Council Matters
December, 2013
Thestartofthe19thyearofourrepresentativeCouncilhasbeenaproductive
andeventfulonefortheUniversityofSaskatchewanandwewouldliketo
highlighttomembersoftheGeneralAcademicAssemblysomeoftheactivities
anddecisionsofthemostrecentterm:
ITEMS THAT COUNCIL CONSIDERED IN THE FALL TERM









CouncilapprovedthereplacementprogramfortheDoctorofMedicine(M.D.)
programintheCollegeofMedicine,andrelatedadmissionchangesforthe
CollegeofDentistry.
CouncilalsoapprovedDentistry’sproposaltorequirethreeyearsofuniversity
studybeforeadmission,ratherthanonlytwo.
TheSchoolofEnvironmentandSustainabilityproposedanewcertificateof
proficiencyprogram,theCertificateinSustainability,whichwasapprovedby
CouncilinNovember.
CouncilreceivedforinformationthenewAcademicAdvisingCharter,which
definesthefocusofacademicadvisingasstudentsuccess,withthepurposeof
academicadvisingasassistingstudentstocompletetheirprogramandachieve
theiracademicgoals.
Inadditiontotheannualfallenrolmentreportfromassociatevice‐president
DavidHannah,CouncilalsoreceivedareportontheStrategicEnrolment
Management(SEM)project.Thisreportrecommendsmodestundergraduate
growthtargetsandaggressivetargetsforgraduatestudents,withatotal
enrolmentby2015‐16ofapproximately23,000students,comprisedof18,500
undergraduatestudentsand4,450graduatestudents.Thereportcontainsten
keyrecommendationswhichaddressstudentrecruitmentinanenvironmentof
increasingcompetitionamonguniversities.Collegeshavebeendelegatedthe
authoritytosetadmissiontargetsandreportonthesetoCouncilthroughits
committees.
Councilreceivedtheuniversity’s2014‐15OperationsForecast,which
representstheannualuniversityprovincialfundingrequest.
CouncildiscussedanewstrategicdirectionsstatementVision2025:FromSpirit
toAction,aspresentedbyPresidentBusch‐Vishniac.
WhenCouncilapprovedinprincipletheDecember2012CollegeofMedicine
documentANewVisionfortheCollegeofMedicine,itaskedtheuniversityto
developanimplementationplanforthecollegerenewal.AtitsOctober
meeting,Councilreceivedanddiscussedthisplanfororganizational
restructuring,titledTheWayForward:ImplementationPlanfortheCollegeof
Medicine
CouncilalsoreceivedtheTransformUStaskforcereports,anddiscussedthe
processusedtocreatethereports.
DISCUSSIONS AT COUNCIL COMMITTEES THIS FALL
YourUniversityCouncilcouldnotfunctionwithoutitscommittees,whichdiscuss
issues,reviewpolicyandprocedures,andvetproposalsonCouncil’sbehalf.Thisfall,
committeeshavebeenengagedinawidevarietyoftasksandprojects.
 Theinternationalactivitiescommitteeisworkingoninitiativestoimprove
supportforstudentstudyabroad,andtodevelopmoredescriptivemetricsfor
internationalizationactivities.
 Theresearch,scholarlyandartisticworkcommitteeisdevelopingareporton
whatitwouldmeanfortheuniversitytohaveallundergraduatestudents
participateinresearchaspartoftheirprogram.
 Thenewteaching,learningandacademicresourcescommittee(TLARC)has
establishedworkinggroupstodevelopinitiativesintheareasofAboriginal
Engagement,ImplementationoftheLearningCharter,EvaluationofTeaching,
andtheTeaching‐ResearchNexus.
 Aswellasreviewingprograms,theacademicprogramscommitteehassetupa
subcommitteewithTLARCtoreviewtheAcademicCoursespolicy.
 Theplanningandprioritiescommitteehasconsideredavarietyofuniversity
planningandbudgetissues,suchastheOperationsForecast,theTransformUS
reportsandtheCollegeofMedicinereorganizationplan.Inaddition,the
committeeheldseveraljointmeetingswithAPCtodiscusspossiblejointdegree
programswithotheruniversitiesandtheStrategicEnrolmentManagement
report.
ABOUT COUNCIL
Councilisthegoverningbodyresponsibleforallthingsacademic,anditreliesonthecollegial
modelofacademicself‐governancetodoitsbusiness.Thatmeansthatyou,asamemberofthe
GeneralAcademicAssembly,haveanopportunitytoinfluencetheacademicdirectionofthe
institution,bothbyelectingmembersofyourcollegetoCouncil,andbyconsideringlettingyour
namestandforelectiontoCounciloroneofitscommittees.Moreinformationcanbefoundon
ourwebsiteatwww.usask.ca/secretariat/governing-bodies/council/index.php. Questions
canbedirectedtouniversity.secretary@usask.ca.
CouncilmeetsonceamonthfromSeptembertoJune.Meetingsareopentoall,andwe
hopeyouwillfeelwelcometojoinusandtowatchyourCouncilinaction.
MeetingsofUniversityCouncilinthewinterandspringterms
January23,2014
April17,2014
February27,2014
May22,2014
March20,2014
June19,2014
AllmeetingsareonThursdaysinNeatby‐TimlinTheatre,Arts241,at2:30p.m.
OnbehalfofCouncilanditscommitteesandoftheCouncilsecretariat,Iwishallofyoua
restfulandenjoyableholidayseasonandlookforwardtoseeingyouinthenewyear.
JayKalra,Chair,UniversityCouncil