Senate Reps

Five members of the Emeritus College were elected to the Vancouver Senate as "Representatives of the Convocation".

Much of the work of Senate takes place in the 13 standing committees which have now been populated taking into account as much as possible senators’ preferences for assignments. Given the limited number of positions for emeriti on some committees and a desire to include senators with a range of backgrounds and also mix returning and new senators, not all preferences can be accommodated. Senators serve on from one to three committees. Convocation senators have now taken up their assigned responsibilities on eight of the committee as follows:

Name
Committee Assignments

Francis R. Andrew

Lawrence Burr

Awards, Tributes and Library

Vice-chair of the Tributes Committee

John H. V. Gilbert

Academic Policy, Agenda and Tributes

Chair of the Tributes Committee

Paul G. Harrison

Academic Policy, Appeals on Academic Discipline and Nominating

Chair of the Nominating Committee (and ex-officio on the Agenda Committee)

Richard Spencer

Academic Policy

Vice-chair of the Academic Policy committee

 N.B. Some committees have yet to elect their chairs and vice-chairs. With nearly 90 members of Senate serving on one, two, or three of the 13 committees each with at least 10 and sometimes up to 30 members (including appropriate non-senators), you can imagine the challenge that the staff in the Senate Office has in trying to find suitable times for all members of any given committee to meet, given that they are all busy with their other duties (even the emeriti!).
Once the committee chairs are all elected, then membership in the Council of Senates will be determined. A future report will explore the role of the Council.

Members of the College may be interested in the academic issues that come before the various committees. A full list of committees with their official Terms of Reference is at: https://senate.ubc.ca/vancouver/committees. Below is summary information for the committees on which emeriti serve this triennium.

Committee
Responsibilities

Academic Policy

Advises Senate on policy matters that might be referred to another standing committee or, by default, studied by Academic Policy; e.g., policies focussed on student rights and responsibilities, academic program regulations, the academic year structure, academic freedom, proposals for new or reorganized academic units

Agenda

Maintains and revises the rules of Senate, advises on the orientation program for new and continuing senators, considers and takes action on matters referred by the Board of Governors, makes an annual call to the academy for suggestions of topics of broad academic interest that could develop into presentations to Senate, develops the agenda for Senate meetings

Awards

Advises Senate on regulations and policy for student awards, reviews and recommends to Senate new and modified awards

Library

Advises and assists the Librarian in developing a program of library services, including responding to changes in user needs, in institutional, technological, and commercial environments; in space, facilities, and personnel resources. Reports to Senate on matters of policy and practice

Nominating

Presents to Senate nominations for the members of all other Senate committees, of senate members of other bodies where Senate is represented, and the Vice-Chair of Senate. Manages the review of the terms of reference of Senate standing committees near the end of each triennium and manages wider reviews, including external reviews of Senate when appropriate.

Students Appeals on Academic Discipline

Hears and determines final appeals by students of discipline imposed by the President.

Teaching & Learning

Provides a forum for discussion of the teaching and learning environment including pedagogical practices, the wellbeing of all involved, and the assessment of teaching and learning.

Tributes

Recommends to Senate the candidates for honorary degrees and emeritus status, prepares memorial statements for deceased members who served on Senate, recommends on matters of regalia and academic dress and on rules for the conduct of convocation and congregation ceremonies.

Once the Convocation senators get familiar with their committee work, there may be an opportunity for them to share their experiences and seek your opinions