Report of the Planning Committee
to University Council
April 20, 2000
Items for Approval
1.
Veterinary Medicine Reorganization
The Planning Committee and the Academic Programs Committee of Council have reviewed the
request from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine to merge the Departments of Veterinary
Anatomy and Veterinary Physiological Sciences. Attached as Appendix One is the request from the
college and a memo of support from the Academic Programs Committee.
The Planning Committee recommends approval of the following motion:
That Council approve the discontinuation of the departments of Veterinary Anatomy and
Veterinary Physiological Sciences and the creation of a new department, as described in
Appendix One..
The name of the new department, and of the two other new departments approved at the February
Council meeting, will be reported to Council.
Items for Information
1. Review of the NEPS agreement
The following motion was approved at the Feb. 17, 2000 Council meeting:
ÒThat the Planning Committee, on behalf of Council, review the management agreement for NEPS
to determine how provisions in the agreement affect the UniversityÕs autonomy in setting its degree
programs, make recommendations to the Vice-President (Academic) for appropriate changes, and
report back to CouncilÓ.
The Committee reviewed the June, 1998 version of the NEPS agreement and the earlier 1996
agreement. The Committee also discussed how agreements between the university and other
educational institutions could be handled in the future.
Two aspects make the agreement complicated: the program is offered in both Regina and Saskatoon,
and is offered at both SIAST and the U of S. The first NEPS agreement, in 1996, had students and
faculty going back and forth between Kelsey and the U of S for their four years of nursing education,
which proved logistically and administratively impossible. The 1998 agreement says that SIAST will
teach the nursing courses in the first two years and the U of S the last two years. However, it
maintains NEPS as an integrated program so that students do not have to apply for admission again
to the U of S after finishing their first two years in SIAST.
The NEPS agreement itself is clear about the quota and the procedures for changing the quota:
Section III 1 (b) states:
Òmajor program changes must be mutually agreed to by both Partners and approved through the
respective institutional processes. Such changes include:
- course names and numbers, descriptions, hours, pre-requisites, co-requisites.
- course outcomes/intents.
- the admissions quota for the number of students to be accepted into the program. *
- admission, promotion, and graduation standards.Ó
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Planning Committee
April 20, 2000
Section III 2 (e) states
Ò Admission Quota: the quota for admission to the program will be 180 students, with 120 allocated
to Saskatoon (Kelsey) and 60 to Regina (Wascana.). Any changes to the admission quota for
the program must be mutually agreed to by both Partners.*Ó
* emphasis by the committee
Though the quota has not been revised, 80 additional students were admitted to the NEPS program
through SIAST in September, 1999, at government request. They will be arriving at the U of S in
September, 2001 to begin the U of S portion of their program.
Under the University Act, the University of Saskatchewan has authority to establish its own
admission quotas. SIAST does not enjoy this level of autonomy; the government of Saskatchewan
can require SIAST to admit more students than the agreement allows.
In NEPS, the university has signed an agreement with an educational institution which does not have
authority over its own admission quotas. And because the NEPS admissions are not done at the
University of Saskatchewan, the university has no mechanism to prevent admissions which exceed
the admission quota.
The Committee discussed whether the NEPS program could handle the additional students,
particularly in view of the number of clinical placements in the third and fourth years of the
program, and how those placements would be supervised. The Committee is concerned about the
quality of the program which will be delivered to these students. Nursing is scheduled for Systematic
Program Review in 2000-2001, so it will be completed before the extra students arrive. In the
meantime, the Planning Committee will review the budget request which was sent to the government
last fall regarding additional resources to handle the additional students.
The Committee has made the following recommendations to the Vice-President (Academic):
1. The ÒLiaison Committee for Management of the AgreementÓ (as described in Section V) should
meet to resolve issues that have arisen over additional students being admitted unilaterally to the
joint program by SIAST at the behest of government. Section III.5 (Processing of
Applications/Registration of Students) should be reviewed, and possibly revised, to ensure that
University Council retains its full power to set and maintain admission quotas for the program.
2. In future agreements with other educational institutions, the Vice-President (Academic) should
ensure that admissions be administered at the University of Saskatchewan if there is an admissions
quota in the program.
2. Changes in the Nursing Quota.
At the request of the College of Nursing, the Planning Committee has approved the following:
That based on financial models submitted to the Department of Post-Secondary Education and
Skills Training, a temporary admission quota of 260 students be established for the Nursing
Education Program of Saskatchewan for the 2000-2001 academic year and, retroactively, for
the 1999-2000 academic year.
That the College of Nursing be requested to request a permanent admission quota and to
provide the necessary financial details for this change no later than April 1, 2001, for
students entering into the Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan in September, 2001.
Included in this submission should be a description of the nature of the program to be offered
in Regina and in Saskatoon, and an academic and financial plan for the college.
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Planning Committee
April 20, 2000
During discussion of the request for a temporary quota increase, the Planning Committee noted that
issues including whether tenure-track faculty should be located in Regina and whether sufficient
funding would be provided in provincial budgets should be addressed in any submission for a
permanent quota change.
3. Strategic Decisions Workshop
On April 8 the Committee hosted a workshop for deans and department heads entitled ÒStrategic
Decisions: Implementing the Planning Goals in University Decision-Making.Ó This workshop
focused on implementing the teacher-scholar model and improving research intensiveness, two of the
goals identified in A Framework for Planning at the University of Saskatchewan. More than 80
people attended the workshop. They identified a number of strategies which could be used for
adoption and implementation of these goals.
One of the discussion papers dealt with at the workshop was drafted by the Planning Committee.
ÒFostering the Teacher-Scholar ModelÓ is attached to this report for the information of Council
members (see Appendix Two). The other paper discussed was the report from the Research
Committee ÒIncreasing Research Intensiveness at the University of SaskatchewanÓ which is also on
the agenda for this Council meeting.
The Planning Committee will be writing a report on the workshop and listing strategies at the
department, college and university levels for implementing these goals.
4. 21st Century Research Chairs policy discussions
The Planning Committee has established a subcommittee to make recommendations on the
principles for allocation and process for the 21st Century Research Chairs program recently
announced by the federal government. Details of the program have not yet been announced, but it is
anticipated that the University of Saskatchewan could receive between 20 to 40 faculty positions
over the next five years due to this initiative. The subcommittee is chaired by the chair of the
Planning Committee and includes the Vice-President (Research) and the chairs of Council
committees on Budget, Capital Planning, and Research. It expects to report to the May meeting of
Council.
Submitted on behalf of the Planning Committee of Council,
_______________________________________
Jene Porter, Chair
Committee members:
R.P. MacKinnon, President
M. Atkinson, Vice-President (Academic)
A.J. Whitworth, Vice-President (Finance and
Administration
M. Corcoran, Vice-President (Research)
S. Junor (USSU)
S. Pinder (GSA)
R. Thompson (Sessional Lecturer)
R.E. Bilson
S. Fowler-Kerry
R. Hickie
G. Khachatourians
P. Li
L. Qualtiere
W.W.E. Slights
E.B. Waygood
H. Wood
B.L. Dubray, University Studies Group
P.M. Melis, Office of the Vice-President
(Academic)
C. Fornssler, Committee Coordinator