The second Senate meeting of the fall term brings discussions of gender-inclusive wording for awards, UVic’s trans-national education plans, and more
Photo by Hugo Wong.
Committee on Agenda and Governance
The Senate Committee on Agenda and Governance presented their 2024/2025 Senate Evaluation, key takeaways from which were about the importance of understanding and following procedures to ensure that everyone’s voices are heard during senate meetings.
The Senate then voted unanimously on two motions — one to approve the appointments to the 2025/2026 Senate standing committees, for the terms indicated in the agenda, followed by a motion to revise the Terms of Reference for the Senate Committee on Admission, Re-registration, and Transfer Appeals. The motions were approved without discussion.
Committee on Awards
The Senate Committee on Awards opened with their 2024/2025 Annual report, which included information about proposals for 52 new and revised awards, detailed in the agenda.
The presenter took two questions regarding the consistency of language across awards as it relates to gender equity and inclusivity. A discussion followed, where a senator mentioned recently nominating a non-binary student for an award that is specifically designated for women. The senator said the student was well-deserving, but nominating them for an award that uses specifically gendered language caused noteworthy harm. A suggestion was put forward to create a policy around inclusive language for awards.
Another senator raised a question about broadening the scope of awards candidates to include part-time students — citing a data point showing that part-time graduate student numbers are on the rise.
A motion was introduced to approve the new awards and revisions to existing awards, which was approved with one vote in opposition.
The Senate then heard a motion to approve revisions to Entrance and Transfer Scholarships and Awards in the Undergraduate Scholarships, Awards, Medals, and Prizes regulation. One senator raised a question about confusing language in the revisions to the regulation regarding scholarships for international students. Another senator raised a question regarding what happens to unspent scholarship money. After a brief discussion, the motion was unanimously approved.
Committee on Planning and Committee on Academic Standards
The Committee on Planning took the floor with a proposal to discontinue the Jointly Supervised Individual PhD Program (JSIP). The JISP program enabled co-supervised, jointly awarded PhDs between partner universities, but due to low participation and high administrative demands, it has allegedly proven inefficient. Only two students remain enrolled, and no new admissions are being accepted. The motion passed unanimously.
The Committee on Planning then put forth a motion to approve and establish an Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) LaunchPad program. The ECS LaunchPad program provides an alternative admission pathway for students missing required high school math or science courses, allowing them to complete these prerequisites and most first-year coursework within 12 months before declaring their chosen Engineering or Computer Science program.
An extensive discussion followed, where the Planning Committee confirmed that an assessment of the project’s success will be conducted after its implementation. The Senate voted on the proposal and it passed with one vote in opposition, with a stipulation that the approval be withdrawn should the program not be offered within five years of being approved.
The Committee on Academic Standards followed on the heels of the previous motion, putting forth a motion to approve the ECS Launchpad admission requirements. The motion was unanimously approved.
Proposals and Reports from Faculties
The next section of the meeting began with an informational presentation about Transnational Education (TNE) and its potential benefits for UVic. TNE involves delivering a university’s programs in another country, focusing on bringing the programs to students rather than bringing students to the university. UVic’s TNE proposals will reflect priorities identified in UVic’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
The presentation provided quantitative data regarding the value of TNE programs at other universities, information about which universities are offering TNE programs, which disciplines at UVic might begin offering TNE programs, and which regions of the world UVic is interested in offering them.
The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science followed up with a discussion of the TNE program being proposed for their department, which is a Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering and Management degree in Singapore, in partnership with PBS Academy.
A few senators raised questions about TNE programs generally — why institutions would outsource educational programming, rather than establish it on their own, and why the specific international institutions in question are being targeted.
The Peter B. Gustavson School of Business took the floor last, discussing offering UVic’s Master in Management in Thailand in partnership with Siam University.
Another discussion took place about various concerns regarding TNE programs, including the specific programs mentioned as well as UVic’s TNE program plans generally.
Proposals and Reports From the Vice-President Academic, and Other Business
The last official portion of the meeting was dedicated to proposals and reports from the Vice-President Academic and Provost, starting with the 2024-2025 Annual Report on Non-Academic Misconduct Allegations and Resolutions.
After minimal discussion, the Senate voted unanimously to rescind the Procedures for the Appointment and Review of a Head of the Division of Medical Sciences policy (GV0500).
As a matter of other business before adjournment, the Vice-President External Relations gave a presentation on the impact of philanthropy at UVic. The presentation provided general data on philanthropic support given to UVic since 2020, and specifics for the 2024/2025 year on where donations came from and what they were used for. The presentation then provided information on UVic’s first ever Comprehensive Campaign Plan for fundraising.
After a discussion about the future of the Comprehensive Campaign Plan, the meeting was adjourned.
