“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 hybrid Senate meeting on Friday, March 10, 2023.”
Jackie Hogan, chair of the senate budget committee, presented the recommended budget for senate and pinpointed that tuition fees will increase by 2% for domestic students and 4% for international students. There is also an anticipated increase in the number of international and domestic students enrolling at UFV in the upcoming school year according to the consolidated budget plan draft for 2023-2024. The plan also shows that “international enrolments increased by approximately 25% in 2022-23 and are estimated to be at 93% of target.”
The budget plan also mentioned that out of total revenue, fees paid by students make up 47% and the budget plan shows this is “directly linked to annual enrolment plans. This revenue budget is up by $5.3M over prior year to $79.0M.”
A motion that was carried by the board was the recommended changes for the “language proficiency requirements” for the Bachelor of Education program. The reason for this change is that they are being “lowered to reflect recent changes made by the BC Teachers’ Council to the Language Proficiency section of the teacher certification standards.”
The changes will include removing EDUC 441, which is for online learning and helps “build teacher candidate skills in relation to classroom management, behaviour support, and trauma-informed practices” as well.
The one-credit course, EDUC 453 (literacy across the curriculum), will be taken out of the spring semester and that credit will be added to EDUC 420 (designs for learning elementary language arts), making it a four credit course.
Acting chair and president, Dr. James Mandigo gave his report, which called attention to the importance of International Women’s Day and the issue of gender inequities around the world.
Mandigo wrote,“we must never become complacent in our quest and support for universal gender equity for all.” Mandigo mentioned the bill to “ban state funding for gender equity studies and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) programming for Universities in Florida,” which was introduced by Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida.
Mandigo concluded that “it is important that we continue to advance our commitments towards Indigenization and EDI so that we can demonstrate to the world that this is what makes our communities thrive.”
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.
