Changes to senior appointment procedure
At a meeting held by teleconference on March 7, 2013, Concordia’s Board of Governors approved, by a vote of 18 to 1 in favour, a motion to temporarily waive the existing rules requiring that final candidates for the position of provost make a public presentation.
The change in procedure is in line with recommendations made by the External Governance Review Committee in its 2011 report, which argued that having short-listed candidates for president participate in public presentations would have a “chilling effect on prospective candidates who may be unwilling to have their names brought forward for even initial consideration.”
President Alan Shepard brought the motion to the board, in time for it to take effect during the current selection process for a new provost. Membership on the Provost Search Committee includes representatives from all constituencies of the university.
The rules governing search procedures are currently under review by the board’s Human Resources Committee and permanent proposed modifications will be brought to the board later this spring or early this summer.
Update on the summit
Since the last meeting of the Board of Governors in January, Concordia’s president attended Quebec’s Summit on Higher Education, where the Government of Quebec made several announcements regarding funding, including its decision to index tuition fees at three per cent, beginning next fall.
“That will produce $70 per full-time student,” Shepard explained, adding that 35 per cent of that new money will be returned to the government to increase student bursaries, leaving the university with an approximately additional $40 per full-time student for the coming year.
However, this news is tempered by the government’s decision to maintain cuts to the university network for 2012-13 and 2013-14, totalling $250 million. For Concordia, this means a cut of $26.4 million overall. While the cuts will now be spread over a number of years, they have been maintained. Read more.
During the lead-up to the conference, the university’s alumni association mounted a campaign to promote Concordia's growing track-record of research.
“We are a first-rate place,” President Shepard said. “That message clearly had traction, because I’ve had leading members of all political parties mention it to me, as well as many faculty members, students, alumni and community leaders over the last couple of weeks.”
Collective Bargaining
The president brought to the board’s attention that Concordia’s full-time faculty association, CUFA, is voting on a mandate to strike. Discussions continue between the parties with the assistance of a conciliator and several more negotiation dates are scheduled in the month of March.
Related links:
• "Update on operating grant cuts" – NOW, March 1, 2013
• "Alumni celebrate Concordia research" – NOW, February 20, 2013
• Board of Governors
