As I reported last week, on September 18th Senate passed two motions related to President Lightstone’s Special Task Force and program review/prioritization process. One motion respectfully requested that the President stop the review of academic programs and the second motion respectfully requested that the President refer any academic program review to Senate for its “timely consideration, decision and conduct”. The President indicated that he would take some time to reflect and consult before responding to these requests. This week, the President sent a memo to the members of the Senate Governance Committee in which he indicated that he would stop the academic portion of the review process, acknowledging the overlap between the Task Force’s work and Senate’s academic responsibility. He also referred the task of an academic program review to Senate for its action.
BUFA applauds President Lightstone’s decision to be responsive to Senate’s assertion of its authority in the area of academic program review, which was a view that was shared and very powerfully expressed by many of our members in their communications with Senators.
At its meeting on September 25th, the Senate Governance Committee decided to undertake this review and now is in the process of setting up a subcommittee to develop plans for a Senate Program Review Committee, including a draft mandate, Committee formation, and consultation process. These plans would be taken to Senate for its consideration, hopefully at its October meeting. We urge the Senate to be broadly consultative and inclusive in all stages of formulating its own academic program review plan.
Regards,
Linda
Linda Rose-Krasnor, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
President, Brock University Faculty Association
Brock University
500 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catharines ON Canada L2S 3A1
Phone: 905-688-5550, ext. 3870
Fax: 905-688-6922
[email protected]
