In compliance with Ontario’s Essential Services Order, Senate met remotely on January 29, 2021. Here are the highlights:
Confirming a Mostly Online Summer 2021 Term
The Carleton University Scenario Planning (CUSP) Working Group provided Senate with their recommendation for the Summer 2021 term, namely that the upcoming summer term follow the same approach as the 2020/’21 Fall and Winter semesters. The recommendation is based on an ongoing analysis of the pandemic and early days of the vaccination program. As was the case for Winter 2021, the CUSP recommendations leave open the possibility of some on campus activities for Summer 2021 should circumstances permit. On-campus activities would be voluntary for both instructors and students. Additionally, CUSP reiterated that graduate students who require the use of on-campus research facilities should remain a priority. Senate confirmed that the CUSP recommendations would be followed as stated.
Carleton’s Reputational Enhancement Project
Senate received a presentation on Carleton’s Reputational Enhancement Project from Tony Frost (Chief Communications Officer, and Associate Vice-President, Communications and Public Affairs) and representatives from partners Banfield and Ipsos. As shown in the recent Maclean’s rankings, Carleton ranks high on all objective key metrics (e.g. student experience, research), but subjective rankings of reputation tend to lag behind. To close this gap between Carleton’s accomplishments and outside perception, the university has launched a four-phase reputational enhancement project with Banfield-Ipsos. To date, phase 1, or the research phase, has been completed. Over the past several months, Banfield and Ipsos consulted with over 5,000 people (internally and externally) to help guide the next phases of their approach: strategy development and creative development. The implementation phase of the strategy is expected to start in the Fall.
Chair’s Remarks
President Bacon began the meeting with updates about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health guidelines. The President outlined a number of recent highlights including a record-breaking Giving Tuesday, tremendous growth in annual research funding, and outstanding results in the recent UI Greenmetrics campus sustainability rankings. President Bacon also mentioned that Chancellor Yaprak Baltacıoğlu, who was recently appointed for a second-term and received an Order of Canada. Carleton faculty members Jagmohan Humar and Melanie Adrian received the Order of Canada and Order of Ontario respectively. Finally, Carleton hosted Indigenous best-selling author, Jesse Thistle, for a well-attended Bell Let’s Talk Day event, reaffirming the university’s commitment to mental health and breaking the stigma.
Terms of Reference
The Senate Academic Governance Committee is undertaking a review of the Terms of Reference for all Senate Standing Committees in order to update content where necessary and to standardize format. As such, the Terms of Reference for the Medals and Prizes Committee was reformatted and modified to fit the new template. Senate approved the modifications.
Major Modifications
Senate approved 20 major modifications, including a series of new certificates, minors and specializations to be offered at Carleton for the Fall 2021 semester.
Senator Spotlight: Ernest Kwan
Senate is composed of over 80 members representing the Carleton community like Ernest Kwan, Assistant Professor in the Sprott School of Business. Learn more about Ernest.
Next Meeting: February 26, 2021
The next Senate meeting is February 26, 2021 at 2:00pm. Click here to view the full schedule and meeting materials. Meeting minutes are posted once they are approved at the subsequent meeting.