Senate notes
Members to search for new president
JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF
The University of Manitoba senate held their first meeting of 2007 on January 10.
‘Housekeeping’ in graduate studies Various course and program changes were approved by Senate in the faculty of graduate studies in what associate dean Kevin Coombs referred to as “essentially housekeeping.”
Four courses in the faculty of education will be cancelled as of September 2007 with three more to be cancelled in 2010, all seven relating to adult education and post-secondary education. Seven new courses will be introduced to cover these topics. Th is change is due to the merge of the adult education and post-secondary education specializations in the master of education program.
In the department of English, four courses that have not been taught in 10 years or more are being deleted.
One history course has also been added. “The state and society in Latin American history” is a six credit-hour course and according to a report from the programs and planning committee of the faculty of graduate studies, will “refl ect the scholarly interest of a new faculty member and will contribute to enhance the Latin American fi eld with the department of history.”
Two new bursaries
Eugene H. Lange’s family have established two endowment funds in his memory. The funds will contribute to two annual bursaries, one being an entrance bursary, for students enrolled in Agricultural and Food Science.
Lange was the first director of the diploma course in the school of agriculture at the U of M. The requirements for both bursaries include the demonstration of outstanding leadership ability and proof of fi nancial need.
The Judy Stewart Sutherland scholarship has had an endowment fund increase from $25,000 to over $190,000. Students entering University 1 are eligible for a $3,000 scholarship for their first year, with a renewal of the same amount every year provided the student remains a fulltime science or engineering student until their third year of study.
The first year of this scholarship will see one recipient, the second will see two and from the third year and on, three recipients will receive the money annually, provided they continue qualifying.
New endowed chair
A proposal for the establishment of an endowed chair in health services design and quality improvement was carried by Senate at the meeting. The position will be fi lled by Dan Roberts, head of the department of internal medicine, of whom the proposal was initially made.
One of the chair’s main objectives is to “develop and introduce sustainable quality improvement management systems and practices for the clinical teaching unites,” according to a letter by medicine dean Dean Sandham (medicine) written to Robert Kerr (vice-president [academic]) in support of the proposal.
The initial endowment for the chair totals $3 million. $1 million has been committed from both the department of internal medicine and the Health Sciences Centre. Another million dollars will come from funds from the departmental tithe.
Roberts will hold a five-year term as chair and, according to the proposal presented to Senate, will carry out objectives such as developing a physician-manager training curriculum, enhance the competitiveness of U of M’s department of internal medicine at national and international levels, and provide mentorship for students with a focus on research in quality improvement.
Senate endorses Day of Action
After virtually no debate, an UMSU motion was passed that will allow students to participate in the Feb. 7 National Day of Action, without academic penalty, where reasonable.
An original motion was presented and was passed once amendments were made. The original motion stated that students would not receive any penalty for missing classes or labs on the Day of Action, while the amendment asked staff members not to plan exams or assignments on the Feb. 7, “where reasonable.”
In both the original and the amended version it was asked that the Senate would endorse activities planned, meant to increase the awareness of governmental funding for post-secondary education.
Members elected to presidential search committee
In November of 2006 the U of M Board of Governors approved a new committee entitled the presidential search committee. Included in the composition of the committee are fi ve members elected from the Senate, including at least one dean or director and one student.
The fi ve members were elected at the Jan. 10 Senate meeting through a closed-ballot vote.
Thirteen nominees were proposed by the Senate committee on nominations, while six nominations came from the fl oor. Each senator at the meeting had to choose fi ve of the 19 nominees, while selecting at least one student and dean.
The elected members are Judy Anderson (medicine), Harvey Sector (law), Richard Sigurdson (arts), Mark Whitmore (science) and Samuel Ima (student).
The remainder of the board will include Terry Sargeant, chair of the Board of Governors, as chair of the committee, Chancellor William Norrie as co-chair, fi ve members from the Board of Governors, a representative from the U of M Faculty Association, Marsha Steeds, the Board of Governors’ support staff assessor, Jeff Leclerc, the university secretary, and two search consultants, Janet Wright and Gerri Woodford.
UMSU president Gary Sran was nominated from the fl oor for a position on the committee but was not elected as the student representative.
The purpose of the committee is to recommend a candidate to fi ll the U of M’s presidential position beginning in 2008. It is through the Board of Governors that the president is then selected.
The search will be completely confi dential and the committee is expected to present a recommendation by October 2007.
