nearly $1.3 million, benefitting some 750 students in need. Shepard also noted that there have been more anonymous gifts to the university over the past several months, totalling about $3 million.

He provided an update on keylogger devices, found earlier this year on some library computer express workstations. The integrity of these workstations was immediately restored once the devices were discovered and the university implemented even stricter protocols and measures to ensure the safety of Concordia’s computers, laptops, networks and IT systems. The Montreal police recently issued a photo of two suspects, asking for the public’s help to identify them.

The president recognized the new “Get Consent” campaign, which features three animated videos produced by two recent graduates. The annual campaign was launched at the start of orientation by Concordia’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre.

Senate approves curriculum changes to refresh the MBA program

Changes to Concordia’s MBA program were approved by Senate, resulting in a refresh of the graduate degree, available part-time and full-time, with classes beginning in the fall of 2017.

The revamped MBA – the flagship program of the John Molson School of Business – will be 45 credits instead of 57 and give students opportunities to “get their hands dirty” in out-of-classroom activities that complement in-school learning.

The program is rooted in the notion that employers want managers who bring a big-picture perspective to their comprehensive understanding of the functional areas of business.

The Year Ahead

Shepard began his high-level overview of the year ahead by noting that whenever he meets people in the city, the province or across Canada, he is getting great feedback about the university’s strategic directions.

He expressed pride in the broad consultation process with faculty and staff and students that led to the development of the nine directions and the energizing impact these are having on the Faculties and sectors as they plan for the future.

The university’s efforts to “embrace the city” have caught the attention of Montreal’s mayor Denis Coderre. He recently told Shepard that he is noticing that whenever there is a community consultation, Concordia is there and is an active participant.

Since his arrival in 2012, Shepard said, private donations to Concordia have quadrupled – a strong sign of public trust in the university. This, coupled with the university’s continued rise in national and international rankings, speaks to how well the university is meeting its core academic mission and spreading the word about its many initiatives, programs and achievements.

Ongoing support to the academic sector, especially in teaching and learning, will remain a priority in 2016-17. This will include investing in curriculum innovation to ensure programs remain fresh, vibrant and up-to-speed, said Shepard, pointing to the new MBA program as an example of positive change.

Update on Strategic Directions

Graham Carr, interim provost and vice-president of Academic Affairs, walked Senators through the academic priorities for the 2016-17 academic year, in particular the first moves selected by the university’s academic leadership team as the university begins to execute its game plan to implement the nine directions. Read more here.

Update on Homa Hoodfar

Speaking on behalf of the Concordia University Faculty Association, Professor Ted Stathopoulos outlined the university’s ongoing efforts to aid in the release Professor Emerita Homa Hoodfar.

At the time of the September 26 Senate meeting, she had already spent more than 100 days in an Iranian prison. Several op-eds had been published, a press conference and public demonstration had been held at Concordia, and all of Canada’s 68 faculty associations had publicly expressed their support for her release.

Update: On September 26, Concordia professor emerita Homa Hoodfar was released from Iran's Evin Prison, where she was incarcerated for 112 days.