Senate Notes

Magally Zelaya, Staff

Senate is the highest academic governing body at the University of Manitoba, comprised of administrators, deans, directors, and elected professors and students. Senate meets on the first Wednesday of every month in Engineering 2, Room 262; the next meeting will be held on April 2.

The March 5 meeting got off to a confidential start with an immediate closed session lasting 40 minutes, during which the Senate’s planning and priorities committee presented their confidential report on Project Domino — the details of the infrastructure-related major redevelopment have yet to be released.

University president Emöke Szathmáry reported that she had spent the last week of February in Australia on a trade mission led by the province’s premier, Gary Doer. While in Australia, Szathmáry signed agreements with various Australian universities that will facilitate student exchanges.

As well, Szathmáry reported that both the provincial government and Australian state governments committed to funding joint research ventures that are of mutual interest, including issues related to cancer and agricultural biotechnology. She also named a number of U of M professors who are directly involved in the joint projects.

Deborah McCallum, vice-president (administration) reported that the results from fire drills conducted last November are now posted on the university’s Environmental Health and Safety Office website. She asked deans to review the summary reports and take notes of the scores assigned to their buildings.

McCallum also announced that construction of the Library Storage Annex and the Aboriginal Centre are on schedule for completion in the spring and that the Apotex Centre, for the Faculty of Pharmacy, is scheduled to open July 1. She noted that the contractor of the Robert B. Schultz lecture theatre “has really let us down.” Construction on the lecture theatre has been delayed and is expected to be complete on June 15.

Navitas, the company behind the International College of Manitoba, a two-year pathway program for international students, was once again up for discussion. A framework document outlining the academic portions of the university’s contract with Navitas is now available.

Though a few senators continued to express concern over the institute, set to open in September, Sazthmáry addressed the issues and cited the development of an academic oversight committee as a future channel to deal with ongoing concerns.

Szathmáry expressed her regret that the project was not discussed earlier in the negotiation process and said, “I think Senate does deserve an apology.” She made a call to “suspend judgment” and “just try to make this work” and added that the partnership “can only work with the assistance of the academic community.”

The meeting closed with the renewed affiliation between the U of M and the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface (CUSB) being put forth. CUSB is a founding college of the U of M, and the affiliation has been in existence since 1877. The affiliation was last updated in 1972.

CUSB president Raymande Gagner spoke to the renewal both in English and French.

Szathmáry called the affiliation a “point of pride” and a “vote of confidence in what we do.”

This month’s meeting was the last for student senators whose terms end March 31.