Board of Governors and Senate highlights: October 2026

The Board of Governors and Senate held their first meeting of the academic year respectively on September 24 and October 2. President Graham Carr highlighted some recent achievements by members of the Concordia community:

• Film Production student Antoine Boulanger earned a silver medal at the 2026 Student Academy Awards for his short film La Pichenotte.
• Mohawk artist Skawennati, BFA 92, GrDip 96, is among the recipients of the 2026 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, one of Canada’s most prestigious distinctions for visual and media artists.
• Folk-rock singer-songwriter Charlotte Cornfield, BFA 10, was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize for her latest album.
• Four female student athletes distinguished themselves on the international stage: Women’s rugby player Megan Allard helped Team Canada capture the gold medal at the world university championship. Three other Stingers, Laura Molimard, Caroline Moquin-Joubert and Sara Parker, were part of the Canadian women’s team who won the flag football world championship.

Carr congratulated the John Molson School of Business for placing second in Canada in the Bloomberg Businessweek Best Business Schools ranking. This marks the third successive year the school comes in first or second in Canada in the prestigious ranking.

At the Senate meeting, the president thanked everyone who participated in the Shuffle on Sept. 25. The event raised over $205,000 to support Concordia students. He also underlined the success of the annual Golf Classic, held on August 31, which raised more than $750,000 for scholarships and bursaries.

Two milestone events

The university launched its Sustainability Action Plan 2026-2030 on September 29. The new plan builds on the achievements of the 2020-2025 plan and includes sustainability priorities across campus operations, teaching and learning, research and community engagement. Carr thanked everyone who “participated in the development of the [new] plan and all of those who contributed to meeting the objectives of the first plan”.

On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a ceremony was held to unveil two works of art by Indigenous artists on the recently revitalized terrace of the Hall Building:

• A Song for Nuliajuk, a bronze medallion by Concordia graduate Jason Sikoak, BFA 23, is embedded in the Hall terrace’s circular seating area.
• Teionihtiohtià, a panoramic mural conceived and designed by Concordia faculty member Hannah Claus and Kaia’tanó Dumoulin Bush. The mural is situated on a brick wall overlooking an Indigenous garden adjacent to the terrace.

The day also included the release of the report “Exploring Concordia’s colonial past”. The report delves into the connections to colonial systems and Indigenous oppression of Concordia’s founding institutions and of the Grey Nuns, whose motherhouse the university purchased in 2007.

Other recent activities

At Senate, Carr spoke about his meeting on September 25 with the president of Vietnam, Tô Lâm. Concordia was the only university to meet bilaterally with the Vietnamese delegation during the two-day state visit in Ottawa. Discussions focused on the university’s past and present collaborations with Vietnamese researchers and institutions, as well as areas that may be explored going forward.

The president also mentioned a few recent activities held on campus:

• The Henry Habib Diplomacy Accelerator inaugural event, on September 17, featured Concordia graduate Line Rivard, MBA 86, Quebec’s former agent-general in London.
• In August, David Lametti, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, met with students on campus and spoke at the opening of the International Political Science Association-Concordia Summer Institute.
• On September 25, Concordia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ismaili Council for Quebec and the Maritimes to provide training to members of its community, in particular youth, in the field of AI.

Preparing for a new Quebec government

As Quebecers were about to go to the polls, President Carr expressed to Senate his disappointment at the fact that universities, and education more generally, had been “essentially absent” from the campaign, noting also that all parties had been silent on the question of international students.

Annual report from Ombuds Office

Amy Fish, Concordia’s ombudsperson, presented highlights of the Ombuds Office’s 2025-2026 annual report at both meetings.

The number of files the Ombuds Office managed last year almost doubled, increasing to 1,014 from 565 the previous year. Fish explained that the increase was mainly related to a handful of social media posts by faculty members which generated 421 complaints, including 382 from people outside Concordia.

The number of investigations the office launched went up to 69, compared to 55 the previous year.

Fish gave some examples of files the office oversaw in 2025-2026 as well as their resolution.

Annual report from Academic Hearing Panel

Senators received the annual academic hearing report, which details the number and types of charges laid under the Academic Code of Conduct, and their disposition.

From July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, a total of 395 incidents were reported, 68 per cent of which were upheld at the faculty level and 29 per cent dismissed, while decisions are still pending in three per cent of cases. The Office of Student Tribunals conducted hearings related to 42 cases.

Two Fine Arts departments merging

Finally, senators approved the merger of the Department of Art Education and the Department of Creative Arts Therapies.

Annie Gérin, dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, said that the new department will continue to offer all the programs that are currently active in the two departments. Among other benefits, the change will enable greater symbiosis between areas of expertise shared by the two departments, stronger alignment and increased collaboration between areas, in addition to improved pathways between programs.