Senate is the academic governing body of UFV, with the university president and vice-chancellor Joanne MacLean as the chair. They are responsible for making decisions on everything academic, including: approving new courses and programs, approving changes to programs, and setting entrance requirements and the academic calendar. The Board of Governors, which looks at the business side of the university, is advised by Senate on matters of mutual interest.
All at the university are welcome to attend Senate’s public meetings, held once a month. Senate makes decisions that impact the daily lives of both students and faculty. This article will recap the main agenda items of the in-person Senate meeting on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023 at the Clarion hotel.
David Johnston, University Registrar and AVP, Enrolment Management presented the “Fall 2022 Enrolment Report” that showed an overall increase in enrollment for both domestic and international students. According to the report, the total number of students enrolled at UFV for the fall 2022 semester was 9,722 students. 8,202 were domestic, and 1,520 were international students. There were altogether 2,477 new students at UFV this year. In the Trades program, there were an additional 454 students enrolled as well, bringing the total to 10,205 students enrolled at the university.
Dr. James Mandigo, Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic brought up the motion to have the Mennonite Studies certificate in the Peace and Conflicts Studies (PACS) program be discontinued due to low enrollment and having one permanent faculty member available to teach the courses. The motion was voted on favorably by Senate. While the certificate will be discontinued, students already enrolled in the program will be contacted to take MENN 100 and MENN 300 as directed studies.
Another program that was motioned by Mandigo to be discontinued is the Bachelor of Media Arts Interactive Media Leadership concentration, effective September 2023. According to a recent memo sent by Professor Samantha Pattridge, Undergraduate Education Committee Chair, to President Joanne McClaine, UFV Senate Chair, the reason for the discontinuation of this program concentration is due to the revisions to the BMA. According to Pattridge, the program now focuses on helping students “create digital content for creative industries, not on management,” and argues that students seeking courses in media leadership would be better served in “other UFV programs and courses.” There are reportedly no students currently in this concentration and senate voted in favor of the motion.
Mandigo also brought up the motion to approve two new business diplomas. The names of the programs are: the International Business Post Baccalaureate diploma and the Business Analytics Post Baccalaureate diploma. The Senate voted in favor of the motion.
A presentation by Dr. Lucy Lee, Dean, Faculty of Science, included three testimonials from two students and one alumnus from the BSc program who briefly shared their experiences. The speakers included Environmental studies student and student senator, Aiden Haagensen; BSc alumnus Daylan Pritchard, a technician in Biology; and Ryan Goldbach, who is currently finishing up his final year in the Biology BSc program and plans to continue his studies at graduate school.
According to Lee’s report, many changes have occurred since she joined UFV, such as the department of Physics no longer being under the Faculty of Science but is now under Applied and Technical Studies. Lee emphasized how the department is changing and will continue to do so as it progresses. Lee said that the Faculty of Science has around 8,000 domestic students currently enrolled in courses. They also have “about a hundred students doing research in various and applied experiential learning opportunities.”
Apart from the Bachelor of Science, there are different science programs such as the Bachelor of Agricultural Science, Bachelor of Environmental Studies, and the Bachelor of Regional and Community Planning, which is a new program that will “be mounted starting in September,” according to Lee’s presentation. The BSc has been increasing in enrollment numbers and is continuing to grow.
Back in November, during the public senate meeting, a proposal for a fall reading break was presented to the members by Ashley McDougall, vice president external from the Student Union Society (SUS), for a three day reading break during either Thanksgiving or Remembrance Day, which was well received. The proposal pointed out that other designated universities like UBC, UVIC, and Capilano University have included a fall reading break as part of their fall semester schedule. On Friday, a follow up presentation by David Johnston included the proposed fall reading break to have Remembrance Day off and an additional two day reading break. The proposed plan also includes a nine day exam period at the end of the semester to accommodate the change to the semester schedule.
Johnston proposed a number of different scenarios to incorporate a fall reading break, including a nine day exam period, and scheduling final exams on Sundays. During the discussion, Dr. Sheryl MacMath, professor/department head of teacher education, pointed out that having a fall reading break will not only benefit the students, but also the faculty because they need a break in the semester as well. The Senate has not yet made any final decisions concerning the proposal regarding a fall reading break and they will vote on it in February.
Rachel is working towards a BA with a concentration in English and Theatre. She has been employed at The Cascade since Fall 2021 as a Staff Writer and a Jr. News Editor. Currently, she is the sectional News Editor and enjoys meeting and interviewing people as well as taking long walks in nature. Rachel also likes to stay up to date on the latest trends and informs students through her fashion column entitled Campus Fashion.