Regrets:
J. Keith, R. Winters, R. Lapp, M. Tucker, W. Cross

01.10.01 Approval of the Agenda
K. Hamer moved, seconded T. Craig, that the agenda as circulated be approved. CARRIED

01.10.02 Approval of Minutes of 27 September 2001
M. Mohammed moved, seconded C. Hunter, that the Minutes of 27 September 2001 be approved. CARRIED

01.10.03 Business arising
D. Tokaryk asked whether the Secretary had communicated Senate’s response to the letter from the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents. R. Summerby-Murray replied that a letter containing the motion passed at the last meeting would be placed on the agenda for the December meeting of the Executive Committee.

C. Hunter sought clarification of the name of the committee arising from the Policy on Students with Disabilities and suggested that the name of the committee should reflect the intention of the policy.

W. MacKay reported that the recent changes to faculty hiring policy had been referred back to the Finance Committee of the Board for further clarification of process. This committee will report to the Executive Committee at its December meeting.

01.10.04 Questions
None

01.10.05 Candidates for degrees
The Registrar distributed the list of degree candidates.

Moved by V. Reinsborough, seconded K. Hamer, that Senate act on the recommendation of Faculty Council to award the degree of Master of Science (Biology) to Renee Yvonne Bernier. CARRIED

Moved by K. Hamer, seconded T. Craig, that Senate act on the recommendation of Faculty Council to award the degree of Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours with Distinction to Benjamin Wildish Carter. CARRIED

Moved by K. Hamer, seconded M. McCullough, that Senate act on the recommendation of Faculty Council to award the degree of Bachelor of Arts to the candidates listed from Rachel Melanie Crosby to Seth Abram Rose-Radunsky. CARRIED

Moved by P. Baker, seconded N. Ralph, that Senate act on the recommendation of Faculty Council to award the degree of Bachelor of Commerce to the candidates listed from Christopher W. DeWare to Stacey Lynn Wagner. CARRIED

Moved by V. Reinsborough, seconded P. Baker, that Senate act on the recommendation of Faculty Council to award the degree of Bachelor of Science to the candidates listed from Corey Shawn Dugas to Kathleen Anne Spence. CARRIED

C. P. Hunter noted that two additional candidates for the B.A. had not been considered by Faculty Council at its last meeting. Moved by K. Hamer, seconded M. McCullough, that Senate award the degree of Bachelor of Arts to Katherine Nicole Kostiuk and Young Chon Park. J. vanderLeest asked why these names had not been presented to Faculty Council. C.P. Hunter responded that the cases involved late applications to graduate and transcripts arriving from other institutions. J. vanderLeest asked how much of Park’s degree had been completed at Mount Allison, to which the Registrar replied 66 of the 120 credits. On question put, the motion CARRIED.

01.10.06 Report from Faculty Council
J. vanderLeest reported on two of the major items discussed at the recent meeting of Faculty Council: confidentiality of Faculty Council minutes and enrolment management. Faculty Council had passed a motion to create an official set of minutes and a mechanism that in camera discussion would be treated as confidential within these minutes. The issue had arisen as a result of considering the specific cases reported by the Review Board. While the motion did not specify which discussions would be treated in camera, there was general understanding that Faculty Council would consider the Review Board discussion as confidential, as well as a suggestion that Senate might wish to adopt the same practice. The second item was enrolment management. A wide-ranging discussion had been held, including debate on course capping, managing numbers within and between programmes, the relationship of faculty and infrastructural resources and class sizes, pedagogy, and other related issues. J. vanderLeest concluded that there were many problems that remain to be addressed and that discussion would continue.

01.10.07 Report from Committee on Committees
The report was presented by the chair of the Committee on Committees, J. Read. (Written copy attached to file copy of these minutes.)

Academic Appeals Committee: The Committee on Committees nominated C. Grant to fill the vacancy with a 2 year term 2001-2003. Moved by J. Read, seconded W. Godfrey, that nominations cease. The motion carried and C. Grant was declared elected.

Academic Matters Committee: The Committee on Committees nominated M. Tucker to fill the vacancy with a 4 year term 2001-2005. Moved by J. Read, seconded I. Cohen, that nominations cease. The motion carried and M. Tucker was declared elected.

Advisory Committee on Emeriti Appointments: The Committee on Committees nominated E. Tory to fill the vacancy of an emeritus member with a four year term 2001-2005. Moved by J. Read, seconded B.A. Miller, that nominations cease. The motion carried and E. Tory was declared elected.

Joint Board-Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees: The Committee on Committees nominated B. Robertson and F. Strain to fill the two faculty vacancies with four year terms 2001-2005. Moved by J. Read, seconded I. Cohen, that nominations cease. The motion carried and B. Robertson and F. Strain were declared elected.

Committee on Teaching: Due to the resignation of one member effective 31 December 2001, the Committee on Committees nominated R. Adlam to fill the vacancy with a term of January 1, 2002 to 30 June 2003. Moved by J. Read, seconded W. Godfrey, that nominations cease. The motion carried and R. Adlam was declared elected. J. Read noted that the term on the committee for J. Code was in error in the report and should be a two year term 2001-2003.

University Appeals: The Committee on Committees nominated P. Brown to fill the vacancy with a two year term 2001-2003. Moved by J. Read, seconded I. Cohen, that nominations cease. The motion carried and P. Brown was declared elected.

Committee on Research: J Read moved, seconded P. Ennals, that the three academic deans be voting members of the Research Committee. B. Campbell noted that this committee was once a purely academic committee without administrative membership. The proposed change would provide four voting administrative members (including the Vice-President (Academic and Research)), decreasing the proportion of faculty representation. He urged Senate to consider the functioning of the Research Committee and its reporting mechanisms. P. Edwards noted that Senate and the Committee on Committees should bear in mind that the Research Committee has a far greater role than just adjudicating research applications and pointed out that the Vice-President does not sit on the adjudication sub-committees. At the present time there is a need for the Research Committee to consider the significant research issues facing the university as a whole. On question put, the motion CARRIED.

J. Read moved, seconded P. Ennals, that the Director of Research Development be a non-voting member of the Research Committee. CARRIED

J. Read noted the further suggestion from the Research Committee that the structure of the ‘arts’ and ‘science’ sub-committees remain unchanged. J. Read reminded Senate that chairs of all standing committees had been asked to review terms of reference and membership. The Committee on Committees had established guidelines for the review process and the Registrar and Secretary of Senate had been asked to sit on the committee for the purposes of this discussion. Further input from committees was sought.

J. vanderLeest suggested that if the Research Committee chose to change the ‘arts’ and ‘science’ structure of its sub-committees at some future date the committee should report this to Senate. P. Ennals agreed to do so if this became necessary.

01.10.08 Other Business
J. vanderLeest asked when standing committees would be asked to report and what steps were being taken to fill the vacant academic chairs. R. Summerby-Murray replied that while many standing committees report in the course of their normal annual business, there are many that do not. Committee chairs will be requested to report in the current academic year. P. Ennals noted that a review of the vacant academic chairs was in progress in an effort to see whether some of these chairs might be reconfigured to better suit the needs of the current departments and programmes.

B. Fleming asked that the chair of the ad hoc committee on Senate reform call a meeting of the committee. R. Summerby-Murray noted that he hoped to call the committee back together in the near future.

C. Hunter commended the organisers of the Atlantic Teaching Showcase, noting that it was a well-run event, featured a number of well-received student panelists, and was highly productive and fun.

01.10.09 Announcements
W. MacKay reported on a recent meeting in Ottawa involving Canadian university presidents. Despite the changing circumstances of federal funding since September 11th, W. Mackay was reassured that the federal government still had the intention of moving forward with existing research programmes and initiatives. The considerable deferred maintenance problem of many Canadian universities had been considered, as well as a programme to address this problem. While in Ottawa, W. MacKay had appeared before the Senate of Canada and had presented a legal perspective on the government’s anti-terrorism bill.

M. McCullough invited members of Senate to a presentation on Northern Thai dance on November 7th. The presentation was to be given by Kevin Morse, holder of a summer research grant.

C. P. Hunter asked that list of fall graduands be left in the room at the conclusion of the meeting.

01.10.10 Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:15pm on motion moved by D. Tokaryk, seconded P. Ennals.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert Summerby-Murray
Secretary of Senate