In his remarks at the Senate meeting on November 9, 2018, Concordia President Alan Shepard reported on his late-October visit to Ottawa in his role as a member of the board of directors of Universities Canada. The group’s representatives met with several federal ministers to discuss universities’ needs and expectations.
Shepard announced that Concordia graduate Paul Chesser (BA 94, GrDip 97) will join the university as the new vice-president of advancement on December 1.
He spoke of the university’s new honorary doctorate recipients, who will be honoured at Concordia’s fall 2019 convocation ceremonies at Montreal’s Place des Arts on November 19: psychotherapist and philanthropist Miriam Roland, real estate developer and venture capital investor Luigi Liberatore, former Bell Canada executive Louis A. Tanguay (BComm 75), pioneering artist Meredith Monk and technology business leader Nathalie Pilon.
The president informed senators that Concordia’s Open House, held on October 20, welcomed more than 6,000 visitors to both campuses, while the Concordia Used Book Fair raised a record $31,831 for students.
Shepard reported that the university has created two new Indigenous leadership positions. Heather Igloliorte, associate professor in Concordia’s Department of Art History, is now special advisor to the provost on Advancing Indigenous Knowledges. Indigenous educator William Lindsay will become the new senior director of Indigenous Directions in January 2019.
Finally, Shepard announced that the university’s 2018 Centraide campaign kicked off in October and runs until December 10. Nadia Bhuiyan, vice-provost of Partnerships and Experiential Learning, and Philippe Beauregard, chief communications officer, are the campaign co-chairs.
Academic update
Graham Carr, provost and vice-president, Academic, referred senators to his written report, which highlights many faculty and student initiatives and accomplishments.
Carr told the Senate to watch for the unofficial opening of Concordia’s 4TH SPACE in the coming week. 4TH SPACE is a dynamic public venue for learning and discovery located on the ground floor of the J.W. McConnell (LB) Building. Its official launch will be in January 2019.
He invited senators to the Montreal Mini Maker Faire, which will be held at Concordia on November 16 and 17 and is open to the public.
Carr congratulated two Concordia faculty who were recently named fellows of the Royal Society of Canada: Jean-Philippe Warren, professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Concordia University Research Chair for the Study of Quebec, and Martha Langford, professor in the Department of Art History and research chair and director of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art.
He also thanked all Concordia faculty and students who helped make Open House a major success.
Ombuds Office presents its annual report
Amy Fish, Concordia’s ombudsperson, provided highlights from the Ombuds Office’s Annual Report 2017-18.
Fish reported that the Ombuds Office treated 469 files in 2017-18, down just one from 2016-17. Students brought forward about three quarters of the concerns. Slightly more than half the remaining files came from faculty and staff, and the balance were from others such as alumni and potential students.
While the number of cases remained steady from the year before, walk-ins dropped from 107 to 76. Clients contacted the office primarily via email, followed by telephone. Fish noted that they received one letter by mail.
She pointed out that the Ombuds Office’s busiest months over the past five years are April and May, during exam period and before graduation.
Without revealing names or specifics, Fish described two cases to illustrate the type of work done by the office.
In the first instance, when a student had to leave the university for personal reasons, the office was able to help the student return to Concordia and get the relevant credits transferred.
In the other example, the office informed a professor on how to manage a situation regarding the absence of a student.
Fish told the Senate she was happy to report no major problems during the year.
Office of Rights and Responsibilities presents its annual report
Director Lisa White presented highlights of the Office of Rights and Responsibilities‘ Annual Report 2017-18.
White explained that the office focuses mainly on applying and/or administering the Code of Rights and Responsibilities (Code) and other related policies.
She reported that the office received 351 requests in 2017-18. Of those, 235 were consultations and 116 became cases; 26 of the cases were formal. All these numbers were up from recent previous years.
White revealed that the most reported Code infraction was harassment followed by sexual harassment.
She presented three case examples: one involved the sexual harassment of a student; the second was about the harassment of a staff member by a co-worker and the final concerned a student placed on a leave of absence due to mental health issues. All the cases were resolved satisfactorily with the assistance of the Office of Rights and Responsibilities and internal partners.
Institute for Co-operative Education presents its annual report
Director Claude Martel presented the annual report of Concordia’s Institute for Co-operative Education. He explained that the institute offers work-integrated learning programs that allow students to apply their academic skills in work opportunities.
The institute now offers students several options: Co-op, which provides undergraduates three or four intensive internships of 12 to 17 weeks each; Industrial Experience (INEX) and Professional Experience (PREX) options, which allow undergraduate and graduate students a single internship in their field of study and Accelerated Career Experience (ACE), which places students in strategic workplace positions for one 12-16 month continuous internship.
Students have access to internships — all paid — through 41 undergraduate and eight graduate programs. The long list of industry/organization partners include IBM, Bombardier Aerospace, Amnesty International and the Government of Canada.
Martel pointed out that the institute supports six of the university’s nine strategic directions: Get Your Hands Dirty; Mix It Up; Grow Smartly; Go Beyond; Embrace the City, Embrace the World and Take Pride. Work-integrated learning is now a key recruitment tool for Concordia.
He reported that the institute hosted the Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (formerly the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education) annual conference in summer 2018.
Martel disclosed that the number of students securing internships through the institute has climbed over the past two years from about 1,600 to 2,400. The institute aims to add 500 to 700 students a year over the next five years, bringing the total to about 5,500 by 2023. While the Co-op internships will continue to grow steadily, the aim is to greatly increase the INEX / PREX, graduate and international internships.
Watch for an upcoming story on Concordia’s Institute for Co-operative Education.
