April-May 2009
Dear Judith Woodsworth and strategic planners,
Thank you for the invitation to comment on the strategic plan for the coming years. Although everyone's experience studying and working at the university is unique, I have been three types of student (certificate, bachelor and master) and I have worked in five different staff positions. I am currently a full-time grad student finishing my masters in educational studies and a full-time staff member in Counselling and Development as a Strategic Learning supervisor. My contribution below is in three parts.
The first is about communication, the lack of interuniversity direct human interaction and communication, and how I came to write this letter. Second, is a commentary on the Strategic Plan Draft and a reflection and proposal about how to improve Concordia's identity overall and individually (student, staff and faculty). Third, is a simple suggestion of randomizing the work-study awards during the annual 'login-to-win' grab-athon, where individual staff sign-in by internet for their department as fast as they can to get three work-study positions for their departments. I will admit that given my full-time status as grad, worker and dad, the following is not as thorough as would satisfy me or probably you, but I hope if you have any questions or should be interested in an expansion we could get together for further discussion.
PART I: COMMUNICATION VIA PHYSICAL HUMAN PRESENCE AND TRANSMISSION I often wonder if there is any clearly definable curriculum philosophy in an institution like Concordia or if there are just a set of goals that represent what seems to be wanting. I imagine that the purpose of creating a strategic plan is to check and balance not only the necessities, but the sustainability; competencies in teaching, learning, organizing, transmitting, retaining, etc; and the ability to maintain and manage the desired efficacy purported to carry Concordia to its goals. This, I'm sure we could agree is where vision comes in. Vision in this sense is not merely seeing, it is knowing. Knowledge based on hindsight, foresight and insight. My concern is the methodology of acquiring this vision. As everyone in this university is departmentalized and busy constantly fulfilling a number of necessities, are email and websites sufficient? [Although I have been working at Concordia in a number of different capacities for five years, it is only in the last few months that I have become aware of eNews and ShopTalk. It feels like these tools are esoterically guarded. By most, I would be considered computer savvy, thus when I discovered them, I felt stupid and I was incensed. No, it was not in my training and yes, I checked around, it is not in anyone's (who I've asked) staff training. And now what, do I join the holier than thou?] Although I applaud President Woodsworth for putting forth a plan to gather knowledge through her own website, town hall meetings, world cafés, and other forums, I am not the only one who became aware of these opportunities to contribute after they took place. Only after an in-depth conversation with another staff member who criticized the minimum participation of the town hall meeting, did I find President Woodsworth's website and then became aware of the world cafés that had already passed. These events that I missed were probably some of the most interesting sounding events I have heard of on campus. I was highly disappointed that I missed them. Luckily, it seems there is still time to submit these comments. Why did I not hear of these opportunities? Should I be ashamed or disappointed in myself for not being 'more out there' and more involved? Perhaps. Who else missed these opportunities? Who else had something to say or contribute or listen and learn and formulate new questions and ideas? What can be said about the vision of Concordia in terms of this under-sight? Or is it oversight? I would like to start by suggesting that if the president, or any other office (provost, deans, C & D, faculty, departments, etc) wish to communicate, declare, demand or invite its constituents to (respectively) know, listen, adhere or participate in something policy related, it should be transmitted physically by a human being's presence. This does not mean one-by-one. I mean, if the president calls a university wide town hall meeting or world café for example, why not form a volunteer body of students (ie: 'The President's Hand') that goes to classes and offices to announce it? (And, sure have a booth on a mezzanine, in an atrium, and other student spaces.) There are plenty of students who are looking to be involved at Concordia, no pay necessary, just something official to put on a CV. In the case of staff, this is even easier - require the manager to make a meeting, even host a brief discussion, and if everyone cannot go, there could be representatives who could carry questions to the town hall meeting. Think of the interaction! This is not a 'no-brainer', but it is quite feasible with some planning and yes, some management and investment. But think of the return. It guarantees a different presence at such an event and causes interaction on many different levels. We as a population need to be more enmeshed - especially as the student body grows. When it comes to 'getting the word out', emails and websites do not cut it. Students and staff need to feel a part of something - we need to grow into the next five years together. I do not think an exegesis is necessary to layout the financial implications. Human interaction takes time, but the return is quantifiable when you are trying to build spirit, retention, alumni and endowment.
PART II: COMMENTARY ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN DRAFT In the following commentary on Concordia's 2009-2014 Strategic Plan authenticity in education is this author's given goal and considers existentialism, plurality and ambiguity in terms of over- arching curriculum philosophy formation and practice. The important features of existentialism, here, are character ethic before conduct ethic and existence preceding essence such that essence (or character) is constantly growing and flourishing. As existentialism confronts traditional ethics and morality agenda, it reawakens striving for excellence unbridled by metaphysical auspices. I propose to zoom out and place the philosophical frame for self-development (I consider for individual students in my Educational Studies masters thesis) onto Concordia University as a self among a community of universities. I parallel the inner plurality of drives of the individual with the inner plurality of departments in the university. How the executive office guides the ebb and flow of each department's relevance, character and inclusion into the (university's) self and self- development will be a measure of its self-actualization and its ability to harness ambiguity . As a 'check-and-balance', I propose using this frame to confirm whether an authentic curriculum philosophy is the foundation of Concordia's plan or just another derivation. It may be that there are a number of agendas and parties to satisfy, the question is whether their agendas and pretexts are clearly differentiated from each other and students' self-development. Planning Concordia University's self-development is sure to pose difficult challenges for decision and policy makers (the president, senate, provost, deans and board of governors). I believe that an authentic foundation will make this process more efficient and clarify direction, relationships, goals and growth. They key to understanding the direction of Concordia's curriculum philosophy lies in how we interpret the 'context' of , "Concordia's challenges for the next decade" What does it mean to be "meeting growing demands from government, the private sector and individuals at a time of declining resources, a recessionary economy and global competition for faculty and students" ? First of all, government is listed first and individual last. Secondly, Concordia strives for recognition in the international community of higher education through "a combination of externally validated measurements" . In both cases, the lexicon used suggests external pressure and internal compromise. Is this clear to the strategic planners? It would be even more powerful and authentic to declare and be explicit about the stakes inwardly and the internal goals set by the individual departments. External pressure is not inspiring, but strong guidelines and a supportive liaison could be deeply inspiring to the various departments of the university. With sensitive treatment (and a clear philosophical foundation), Concordia's departments (service and academic) could assess themselves; consider external demand and measure; and set goals for self development from the bottom-up (starting at the student) AND top- down (starting at the executive level). If it helps, we can use the example of globalization: it is happening. When top-down (starting with multi-national and government agenda) and bottom-up (starting with the individual, local ecosystems and community) are considered together, a great deal more is understood about direction, relationships, goals and growth. So when considering the existential implications of Concordia's self, does it strive to find and develop its essence or is it locked in with certain essential qualities seeking an existence? Is Concordia striving to develop its conduct or its character? In terms of plurality, does Concordia recognize itself as a singularity; a hierarchy with an executive head, or a host of characters making up the university? The Faces of Concordia strove to shine a light on character, each face representing Concordia in one moment and slipping back into ambiguity in the next - which if this is not clear, is a good thing. Just like when a faculty member makes a new discovery or publishes their work, a student represents their department at a conference or an athlete takes a winning title: they arrive out of the mass to represent themselves and the university, to shine forth. Then no particular person, office, or faculty needs to represent Concordia all the time. And, instead of everyone trying to maintain an outer persona of excellence at every moment - which stirs an inner tension and competition - rather the entire population of Concordia is on a steady incline focusing on their work at whatever their level. The idea is that Concordia would be an institution that has a steady glowing nimbus from all the individuals that shine forth at different moments. As Concordia sets strategic goals and milestones does it inspire individuals and departments to develop character or improve conduct? Does Concordia establish a curriculum that at once respects departments to govern themselves and guides them to take their unique place as a character within the plurality which is Concordia? Ultimately, how Concordia sees itself sets the precedence for how it sees the academic institution as a global self. How Concordia envisions its own plurality and community will demonstrate its vision in the global community of academic institutions.
I am encouraged by the draft plan, but have some specific comments with regard to internationalization. Just five lines are devoted to this important topic, which relates notably to student recruitment, reputation and a forseeable shift in the role of universities in our society. Those five lines strike the right tone, but don't contain any specific initiatives.
Concordia lags far behind in launching cooperative agreements with universities in the developing world. I am all for student mobility, but we should also be considering how to help partner universities develop research and teaching capacity and to offer our own excellent programmes to students who cannot afford a four-year stay in Montréal. I have seen research contracts flow from institutional arrangements between foreign and host universities in the developing world, that simply don't happen otherwise. Young faculty members have to work very hard to develop their international networks, while institutional arrangements can help facilitate their development. We receive a lot of talented young students from abroad but they tend to come and go without lasting impact on linkage. Frankly, I think we need to work hard over the next few years if we are to catch up with comparable universities in Australia, the UK and the US in this important area.
As a business student, here are a few elements I think Concordia should work on:
- Involvement of alumni: a lot of universities rely on their alumni to promote the institution, build a network, raise funds and grow/maintain a reputation.
-Selectivity: although Concordia would like to remain an accessible university, the problem is that this is not completely compatible with the goal of being recognized and ranked nationally/internationally. I do believe that the best students at Concordia are comparable to those of more prestigious universities. However these institutions usually have acceptance rates below 20% which increases the potential of gathering driven, passionate, capable students together. Therefore, Concordia must find a way to be more selective by limiting its enrolment while still being able to give a chance to high-potential people that haven’t had yet the opportunity to prove themselves.
-Build international partnerships with prominent universities/schools: this has numerous advantages such as exchanges of high quality students (and faculty), recognition and exposure abroad, academic and professional networking.
Overall, Concordia is evolving rapidly and making progress but it must now manage to reach the next step; avoid overgrowing, develop wisely, keep consistent directions and work hard!
There are some problems regarding research assistants. most of them have ambiguous short term contracts and are compelled to follow, no matter what the university writes in admission offer letters. I can confirm you many of them including myself feel like 'slaves'. Its unfortunate the strategic plan do not shed light on issues related to 'improving faith of such people in Concordia community' and still expects to attract top quality students to do research at Concordia!
Another issue is quality of class room education. I think no one reads student evaluations. Many of the instructors should have been removed of this responsibility by now in that case I can assert. As some students take course from other universities in Montreal, direct feed back should be asked from them to get ideas. I have never found a student who ranked Concordia better in this regard.
The last thing i must indicate is the exams. At most occasions, it really depends on how much material you receive from last semester (well that was true in all courses i took, and all students i asked in ENCS faculty). Making tough looking questions with some students having it already, makes no sense to the honest people. Combining with the award structure, it created a sick competition for grades. And the evaluation in some courses are childish I must say. Grad level problem solving in the exam is not about getting correct answers only. Its about problem analysis capability also- i knew before coming here. I was astonished to find that instructors are assigning 0-20% to lengthy problems by only looking at the last line or making objective type questions for problems (with one option 'none of the above' ) to reduce evaluation time! I firmly believe expecting top class learning experience with these practices is not at all possible.
I do not know whether Concordia recognizes these issues as problems at all. If these things sound alright to the university, I must say, Concordia is not going to achieve its goals in the strategic plans- at least in eyes of students.
I do not know how to place the issue, but i must say top quality research do not only depend on professors. With so many research assistants spending 20 hours a week in Montreal restaurants and being in constant mental torture for ambiguous short term (3-6 months) contracts even after having offer letter from the university speaking of two years of funding, they at times feel like slaves. I am sorry to use this word, but coming from abroad with the university offer letter and finding different situation here gives no other feel to students. Again 5,000 $ funds make no sense while international students pay around 12-15000 $ on tuition (and awards are for only top performers who already hold very good funds! )
Another thing is the quality of class room education. I must say Concordia is far behind the standards. I do not believe anyone reads the student evaluation (then, too many of the instructors should have been removed from class room duty by now).
And the tragic thing is quality of exams. with some of the students taking snaps of final questions and distributing to next semesters within the friend circle; and instructors repeating up to 80% every year, it is an absolute farce for honest students.
These issues should have been discussed in the strategic plan, i saw nothing regarding these issues i believe.
I have been studying at Concordia for the past year and have been living in Montreal my entire life, hearing various stories about it and other local universities on an ongoing basis. With all the strikes and labor unrest at the school in recent years, it is at least reassuring, along with tentative contract agreements, that the big budget item in this document and a major strategic point is the proper training, recognition and support of university staff. However I am not sure if this addresses the complaints of faculty members as staff and faculty are treated as distinct groups. With comparatively low pay, administrative wrangling over admissible numbers of full to part time faculty, and with students in constant reminder that our school is strapped when it comes to resources in instruction, grading, and direct academic support sevices, I would prefer to see the school putting the quality and support of academic life at the school in better standing given the amount of attention given to advancing research and administrative capacities, and extracurricular student life perks.
As a student, I am constantly reminded that we lack the resources in teaching, grading, and one on one student support of those schools viewed as the "elite" institutions in Canada, and I have seen teachers and staff cite these shortcomings to frustrated students on several occasions. Without improvement and stability in purely academic resources for students and faculty, student social life and inclusiveness is rather irrelevant, as we are talking about an academic institution, where students go to learn and be taught.
On another, though important, note, I would like to see our school, and others, band together to lobby the provincial government for more funding for education, devoted to specific areas of need, rather than raising tuition, pushing to deregulate international tuition, and advocating mass scale professional immigration to address shortcomings in our skilled labor pool. I am not xenophobic and am of the opinion that Montreal is and always had been a port city, a city of immigrants and cultural diversity AND cooperation is key to our history and future, however to see our government shirk its commitments to support education, a matter of provincial jurisdiction, and advocate the mass importation of temporary workers to keep the economy running while raising tuition and deregulating international student fees while our youth are challenged with escalating paper qualifications for work, earned through the education system, is galling. Through increased funding for education, and providing incentives for industries to directly train and apprentice people rather than deferring to the education system those who simply seek professional qualification, better opportunities for work and education could be provided to Quebecers and current stresses on our education system could be eased. I would like to see at least a fraction of the resources our government devotes to vaguely outlined cultural initiatives and bending over backwards to attract tourism diverted to addressing the more pressing need to ensure accessible and quality education for its citizens and residents. Without sustained and concerted pressure on our government from the highest levels of our education institutions I do not believe that the concerns of our student population will be taken seriously. We represent a group with low incomes, thus producing few tax revenues from the perspective of government, who are inherently less suitable to foot the bill for restoring our education system while we are primarily devoted to studies. Only if the entire institution of higher education in this province is to stand up and demand the attention of our officials do I believe we will be recognized for our very important role both now, Montreal being a major higher education hub which contributes directly to the local economy in a big way, and as the future professionals of our country, whose taxes will support the economy of tomorrow.
As Sir George Williams is rooted in popular education, I feel that, beyond degree programs, it is Concordia's responsibility to once again offer free/subsidized and accessible popular education programs that benefit the community.
I also think that trying to rank among the top 5 Canadian universities, by using outside ranking programs, will both undermine our autonomy and will waste resources that could be used for the betterment of our local community. I do not support that this be our overall goal and find it embarrassing that my school- where I both work and study, feels compelled to prove itself to results-based, private ranking programs.
We must keep class sizes small, keep military research out of school and reduce our reliance on private sources of funding, such as advertisements for socially irresponsible companies and products.
We are a university, not a corporation. We don't need to build huge skyscrapers. Lets pay teachers fairly and keep tuition low.
Thank you for this comprehensive strategic plan, its nice to see this level of transparency from my university, I would however like to see a bit more on Academic Work of the Highest Quality.
What are the specfic details here ? Will a more rigurours grading sceme be implemented, will we finally have 4.0 scale and not the silly 4.3 that everyone finds ridiculous when you apply for grad & professional schools other than Concordia.
Will this result in more ambigious mutliple choice quizzes, with good, better and best answers ?
Also the previous commenters touched base on this, I would like to see one CLEAR objective for Concordia, not three, not two, ONE major mission that will drive us, as the previous poster mentioned for MIT this is research, what is it for us ?
What is our core competency ? Is it sustainable (ie. valuable, rare, imitatable or substitutable) ?
What sets us aside ? My major is International Business and I am graduating this spring, I will 90% likely be working abroad because I am an EU citizen ? What will I tell them about Concordia ?
I have great hopes for this university. On certain days, my mood is sometimes sombered up by certain Faculty members' lack of drive in research. But this was something more prevalent a few years ago. These days, I see more genuine interest in colleagues and students in having an active, curious, industrious research and teaching profile. There are more sunny days, fewer somber days.
With your document, you have triggered my enthusiasm directly. I would like to commend you for all the commitments outlined in the document, and mainly for its completeness in its objectives of all the societal attributes a leading university should aim to attain; at the same time, I believe a document that has "a little bit of everything" will also dilute some of the flavour that could be perceived. I would wish to emphasize a particular quality I feel this university has: the potential to innovate. It is already in the document, but I feel it should come at the forefront.
On a visit by the then-Dean of Arts and Science (now Provost) Dr. David Graham to my department, one particular point that was brought up was that Concordia will never be like MIT, where research seems to be the only priority. Funny this was used as an example, as this is where I did my post-doctoral work prior to coming to Concordia. In all fairness, MIT has established its reputation over many years - but Concordia already has an interesting research legacy. Specifically in my area of research, neuroscience, I can tell you that the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, with all of my 12 colleagues, has built a very enviable reputation. Without making person-to-person comparisons, I have been at MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, they are very strong; yet volume aside, we obviously have world-class researchers. Our research CVs speak for themselves. Just to provide an illustrating example, and this is just a pat on the back, Peter Shizgal has written a chapter in the coming new edition of the international bible of Neuroscience for graduate students - Kandel et al.'s Principle of Neural Science. When I was a graduate student, that would have impressed me deeply - it still does now. Concordia's strength in neuroscience was established without the benefit of a Medical School, just like MIT. And in a funny parallel, Concordia also has many similarities with MIT in its academic organization. I find the greatest similarity is in the taste for innovation. MIT's most brilliant minds, and there are many, break down the barriers of interdisciplinary research and academics. In effect, they do not like being boxed into a definition. Physics mixed with cinema? Sure... robotics! As another example, MIT's most groundbreaking minds often do a stint at MIT's Media Lab, a sort of happy mix of art and technology - Concordia has such an impressive innovative mix: the Media and Computer Science building. For high-reputation MBAs, we have the John Molson School of Business, while they have the Sloan School of Management, both offering very strong programs. And finally, Concordia does have the same healthy competition with McGill as MIT has with Harvard...
I believe that innovation, in teaching and research, is already present in this university, and by putting this at the forefront, and as an objective to attain, we are banking on a strength.
Since posting my previous comments, I have received comments from faculty who have advised me that it might not be wise to be so public, perhaps there was a reason that others have felt the necessity of sending anonymous comments.
It is my belief that like the major peacemakers of this, the last and previous centuries, it is essential to be seen to speak directly to authority. My sense is that the past year has seen a significant and meaningful change in the direction and acceptable modes of thinking at Concordia University.
Two senior administrators, both clearly brilliant men, failed to connect to the values of the community they were placed in a position to serve. Administration serves the community to which it has obligations and responsibilities; these are the values that we teach and expect from our children – we measure their growth and maturity by the kind and degree of their application.
The child who thinks first of themself is still taking; the adult who thinks first of others is giving. If universities have not set standards for administrative behavior in the past [look around Montreal in the past few years], does it not stand to reason that the students in our institutions view these "values" as acceptable?
Our students come here with most of their values in place, and this is one of the last occasions they will have to evaluate and modify them in a large-scale way. Concordia's students have started in one program and moved to other programs as they see the human sides of life – the values of being open and concerned with the future, not of momentary individual gain.
Our societies have been witnessing the losses created by the "me first" values that came into play in the 1980s, and the slow (or not so slow) destruction of social fabric and values of respect and equality.
I would like to see a Strategic Plan that recognizes that Concordia breathes the air of this city, this province, and the multiple communities which exist and have chosen to grow here. Through the strengthening of the "local", and by using "universal" values (see above), Concordia can return to being a university where the graduates and the students count more than a ranking in a national poll.
My continued best wishes to the committee which has much of serious intent to consider and formulate.
Committees prefer suggestions to complaints; a suggestion moves things forwards while a complaint adds mud to the wheels.
This morning I made a list of 12 words I would like to see in a plan for the next five years. They are below, more or less prioritized, with their frequency of occurrence:
women (0)
children (0)
poverty (0)
failed (0)
young (0)
diversity (7)
discrimination (0)
equal / equality (0)
recession (1)
benefit (3)
evolve (1)
stimulus (0)
The first group deal with aspects of community, interaction and commitment to the improvement of the local and regional situation. The second recognizes well-publicized existing issues. If the university will not speak out and (materially) support work in these areas, what of the future?
The last group address something of the immediate situation of the next five years. My sense is that the existing document was built on the model written by two (business) men with strong egos and sense of "me / mine". Perhaps they (and their ideas) are no longer deciding on behalf of the university community.
Committees with deadlines are reluctant to "go back to square one", but if the edifice is being built on the wrong foundation, then the problems become both structural and systemic.
This brief note, with my previous one points to my major concerns being those of inclusivity and diversity, acceptance and respect for all members of the community, and stating specific concerns regarding values -- those of the university in its community; those of the university within society.
Is the contemporary university little more than the foot-soldier for the (failed) business model of life?
Is their greater poverty in Canada (and throughout Montreal) than there was ten years ago? And this poverty is centered on women and children. Many of the younger generation (potential future students) are not finding a place in our educational system. If the eventual beneficiaries (us) of the educational system do not invest in the roots, the flower will not be born.
I feel it is essential that the university connect into the community, and give more than it is able to take.
It is the first time I have read a complete draft. The word "we" is used 69 times, "they" 10 times, "them" 5 times. If I am not one of the "us" or the "we", am I one of the "them"?
I find the tone and the language divisive and not inclusive. There are many words which simply appear without any form of clarification, such as "sustainable" (14), and community (24). In general, because of certain linguistic ambiguities (some examples noted above), I feel the document is opaque, and I find few of my core educational (8) values (14) recognized (16), with the ethos of research (21), taking precedence over the quality (11) of teaching (9), and through this, a lack of clarity of vision (4), replaced by those of administration (17) and priorities (8), in which I do not fully share (1).
A simple word-count cannot tell the whole story of the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic structures which frame the document.
As noted, Concordia aims to become a university characterized by the highest academic standards of research and teaching; the word education occurs for the first time, 800 words into a 4000 words draft.
In my own work, I engage communities, mostly Asian, and technologies (across four continents), yet my modalities of activity (local and web-based) do not depend upon the models for research evaluation that may be used, and are currently in place in the University.
My interest is "people" (0). Are dedicated (1) faculty (18) such as myself part of an older value-set that will not find a role in the Concordia of the future (1)?
I do not aim to attract the best and brightest students to my classes; my aim is to have each student in my class become the best and brightest they can be. This is done by sustained support of an academic mission within a much larger educational vision.
Jane Kelly, CE student & semi-retired engineer writes:
Posted on January 26, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Good morning and thank you for the chance to comment.
The strategy of "Communicating Our Success" is straightforward on the surface, but there is another level of potential in communication that could be mined. The people interested in the success of Concordia are termed "stakeholders" in management terminology. The definition of success is to meet stakeholders objectives. One measure of success you have identified is an employee satisfaction survey. In my view, it seems employee satisfaction could be enhanced if they were surveyed in the beginning, to open the door for them to express what they would appreciate.
I am a semi-retired engineer, relocating from Portland, Oregon. In my training and experience, stakeholder involvement is a very rich and surprising process that can uplift a community in surprising ways. If any of these comments are meaningful, I would welcome the chance to be involved with the plan.
I am glad to see the strategic plan includes reinforcing our libraries. Our libraries have done an excellent job with limited resources (including space in the Webster library). They are providing an excellent electronic environment with online access to catalogues, databases and many electronic journals. The librarians and staff are unfailingly helpful. It has been my pleasure to work with them for more than 30 years and to see how well we are making the transition from card catalogues and dusty stacks to web based applications.
Considering that faculty make up by far the largest number of employees at Concordia University and, more importantly, that it is what the faculty actually do in their teaching and research that is the essential, intrinsic purpose of any university, it is strange that the faculty does not merit having its own presidential panel but are merely grouped together as employees. The most important work of a university is the teaching and research, not the administrative functions which exist to provide the best possible conditions for the faculty to do its work and for students to learn and participate in the life of the university. This is why we are not just any business corporation, but a university.
The structure of these presidential panels reveals that the administration does not value the essential academic functions of the institution.
To quote the plan "In negotiating our collective agreements, we will seek to minimize the adversarial nature of this process by taking advantage, when feasible, of appropriate innovative practices." Does this mean that in the future contract negotiations will not be dragged out for years and employees will not have to go on strike to reach a fair settlement? Why not start practicing what you preach now?
The plan claims "We will offer support for our faculty members and our advanced students by strengthening our financial support for graduate students, by reinforcing the Concordia libraries and their ability to support research activities not just in their own physical space but wherever faculty members choose to work and by publicly recognizing the outstanding achievements of our researchers. Only on this basis can we legitimately expect to attract and to retain the outstanding faculty members who are the cornerstone of our reputation"
But not apparently by paying faculty salaries comparable to those of most other universities in Canada, although salaries paid to the senior administrators are among the highest in Canadian universities. What words come to mind? How about hypocrisy.
Anonymous writes:
Posted on
June 19, 2009 at 11:28 am
"our goal of becoming one of the top five comprehensive universities in Canada". That's great goal.
Could Concordia becomes the first University to provide Part-time PhD program in JMSB?
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
June 10, 2009 at 4:39 pm
If Concordia University could provide part-time PhD in JMSB, that will be great!
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Z. Reznichek writes:
Posted on
May 19, 2009 at 4:02 pm
April-May 2009
Dear Judith Woodsworth and strategic planners,
Thank you for the invitation to comment on the strategic plan for the coming years. Although everyone's experience studying and working at the university is unique, I have been three types of student (certificate, bachelor and master) and I have worked in five different staff positions. I am currently a full-time grad student finishing my masters in educational studies and a full-time staff member in Counselling and Development as a Strategic Learning supervisor. My contribution below is in three parts.
The first is about communication, the lack of interuniversity direct human interaction and communication, and how I came to write this letter. Second, is a commentary on the Strategic Plan Draft and a reflection and proposal about how to improve Concordia's identity overall and individually (student, staff and faculty). Third, is a simple suggestion of randomizing the work-study awards during the annual 'login-to-win' grab-athon, where individual staff sign-in by internet for their department as fast as they can to get three work-study positions for their departments. I will admit that given my full-time status as grad, worker and dad, the following is not as thorough as would satisfy me or probably you, but I hope if you have any questions or should be interested in an expansion we could get together for further discussion.
PART I: COMMUNICATION VIA PHYSICAL HUMAN PRESENCE AND TRANSMISSION I often wonder if there is any clearly definable curriculum philosophy in an institution like Concordia or if there are just a set of goals that represent what seems to be wanting. I imagine that the purpose of creating a strategic plan is to check and balance not only the necessities, but the sustainability; competencies in teaching, learning, organizing, transmitting, retaining, etc; and the ability to maintain and manage the desired efficacy purported to carry Concordia to its goals. This, I'm sure we could agree is where vision comes in. Vision in this sense is not merely seeing, it is knowing. Knowledge based on hindsight, foresight and insight. My concern is the methodology of acquiring this vision. As everyone in this university is departmentalized and busy constantly fulfilling a number of necessities, are email and websites sufficient? [Although I have been working at Concordia in a number of different capacities for five years, it is only in the last few months that I have become aware of eNews and ShopTalk. It feels like these tools are esoterically guarded. By most, I would be considered computer savvy, thus when I discovered them, I felt stupid and I was incensed. No, it was not in my training and yes, I checked around, it is not in anyone's (who I've asked) staff training. And now what, do I join the holier than thou?] Although I applaud President Woodsworth for putting forth a plan to gather knowledge through her own website, town hall meetings, world cafés, and other forums, I am not the only one who became aware of these opportunities to contribute after they took place. Only after an in-depth conversation with another staff member who criticized the minimum participation of the town hall meeting, did I find President Woodsworth's website and then became aware of the world cafés that had already passed. These events that I missed were probably some of the most interesting sounding events I have heard of on campus. I was highly disappointed that I missed them. Luckily, it seems there is still time to submit these comments. Why did I not hear of these opportunities? Should I be ashamed or disappointed in myself for not being 'more out there' and more involved? Perhaps. Who else missed these opportunities? Who else had something to say or contribute or listen and learn and formulate new questions and ideas? What can be said about the vision of Concordia in terms of this under-sight? Or is it oversight? I would like to start by suggesting that if the president, or any other office (provost, deans, C & D, faculty, departments, etc) wish to communicate, declare, demand or invite its constituents to (respectively) know, listen, adhere or participate in something policy related, it should be transmitted physically by a human being's presence. This does not mean one-by-one. I mean, if the president calls a university wide town hall meeting or world café for example, why not form a volunteer body of students (ie: 'The President's Hand') that goes to classes and offices to announce it? (And, sure have a booth on a mezzanine, in an atrium, and other student spaces.) There are plenty of students who are looking to be involved at Concordia, no pay necessary, just something official to put on a CV. In the case of staff, this is even easier - require the manager to make a meeting, even host a brief discussion, and if everyone cannot go, there could be representatives who could carry questions to the town hall meeting. Think of the interaction! This is not a 'no-brainer', but it is quite feasible with some planning and yes, some management and investment. But think of the return. It guarantees a different presence at such an event and causes interaction on many different levels. We as a population need to be more enmeshed - especially as the student body grows. When it comes to 'getting the word out', emails and websites do not cut it. Students and staff need to feel a part of something - we need to grow into the next five years together. I do not think an exegesis is necessary to layout the financial implications. Human interaction takes time, but the return is quantifiable when you are trying to build spirit, retention, alumni and endowment.
PART II: COMMENTARY ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN DRAFT In the following commentary on Concordia's 2009-2014 Strategic Plan authenticity in education is this author's given goal and considers existentialism, plurality and ambiguity in terms of over- arching curriculum philosophy formation and practice. The important features of existentialism, here, are character ethic before conduct ethic and existence preceding essence such that essence (or character) is constantly growing and flourishing. As existentialism confronts traditional ethics and morality agenda, it reawakens striving for excellence unbridled by metaphysical auspices. I propose to zoom out and place the philosophical frame for self-development (I consider for individual students in my Educational Studies masters thesis) onto Concordia University as a self among a community of universities. I parallel the inner plurality of drives of the individual with the inner plurality of departments in the university. How the executive office guides the ebb and flow of each department's relevance, character and inclusion into the (university's) self and self- development will be a measure of its self-actualization and its ability to harness ambiguity . As a 'check-and-balance', I propose using this frame to confirm whether an authentic curriculum philosophy is the foundation of Concordia's plan or just another derivation. It may be that there are a number of agendas and parties to satisfy, the question is whether their agendas and pretexts are clearly differentiated from each other and students' self-development. Planning Concordia University's self-development is sure to pose difficult challenges for decision and policy makers (the president, senate, provost, deans and board of governors). I believe that an authentic foundation will make this process more efficient and clarify direction, relationships, goals and growth. They key to understanding the direction of Concordia's curriculum philosophy lies in how we interpret the 'context' of , "Concordia's challenges for the next decade" What does it mean to be "meeting growing demands from government, the private sector and individuals at a time of declining resources, a recessionary economy and global competition for faculty and students" ? First of all, government is listed first and individual last. Secondly, Concordia strives for recognition in the international community of higher education through "a combination of externally validated measurements" . In both cases, the lexicon used suggests external pressure and internal compromise. Is this clear to the strategic planners? It would be even more powerful and authentic to declare and be explicit about the stakes inwardly and the internal goals set by the individual departments. External pressure is not inspiring, but strong guidelines and a supportive liaison could be deeply inspiring to the various departments of the university. With sensitive treatment (and a clear philosophical foundation), Concordia's departments (service and academic) could assess themselves; consider external demand and measure; and set goals for self development from the bottom-up (starting at the student) AND top- down (starting at the executive level). If it helps, we can use the example of globalization: it is happening. When top-down (starting with multi-national and government agenda) and bottom-up (starting with the individual, local ecosystems and community) are considered together, a great deal more is understood about direction, relationships, goals and growth. So when considering the existential implications of Concordia's self, does it strive to find and develop its essence or is it locked in with certain essential qualities seeking an existence? Is Concordia striving to develop its conduct or its character? In terms of plurality, does Concordia recognize itself as a singularity; a hierarchy with an executive head, or a host of characters making up the university? The Faces of Concordia strove to shine a light on character, each face representing Concordia in one moment and slipping back into ambiguity in the next - which if this is not clear, is a good thing. Just like when a faculty member makes a new discovery or publishes their work, a student represents their department at a conference or an athlete takes a winning title: they arrive out of the mass to represent themselves and the university, to shine forth. Then no particular person, office, or faculty needs to represent Concordia all the time. And, instead of everyone trying to maintain an outer persona of excellence at every moment - which stirs an inner tension and competition - rather the entire population of Concordia is on a steady incline focusing on their work at whatever their level. The idea is that Concordia would be an institution that has a steady glowing nimbus from all the individuals that shine forth at different moments. As Concordia sets strategic goals and milestones does it inspire individuals and departments to develop character or improve conduct? Does Concordia establish a curriculum that at once respects departments to govern themselves and guides them to take their unique place as a character within the plurality which is Concordia? Ultimately, how Concordia sees itself sets the precedence for how it sees the academic institution as a global self. How Concordia envisions its own plurality and community will demonstrate its vision in the global community of academic institutions.
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John Zacharias writes:
Posted on
May 18, 2009 at 4:56 am
I am encouraged by the draft plan, but have some specific comments with regard to internationalization. Just five lines are devoted to this important topic, which relates notably to student recruitment, reputation and a forseeable shift in the role of universities in our society. Those five lines strike the right tone, but don't contain any specific initiatives.
Concordia lags far behind in launching cooperative agreements with universities in the developing world. I am all for student mobility, but we should also be considering how to help partner universities develop research and teaching capacity and to offer our own excellent programmes to students who cannot afford a four-year stay in Montréal. I have seen research contracts flow from institutional arrangements between foreign and host universities in the developing world, that simply don't happen otherwise. Young faculty members have to work very hard to develop their international networks, while institutional arrangements can help facilitate their development. We receive a lot of talented young students from abroad but they tend to come and go without lasting impact on linkage. Frankly, I think we need to work hard over the next few years if we are to catch up with comparable universities in Australia, the UK and the US in this important area.
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
May 9, 2009 at 11:27 pm
As a business student, here are a few elements I think Concordia should work on:
- Involvement of alumni: a lot of universities rely on their alumni to promote the institution, build a network, raise funds and grow/maintain a reputation.
-Selectivity: although Concordia would like to remain an accessible university, the problem is that this is not completely compatible with the goal of being recognized and ranked nationally/internationally. I do believe that the best students at Concordia are comparable to those of more prestigious universities. However these institutions usually have acceptance rates below 20% which increases the potential of gathering driven, passionate, capable students together. Therefore, Concordia must find a way to be more selective by limiting its enrolment while still being able to give a chance to high-potential people that haven’t had yet the opportunity to prove themselves.
-Build international partnerships with prominent universities/schools: this has numerous advantages such as exchanges of high quality students (and faculty), recognition and exposure abroad, academic and professional networking.
Overall, Concordia is evolving rapidly and making progress but it must now manage to reach the next step; avoid overgrowing, develop wisely, keep consistent directions and work hard!
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
March 20, 2009 at 8:16 pm
There are some problems regarding research assistants. most of them have ambiguous short term contracts and are compelled to follow, no matter what the university writes in admission offer letters. I can confirm you many of them including myself feel like 'slaves'. Its unfortunate the strategic plan do not shed light on issues related to 'improving faith of such people in Concordia community' and still expects to attract top quality students to do research at Concordia!
Another issue is quality of class room education. I think no one reads student evaluations. Many of the instructors should have been removed of this responsibility by now in that case I can assert. As some students take course from other universities in Montreal, direct feed back should be asked from them to get ideas. I have never found a student who ranked Concordia better in this regard.
The last thing i must indicate is the exams. At most occasions, it really depends on how much material you receive from last semester (well that was true in all courses i took, and all students i asked in ENCS faculty). Making tough looking questions with some students having it already, makes no sense to the honest people. Combining with the award structure, it created a sick competition for grades. And the evaluation in some courses are childish I must say. Grad level problem solving in the exam is not about getting correct answers only. Its about problem analysis capability also- i knew before coming here. I was astonished to find that instructors are assigning 0-20% to lengthy problems by only looking at the last line or making objective type questions for problems (with one option 'none of the above' ) to reduce evaluation time! I firmly believe expecting top class learning experience with these practices is not at all possible.
I do not know whether Concordia recognizes these issues as problems at all. If these things sound alright to the university, I must say, Concordia is not going to achieve its goals in the strategic plans- at least in eyes of students.
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
March 20, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I do not know how to place the issue, but i must say top quality research do not only depend on professors. With so many research assistants spending 20 hours a week in Montreal restaurants and being in constant mental torture for ambiguous short term (3-6 months) contracts even after having offer letter from the university speaking of two years of funding, they at times feel like slaves. I am sorry to use this word, but coming from abroad with the university offer letter and finding different situation here gives no other feel to students. Again 5,000 $ funds make no sense while international students pay around 12-15000 $ on tuition (and awards are for only top performers who already hold very good funds! )
Another thing is the quality of class room education. I must say Concordia is far behind the standards. I do not believe anyone reads the student evaluation (then, too many of the instructors should have been removed from class room duty by now).
And the tragic thing is quality of exams. with some of the students taking snaps of final questions and distributing to next semesters within the friend circle; and instructors repeating up to 80% every year, it is an absolute farce for honest students.
These issues should have been discussed in the strategic plan, i saw nothing regarding these issues i believe.
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
March 16, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I have been studying at Concordia for the past year and have been living in Montreal my entire life, hearing various stories about it and other local universities on an ongoing basis. With all the strikes and labor unrest at the school in recent years, it is at least reassuring, along with tentative contract agreements, that the big budget item in this document and a major strategic point is the proper training, recognition and support of university staff. However I am not sure if this addresses the complaints of faculty members as staff and faculty are treated as distinct groups. With comparatively low pay, administrative wrangling over admissible numbers of full to part time faculty, and with students in constant reminder that our school is strapped when it comes to resources in instruction, grading, and direct academic support sevices, I would prefer to see the school putting the quality and support of academic life at the school in better standing given the amount of attention given to advancing research and administrative capacities, and extracurricular student life perks.
As a student, I am constantly reminded that we lack the resources in teaching, grading, and one on one student support of those schools viewed as the "elite" institutions in Canada, and I have seen teachers and staff cite these shortcomings to frustrated students on several occasions. Without improvement and stability in purely academic resources for students and faculty, student social life and inclusiveness is rather irrelevant, as we are talking about an academic institution, where students go to learn and be taught.
On another, though important, note, I would like to see our school, and others, band together to lobby the provincial government for more funding for education, devoted to specific areas of need, rather than raising tuition, pushing to deregulate international tuition, and advocating mass scale professional immigration to address shortcomings in our skilled labor pool. I am not xenophobic and am of the opinion that Montreal is and always had been a port city, a city of immigrants and cultural diversity AND cooperation is key to our history and future, however to see our government shirk its commitments to support education, a matter of provincial jurisdiction, and advocate the mass importation of temporary workers to keep the economy running while raising tuition and deregulating international student fees while our youth are challenged with escalating paper qualifications for work, earned through the education system, is galling. Through increased funding for education, and providing incentives for industries to directly train and apprentice people rather than deferring to the education system those who simply seek professional qualification, better opportunities for work and education could be provided to Quebecers and current stresses on our education system could be eased. I would like to see at least a fraction of the resources our government devotes to vaguely outlined cultural initiatives and bending over backwards to attract tourism diverted to addressing the more pressing need to ensure accessible and quality education for its citizens and residents. Without sustained and concerted pressure on our government from the highest levels of our education institutions I do not believe that the concerns of our student population will be taken seriously. We represent a group with low incomes, thus producing few tax revenues from the perspective of government, who are inherently less suitable to foot the bill for restoring our education system while we are primarily devoted to studies. Only if the entire institution of higher education in this province is to stand up and demand the attention of our officials do I believe we will be recognized for our very important role both now, Montreal being a major higher education hub which contributes directly to the local economy in a big way, and as the future professionals of our country, whose taxes will support the economy of tomorrow.
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Jason Rust writes:
Posted on
March 12, 2009 at 7:01 pm
As Sir George Williams is rooted in popular education, I feel that, beyond degree programs, it is Concordia's responsibility to once again offer free/subsidized and accessible popular education programs that benefit the community.
I also think that trying to rank among the top 5 Canadian universities, by using outside ranking programs, will both undermine our autonomy and will waste resources that could be used for the betterment of our local community. I do not support that this be our overall goal and find it embarrassing that my school- where I both work and study, feels compelled to prove itself to results-based, private ranking programs.
We must keep class sizes small, keep military research out of school and reduce our reliance on private sources of funding, such as advertisements for socially irresponsible companies and products.
We are a university, not a corporation. We don't need to build huge skyscrapers. Lets pay teachers fairly and keep tuition low.
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Marton Gangli (JMSB) writes:
Posted on
March 9, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Thank you for this comprehensive strategic plan, its nice to see this level of transparency from my university, I would however like to see a bit more on Academic Work of the Highest Quality.
What are the specfic details here ? Will a more rigurours grading sceme be implemented, will we finally have 4.0 scale and not the silly 4.3 that everyone finds ridiculous when you apply for grad & professional schools other than Concordia.
Will this result in more ambigious mutliple choice quizzes, with good, better and best answers ?
Also the previous commenters touched base on this, I would like to see one CLEAR objective for Concordia, not three, not two, ONE major mission that will drive us, as the previous poster mentioned for MIT this is research, what is it for us ?
What is our core competency ? Is it sustainable (ie. valuable, rare, imitatable or substitutable) ?
What sets us aside ? My major is International Business and I am graduating this spring, I will 90% likely be working abroad because I am an EU citizen ? What will I tell them about Concordia ?
Cheers,
Marton
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Richard Courtemanche writes:
Posted on
March 2, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I have great hopes for this university. On certain days, my mood is sometimes sombered up by certain Faculty members' lack of drive in research. But this was something more prevalent a few years ago. These days, I see more genuine interest in colleagues and students in having an active, curious, industrious research and teaching profile. There are more sunny days, fewer somber days.
With your document, you have triggered my enthusiasm directly. I would like to commend you for all the commitments outlined in the document, and mainly for its completeness in its objectives of all the societal attributes a leading university should aim to attain; at the same time, I believe a document that has "a little bit of everything" will also dilute some of the flavour that could be perceived. I would wish to emphasize a particular quality I feel this university has: the potential to innovate. It is already in the document, but I feel it should come at the forefront.
On a visit by the then-Dean of Arts and Science (now Provost) Dr. David Graham to my department, one particular point that was brought up was that Concordia will never be like MIT, where research seems to be the only priority. Funny this was used as an example, as this is where I did my post-doctoral work prior to coming to Concordia. In all fairness, MIT has established its reputation over many years - but Concordia already has an interesting research legacy. Specifically in my area of research, neuroscience, I can tell you that the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, with all of my 12 colleagues, has built a very enviable reputation. Without making person-to-person comparisons, I have been at MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, they are very strong; yet volume aside, we obviously have world-class researchers. Our research CVs speak for themselves. Just to provide an illustrating example, and this is just a pat on the back, Peter Shizgal has written a chapter in the coming new edition of the international bible of Neuroscience for graduate students - Kandel et al.'s Principle of Neural Science. When I was a graduate student, that would have impressed me deeply - it still does now. Concordia's strength in neuroscience was established without the benefit of a Medical School, just like MIT. And in a funny parallel, Concordia also has many similarities with MIT in its academic organization. I find the greatest similarity is in the taste for innovation. MIT's most brilliant minds, and there are many, break down the barriers of interdisciplinary research and academics. In effect, they do not like being boxed into a definition. Physics mixed with cinema? Sure... robotics! As another example, MIT's most groundbreaking minds often do a stint at MIT's Media Lab, a sort of happy mix of art and technology - Concordia has such an impressive innovative mix: the Media and Computer Science building. For high-reputation MBAs, we have the John Molson School of Business, while they have the Sloan School of Management, both offering very strong programs. And finally, Concordia does have the same healthy competition with McGill as MIT has with Harvard...
I believe that innovation, in teaching and research, is already present in this university, and by putting this at the forefront, and as an objective to attain, we are banking on a strength.
Keep up the good work.
Richard Courtemanche
Exercise Science and CSBN.
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Kevin Austin writes:
Posted on
February 16, 2009 at 11:45 am
Since posting my previous comments, I have received comments from faculty who have advised me that it might not be wise to be so public, perhaps there was a reason that others have felt the necessity of sending anonymous comments.
It is my belief that like the major peacemakers of this, the last and previous centuries, it is essential to be seen to speak directly to authority. My sense is that the past year has seen a significant and meaningful change in the direction and acceptable modes of thinking at Concordia University.
Two senior administrators, both clearly brilliant men, failed to connect to the values of the community they were placed in a position to serve. Administration serves the community to which it has obligations and responsibilities; these are the values that we teach and expect from our children – we measure their growth and maturity by the kind and degree of their application.
The child who thinks first of themself is still taking; the adult who thinks first of others is giving. If universities have not set standards for administrative behavior in the past [look around Montreal in the past few years], does it not stand to reason that the students in our institutions view these "values" as acceptable?
Our students come here with most of their values in place, and this is one of the last occasions they will have to evaluate and modify them in a large-scale way. Concordia's students have started in one program and moved to other programs as they see the human sides of life – the values of being open and concerned with the future, not of momentary individual gain.
Our societies have been witnessing the losses created by the "me first" values that came into play in the 1980s, and the slow (or not so slow) destruction of social fabric and values of respect and equality.
I would like to see a Strategic Plan that recognizes that Concordia breathes the air of this city, this province, and the multiple communities which exist and have chosen to grow here. Through the strengthening of the "local", and by using "universal" values (see above), Concordia can return to being a university where the graduates and the students count more than a ranking in a national poll.
My continued best wishes to the committee which has much of serious intent to consider and formulate.
Kevin Austin
Electroacoustics / Music
Fine Arts
Concordia University
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Kevin Austin writes:
Posted on
February 16, 2009 at 11:31 am
Committees prefer suggestions to complaints; a suggestion moves things forwards while a complaint adds mud to the wheels.
This morning I made a list of 12 words I would like to see in a plan for the next five years. They are below, more or less prioritized, with their frequency of occurrence:
women (0)
children (0)
poverty (0)
failed (0)
young (0)
diversity (7)
discrimination (0)
equal / equality (0)
recession (1)
benefit (3)
evolve (1)
stimulus (0)
The first group deal with aspects of community, interaction and commitment to the improvement of the local and regional situation. The second recognizes well-publicized existing issues. If the university will not speak out and (materially) support work in these areas, what of the future?
The last group address something of the immediate situation of the next five years. My sense is that the existing document was built on the model written by two (business) men with strong egos and sense of "me / mine". Perhaps they (and their ideas) are no longer deciding on behalf of the university community.
Committees with deadlines are reluctant to "go back to square one", but if the edifice is being built on the wrong foundation, then the problems become both structural and systemic.
This brief note, with my previous one points to my major concerns being those of inclusivity and diversity, acceptance and respect for all members of the community, and stating specific concerns regarding values -- those of the university in its community; those of the university within society.
Is the contemporary university little more than the foot-soldier for the (failed) business model of life?
Is their greater poverty in Canada (and throughout Montreal) than there was ten years ago? And this poverty is centered on women and children. Many of the younger generation (potential future students) are not finding a place in our educational system. If the eventual beneficiaries (us) of the educational system do not invest in the roots, the flower will not be born.
I feel it is essential that the university connect into the community, and give more than it is able to take.
Best wishes
Kevin Austin
Electroacoustics / Music
Fine Arts
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Kevin Austin writes:
Posted on
February 16, 2009 at 11:30 am
It is the first time I have read a complete draft. The word "we" is used 69 times, "they" 10 times, "them" 5 times. If I am not one of the "us" or the "we", am I one of the "them"?
I find the tone and the language divisive and not inclusive. There are many words which simply appear without any form of clarification, such as "sustainable" (14), and community (24). In general, because of certain linguistic ambiguities (some examples noted above), I feel the document is opaque, and I find few of my core educational (8) values (14) recognized (16), with the ethos of research (21), taking precedence over the quality (11) of teaching (9), and through this, a lack of clarity of vision (4), replaced by those of administration (17) and priorities (8), in which I do not fully share (1).
A simple word-count cannot tell the whole story of the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic structures which frame the document.
As noted, Concordia aims to become a university characterized by the highest academic standards of research and teaching; the word education occurs for the first time, 800 words into a 4000 words draft.
In my own work, I engage communities, mostly Asian, and technologies (across four continents), yet my modalities of activity (local and web-based) do not depend upon the models for research evaluation that may be used, and are currently in place in the University.
My interest is "people" (0). Are dedicated (1) faculty (18) such as myself part of an older value-set that will not find a role in the Concordia of the future (1)?
I do not aim to attract the best and brightest students to my classes; my aim is to have each student in my class become the best and brightest they can be. This is done by sustained support of an academic mission within a much larger educational vision.
Thank you for your time.
Best wishes
Kevin Austin
Electroacoustics / Music
Fine Arts
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Kevin Austin writes:
Posted on
February 16, 2009 at 11:26 am
I wonder why so many comments have had to be made anonymously.
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Jane Kelly, CE student & semi-retired engineer writes:
Posted on
January 26, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Good morning and thank you for the chance to comment.
The strategy of "Communicating Our Success" is straightforward on the surface, but there is another level of potential in communication that could be mined. The people interested in the success of Concordia are termed "stakeholders" in management terminology. The definition of success is to meet stakeholders objectives. One measure of success you have identified is an employee satisfaction survey. In my view, it seems employee satisfaction could be enhanced if they were surveyed in the beginning, to open the door for them to express what they would appreciate.
I am a semi-retired engineer, relocating from Portland, Oregon. In my training and experience, stakeholder involvement is a very rich and surprising process that can uplift a community in surprising ways. If any of these comments are meaningful, I would welcome the chance to be involved with the plan.
Regards,
Jane Kelly
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Muriel Herrington writes:
Posted on
January 20, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I am glad to see the strategic plan includes reinforcing our libraries. Our libraries have done an excellent job with limited resources (including space in the Webster library). They are providing an excellent electronic environment with online access to catalogues, databases and many electronic journals. The librarians and staff are unfailingly helpful. It has been my pleasure to work with them for more than 30 years and to see how well we are making the transition from card catalogues and dusty stacks to web based applications.
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
January 18, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Considering that faculty make up by far the largest number of employees at Concordia University and, more importantly, that it is what the faculty actually do in their teaching and research that is the essential, intrinsic purpose of any university, it is strange that the faculty does not merit having its own presidential panel but are merely grouped together as employees. The most important work of a university is the teaching and research, not the administrative functions which exist to provide the best possible conditions for the faculty to do its work and for students to learn and participate in the life of the university. This is why we are not just any business corporation, but a university.
The structure of these presidential panels reveals that the administration does not value the essential academic functions of the institution.
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
January 17, 2009 at 4:11 pm
To quote the plan "In negotiating our collective agreements, we will seek to minimize the adversarial nature of this process by taking advantage, when feasible, of appropriate innovative practices." Does this mean that in the future contract negotiations will not be dragged out for years and employees will not have to go on strike to reach a fair settlement? Why not start practicing what you preach now?
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
January 17, 2009 at 4:07 pm
The plan claims "We will offer support for our faculty members and our advanced students by strengthening our financial support for graduate students, by reinforcing the Concordia libraries and their ability to support research activities not just in their own physical space but wherever faculty members choose to work and by publicly recognizing the outstanding achievements of our researchers. Only on this basis can we legitimately expect to attract and to retain the outstanding faculty members who are the cornerstone of our reputation"
But not apparently by paying faculty salaries comparable to those of most other universities in Canada, although salaries paid to the senior administrators are among the highest in Canadian universities. What words come to mind? How about hypocrisy.
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Anonymous writes:
Posted on
January 16, 2009 at 2:02 pm
ACADEMIC WORK OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY
with some of the LOWEST paid faculty for comprehensive universities in Canada...
neat trick... How do you intend to do that?
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